Yikes...who would have thought....

95% of parents didn't recognize the lingo kids use to let people know that their parents are watching
89% of sexual solicitations are made in either chat rooms or Instant Messages
20% of children age 10-17 have received unwanted sexual solicitations online; that's one out of every five kids
75% of youth who received an online sexual solicitation did not tell a parent
81% of parents of online youth say that kids aren't careful enough when giving out information about themselves online
76% of parents don't have rules about what their kids can do on the computer
65% of parents believe that kids do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about
4,000,000 children are posting content to the Web everyday
15,000,000 youth use Instant Messaging

Much more info @netlingo.com

Do you know your LINGO?

Have you intercepted a note from your students that ended with WB or BFF...these acronyms of olden days have now turned into the newest NET LINGO....with a twist. Net lingo are all of the short cuts to words that kids now use to type, instant message, and text each other with.

So why do you need to know this? POS does not mean what you might think-it means Parent Over Shoulder. TOS-Teacher over shoulder. BTW-By the way. BBL-Be back later. Kids use these in their notes, texts and in their everyday language. Haven't you seen the Cingular commercial for text messaging rates and the BFF Jill?

Regardless...even though some of these are innocent, some are not. There is a lot of net lingo out there that is very cryptic. Be forewarned-some of it is EXPLICIT in nature. Click here if you are interested in educating yourself more... NoSlang OR....netlingo.

What is a Wiki?

Wiki's are all around us. I am sure you have heard of Wikipedia-a well known wikispace that gets a bad rap in education. Wikipedia gets a bad rap because of the nature in which it is made. Wiki's are editable content by anyone. In most cases a wikispace will require you to become a member so the owners can monitor your work. In education Wikipedia should not be considered a reputable source for students to use…but here comes the big BUT….it is an excellent place to find reputable sources. Most entries contain a bibliography at the bottom with reputable sites such as .gov, .edu and .org domains from which the editor received their information.

As for the classroom-wikispaces is an excellent and easy tool for any teacher to use. You can easily sign up for an ad-free space and have your students creating information in no time. Your students could each build a page in wikispace regarding any type of topic and add media and graphics to make their presentation visually effective. Wikispaces could also be a great way to promote activities and events in your classroom. Check out one of our CFF Coaches wiki to see how it works… http://theconnectedclassroom.wikispaces.com/ and check out several of our teachers wiki's who are using wikispaces in their classroom and to communicate with the community. http://tjohnston.wikispaces.com and http://ghsmusic.wikispaces.com

As always if you are interested in getting something like this up and running just let me know….

Why aren't you social bookmarking???

Social bookmarking is an excellent way to organize your favorite internet sites. You can have your own account which allows you to view your favorites no matter where you are, or you can build one for your classroom. If you have sites that you want your students to frequent-put them on a site for your classroom.
Don't forget... I have been building our social bookmarking site for our district. Make sure to check it out.
http://del.icio.us/girardsites