If you’re looking for opportunities to take your students’ videos to beyond the classroom, check out this contest from the Digital ID project:

Digital Citizenship PSA Contest

Tell us/show us, as a (digital) citizen, how you exercise your rights and act responsibly.

To help make your declaration public, we’ve created an online opportunity. Check it out!

(Up to) 90-Second Video Contribution
All students in grades 4-12 are warmly invited to contribute a video to our Digital Citizenship PSA Challenge Contest. Teachers may submit up to 3 student-generated videos. The rules are simple:

• Video must address authentic issues relevant to digital citizenship (cyberbullying, intellectual property, digital footprint, protecting privacy)
• Video must be appropriate for a mixed audience (from grade level to school board)
• Video must follow appropriate copyright guidelines

For more information on the contest, along with guidelines to help building an award-winning PSA, visit the Digital ID – PSA Challenge page.

If you have questions, please contact Gail Desler at gdesler@egusd.net.

2WebWatchers had the pleasure of participating in “When Cyberbullying Spills Into School,“ a webinar hosted by edweek.org and sponsored by Talk About It Anonymous Communication Service. Presenters included two nationally-recognized experts on bullying: Nancy Willard, executive director, Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use and Barbara-Jane Paris, principal, Canyon Vista Middle School in Austin, Texas. Michelle R. Davis, senior writer, Education Week Digital Directions was the moderator for the event.

Much of students’ social lives outside of school these days takes place online, through social networking sites. And even though this form of bullying may happen most often after school hours, the impact from online conflicts and negative comments in cyberspace can directly affect a student’s in-school life, including the ability to learn. – edweek.org

Some of the questions addressed during the webinar included:

• Should schools be monitoring sites like Facebook to police student behavior?
• Can principals and administrators take disciplinary action against students who misbehave online?
• When does a cyberbullying situation require school intervention?
• How can school leaders create a school culture where bullying is unacceptable among students both in school and online?

The webinar has been archived and you can access it here: http://www.edweek.org/go/webinar/Cyberbullying.

You can also download the PowerPoint presentation in PDF format here: http://www.edweek.org/media/2012-02-23-cyberbullying.pdf

We are already actively incorporating many of the thoughts and ideas shared in the webinar:

• Support peer-based prevention and intervention as an important step to any implementation plan that addresses cyberbullying.
• Engage in a complete and objective investigation, exploring the roles of all parties involved.
• Review all policies and practices and update or add where needed.
• Continue to provide professional development, student education and parent and community outreach.

Tips for setting or updating your privacy settings

As social media users, it’s very important to understand the responsibilities and realities of posting to social media websites and to be aware of program updates and changes. Let’s take a look at recent changes to Facebook.

Facebook has introduced a new timeline layout, which will eventually be rolled out to all users. As always, in response to any Facebook changes, you should check your privacy settings to make sure Facebook has not changed your previously-selected privacy settings. You can check your settings by clicking on the arrow next to “Home” and selecting “Privacy Settings” from the drop down menu.

We highly recommend that you set your “How You Connect” privacy settings to “Friends Only.” We’ve noticed that the default setting will be “Everyone” for the last option: Who can see posts by others on your timeline? Make sure you select “Friends” for that option.

Setting your “Privacy Settings” to “Friends of Friends” opens up a new level of concern, possibly making more of your information public than you would like. Setting your privacy to “Public” does not provide you with any safeguards – your information is just that – PUBLIC! Note: “Cover Photos” in the new timeline format are all PUBLIC – no matter what your privacy settings are.

With the above settings, only “Friends” can see your activity on Facebook and not “Friends of Friends” or any other users. By leaving “Everyone” as your selection for friend requests and messages, you are still able to receive friend requests and messages from people you have not currently “friended.”

Common Facebook Questions
Taken from Facebook’s finding, viewing and interacting with Facebook pages website.

How are Pages different from personal profiles (timelines)?
Profiles (timelines) represent individuals and must be held under an individual name, while Pages allow an organization, business, celebrity, or band to maintain a professional presence on Facebook. You may only create Facebook Pages to represent real organizations of which you are an authorized representative. 

If I post or comment on a Facebook Page, who can see it?
Facebook Pages for businesses and brands are public spaces. When you post or comment to a public page, a story is published on your Wall and can also be published in News Feeds.

Can a Page see my information if I Like it?
Pages cannot see the profiles (timelines) of people who connect with them, only their profile picture and name. Pages also do not have access to a News Feed with information about the activity of the people who connect with them. Page administrators, however, will be able to see anything you’ve made available as “Public” on your profile (timeline) by visiting your profile (timeline). Pages can communicate with users that like their Page by sending messages. Authenticated Pages may also post status updates, which may appear in the News Feeds of users that like the Page.

What does it mean to “Like” a Page or content off of Facebook?
When you click “Like” on a Facebook Page, in an advertisement, or on content off of Facebook (any website), you are making a connection. A story about your “like” will appear on your Wall (timeline) and may also appear in your News Feed. You may be displayed on the Page you connected to, in advertisements about that Page, or in social plugins next to the content you “like.”

Facebook Pages you “like” may post updates to your News Feed or send you messages. Your connection to the Page may also be shared with Apps on the Facebook Platform. For example, if you go to EGUSD’s website and click on the “follow EGUSD on Facebook” link, you will be prompted to login to Facebook if you haven’t already. Your “Like” will then show up on your Wall (timeline).
To familiarize yourself with more Facebook terminology, click here to visit their glossary.

