This presentation addresses internet uses, safety, and ethics.

1. Internet Publication
Angelina McCoach

2. My Internet Friend
The internet is like an organ to me on a daily basis, I
need it to survive. I literally use it in all facets of my
life. I first learned about the internet when I was in
middle school or maybe a little bit earlier. I first
learned to utilize it for school purposes only. I
mainly did research for book reports or for others
topics presented by my teachers. I was fascinated to
be working on a computer. I recall going to the local
library and signing up for computer time. There was
a lot of other as well.

3. Personal Practices
Currently, I use it to research everything in my life
basically. Most importantly, I use it to research
topics for my content area. I used it and am
continuing to use it to obtain higher education.
Online courses are most definitely convenient for
me. I also utilize the internet to research any and
every topic from benefits of eating spinach to
finding an apartment to live in. I also do a lot of
online shopping. I actually shop online more than I
shop in an actual store. Lastly, and of course, I use it
for social purposes. Most of my social time is spent
on Instagram and FaceBook.

4. My Safety Practices
While surfing the internet, I am always trying to
be sure it is a safe and secure site. It is mostly
important when I am making payments online. I
normally look for the lock in the address bar to
ensure that is it secure. Internet safety is very
serious, due to lots of hackers that are
attempting to retrieve anyone’s information for
criminal use. Thus far, I have luckily been able to
shop and surf online without dealing with those
types of issues.

5. Personal Computers
For my personal computers, I make sure I download
a security system for my laptops and desktops to
block any viruses that are attempting to harm and
compromise my system. The anti-virus program is
now very essential, especially after my old laptop
crashed. It was infected by a virus from visiting
different websites and downloading many different
types of files on to the hard drive. Normally, I pay
for an annual program to protect my computer
systems.

6. School Internet Safety
At school, there is a rather strict internet policy. Normally,
the system blocks out any websites that is harmful or may
represent demeaning values in any way. It specifically
blocks out YouTube and FaceBook. The students love to
visits these sites to see what going on in the world. The
school is leery of these sites because there are all types of
vulgar, negative, unethical people and issues connected
to them. There are ways to beat the system by putting
https on the links and the students have figured it out. I
always monitor the students and place a computer policy
in the media center to remind the students.

7. Analyzing the School’s Policy
I completely understand the school’s internet protocol
and safety for the students and staff. It is for the benefit
of the students. Outside of school, students sometimes
do and participate in whatever they please and it is
corrupting their minds and actions. The school is a place
to be safe and educating for the students. It should
promote unity and peace, as well as, good ethical
standards. If we allow the same rules to apply in school
as do on the other side of those walls, we are not making
a difference. If would infer that we condone the
demeaning information spewed through the social site,
rather than showing them a better way of life.

8. Implementation
My students currently use the internet quite often for
projects, intervention services, or to visit educational
websites. I also have different internet research activities that
require the students to visit different websites to find
information or data. While on the internet the students are
aware that they are never allowed to listen to any profane
language or inappropriate images while surfing the internet.
They are aware that they will immediately lose their privileges
as their consequence. Depending on the severity of the site
that they’re on they could be written up and sent to the
office. Some students have a bit of a challenge transitioning
between school internet ethics and home ethics, because a
lot of times the students aren’t supervised while surfing the
internet.

9. Ethical Temptations
Cyber bullying is the probably the most widely
addressed topics, because a lot of the altercations
begin online via Facebook or Instagram. The
students may argue, curse at one another, or even
send threats on the social media. This type of
interaction transitions within the school halls and
create an even bigger issue. Within the last few
years, the school district and the local police district
has implemented legal consequences that will
follow if students partake in such behavior.
Although, this action taken did not eliminate the
cyber issues, it has reduced it some.

10. Academic Honesty
When it comes to academic use of the
internet, I haven’t really assigned my
students papers or research projects
that would require them to think about
academic integrity online. As a middle
school math teacher, I haven’t
implemented such projects, but I do
plan to in the future. On the contrary,
some of my students are a part of an
energy research team with their
science teacher. They are required to
perform some research online and
create word documents or
presentations. They are taught to
search for sites that are .org or .edu to
find pertinent information.
They are also taught
plagiarism and how to
paraphrase and cite correctly.
I often promote students
individuality and hard work
to deter them from copying
or using each other’s work.
These practices help them to
remain honest and have
integrity in their own work. I
often tell students not to let
anyone get credit for their
hard work and studying.

11. Future Implementation
In the future, I plan to
implement more projects that
require the students in my
math class to use the internet
and other computer software.
I think it would be helpful to
have an internet research
information sheet for them to
fill out for each website they
visit. This sheet would entail
them listen the site, citing the
reference, why the site is
reputable and trustworthy,
and the information they
pulled from the site.
Lastly, there could be a section
for them to paraphrase and
cite the information correctly
before they type it in the
documents. They would have
to turn the sheets in before
actually beginning to type it in
their documents. I would
review and make notations as
the corrections they need to
make. This would help them
eliminate any temptation of
plagiarism.

12. Future Implementation
I would also hold different
trainings in class on
internet ethics and safety
each time they have to
complete an online
research project or
activity. I would have
them take quizzes and
write narratives about
why internet ethics and
safety is important.