NSBA Weighs In On Internet Safety

The debate continues as the National School Boards Association publishes a recent study on education and social networking sites, according to an article in ars technica, which also provides a direct link to the study, fortunately, since I couldn't find it on the NSBA site after 25 minutes of searching--even with the study's title!

The study, Creating and Connecting, which surveyed 1,277 students finds that:

• 96% of students reports using social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook
• 20% say they have seen inappropriate pictures on the sites
• 18% have seen inappropriate language
• 7% say strangers have asked for personal information
• 3% have been repeatedly contacted by strangers trying to communicate with them
• 7% have experienced cyberbullying
• 4% have had conversations that made them uncomfortable
• 2% say a stranger tried to arrange a meeting offline
• .08% have actually met someone from an online encounter without their parents' permission

The study concludes that "School district leaders seem to believe that negative experiences with social networking are more common than students and parents report. More than half of districts (52%) say that students providing personal information online is a 'significant problem,' yet only 3% of students say they've ever given out their email addresses or IM screen names."

Of most interest, the study also reports

• 59% of students talk about education-related topics such as college planning, careers , political ideas
• 50% talk specifically about schoolwork

The study wisely advised schools, "whose responsibility is to prepare students to transition to adult life with the skills they need to succeed in [business and higher education], to reckon with it" and "strike the appropriate balance between protecting their students and providing a 21st century education."

They also recommend districts

• Consider using social networking sites for staff communication and professional development
• Find ways to harness the educational value of social networking
• Ensure equitable access
• Reexamine social networking policies
• Encourage social networking companies to increase educational value

While one needs to be slightly skeptical of a study partially funded by Microsoft and Verizon, here, at last, is a pro-social networking study district administrators may listen to. As Media Specialists responsible for preparing students to survive and flourish in a digital information world, we need to be strong vocal advocates for teaching responsible use of technology as an alternative to outright banning.

They Finally Get It

Andy Carvin blogged today about the recent online safety senate hearings. Definitely worth a read and gives me hope that the public-at-large are beginning to understand that protecting students from offensive online material is more about information literacy than it is about filters.

From Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI):

These are all difficult, yet critically important issues that parents and children face in an information age. If we search for a “silver bullet” solution, we will not find it.

Rather, our efforts must rely on a multi-layered strategy – one that teaches our children about safe and responsible online behavior; one that encourages industry action to develop tools that will aid parents in their efforts to restrict inappropriate material from their children’s access; and one that relies on swift and certain action by law enforcement officials in finding and punishing those who would use the Internet to harm children.

A Whole New You!

After reading Joyce Valenza's blog about Avatars, I started playing around with the idea. I'm working on creating a blogging handout that, while it's linked to a workshop, will also be self-sufficient (I hope!). Thanks to Joyce, I added a section on Avatars, as I think they'd be a great way to allow students an extra bit of web safety while adding the personal/individual touch they sooo love.

If you don't know (as I didn't) an Avatar is a small image linked to a social networking site (or your blog) that stands in for an actual picture of you. There are sites allowing you to choose already created avatars, or ones that allow you to generate your own. I had a fun time working on this librarian avatar on Yahoo. I only wish I were that thin and hot-looking!


So here are some links to help you find/create avatars.

Pre-made avatars:
Avatarity
AllAvatars

Avatar Makers:
Digibody
MessDudes: (This one's really fun and good for the younger set.)
Abi-Station: Very detailed with lots of options, but takes time to load/browse through everything.
YahooAvatars: Lots of options, easy to use, includes ALA options.

All of these allow you to download the images you create in a variety of formats and/or generate code to post them into blogs, etc.

Have fun!!