iKeepSafe created several new resources in honor of Data Privacy Day, including:

• 2012 Data Privacy Roadmap
• Press Release (includes list of last year’s major privacy breaches)
• Data Privacy Infographic
• Simple Steps to Safer Devices
• 2012 Editorial Calendar
• Radio PSAs

You can find more information about how to protect your privacy online by visiting these websites:

• http://www.staysafeonline.org/dpd
• http://www.theiinonline.org
• http://www.dataprotectionday.info
• http://info.speechlys.com/ve/ZZbt61VM77SFm31k7

Or by watching this short video below, featuring Intel CEO Paul Otellini.

Marsali Hancock, President & CEO of iKeepSafe is featured on CNN’s Schools of Thought blog, speaking to students, teachers and parents about the ins and outs of being connected to digital devices full-time.

Ms. Hancock’s blog, “My View: No surprises with digital devices at school” emphasizes that schools should take a “no surprises” approach to managing connected devices on and off campus.  The blog addresses four surprises educators will want to avoid:

–Why is the network slow?
–Why is Facebook upsetting my classroom? What do you mean, new laws?
–You can cheat with an iTouch?
–Do your parents know what’s on that phone?

“Educators are in a unique position to move the needle for responsible use in the rising generation,” Ms. Hancock said. “The more we present good digital citizenship as the expected norm for teens, the more functional and resilient our students will be in connected environments.”

CNN’s Schools of Thought blog covers education topics from a wide range of perspectives, including policies, practices and people. It reaches students from pre-kindergarten to college, parents and teachers, offering “food for thought in the national conversation on education.”

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Katie Binstock is a blogger for the Internet Keep Safe Coalition, an organization that gives parents, educators, and policymakers the information and tools that empower them to teach children the safe and healthy use of technology and the Internet.

With all that holiday surprise in the digital world, schools will need a “no surprises” approach to managing connected devices on and off campus. Educating healthy, resilient digital citizens won’t happen by accident. As educators, we have to be proactive and work with parents to create a culture where good online behavior is the norm.

To read about four surprises you’ll want to avoid, visit CNN’s School of Thought Blog and read Marsali Hancock’s full-length article.

Marsali Hancock is president of the Internet Keep Safe Coalition. She speaks nationally and internationally on digital citizenship issues, including safety, security and ethics. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Brigham Young University

Over 40 countries around the world are celebrating Data Privacy Day this week to raise awareness about the many ways personal information is collected, stored, used, and shared. Their goal is to enable individuals to protect their personal information.

This week’s iKeepCurrent—complete with lessons, learning activities, professional development, parent tips, and additional resources—is based primarily on two resources iKeepSafe created for the celebration:

–2012 Data Privacy Roadmap
–It’s Data Privacy Day on Sat. 28th; But What Does Data Privacy Mean to You?

The curriculum also features an article by Sussanah Myer, a 15-year-old freshman at the Hewitt School in New York City. She is the first of many teens from Huffpost High teaming up with iKeepCurrent to share their perspectives.

Read the full curriculum, and sign up for iKeepCurrent today.

Sometimes a school’s motivation in creating such policies is to address perceived rampant “cyberbullying” or “sexting.” This is usually when I get involved to assist a school.  Based on my experience, I can say that the hearts of most school staff are almost always in the right place to protect students when we work together.

However, while the intent to protect students is laudable, a school’s assertion of authority to regulate off-campus social media or communication/conduct poses a legal trap for the unwary.  This is because, despite the passage of these new bullying laws, school administrators are still subject to other older laws, in particular the 1st Amendment and the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, governing freedom of speech and the right to be free from unreasonable searches respectively.

When a school elects to go off-campus or outside of school to regulate conduct, usually by disciplining involved students, they run the risk of invading the private affairs of students, or punishing students for what may be free speech.

Now, I am not saying that taking action is inappropriate.  Clearly there are certain circumstances–for example threats, substantial disruption on-campus or of school activities—that merit attention by the school and, where appropriate, discipline.  I am right there on the bandwagon under such circumstances – I’ll even crack the whip on the horse team pulling it.

But first such a decision needs to be made knowingly and with appreciation of the implications and, sadly, the state of the law.

Realistically, much of the definition of off-campus behavior legally subject to discipline, including social media, is untested and inexact. Concepts of school campus boundaries are in flux due to new hybrid and virtual school models.  As a result, I see varied responses among schools.  Some of the discipline that is handed down to students for violating a school rule falls within accepted social norms for a community and, as a result, does not result in litigation or even push-back by distraught parents.

In other communities, even within the same state, there may be little deference and lawsuits can arise for the same discipline for the same conduct.  There must be a give and take between personal freedoms and the need for our schools to regulate and address off-campus conduct of concern impacting students.  Determining the balance between the two may be more arduous than some would like.   In light of this, I remain an advocate for non-disciplinary response options – educational options – to supplement discipline under the right circumstances.  They can serve a crucial role in future prevention.

