Day: February 7, 2017

Safer Internet Day


Today is Safer Internet Day.

You can explore the events happening world wide by selecting a country from here.  And, of course you’ll want to check out Canada‘s contribution.  The link resolves to this page.

For home and classroom, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection offers a free downloadable booklet.  I won’t provide the direct link; you need to visit and get it for yourself.  I think you’ll find it very helpful, especially for our younger surfers.

I was reminded about his day with a post from Helen DeWaard that I shared in last week’s This Week in Ontario Edublogs post.  Her post is full of useful thoughts and resources for the classroom.  

At the same time, Jennifer Casa-Todd had written a post of her own complete with all kinds of resources as well.  Add the resources shared here with those from Helen and you’ve got a pretty comprehensive collection.

What I like about all of the approaches above is that they address safety in a common sense, constructive manner.  Unlike the fear mongering posts, these honour the fact that the internet is here to stay and that there are very productive things that can come as a result of being connected.  

The key to safety is an educated user behind the keyboard who keeps her browser up to date and uses discretion with those that she contacts online.  Many of those who would do bad things realize that the weakest point is the actual user.  That’s where education rises to the top.

You can follow the discussion today – it’s already started in Europe when you read this – by following these hashtags on Twitter.

Or, get involved with the Safer Internet Day page on Facebook.

So, answer Helen’s question – “What will you do today?”

OTR Links 02/07/2017


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.