What steps can you take to make sure you have control of your online information? Why is it important to lock privacy settings and set strong passwords?
This is a big topic for upper elementary students. Many of them are starting to post on social media. It is a big topic for parents too, who are concerned about their kids' social media behaviour.
I often direct parents to Google's educational resources:
https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us/families
https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us/
There they learn steps to control online information such as being aware of what you post, not posting friends' into without permission, not posting personal information, and maintaining your online presence.
They learn that it is important to lock down their devices with strong unique passwords so that others cannot access their information. We talk about which sight require more security and why. We talk about thinking about what sights you may choose to join, and what the sights get from you in terms of personal data.
Finally, I talk, especially with adults, about the need to make your own online presence: that you can't just opt out. If you don't control your own online presence, others will.
I remember when I started teaching in 2000. I looked up my name and found a teacher with a similar name in the news for some nefarious reasons. That week, I made a number of blogs and sites until the other name dropped off of the first page of search results. It was a lesson that our online identities matter, and we should take control of them.
How do you teach social media safety to your kids?
Slutsky, Mark. Social Smarts : Privacy, the Internet, and You. Ottawa: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 2017. Print.
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Hi Rupert,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about how you took control of your online identity. I can imagine that some people would not know how to go about changing a google results page by adding material, or that they may not even look up their name. I'm glad you are having an impact on learners and their parents!
Madeleine
Hello,
ReplyDeleteTeaching your kids about social media is comparable to teaching about anything with your kids. One difficulty, however, is staying current with the social media landscape. Apps and how they use them changes so quickly that in order to support the young and impressionable, it is necessary to stay informed ourselves. Sites like https://mediasmarts.ca/ and https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ can help. But open and honest conversation is the start of the equation.
Shannon O
ReplyDeleteHi Rupert,
Awesome post. In my context (Secondary Foods) we actually don't get online too much. I generally teach about social media safety through informal discussions as they are constantly on their devices. I try to ask them questions to get them thinking about their privacy settings and posting habits, and to keep an open dialogue. What often blows my mind is how little their parents know about what they are doing online. I find that teens are way more aware and tech savvy than many of their parents, and the parents are the ones who need a social media tutorial!