The technology king is in action to make students and educators internet awesome.
In partnership with iKeepSafe, ConnectSafely and Family Online Safety Institute, Google launched “Be Internet Safe”, a campaign that educates students how to act on internet is now extended to help educators with Digital Training.
Be Internet Awesome teaches kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety so they can explore the online world with confidence.
This month, Google extended its Be Internet Awesome program to include a free online training course to help educators establish foundational skills needed to teach their students to have a safe and positive experience online.
The Google blog mentions, “We want to help ensure that today’s young people will become smart and responsible citizens both online and off. This is why we’ve developed programs like Be Internet Awesome and the Online Safety Roadshow that teach kids how to be safe, confident explorers online. But we also recognize that it’s important to partner with educators too, so we really look forward to seeing how the Digital Citizenship and Safety Course will help teachers tackle this important topic in the classroom.”
Now let’s see what all does it offers to all of its targeted audiences:
For Kids:
Interland is the game that helps kids explore the wonders of the internet and how they can make the best out of it while being at their best of behavior. The Google blog reads, “It’s free and web-based so it’s easily accessible by everyone, and most importantly, it’s in a format kids already love. In this imaginary world of four lands, kids combat hackers, phishers, oversharers and bullies, practicing the skills they need to be good digital citizens”.
Have a look:
For Educators:
The recently launched a free online training course to help educators establish foundational skills needed to teach their students to have a safe and positive experience online.
“Teaching digital citizenship isn’t always straightforward — and can be pretty intimidating — given the many ways in which young people use the internet today,” reads the Google blog post announcing the Digital Citizenship and Safety Course.
The Google course is separated into five lessons:
– Internet safety and privacy, with a focus on setting strong passwords
– Mobile safety, with an emphasis on avoiding harmful downloads
– Informed searching, which is about evaluating credibility of online sources
– Scam safety, which establishes ground rules for avoiding phishing and other scams
– Online reputation management, which helps with long-term skills for protecting privacy
Other than this they were already providing educators with “The Be Internet Awesome Curriculum” that gives educators the tools and methods they need to teach digital safety fundamentals. The curriculum is lesson plans for the five topics, with activities and worksheets that were designed to complement Interland.
For Parents:
It is difficult to guide kids at home when parents themselves aren’t completely aware of the issue, consequences and solutions at hand. In the same direction, Google has an Internet Awesome Pledge for parents to make. The Google blog read, “Families can reinforce important lessons at home by signing the Be Internet Awesome Pledge to stay smart, alert, strong, kind and brave online”. For parents to get all aware about the right use of internet, Google along with a group of YouTube creators has a challenge for parents called, #BeInternetAwesomeChallenge, a video series that makes talking about online safety fun and accessible.
With all things going online I believe it is essential to help our kids understand the ethical use of the web technology and this step in the same direction by Google can be a change maker for the times to come. The complete campaign “Be Internet Awesome” focuses on five key lessons to help kids navigate the online world with confidence and educators as well as parents have been told their part to play in the same:
– Be Internet Smart: Share with care
– Be Internet Alert: Don’t fall for fake
– Be Internet Strong: Secure your secrets
– Be Internet Kind: It’s cool to be kind
– Be Internet Brave: When in doubt, talk it out
With information on your screen, what is your take on this?
How else can we teach our kids to be play and stay safe on Internet?
