Digital Citizenship and Online Needs
Search Engines
With the ever expanding amount of information on the internet, search engines have become an indispensable tool when accessing the web. It is almost impossible to use the internet without the help of a search engine and most of us, including myself, have one such as google as our homepage. Search Engines are described as, “special searching programs that he us to locate items and information on the web” (Roblyer, 2016, p.182). Learning to adequately and safely navigate the web and the use of search engines is necessary in general but vital in the classroom. Teaching students and educators alike to be able to use the web via search engines will not only improve productivity but help them both to find quality, accurate and safe information on the internet through creating efficient search criteria and effectively distinguishing legitimate websites through proper website evaluation.
Website Evaluation Video
The information provided in this video, though somewhat simple or geared to a younger audience, includes information beneficial to everyone in regards to validating a website. The video takes the idea that everything you read on the internet isn’t always true and shows how to authenticate a web page. As for use in my own classroom, out of the other videos I’ve seen, I feel as though this one creates a simple yet effective means to perform adequate research on topics and or projects I may assign which would require the presentation of accurate and up to date information about photography/software methods or even historical information on photographers and their methods of working. In addition to what the video teaches, students should also remember to be aware of the domain designator on each web address they find. “The last three letters in the address line constitute what is call a domain designator, a suffix that typically indicates the type of content one would find at a website” (Roblyer, 2016, p. 180). Specifically domain designators such as .edu, .gov and .org are going to be the best for quality information. “The Internet’s vast information storehouse, unfortunately, contains some information that is incomplete, misleading, inaccurate, and/or out of date” (Roblyer, 2016, p.199) Lastly students should also pay close attention to authorship, “A site must provide enough background information about its authors for users to determine if the site is reliable and useful” (Roblyer, 2016, p. 199).
Favorite Websites
Merlot Pedagogy: http://pedagogy.merlot.org/TeachingStrategies.html
This website list numerous links and texts on a variety of teaching strategies to help educators better engage with their students and organize their criteria for each lesson and class. Resources such as this can prove invaluable either when just starting out or when a teacher needs to find a new method to reach a specific student or to revamp an entire approach.
Phlearn: https://phlearn.com/
I chose Phlearn as more of a personal reference but also as a website I could pass on to my students for reference purposes. As an educator focused on photography and a digital medium such as photoshop, more times than not there are 100 different ways to do something in these types of programs and countless more things that these programs are capable of. More things than one person can remember, therefore this is one website that I’ve used for years and which was passed on to me by one of my professors as an reference tool for photoshop and for teaching photoshop.
Online Safety and Security
In regards to online safety and security, I believe one of the most important aspects to be aware of is phishing scams. “Teachers and students must be vigilant to avoid offers and alerts that are phishing attempts, or emails that claim to be from a legitimate organization or business and ask for personal information but is actually used for identity theft” (Roblyer, 2016, p.176). There are countless outlets on the internet aimed to deceive the public and they get better each day. They steal and use logos from reputable organizations and often will even have the same web address with only one minor difference that you probably won’t even notice. Therefore as the text states, it pays to be vigilant and always vet a website first, especially if you are unsure.
- Roblyer, M. D. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
John, I found your section concerning online security to be intriguing and found myself agreeing with the points that you made concerning the dangers of phishing. I immediately think of all the phishing scams that have been targeted to students at UM via forUM email. I have received countless emails from scammers and have been lucky enough to not have been tricked by any of them despite how legitimate they have appeared. I credit this to the fact that I am aware that "no reputable organization" including the University of Montevallo would ask its members to share classified personal information and should therefore be viewed as phishing attempts. (Roblyer, 2016, p.176). I believe as educators we need to be wary of these types of scams, not only to protect our own identities, but to also protect the identities of our students.
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was very informative! I thought your personal choice websites were great picks I looked through the Merlot one extensively and thought it would be very helpful to me in the future since I am going into art education as well. What you said about "phishing" attempts and looking out for those minor differences to spot them. Then there is the additional tip on avoiding this scam that if a company request a password change this is often suspicious (Roblyer, 2016,p.176).
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