Internet Safety

Blogs are very useful in people's daily life, but we should notice that there are also some potential dangers. Here are some tips for a safer blog.

1. Don't give away any identifying details. You are not expected to post  last name, contact information, home address, phone numbers, school's name, e-mail address, last names of friends or relatives, instant messaging names, age, birth date or other personal information.

 

2. Keep your own username and password. Do not share it with anyone besides your teachers and parents. 

3. You are supposed to post positive information. Bad language or taste would hurt your teachers, parents and peers.

4. Never post provocative pictures of yourself or anyone else, and be sure any images you provide do not reveal any of the previously mentioned information. Always remember to look at the background of a picture too.

5. Assume what you publish on the Web is permanent. That means anything you post online may become permanent in cyberspace and has the potential of coming back to haunt you. This includes using vulgar language, posting explicit images, or writing inappropriate content.  Imagine that a future employer or admissions counselor to your dream college is reading your blog because it’s entirely possible that they will a few years down the line.

More information please look atHilaritan Tech Blog - Internet Safety Tips for Teens!

Blogs in My Future Classroom

Nowadays, Internet plays a quite important role in people's daily life. I have seen a survey that 87% of 12-17 years old American students are Internet users, which is a big number. So to be a future teacher, I need to consider how to make use of this huge resource. And blog is one of most useful Internet tools in my future classroom, which have already become a part of everyday's life.

First, I would like to post syllabus, readings or other related information of my class in my future class blog. That is very convenient for students to search the information they need. For example, students can check syllabus at any time to figure out what they should do.  I have benefitted from this kind of blog so much, so I hope I can do this in the future as well. This correlates with the communication standard 1.2: students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.

Second, I want to make use of the blog as a filing cabinet. In this part, students are required to post their homework or reflections, and response others' writings in the blogs. It is quite necessary for students to share their information and ideas with their peers, teachers, parents and more. What' more, that is also easy for me to check whether students hand in their homework on time or not. From this interaction, I believe students can acquire more. This correlates with the communications standard 1.3: students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.

Third, I have a plan that everyone in my class blog can share some information they are interested in or related knowledge they have learnt. For example, if my lesson is about different culture, I hope students link some videos about culture or post some related readings and pictures in the blogs. That correlates with the connections standard 3.1: students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.

In a word, I believe a good blog can make my future class more interested and organized.