If you have additional questions about Facebook, please post a comment or send us an email.

“Protecting one’s equipment is not only a matter of personal responsibility but also necessary for protecting the community.” Mike Ribble

For students to practice good digital citizenship, they need to value their privacy and understand how to protect their personal information. Here are a few resources we recommend:

• Protecting Online Privacy and Security – More great resources from Common Sense Media, a curriculum we are currently rolling out in our middle and high school sites.
• My Privacy Quiz – Excellent resource from the Canadian Commission on Privacy.
• Cybersecurity Posters for the Classroom – From Stay Safe Online, a collection of printable posters and lesson resources.
• Identity Theft – What Teens Need to Know - Short video from Highway Quest.
• Do You Really Have a Private Life Online? – Video animation – very informative!

We will continue to add resources on the topic of guarding online privacy.  Please join the conversation and add a comment if you have questions you’d like us to address or additional resources to share with our EGUSD community.

Kamala Harris,  attorney general of California, wrote an excellent piece on cyberbullying for San Jose Mercury News. We encourage you to read the article, but if you’re pressed for time, a couple of standout points include:

California recently enacted two laws criminalizing certain forms of online impersonation and giving school officials the authority to suspend or expel students who engage in cyberbullying. These laws are crucial to promoting safety, but they aren’t enough.”…..

…Ultimately, it is young people themselves who must make the Internet a place of tolerance. They have the most at stake. Their generation is the first to be born into a digital, connected world, and they will have the biggest hand in shaping its contours. I hope we can all affirm that, while the Internet has changed how we interact, it has not fundamentally changed how we should treat one another.”

So how do we get the word out to our students/children that they must be the change?  We warmly invite your input on this important topic. What questions or suggestions do you have? Where can we find strategies, resources, and models that are genuinely bringing about a decline in bullying/cyberbullying?

Many of the parents we meet during our Internet Safety workshops share with us a common concern: They wish they had a better handle on how to make sure their children are using Facebook in ways they will not sooner or later regret. Parents want a complete guide. Their wish has been granted.  Connect Safely has posted a 35-page Parent Guide to Facebook.

Image from ConnectSafely.org

The guide features hands-on, step-by-step instructions and illustrations, as well as parenting points on safety, privacy, and reputation protection. It covers both cellphone- and computer-based use of Facebook and the site’s newest features, including Places, Groups, and the latest privacy updates.

But if you do not have time to download and read through the complete guide, authors Anne Collier and Larry Magid are also providing you with an “at a glance interactive chart” with their recommended privacy settings. A very concise, informative resource!

2WebWatchers would like to thank Microsoft for the excellent free resources they have created on key topics of digital citizenship:

• Digital Citizenship and Creative Content - Excellent set of four lessons for teaching about copyright and more. You’ll need to register to download the handouts, but that process will take less than 30 seconds.
• The Naked Truth: Beware What You Share – Scary – but telling – stats on cyberbullying and sexting - presented on an eye-catching poster:

Image from Microsoft

Thank you, Microsoft!

Image from http://cyberbullying.us

One of our favorite sites for current, research-based information on confronting cyberbullying is the Cyberbullying Research Center. We appreciate the commitment Professors Justin Patchin  and Sameer Hinduja have made to providing up-to-date information about the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyberbullying among adolescents.

Here is a sampling of a few resources you might like to add to your cyberbullying toolkit :

• A Student’s Guide to Personal Publishing - This well-designed guide would make a great  double-sided handout for PTO meetings. The guide includes topics central to good digital citizenship:
  • Issues to Consider: audience, anonymity, permanence, copyright, and free speech
  • Potential Consequences
  • Questions to Ask Yourself
  • Guidelines to Publish By
• Cyberbullying: Identification, Prevention, and Response - This 5-page Fact Sheet has tips for teachers, parents, and students.
• Dealing with Cyberbully Quiz (for students) and Addressing Cyberbullying Quiz (for parents and teachers) - These online quizzes provide not only the correct answers, but also the research the correct answer is based on.
• Cyberbullying legislation updates and analysis, such as their response to  New Jersey’s recently updated anti-bullying legislation.

How are other states handling bullying? New Jersey made the headlines yesterday with a new law that mandates their school districts to adopt anti-bullying programs and designate anti-bullying specialists to investigate complaints.

The law, known as the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, is considered the “toughest legislation against bullying in the nation,” and demands that all public schools adopt comprehensive anti-bullying policies, increase staff training and adhere to tight deadlines for reporting episodes.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/new-anti-bullying-law-in-effect-for-new-jersey-school-districts#ixzz1Wl6UCa2z.

How does New Jersey’s law compare to California’s anti-bullying legislation? Good question for a classroom discussion, recorded on a Venn diagram. Check out the California Watch article Anti-bullying law expanded to include social networking sites.

What is good cyber citizenship?

Being a good Cyber Citizen means that you use respect and good judgment when interacting with other people online.”

The above definition comes from YouTube’s Safety Center.  We appreciate the efforts YouTube has taken to provide guidelines and resources for parents and educators on the safe and ethical use of their amazing site. In addition to guidelines, the YouTube team has recently posted several excellent videos on digital citizenship issues, such as Detecting Lies and Staying True (available also in Spanish):

We also recommend Staying Clear of Cyber Tricks.

If you’re an Elk Grove teacher and have not used our filter override to view YouTube videos, here’s a link to the instructions.