Internet Safety Issues

Kids today face so many different dangers than ever before because of the advancement of technology. For all of its many benefits, there are also many dangers that come along with immersing today's children in technology.

There is the danger of child predators, cyber bullying and exposing pop-ups. Because of these it is important that adults have filters in place and strongly communicate acceptable behavior on the internet to their children. I think one of the biggest dangers however is that of cyber-bullying since it is not easily preventable. Filters can be in place for predators and pop-ups, but it is up to the individual child what they say on the internet. The best we can do as educators is to strongly inform children about the consequences of bullying on the playground and that these rules don't change just because you can't actually see the other person. Bullying is never acceptable - a fact that must be emphasized more than it is.

K12 online conference

I really enjoyed looking around the conference site and seeing how many people were involved in it. I had no idea anything like this existed, and I'm thrilled at what a great resource this will be in the future. The session that I "attended" was: web 2.0 and 21st century learning

It was really a pretty basic concept, but I thought it was neat considering all we've been learning this semester. In this session a teacher from Kansas talked about how she created a class in her high school that was specifically for seniors, preparing them for the real world through technology. In this class they each received a Macbook to use for the year, and with this they were able to explore many different forms of technology. It sounded a lot like what we've been doing this semester, except each student was provided with top-notch resources and it was for a whole year. Also, since this was in high school, I can't even imagine the benefit this would have on those students' work eligibility. The video also provided some examples of technology projects the students had done which were pretty interesting. They were definitely beginner samples, but still, they were projects the students had created themselves - which is more than I can say I have done.

Technology Project Plan

For my technology project, I think I will make a website for students and parents. This website will really just serve as a resource for parents and students to know what is going on in the classroom and school. It also provides the opportunity for me to introduce myself to parents that I may not have had a chance to meet yet. Students can also display their hardwork on the website, providing an avenue for them to express and share their work and thoughts about what is going on in class.

Word, Excel and Powerpoint

My experience with these three programs has been pretty limited. I must admit that I pretty much stick to the basics when it comes to them. I did have a little bit of experience in using new features when I worked in the Human Resources office of a local hospital, but I don't feel like I could explain them very well.

• I remember using a mail-merge in Word, when we had to make address labels. This was very handy because we could tell the document in Word where to copy from in Excel and then all of the addresses would appear in a label format.
• I also remember using the data sort feature in Excel which automatically alphabetized spreadsheets in Excel. By highlighting the columns you want to sort and then choosing "data sort" you can then choose whether you want ascending or descending order. Much easier than trying to do it all yourself
• Also in Excel, at one time I could do formulas. If you enter in a certain formula it would carry through the entire column and calculate totals for you - again, I really don't remember how to do this, just remember doing it at one point.

Though I don't remember the specifics of these features, I remember that they were really easy to use and that I feel much more comfortable on these programs because of that. I am certain that if I spent a little bit of time on these programs I could further my expertise and find new things fairly easily.