Paperless English: Students and Privacy

Our school networks block things all the time to "protect" our students from big scaries in the online world, but how frequently are we teaching them to protect themselves? When I asked my kids that question last week, the general consensus was "We pretty much never talk about it, but I think we did a worksheet one time..."

I'm certain I'm not doing enough in my classroom, and that seems illogical, particularly considering my desire to move my classes in the direction of increased online activity.

So in the midst of this semester's study of 1984, I was excited to come across the following video in my Google Reader last week. It sparked a ton of great discussion among my students (especially the segment on Facebook) and a couple of writing assignments. The fact that it features Cory Doctorow and Neil Gaiman didn't hurt either, as a number of my kids are fans of Little Brother and The Graveyard Book :)