Virtual worlds are all the rage and parents’ concern in ensuring child safety in virtual worlds is easily understood. With toddlers and preschoolers it is very easy for parents to ensure the child’s safety, simply open an account and link it to your child’s to monitor safe play. The situation is a little bit different with teenagers who are very techno savvy and know their way around the internet.
Our research has uncovered an excellent and safe site that children aged 7-14 can enjoy. The site strongly advocates safety practices and have a number of safety features in place to protect your children. The site has a dedicated parents’ page and provides information that counts. Some of the safety features include: filtering of telephone numbers and addresses; no URL links; no vulgarity and private messaging; reporting features and moderators in place to police the site. Best of all parents can actually request the chat logs dating back 90 days to ensure kids safety in virtual worlds.
Kids safety in virtual worlds is the responsibility of the parents. One way of making sure that your child is not misusing their virtual world privileges is to talk to your kid. Discuss their online experiences as you would their daily activities. Do not be judgmental, listen to what they have to say and provide guidance in a calm manner. Since virtual worlds duplicate school room behavior, bullying, sexual communication and harassment maybe part of the virtual world. Despite the language filters that are in place, kids have found a way around the filters by using alternative text. Communication is vital – unless your child is honest with you, you will probably never know what goes on in their virtual world. Visit the site, look at avatars, screen names, profiles, social network sites visited and the type of friends they are socializing with.
Children are trusting souls and often share passwords. You need to educate your child on the importance of how much harm shared passwords can cause. Friends can sometimes stop being friends and use passwords to misrepresent your child. Teenagers probably will not take you seriously, but you need to create awareness. Sow the seed to get them thinking!
Take kids safety in virtual worlds seriously - visit the sites your child is using and examine the safety features and tools provided. Usually there is a safety page on the good sites designed for parents. Go over the safety features with your child to make sure they know how to report abuse and block offenders. Kids also need to be taught the importance of correctly representing themselves when registering on the sites and to use the safety features provided.
Parents with children in school need to stay on their toes to help them succeed socially and schooling wise. There are lists of ways for parents to help child education and you need to invest time and effort in learning and practicing the suggested methods. This article focuses on how to get your child to discuss school and the happenings of the day. Without this information you will not be in a position to help the child.
There are lists of ways for parents to help their kids in school and some general ideas have been discussed in this article.
It does not matter what age group your child belongs to – don’t pounce on your children the moment they walk through the door to find out about tests, grades and other school stuff. Younger children are usually more willing to discuss what happened at school, eager in fact to share information. This is not the case with older children especially teenagers. You have to give the children time to unwind first. Choose general topics to talk about and give them something to eat and drink, children always fare better on full stomachs. Avoid being authoritative and forceful, your children need to feel comfortable confiding in you.
It is always good for parents to be aware of the teachers, friends, classrooms, school layout and subject matter that concern their children. In this way you can ask specific close ended questions that will give you more than monosyllabic answers. Stay involved by reading the school letter, talking or emailing teachers and chatting with the parents of their friends. There is no need to be nosy, just diplomatic.
You have to be patient and understanding with your children in order to help them in school. A parent who is always losing their cool becomes hard to approach. Encourage openness and try to keep discussions open between the child and both parents. Be aware of the nuances of your child’s speech and on the look out for social or academic problems that the child maybe facing. In other words learn to read between the lines but don’t go off tangent at any given opportunity. Be supportive, show love and kindness when helping a child deal with school issues.
With smaller children you may have to provide solutions to the problems that arise in their small world. Teach them problem solving skills and possible responses to the problems they face. Consider the child’s maturity level and stage of development before bursting into speech. With older children they probably already have the answers on how to handle problems and are just seeking parental support. Serious issues need to be addressed to the teacher to get their insights on how best to handle the matter. However, you need to know when to intervene and when to gently suggest solutions to your children.
There are endless lists of ways for parents to help their kids in school and remember practice makes perfect!
Virtual worlds are all the rage and parents’ concern in ensuring child safety in virtual worlds is easily understood. With toddlers and preschoolers it is very easy for parents to ensure the child’s safety, simply open an account and link it to your child’s to monitor safe play. The situation is a little bit different with teenagers who are very techno savvy and know their way around the internet.
Our research has uncovered an excellent and safe site that children aged 7-14 can enjoy. The site strongly advocates safety practices and have a number of safety features in place to protect your children. The site has a dedicated parents’ page and provides information that counts. Some of the safety features include: filtering of telephone numbers and addresses; no URL links; no vulgarity and private messaging; reporting features and moderators in place to police the site. Best of all parents can actually request the chat logs dating back 90 days to ensure kids safety in virtual worlds.
