Planning and Resources

Searching the Internet Safely and Effectively

The Internet is a wonderful place for students to research class papers, projects, and reports. But as the quantity of available information grows, so do the chances that students will stumble across inappropriate material during their online travels. There are ways, however, for you to monitor your students and educate them on how to search the Internet safely.

Protecting Students' Privacy on the Internet

One way for you to protect your students is to only allow them to look at sites you have already reviewed and approved yourself. If students surf beyond your bookmarked URLs, impose penalties. (To bookmark a page using Netscape, go to the Bookmarks pull-down menu and choose the Add Bookmarks option. To bookmark a page using Internet Explorer, go to the Favorites pull-down menu and choose the Add Favorites option.) When selecting sites for your students to visit, stay away from pages with too many flashy banner ads or buttons. These ads can entice students to leave the site and lead them to materials that are potentially inappropriate.

From marketing scams to consumer research ploys, the opportunity to give out personal information via the Internet is endless. Think about establishing ground rules with your students as to which information they can give out while online. You can further reinforce these rules with an "Acceptable Internet Use Policy" contract that you, your students, and their parents agree to and sign. This can include definitions of "appropriate" and "inappropriate" sites and conduct and details about which personal information should not be given out while students are online. Emphasize that students should never give out their addresses, social security numbers, phone numbers, pictures of themselves, or any other personal information unless either you or their parents have approved. Stipulate that students should never arrange a meeting with someone they originally met online without first asking an adult.

Finally, note that chat rooms, bulletin boards, and discussion forums are particularly risky to students' privacy. Tell students that surfing the Internet is appropriate only when they have a specific purpose and schedule.

Helping Students to Do Research on the Internet

As the Internet becomes more and more invaluable to researchers, its resources are becoming trickier to evaluate. The sheer quantity of information available on the Internet can be confusing and misleading to students, who might initially be too quick to accept all information as fact. Students need to have a good browser. The two most popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator. When students are researching, they should stick to two or three trustworthy search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!.

Teach your students to be discriminating Web site evaluators. Emphasize that a careful researcher is a thorough researcher. The most important thing for them to decide is whether the information they are considering using as a resource is subjective or objective. Once students have separated opinion from what they believe are solid facts, challenge them to check those facts against two other sources (online or print) and verify their validity.

Suggest that students follow their instincts. It's easy to be fooled by pages that substitute flashy animation for substantial information. If online information looks or seems incorrect, there is a good chance that it is incorrect. Researching to prove that information is wrong can be as valuable as researching to prove something is right. Students should always identify the author (person or group) and the author's qualifications, and how recently the information they are using was posted and/or updated.

Also important to validate is the site's intended audience, the persons or groups affiliated with the site, and the intended purpose of the information given. One good resource to help you and your students to do this is a site evaluation checklist. Beware of opinion-heavy personal Web pages, often identifiable by a "~" (tilde) followed by a name in the URL. To avoid sites that promote their own propaganda or other questionable information, direct students to sites with ".edu" or ".gov" in their URL.

Finally, remind students that online sources need to be cited and acknowledged like print sources. Students can use The Columbia Guide to Online Style (MLA and APA) to help them write an electronic bibliography. Remind students that copyright laws apply to the Internet. Unless the work students intend to borrow is openly labeled as public domain or is accompanied by a disclosure from the author, students must obtain permission to use it. Additionally, if you want to post your students' work on the Web, you must get permission from the students and their parents.

Links

The Computer Learning Web site includes information on how to teach students to safely and wisely navigate the Internet and its many resources.

The LInC Online Web site offers comprehensive articles and links to information on electronic bibliographies and Internet copyright laws.

The Search Engine Watch Web site tells you everything you ever wanted to know about search engines and smart searching techniques.

This WebTeacher tutorial on how to use popular browsers can help you and your students become adept at surfing the Net.

Resources

Davis, Dee. So Much Information So Little Time: Real Research on the WWW. Northern Trails Area Education Agency. 21 November 2000 <http://www.aea2.k12.ia.us/Tutorials/ research/mustbetrue.htm>.

Online Safety. Lightspan. 19 December 2000 <http://www.lightspan.com/community/ pages/safety/default.asp?_prod=LS>.