Security! Security! Security!

   It is our job to make sure our students have a safe environment for learning, and part of that, of course is our network safety. In the past I've loved using the Netsmartzkids.org website. They have great videos, games and activities for teaching internet safety. For example, here's the 'activity of the month' about the Olympics:

I guarantee your kids will love it! It's fun to do during brain breaks, etc. when you need something fun to do that's still educational and you help teach important safety values that kids need for life!

This subject draws to an end on a more serious note: how can we make our cyber-education a safer place for our students? Though my school's network seems really secure, you can never take too many precautions and here are some that I've found:

• Making sure firewalls are up-to-date and on every computer
• Checking filters on the web browser
• Setting safety controls (like parental controls)
• Password protect everything and anything possible
• Encrypt your passwords
• Setting privacy controls on the browser (block cookies, pop-ups, etc.)
• Never transmit any sensitive information over email

As teachers, we need to teach our students how to engage in safe cyber practices. Like, denying pop-ups and unauthenticated web pages, setting controls themselves, not transmitting information about themselves or others, and knowing when to ask for help from a trusted adult.