"From the Frontline" - Holiday 2012 Edition (highlights)

Internet Safety and Digital Ethics
News briefs for students, parents and professionals living, learning and teaching in the digital world.

Happy Holidays to all and a shout out to my VSTE/Edmodo friends @ http://www.vsteconference.org/.

This edition starts with an important opportunity to give input on the new Virginia Computer Technology Standards of Learning.  At the November 2012 Virginia Board of Education meeting, VDOE was authorized to proceed with the K-12 Computer Technology Standards of Learning review process. The new 2012 standards are available for public comment from November 29th to December 2nd.

Twitter, new research, FBI tools, new digital ethics page links and more in this edition of The Frontline.

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1.  Virginia Dept. of Education released "Computer Technology SOLs" DRAFT 
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/computer_technology/2012/index.shtml

3.  Smishing Scams: Sorry, You Did Not Win a $1,000 Target Gift Card - "Smishing is similar to "phishing," in which you receive an email that seems to be from a reputable source, asking for your credit card data, password, or other private information. Only instead of an email, smishing takes place through the SMS text messages you receive on your cell phone."
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/05/30/smishing-scams-sorry-you-did-not-win-a-1-000-target-gift-card/





4.  Amazing Twitter Secrets For Educators... Twitter For Non-Twitter Users... Even Students! - "Twitter is probably one of the best tools to find the very newest in education news, tools, resources and reflections."  Just the search concepts of finding data on Twitter is worth the read on this article.
http://21centuryedtech.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/part-2-amazing-twitter-secrets-for-educators-twitter-for-non-twitter-users-even-students/

5.  Digital Citizenship and Creative Rights A Teacher's Guide -  A new web based site for teachers in need of curriculum help teaching net safety and digital ethics.
http://www.digitalcitizenshiped.com/Default.aspx

6.  A Platform for Good - Family Online Safety - A project of the Family Online Safety Institute designed to help parents, teachers and teens to connect, share and do good online.  Lots of media and interactivity here. A++
http://www.aplatformforgood.org/

7.  At the Office-Digital Ethics - "If you run a small business or home office, these resources provide reliable know-how to secure your valuable data and equipment and give you peace of mind."
http://www.mysecurecyberspace.com/articles/office.html

8.  The Carnegie Cyber Academy - An Online Safety site and Games for Kids - media and interactive rich!
http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com

9.  All About Explorers... Not Really-You've been Had - "Spoof site created by 4th grade teachers to instruct students on how websites can publish false information. A+++ GREAT rource for teaching accuracy in website"
http://allaboutexplorers.com/

10.  Cyber Alerts for Parents & Kids... From the FBI - Tip #1: Be Prudent When Posting Images Online - "you might unwittingly be letting others know where you live and work and your travel patterns and habits. "
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/december/cyber_122211

11.  Court Ruling: What you Post on Facebook is Admissible as Evidence - "Courts have settled a number of questions pertaining to Facebook and our legal system this year."
http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/court-ruling-what-you-post-facebook-admissible-evidence-2971380.html
and if you'd like to file a complaint with the FBI...
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

12.  Parental Monitoring: Five Reasons Why It's Okay to be the "Bad Guy" - "Young kids also know not only how to make cell phone calls and send text messages, they can download and use most smart phone applications. Overall, developing technical skills and gaining independence is beneficial to kids. However, as the saying goes, greater freedom comes with greater responsibility. That responsibility falls on the shoulders of parents, even as their kids protest against constant monitoring."
http://info.uknowkids.com/blog/bid/231424/Parental-Monitoring-Five-Reasons-Why-It-s-Okay-to-be-the-Bad-Guy

13.  FBI - S.O.S.! - A+++ "The FBI has a new program that can help. The FBI is announcing a free web-based initiative designed to help teachers educate students about cyber safety."  This is a really neat page with interactive modules for 3rd grade through 8th grade.  This one is a keeper!
https://sos.fbi.gov./

14.  Text Messaging and Grammatical Development - "Although most participants in all three groups violated grammatical convention in their text messages, researchers found no evidence that this affected their understanding of written or spoken grammar at either point in time."
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/text-messaging-and-grammatical-development

15.  Bullying in a Networked Era: A Literature Review - "The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is pleased to share a new literature review by the Youth and Media team, contributing to The Kinder & Braver World Project led by danah boyd and John Palfrey"  Anything danah boyd does is worth the read!
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/2012/kbw_bulling_in_a_networked_era


Re-post from our fall edition... too good not to share again for teachers!

16.  Videos on Facebook A++
http://www.avoidfacebook.com/video/

17.  10 Interactive Lessons By Google On Digital Citizenship http://edudemic.com/2012/07/10-interactive-lessons-by-google-on-digital-citizenship/

18.  35 Sources for Curated Educational Videos
http://gettingsmart.com/blog/2012/07/35-sources-curated-educational-videos/

19.  How to Set Twitter Privacy Settings - video tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piO2iTYexGc

20.  Cellphone Info Graphics links
http://cellphones.org/#axzz25LxOvMxi 

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From the Frontline" is a news brief with current news about all things Internet Safety and Digital Ethics.
Feel free to share or forward this email to your contacts.

Compiled by Instructional Technology Resource Teacher Joe Showker of Rockingham County Schools in Virginia.
http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/itrt/itrtjfs.html

Showker is on the National Advisory Board member @ WebWiseKids.org and is an admin member of the Harrisonburg Police Department Auxiliary - Special Operations
http://www.webwisekids.org/

"Up to the minute research and postings" on internet safety issues: http://delicious.com/digitalsafety

A Blog on what's going on in Virginia's schools with digital ethics, social media and cellphones in the classroom.
http://digitalethicsva.blogspot.com/

RCPS schools are teaching students and parents about internet safety and digital ethics.
@ http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/netsafety/netsafety.htm