LIVING ONLINE AND EDUCATION

By Krista Kyker

WHAT HAPPENED TO READING A BOOK?

• Tablets, Kindles and E-Readers, have replaced books.

• They offer distraction to students while they are trying to learn

• There is something about the feel of a book in your hands

• There are no emails to check while reading a book

• There are no text messages to open or web pages to browse

It is just the reader and the words

CYBERBULLYING• Carol Brydolf said “More and more schools find themselves caught between their legal and moral obligations to provide a safe environment that promotes learning and their student’ constitutional rights to free expression and privacy.”

INTERNET SAFETY AND EDUCATION

• Without the ability to constantly monitor what our children are doing online, there is no way to make sure that they are doing the right thing all the time.

• Both parents and educators hope to control the issue of cyberbullying through educating our children on appropriate and ethical internet use.

IMMATURITY VS. OPPORTUNITY

• NSBA technology director Flynn says “That for all the headaches, digital communication provides exciting opportunities to improve student learning.”

• Inexperienced internet users that lack maturity can lead to cyberbullying.

DO THE RISKS OF ONLINE EDUCATION OUTWEIGH THE BENEFITS?

INTERNET IS AN ENDLESS LIBRARY

• The internet can be an amazing educational tool if not abused.

• There are vast amounts of priceless information to be found

• There are fantastic learning games and tools.

ABC MOUSE ABC Mouse has been instrumental in helping us to teach both girls to recognize site words and to count upward to 100.

ABC MOUSE

• The cost of the program is $7.95 a month and offers us an economical to way to reinforce what they are learning in school and what we have taught them at home.

• My girls can easily navigate this website on their own.

• The website allows me to personalize each account for age appropriate activities.

ADULT LEARNING AND THE CONVENIENCE OF THE INTERNET.

• As a student myself, I am often at the mercy of time and rely on the ability to email my instructors with questions I have on assignments.

• The internet allows for efficient communication between professors, students and administration which cuts down on the guess work and alleviates misunderstandings.

• Technology is the future and allows for us to access millions of resources and databases with the touch of our fingertips.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT HANDS ON LEARNING

• However people have become lost in their computer screens, iPhone and tablets.

• We need to remember that there is a world of education that surrounds us.

• Science in our backyards, mathematics in our kitchens and the importance and serenity we find in curling up at the end of a day with a good book.