few years ago and before the advance of Internet-not only as a great source of information but as the window to publish everything about us from blogs and virtual communities, "also the troubles arise from the interaction, aggression, the consequences of anonymity, content theft The use of published information for other purposes that were intended by the user, the lack of privacy, etc, etc. This fact led to the concern by entities related to education and the preservation of the rights of children, to review and think about strategies that would lead to protect children and educate them to understand virtual relationships . In this framework, globally speaking of "Safer Internet" in Castilian translate it as "Internet Safe".
In a first approach to the problem, this name seemed appropriate to frame. But, having made a trip with children and teachers in this area, we believe that this name enables us to be sufficiently covered to include in it all the variables at play.
Years ago, the concern to begin work focused primarily on the dangers from the "outside" (especially the emphasis was on criminals who used the web as a means of access to children, including pedophiles, trafficking networks, etc.). In that instance, the proposed work to children and young people was about how to create strategies for them and they learn to guard against these dangers. In this sense, developed recommended guidelines for interaction and created game modes and reflection that can address the issue in the classroom.
While that looks so worked is extremely important today, and we believe that should not be overlooked, is essential expand the meaning of a "Safer Internet" the concept of "Responsible Use of ICT" . We understand that this new definition sum, for several reasons:
1. includes the use of other technologies, not just Internet (cell phones, digital cameras, etc)
In this regard, and the possibilities and applications that allow web 2.0 through a computer, not we can ignore the impact of cell phone use in children and young people. It also covers the technologies that make the production of videos, photographs, which are then shared throughout the web.
2. Incorporates the fact that the aggression does not only come from "outside" of strangers but the same children and youth, in many cases, are the aggressors.
The phenomena related to anonymity, the
bullying as a form of interaction, respect for the image not the other, are common currency among the young. It is known that the consequences of these attacks can lead to extreme situations for the victim, given the pervasiveness of technology in the private life and the effect they are invasive. And these aggressive interactions, most of the time, was among the same classmates. Therefore
is an issue that also falls to the school, even when these situations manifest only in virtual-yet we know that generally it is not, but the virtual is a more where are enhanced forms of aggression also occur face to face "-
are many cases in which the school believes these issues are beyond their purview as they are things that happen "outside their walls." We can not ignore these situations if we believe that responsible adults have a role in training on these issues.
3. Incorporates concepts of ethics, living, privacy, pampering themselves and the other, respect for interaction "careful" in virtual environments in the same way that it works on the same axes to facilitate the interaction face to face. "
learning patterns and coexistence of ethics governing the links between people. These guidelines should not be different for links established through the virtual, but this "world" should be within the social legislation of mutual respect, tolerance, safeguarding privacy, confidentiality, etc. etc.
Just as in real life,
"the kid has to learn gradually to come into relationship with the other, to collaborate, to recognize him as his fellow man but also as a separate being" and
Meirieu introduced [1] learning the concept of otherness, which is also necessary to include when interacting with other using technology.
4. Includes the dimension and the intrinsic laws of each medium. is necessary that children and young people understand that virtual interactions have consequences in real life. Helping children to seize the temporal and spatial dimensions that make the web an infinite space and intangible, to understand that what passes issued from the private to the public, there is a notion that children and young people, close to the immediacy and immediately understand the satisfaction per se.
According to Burbules, "They know
-should know-that is public information, other people can see it, but I do not always realize the consequences or implications in the medium or long term purchase publish this information online " .
[2]
5. Promotes the understanding that the media should be used appropriately, depending on the environment and the situation in which the user has.
A responsible use of technology should also promote reflection on the ways in which we use the "artifacts" in technology that are with us every moment of our lives. Diego Levis
introduced in this way, for example, cell phone use "
is undeniable that cell phone use facilitates many aspects of everyday life. There are many cases where this is so. At other times, however, their indiscriminate use can cause discomfort or even dangerous situations. It is common to find people using the mobile device as a means of trying to reaffirm their bonds of belonging and thus reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness that paradoxically feels the inhabitants of large cities ... "... It's the same
the place and time, if the phone rings we hasten to assist you indifferent to the situation where we are and the people we are. No matter if you're driving a car, a bus or a truck, if you're in the cinema or theater, in a plane about to take off, in a working meeting, eating with friends, or with a loved one, the call can not wait, as if it depended on something fundamental to our lives. It seems that we are not aware of the risks we face from an accident, damage a business, wear a loving relationship or simply disrespect and annoy our neighbors "
[3] 6. Promotes the formation of criteria for a beneficial use of technology.
When we refer to children and adolescents need to be a criterion in relation to their use of ICT, we talked of training people capable of critical information circulating on the Internet, they can discern, who are trained to choose, to know the value of things. This is a cross transmission to other issues and plays, of course, linkages mediated by technology.
Then it's time to define the place of the adult in this field. It is true that they - the kids and the young, who are one step ahead of adults in the speed and logic with using some of the programs and technological devices, but this does not mean that adults can not find your place in this relationship.
The place reserved for adults -
parents, teachers, concerning health, has to do with being able to build common frameworks for students to understand the scope of mediated communication technologies, to frame the virtual relations in the rules of conduct and ethics, promote meaningful interactions for learning, and encourage socialization, collaboration and community building .
need to get closer to the guys on this topic, be
off-site adult , and change the look, get into the applications that give young boys and technologies, to understand the logic of use-very different than adults do the same applications, the needs they can meet the models that follow, the ways they relate with others, group membership (or non-membership), the meaning of what they communicate. This is the challenge of teaching include, without having to be a technology expert, "
go beyond the technical skills to approach the meaning of the terms link ... and can work from there.
Because it is from this place that can promote the formation of young critics, conscious of what is right and what is wrong, what is tolerance, respect, the notion of privacy, to also trade mediated by technology are framed in these apprenticeships.
That's the best way we can, from the adult role,
build with them so they can move
virtuality "Secure" and above all "responsible" . It is the most effective way to take to protect themselves, have the tools and criteria make people respectable and respectful of others.
Buenos Aires, June 2008.
[1] Philippe Meirieu "The significance of education in a world without references." Conference June 27, 2006 for teacher training institutes. ME
[2] Nicholas Burbules "To think about education in the future, constraints of today are technological obstacles, but obstacles to the imagination." EducaRed dialogue.
[3] Diego Levis "Living in the cell: the compulsion to be always connected." Published in Clarín, October 2007.