In supervising students, it is axiomatic that schools must keep their eyes open.  Still, with schools now being called on to respond to off-campus conduct, including off-campus use of technology, and with the law still evolving, we need to keep our minds open as well.

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Charles Leitch is a Founding Principal of Patterson Buchanan Fobes Leitch & Kalzer, Inc., P.S., a law firm with offices in Washington and Oregon.  His practice focuses on representation of school districts and public entities.  Mr. Leitch also provides guidance, trainings and orientations on technology supervision, social networking, bullying and cyberbullying, and exploitation prevention throughout the United States and internationally, including specific formats for teenagers, parents, law enforcement, employees, and administrators.  He is a member of multiple work groups and advisory boards nationally on technology supervision and best practices.

Should educators use social media in the classoom?

In my home state of Missouri this has been a highly charged debate.  The intention of this article isn’t to prove that either side is right or wrong, but is rather to have a discussion around what may work best for your particular school or community.

I find it interesting that a few who argue for or against the use of social media in schools seem to have a personal perspective instead of a professional perspective.  I am talking about a few; please don’t apply a broad brush and confuse the few with  the majority. I’m concerned that the loudest voice drowns out the most reasonable voice.

One of these types is the individual who doesn’t understand how the medium is used and doesn’t get the big deal with banning its use.  I’m guessing they may not even use social media themselves.

Then there is the person who vehemently advocates for the use of the medium in the classroom.  This person acts like a fanatic about the use of social media and can even argue as if you are talking badly about their best friend.

Neither of these extremes persuades the other because they are emotionally based. This complex issue needs rational discussion and information from both sides to create a valued policy.

Last year the Missouri legislature overwhelmingly passed the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act (2011-SB 54).  The bill prohibited “exclusive access” between teacher and student, defined as, “the information on the website is available only to the owner (teacher) and user (student) by mutual explicit consent and where third parties have no access to the information on the website absent an explicit consent agreement with the owner (teacher).”

Senator Cunningham’s intent was to keep parents in the loop and prohibit secret communication between a teacher and a student.  She would say the bill only required that a parent or school administrator be included in the communication.  With that, the bill went through the legislature with little or no controversy.
After Governor Nixon signed the bill, it became clear that this one page out of the 35-page bill was going be a problem for many. This is where I saw the emotional response mentioned earlier from administrators, educators, parents and students.

Some even argued that the law banned a teacher, who is also the parent of a student, from having the ability to be “friends” on Facebook with their child.   Consequently, this section of the bill, known locally as the “Facebook Law,” was taken to court and Cole County Judge Beetem said, “The court finds that the statute would have a chilling effect on speech.”

Because the law was to go into effect on January 1, 2012, the legislature took up the bill in an extra session last October and removed the “exclusive access” section of the law.

This legislation still requires school districts to establish a policy by March 1, 2012 related to employee–student communication.  Nothing in this bill creates a policy for schools on whether social media can or cannot be used, and the Missouri School Boards Association and the Missouri State Teachers Association each created model policies on electronic communication between staff and students.  As you might expect, these policies seem quite different.

As schools deal with this difficult assignment (how about that play on words), they will have to weigh in on a number of issues.  If they choose to allow the use of social media, it will be critical to e establish appropriate boundaries between staff and students.  They will have to decide what grade to allow the use of this medium.  We all know that many students under the age of 13 use social networking, including some who have parents help set up the site, but social networking such as Facebook, require users to be at least 13 years of age.

This issue of social media and schools can’t be answered with an emotionally overcharged response of social media protectionism, or a casual disregard to the usefulness of the medium.  This issue will require significant discussion and deliberation to address all of the various complexities of the problem.  It is critical that schools include all stakeholders in the process to help form the best policy for YOUR school and community.

Former Missouri ICAC Commander Lt. Joe Laramie (retired) provides strategies and solutions for law enforcement and schools to address policy and training on a variety of technology and child exploitation issues.

High school teachers at yesterday's event

iKeepSafe and Google’s Digital Literacy Tour made another stop yesterday in Pittsburgh, PA.

iKeepSafe CEO & President, Marsali Hancock, along with James Hancock, Director of Web Strategy, and Shannon Seeger, Program Associate, conducted three events at the Barack Obama Academy of International Studies specifically for high school teachers, middle school teachers, and parents.

One of the things that Marsali discussed with each group was iKeepSafe’s 3 C’s of digital citizenship:

Appropriate Contact: Teach kids how to have healthy and appropriate relationships online and explain your expectations for those they communicate with online. Help them to recognize and protect themselves from cyberbullies, hackers, phishers, and predators. Explain to them that we never really know who is on the other end of a communication.

