Keeping Kids Safe on the Internet

PBSKIDSGO.org/webonauts is an interactive game that teaches kids some of the things to beware of when on the internet. The game is a little slow-paced, however, it is kind of fun. Things for kids to look out for such as bullying, privacy, and looking for current sources of information are the main topics that parents can address with children while playing this game.

As educators, it is important that before incorporating Web 2.0 tools such as Wiki’s and Blogs into our classroom, we first educate our students on proper internet etiquette, the way to handle inappropriate information that may appear on a web-page, and the safety precautions we should take when reading/writing to the web. The link to this game appeared in the article Teaching kids online citizenship on the Tech & Learning RSS feed.

Reference:

Teaching kids online citizenship. (2010, October 21). Tech & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/33920

Hands-on Science

Speaking from experience, hands-on science is a must! When I was in elementary and high school I hated science. We read material out of a book and watched the occasional filmstrip. I understand that science materials cost money, however, most science concepts can be taught using household items and through observation of real-life phenomena.

It was not until college that I really gained a new found love of science. All of my science methods classes were hands-on and I knew that this is the way to get kids excited about learning science.

“Survey: Hands-on science education is key” an article posted on the Tech & Learning RSS feed reports statistics from an on-line survey conducted by Harris Interactive. The statistics show that 99 percent of science teachers and 90 percent of parents feel that science education is very important to a child’s future and that it [science education] needs to be more engaging. (I thought it was kind of ironic that the science teachers thought science education needed to be more engaging – aren’t they the ones teaching it??)

Reference:
Survey: Hands-on science education is key. (2010, October 28). Tech &
Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/34070

Civic Education

Edutopia RSS Feed, “Let’s Bring Civic Education to the Front Burner” by blogger Anne O’Brien gave some sad statistics about civic education in our country. Someone once said to me that if Americans had to take the test to become a U.S. citizen, most would likely fail. I believe this person hit the nail right on the head.

How can we expect the next generation to make informed decisions and fight for what is right and against what is wrong in this country if they don’t know how to go about doing so? Civic education, local and federal, must be addressed at every grade level in order for our students to one day become informed, civically responsible adults.

Reference

O'Brien, A. (2010, October 22). Let's bring civic education to the front burner [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/civic-education-high-priority-anne-obrien?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Welcome to my Blog!!

Welcome EDU 653 Cohorts to my blog. Can you believe we have started our third class together?? Time flies.....
This should be a great class - lots of hands-on activities and things that we can apply directly to our classrooms!