Kids safety in virtual worlds is the responsibility of the parents. One way of making sure that your child is not misusing their virtual world privileges is to talk to your kid. Discuss their online experiences as you would their daily activities. Do not be judgmental, listen to what they have to say and provide guidance in a calm manner. Since virtual worlds duplicate school room behavior, bullying, sexual communication and harassment maybe part of the virtual world. Despite the language filters that are in place, kids have found a way around the filters by using alternative text. Communication is vital – unless your child is honest with you, you will probably never know what goes on in their virtual world. Visit the site, look at avatars, screen names, profiles, social network sites visited and the type of friends they are socializing with.
Children are trusting souls and often share passwords. You need to educate your child on the importance of how much harm shared passwords can cause. Friends can sometimes stop being friends and use passwords to misrepresent your child. Teenagers probably will not take you seriously, but you need to create awareness. Sow the seed to get them thinking!
Take kids safety in virtual worlds seriously - visit the sites your child is using and examine the safety features and tools provided. Usually there is a safety page on the good sites designed for parents. Go over the safety features with your child to make sure they know how to report abuse and block offenders. Kids also need to be taught the importance of correctly representing themselves when registering on the sites and to use the safety features provided.
In an age of highly advance computer technology and the World Wide Web at our disposal, using virtual worlds for kids that focus on child education is a good way to get children interested in learning. It is recommended that you read this article to learn more about these virtual worlds of learning to enhance your child’s educational development.
Research has shown that children who actively use virtual worlds for learning, not only benefit in terms of education but also learn to be technologically smart and the art of socializing. The educational value from using virtual worlds for kids that focus on education can be quantified in terms of engaging a child’s mind in study and the ethical values that a child learns from playing games that require ethical decision making skills.
One of the better virtual world kids’ sites is the Wiglington and Wenks site that allows a child travel to over one hundred factual places around the globe; travelling through time and space, you will meet many famous people, plays loads of enriching and fun games, party with new friends, buy island and build houses, explore many secret places and solve mysteries and puzzles. What could be more inspiring or fun? A safe site that allows children to learn about history and geography and so much more, giving the player fun filled hours of exploration and discovery.
Virtual worlds replicate all of the bullying and racism found in the real world to help educate your child on the realities of life. Parents are advised to take an active approach with their children in these virtual worlds. Going into the virtual world with your child will give you a better understanding of the level of education the child receives from playing these games.
Educational virtual worlds are a combination of different learning activities, imagination and plenty of fun for your child and the adult too. Virtual worlds offer children a range of activities that include puzzle solving, action games, contests, fascinating facts and a host of learning activities, all combined to make learning fun. There are various educational elements of math, history, geography and English woven into the fabric of the games, so children learn while they play.
These virtual worlds offer the opportunity of earning virtual money as various activities are completed. The money can then be used to buy different items like homes or pets. The really good part about virtual worlds for kids that focus on education is parents can also register an account and link it to the child’s account. In this way parents can control the child’s play and chat safety features.
The Minnetonka Public School District in Minnetonka, Minn., is using an online virtual world to build young students’ mathematics skills. The district implemented Planet Turtle, McGraw-Hill Education’s fully digital interactive classroom solution, in Grades K-3 at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. Available in English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, the program is used in both the regular classroom and Minnetonka’s Spanish and Chinese immersion classrooms.
Planet Turtle is a virtual world where children can interact with their peers in a protected Web environment by developing online animal-based character avatars and completing learning “challenges” that progress as their skills improve. The program allows teachers to instantly assess the proficiency level of a particular student - giving teachers actionable data that allows them to differentiate their instruction based on the individual needs of each student.
Dave Eisenmann, director of instructional technology and media services for Minnetonka Public Schools, said approximately 2,000 elementary students are using Planet Turtle to learn early math skills in classrooms this school year.
“Since we’ve implemented this program, we’ve seen an incredible amount of excitement,” said Eisenmann. “I have witnessed kids begging their teachers to let them take part in Planet Turtle and heard cheering from classes that are told they will get to use the program. Teachers are also excited about the program and its easy interface for management of individual student learning.”
“Recent evidence shows that kids are learning in different ways more than ever before,” said Randall Reina, senior vice president of McGraw-Hill Education’s Center for Digital Innovation, which developed the program. “McGraw-Hill Education’s Planet Turtle and the other digital resources from the Center for Digital Innovation use popular social media and cutting-edge technology, allowing today’s digital natives to learn in the classroom using the same tools they use for fun.”
In fact, a recent study conducted by Education Development Center Inc. and SRI International commissioned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, showed that children were better prepared for success in kindergarten when their preschool teachers incorporated educational video and games from public media.
With Planet Turtle, students can customize their own turtle avatar, explore and socialize together, participate in two-player games for a fun learning experience, and learn community values by working together toward common goals. Game types range from strategy-based to racing the clock, and players earn rewards of new features and an ever-expanding world. Planet Turtle and other programs from the Center for Digital Innovation help teach 21st century learning skills by cultivating high-level critical thinking and Internet-based problem-solving.
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Source McGraw-Hill Center for Digital Innovation