Appropriate Content: Communicate clearly your expectations for acceptable content. Is it healthy, responsible, ethical? This includes content that is both viewed and uploaded by kids. Help them understand that the Internet is forever: everything they post online can be tracked and stored and will follow them to future job interviews and college entrance interviews.

Appropriate Conduct: Teach kids appropriate online behavior. Because the web can feel anonymous, some youth become uninhibited online. Help them be the good person online that they are offline.

The group also watched this video and discussed the importance of building a positive online reputation:

This week, many of you have reflected on the achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the many civil rights champions before and since.

Dr. King illuminated the issue of civil rights and was the catalyst for many advances we enjoy today. Our wired world has established a level platform in many ways, and the availability of information creates tremendous opportunities to support the expansion of civil rights worldwide. At the same time, this instant information age allows for discrimination in ways never dreamed of in the past.

This week’s iKeepCurrent curriculum—complete with lessons, learning activities, professional development, parent tips, and additional resources—will spark insightful discussion around the rights you have online.

Everyone has a role to play in using the internet responsibly and ethically, and it includes remaining vigilant, speaking up and taking action to protect the hard-won civil rights of individuals.

Read the full curriculum and sign up for iKeepCurrent today.

Congress is debating the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a bill intended help fight the illegal online sharing of copyrighted content. A similar bill, the Protect IP Act has been introduced in the Senate. Both bills give law enforcement and owners of intellectual property new tools to go after illegal file sharing and the websites that enable it.

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, you could find all sorts of gadgets that let you find, store, share, and enjoy movies, television, music, and games in a variety of settings. The ability to seamlessly move digital content around whenever you want, wherever you are, is one of the great conveniences of a digital, broadband world, but it also poses some ethical challenges. A generation has grown up with the impression that digital content is free and feels no qualms about downloading movies from a peer-to-peer site, trading songs, or posting today’s episode of a favorite TV show to You Tube.

Whether you agree with or oppose SOPA, it exists because of the dramatic change in public attitudes towards paying for intellectual property. The belief that anything on the internet is free for the taking has severely damaged the music industry and now threatens the business model of most entertainment companies.

It may not seem like you’re hurting anyone when you download a song without paying for it, but it is still stealing and it does impact people—most local record stores were driven out of business, for example. More troubling, this attitude seems to be creating a culture of disrespect for ownership of ideas. It’s hard for educators to overcome this and teach ethical conduct about copyright, plagiarism, and citation. Why can’t I copy and paste a paragraph, photo, or programming code? It’s so easy!

Stealing someone else’s ideas instead of creating your own is not just bad in school, it can (and there have been many examples) kill your career at work. And it’s not a big leap from disrespecting someone’s copyrighted work to disrespecting someone’s ideas, personality, or possessions.

So maybe it’s time to have that talk with your children, not about the birds and bees, but about IP.

iKeepSafe has some suggestions for talking about ethical, responsible, respectable use of online resources here. There’s an easy-to-use curriculum for Teaching Copyright and responsible use here, and you can learn more about ethics and responsibility at Cable in the Classroom.

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Frank Gallagher is Executive Director of Cable in the Classroom (CIC), the education foundation of the cable telecommunications industry. He is a specialist in media and information literacy, internet safety, digital citizenship, and the impact of media on children and is a former middle school math teacher.

CD image: By User Ericd on en.wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons. USB Image: By Liam Dunn Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Yesterday, she launched a new campaign called The Great American NO BULL Challenge.

“The Parent’s Guide is a great success, and we received a great deal of press and attention to this important issue—but I felt it wasn’t enough,” Edgington said, “I needed to do something on a national level that would empower students to help solve the problem and make bullying the ‘un-cool’ thing to do.”

The Great American NO BULL Challenge is a youth-led campaign making students aware of the effects of cyberbullying and showing them the power of standing up for their friends. It offers 25 million middle and high school students the opportunity to write and direct anti-bullying videos.

Winners of the video contest will win prizes, including:
• $10,000
• San Francisco Trip
• School scholarships
• Mac Book Pros
• iPhones
• And more

The finalists will be recognized on the red carpet at the star-studded NO BULL Teen Video Awards in San Francisco on July 21st.

The campaign’s partners include: i-SAFE, National Organizations for Youth Safety, teenDailyStrength, 4-H, Formspring, Students Against Destructive Decisions, the Bully Police Squad, Business Professionals of America, Project Change, Communities in Schools, American School Counselor Association, HealthCorps, iKeepSafe, the Boys and & Girls Clubs of America, and many more.

To find out more about the Great American No Bull Challenge and the NO BULL Teen Video Awards, go to http://www.nobullchallenge.org.