Internet in the Classroom: Benefits of and Need for Safety

• Research: Research is the most important reason to have Internet access in the classroom. Students will multiply their knowledge with Internet research. Some important Internet resources for students are:

- Lesson plans

- Test papers

- Lab experiments

- Tutorials on various subjects

- Geographic maps

- Projects on different subjects

Some Internet Searching Tips to share with your students:

- Be clear about what information you are looking for.

- Write down what word/words best describe your requirement.

- Use multiple sites for searching. - If you want information about some specific phrases then put the phrase under quotes, for example “Lesson plan”.

- If you want a wider search result with an approximate phrase then just type ~ before the phrase. For example, ~lesson plan.

- Use AND when you want Internet information about more than one word.

- Use OR for getting Internet information for any of the words.

• Online Assessment of your students: Giving students access to school websites creates the opportunity to assess students online. Sites can be developed in such a way that students have a limited amount of time, and no two students will get the same set of questions or papers.

• Online Help for Homework: Via the school website students can get help online from teachers while at home.

• Expanse

Bringing the Internet into the classroom requires building soft infrastructure, which costs.

Solution: If school management cannot bear the cost for the Internet, then approach the local residents, corporations, and other entities for donations and grants.

• Choosing the Right Internet Material

The Internet is full of junk along with very useful information. It is very likely that students will get carried away by the wrong kinds of web pages.

Solution: Before giving a topic to students for research, teachers must visit and inspect the relevant websites. Teachers instruct the students to stay on relevant pages and avoid the junk sites.

• Controlling Adult Information

The Internet is full of pornography, abusive language, dating sites, etc. Young students are very likely to be attracted towards inappropriate web pages.

Solution: Administrator of school Internet network can restrict such offensive sites in the classroom.

• Copying Internet Information without doing Research

Students can easily copy information of their given topic without doing research on it. This is called plagiarism.The information can even be purchased via the web.

Solution: Ask the students orally to explain what they have written, and if they fail the school should have appropriate consequences put in place.

To unlock the potential of the Internet for students by bringing it into the classroom, be cautious and careful about Internet safety issues for students. The students and the teachers will need proper training to ensure that students get the maximum benefit of classroom Internet access. Teachers need to have a sufficient amount of time to invest in bringing the Internet to the classroom.

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