Technology Update: Lower Elementary

Lower Elementary students have almost completed their lessons on computer and online safety. We've spent about 5 weeks on the unit so far, and have one week left.  

We learned:

• It's important to know who we can trust (online and offline). 
• Always keep your personal information safe (like name, address, phone number, school name, and picture). It should only be shared with people you can trust. 
• It is best to use a nickname, or username, for online games and activities, and that nicknames shouldn't reveal anything personal.  Students came up with some great nickname ideas, like Pink Princess, Mikey (Mike is not in the student's name), Sit Dog, Banana, and Spiderman.  
• We heard some new computer vocabulary, including: privacy policy, terms and conditions, register, virus (including various sub-categories of viruses and other computer related problems, such as worms, malware, trojans, keyloggers and phishing), antivirus, password, and login. 
• If someone offers you something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Always ask an adult you trust! 
• A pop up is a window that opens on our screen that we didn't want or ask for.  Sometimes they can cause computer problems if you click them!  Students learned they can make them go away by clicking the red X, or call a trusted adult for help. 
• We should seek help right away if we think we see or click something dangerous online.  

Next week we will have our last online safety lesson.  We will be discussing cyber-bullying, and how we can make the Internet a nicer place to learn and play.