Security on the Internet is one of the priorities in the European Union and worldwide because it concerns the rights of the child. The European policy for every child or teen is to acquire digital skills that will ensure access to knowledge, communication and professional career. All of them imply the need for strategic information and protection. The involvement of children with the Internet requires all the necessary measures to be taken at European and national level and increases the responsibility of the school and the teacher that must guarantee the safety of students. This article aims at fostering ‘Digital Citizenship’ not only as a teaching tool, but as a method of preparation of young users of technology for the Information Society in a safe and enjoyable way.
The wiki created for this reason supports the material gathered so that students realise the dangers as well as the importance of safety, netiquette, digital ethics and wellness. In www.scoopit.it you can find articles selected with plenty of ideas for teachers and parents that can be a source of inspiration for all of us!
EXPECTED OUTCOMES:
By the end of the project students are expected to:
- develop a responsible attitude towards matters related to digital rules and proper “electronic” behaviour.
- be educated on issues of rights and obligations, digital health and wellness, online shopping and handling information.
- adopt good digital practices in a pleasant and amusing way fostering their critical ability and creative imagination and setting dilemmas that lead to the adoption of problem solving techniques.
- work as a team in a project, which “is directly linked to the experiential and student-centered approach, collaborative learning, differentiated pedagogy, wjile a prerequisite for better and safer use of new technologies in the educational process” (Mavromara-Lazarides, 2011).
- use electronic questionnaires and their Portfolios to assess their acquired knowledge on the subject and evaluate their process and performance.
PRODUCTS:
- A collaborative poster per team
- An animated video per team
The 1st page of the wiki (HOME) serves as a project plan setting the goals, products of the project.
The 2nd page of the wiki (Sources & Material) serves as a source of material ranging from informative videos hosted on a canvas and articles with sites, games and advice for educators, parents and children to activity books and awards.
The 3rd page of the wiki ( GAMES) is meant to offer an amusing and informative way of approximating the topic. The students are invited to enjoy intriguing games, fun activities and a video game created to combine information, training and entertainment.
The 4th page of the wiki (CREATIONS) hosts a dashboard full of infograms and posters so that students can be inspired to complete their own interactive poster per team. Then after watching an animated video especially designed for the specific topic, they are called to create their owns per team.
The last page of the wiki (EVALUATION) is divided into three parts. A diagnostic evaluation that investigates the prior knowledge of the students on the subject and their possible misunderstandings (with the web 2.0 tool www.tricider.com), a formative assessment during the development and evolution of the project and the final assessment that consists of a questionnaire in the students’ mother tongue to be integrated into their Language Portfolios and help them realise their progress on the cognitive and the linguistic component.
