Dec 17 2009
About
Welcome to Our Space 2010
This year students in Year 6 will be doing a number of different and exciting things using the internet and other associated technologies. As part of their learning, the students will work with blogs and wikis. This involves putting material on the internet that others can read and make comment on.
As with anything related to the internet there is the potential for problems to arise. This is especially so if parents are not well informed about what their children are doing on the internet. Despite this, there are also some fantastic opportunities for learning which we hope to develop and utilise. In the work we will do in class it is hoped that your child will take advantage of these opportunities in ways that will positively enhance his or her learning.
Throughout the process there will be a focus on internet safety. This is a critical issue, as our teenagers and primary school children in increasing numbers, are already writing to the web and involved in online social networking. By guiding them through the process in an educational setting, they will be made aware of possible dangers and of their responsibilities, as well as the enormous potential of this technology.
If you wish to get further information about internet and computer safety in general then you could do no better than to look in at the Australian Commonwealth Government netalert website at http://www.netalert.gov.au/. Here you will find loads of practical advice on Internet safety, parental control and Internet filters for the protection of children, students and families. From this site you can also link into cyberquoll which is a site designed for primary students to tell them about the risks of using the Internet and provides advice on managing and minimising those risks. Cyberquoll can be found at http://www.cyberquoll.com.au/.
Another advantage is that it will give parents who are currently unfamiliar with the technology, an opportunity and a reason to use it, so they have a better understanding of what their children are doing, and be in a better position to guide them in safe and responsible practices.
We will use the ABC program Behind The News’ as a springboard for discussion and writing posts each week. We invite you to read our posts and make comments or give feedback. As you can appreciate, the students look forward to receiving and reading their comments.
To learn more about the role of Web 2 technologies in education click on the links below and watch the short video presentations. Feel free to leave a comment.
