Student Internet Safety : What's your approach?

After having a conversation about student internet use and safety with my Innovative Educators during our last Blogs and Wikis training I came across this timely blog entry from Vinnie Vrotny.
Vrotny suggests that we stop teaching our students using negative messages of what not to do on the internet, but instead teach them how to think about the consequences of their actions.
Vrontny has recognized that our students are active in all aspects of the web from social networks, gaming to YouTube and beyond. He proposes that we ask them a series of questions that have the potential to make our students "think before they post."

Vrotny's questions:

If people were to Google you, what conclusions would they make?

From observing your on-line communication, what kind of person would they believe you are? What type of thinker are you? What skills do they think that you have?

From looking at your digital self, would people think that you are full of creativity or are you a copy-cat, mimicking the works of others without any new original thought?

What do you do if your work is being misappropriated? What if you discover that there are images of you on other’s sites which are unflattering or potentially damaging?

What's your approach to teaching your students about their safety and presence on the internet?

For the whole blog entry go to Changing my Tune - Internet Safety for Students

Diana Kenney