Archive--Internet

Features

10/18/00

Teaching kids to cruise the Net

By Jillian Sleight

Technology has changed the way we learn and access information. A recent survey found that more than 25 million children in the United States are on the Internet, up from eight million in 1997, and by the year 2005 the number of children online is expected to increase by another 70 percent.

With the increasing number of kids online the question is, how educational is the Internet for children?

"The Internet is a positive tool for students in school," said Kay Rhees, principal of Edith Bowen Laboratory School on the USU campus. "The biggest impact the Internet has had on the education system is the availability of current information and the tightening of the web connection world wide."

Students at Edith Bowen have been sending e-mail to a sister school in Japan, she said. Many of the third, fourth and fifth graders are given research assignments that use the Internet.

The technology teacher at Edith Bowen sets up specific links for the students to use. The links coincide with the curriculum they are learning in class. Therefore they are searching the Web through links specified for them.

Students are taught from the beginning of the year the importance of using the Internet properly, Rhees said. At Edith Bowen they compare having a driver license to having an Internet Highway License. Just like a person is penalized for speeding, there are penalties that come with abusing the Internet license.

Rhees said each student is required to sign an Internet Acceptable Use Policy agreement at the beginning of the year. This policy outlines the rules and consequences of using the Internet. Each student takes home the policy and discusses it with their parents and they decide together what they can and cannot do on the Internet. Rhees said the school has had no problems with Internet abuse.

Shersti Salisbury, a fourth grade teacher at Millville Elementary School, agrees that the Internet is a positive educational tool. Millville elementary also has each student sign a user policy agreement. Salisbury said her fourth graders are given research assignments on the Web.

"It is the best way for kids to get current information without having to search through out-dated books," Salisbury said.

The web is excellent for research but there are also many fun and educational web sites just for kids. Link to 700+ Great Sites, a site that focuses specifically on the needs and interests of children and teenagers.

There are many educational positives to the Internet. The key is to teach children and students how to use it properly. Parents can help children by teaching them about the Internet, what it does and how it works. Parents can go to the New York State Library's question-and-answer site to help answer questions about how to use the Internet safely and effectively. may have.

Because parents and teachers are teaching students how to use the Internet properly it has and will become a more positive educational tool.