Tips for Educators
Children and youngsters nowadays are part of a new generation hiperconected to communication technologies. They are called the generation multimedia online, using computers, cell phones, electronic games, mp3 and, of course, the Internet, often and at the same time, as revealed by the unprecedented survey conducted by SaferNet, in the second half of 2008.
In addition to the serious social and economic problems faced by the Brazilian education, the development of new technologies makes even more complex the difference between formal and informal education. New challenges present themselves when the means of mass communication and the labor market demand more interactivity and speed.
Accustomed to the speed and diversity of information available in the media, the generation multimedia online demand changes in the relation between teaching and learning. The Internet allows the development of new relationships with knowledge and helps to expand the universe of social and symbolic reference, but it can also impair the ability to wait, to tolerate frustration and to gradually produce a critical knowledge about the reality where only the speed is the priority.
Besides, the Internet represents a new public space for social interaction for which children and adolescents need to be educated as conscious citizens conscious or ciber-citzens. We need to unite efforts of the whole society to enforce the basic rights and duties guaranteed by the Constitution, theStatute of the Child and Adolescent and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also on the Internet.
It is very important that educators promote the debate on citizenship on the Internet. We suggest a few ideas:
* Discussing the students' favorite activities on the Internet and what risks they bring.
* What is a citizen on the Internet?
* Work on the warmth and the respect in virtual relations talking about the differences between them and the “real world”.
* Discuss the innovations in the virtual space and relate them to the geographical distances and boundaries.
* Debate on sexuality, intimacy and privacy in virtual relations.
* Would people have the courage to publish in the school board, on the beach or in public squares what they usually publish online?
SaferNet's Booklet provides basic tips for educators, stimulating a dialogue on the responsible use of the Internet in the classroom. It is also available, in this website, a glossary and a Netiquette, a guide of good-manners and courtesy in cyberspace. For those interested in a further debate on the subject, SaferNet leads workshops, lectures and training sessions, in person or remotely, to promote and encourage ciber-citzenship.
