I believe that safety on the Internet is a concern that prevents many teachers from taking advantage of the wealth of information and knowledge to be gained from incorporating the Internet into classrooms. Many teachers are overwhelmed when faced with the challenge of teaching media literacy and Internet safety to students. However, Internet safety is simply an extension of the same lessons that were previously taught to them. Weinstock (2008) suggests that fact of safety, such as “Don’t talk to strangers”, have been committed to students’ memory and the same concepts should be transferred when initiating Internet safety. Weinstock went on to suggest that removing strangers from the community was not an option; therefore, the right solution is to affect the student behavior. A change in behavior is not the sole responsibility of the teacher. Although morality and ethics are a part of media literacy, students’ values are also a part of the overall equation when calculating Internet safety.
    My experience with Internet safety revolves around lab security and filter administration. However, these duties became burdensome. I often struggled with the idea of punishing everyone for the sins of a few. I always believed that there was a better solution for Internet safety aside from blocks and filters. Never the less, both were utilized to restrict Internet access.
    The debate on Internet filters and blocks goes beyond the walls of school district administration offices to the high courts of the United States.  Regardless of where the battle takes place, the only security feature that is guaranteed to work is to completely eliminate Internet access. With this not being a valid option, Baule and Thompson  (1998) suggested three basic options for schools trying to resolve the dilemma of protecting students while preserving intellectual freedom.
•    Limit access through commercial censorware.
•    Select age appropriate sites and allow students access that limits them to pre-screened sites.
•    Provide students with unfiltered access, but educate them in acceptable use and Internet safety.
    Providing students with unfiltered access and educating them in acceptable use and Internet safety is a task that should not be allocated solely to teachers. This responsibility should also be distributed among parents and the community. Changing the behavior of students in the best way to increase the chance of intellectual growth through the utilization of the Internet. We should not enclose the minds of students in a restrictive bubble and expect them to make the right choices when and where the restrictions do not exist. Transforming students into independent learners and thinkers will bring us closer to 21st century society that many envision.    


References:
Buale, S., and Thompson, R. (1998). Internet safety or the four f’s. Book Report, 17 (2), 17-22.

Weinstock, J. (2008). Don’t filter out responsibility. T H E Journal, 35 (6), 6.
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The Internet is a rich source of information. As educators, one of our goals is to create critical thinkers who will use the skills they have learned in academe to evaluate every piece of information that comes their way Hormon (2007).  I often associated locating information on the Internet with the analogy “ like finding a needle in a haystack”. This association remained until I gained the appropriate skills to evaluate Internet content. I recently viewed a YouTube video (Media Literacy Project, G. Leach, 2007)  that analyzed the sexual, violent and greed references in popular music. After my initial viewing, I almost accepted the message that was conveyed. However, after a closer analysis, I realized the author was only analyzing two of the hundreds of genres of popular music. My initial viewing of this video led me to wonder if certain genres of music depicted a considerable amount of sex, violence and greed in comparison to the larger scope of the music industry. However, I decreased validity in this message once I realized the analysis was comparing apples to watermelons. I would have given more credit to the video if a comparison had been made between two genres of music such as Rap and Heavy Metal. However, Rap compared to Alternative music will usually end with the results gathered from this video.
    This video is a prime example of the need for students to be able to think critically and not accept every idea published to the Internet. The Internet is open to free publication; therefore, anyone’s opinion can be expressed. Theses opinions can persuade the beliefs of individuals who are not taught to think critically. This can lead to misguided research and decreased learning. As the Internet continues to grow and develop, more people will utilize its flexible structure to acquire information. Those who dare to utilize the Internet as a reference source should remember that everyone has an opinion, however, everyone’s opinion is not driven by facts.

References:
Hormon, J. C. (2007). Let them use the Internet: Why college instructors should encourage student Internet use. College Teaching 55 (1), 2-4. 
  

Information literacy is should be considered as a topic for instruction within the standard curriculum that govern learning in public and private educational institutions. With the continued development of legitimate and valid information on the Web, reference sources are no longer restricted within the confines of library walls. Literacy in an information age allows technologies such as Web pages, Blogs, and Podcast to be referenced as viable sources of information and content. However, using information generated in these forms of technology fuels the argument for adding technology literacy as a mandatory course.      
    If these technologies are to be used within educational environments, proper strategies must be implemented to enhance the effectiveness of learning garnished from the content. Sturgeon (2008) suggested five blogging misconceptions that could impair effective classroom blog implementation:
•    Don’t just dive in.
•    Don’t confuse blogging with social networking.
•    Don’t’ leap at the freebies.
•    Don’t’ force a sequential style.
•    Don’t leave the blogging to the students.
These strategies pertain to using blog technology to enhance learning versus creating a realm for social interaction with little to no educational value.
    Strategies such as those presented by sturgeon can be used to guide teachers with and without experience using technology for educational purposes. I believe these same strategies can be used for all forms of media and technology being introduced and utilized in classrooms.
    Anderson, Grant and Speck (2008) reported that students believed they were more literate of technology after exposure to assignments that involved Internet searches, digital presentation and basic computer skills. However, these students still showed a lack of higher order thinking skills once their search results were analyzed. This indicates a need to explore the possibilities of a course dedicated to teaching the effective use of Web-enhanced resources and technology. The fully developed curriculum should introduce students to the functions of computers as well as the reference sources that can be accessed on the Web. This platform should also focus on the proper analysis of content fond on the web.
    With the unstructured nature of the Web, content can be retrieved that not only reflects expert opinions and research based facts, but can also contain single sided opinions which can track students into solitary beliefs and opinions. For this reason, I believe Web- enhanced instruction, should be structured and open to live or posted discussion.  Flexibility to discover and analyze content should be built into lesson, however, a discussion should be mandatory to expose students to various facts and opinions that are were gathered from their research.     
    To further enhance the effectiveness of a technology literacy course, a module should be developed to expose students to Netiquette and Web-behaviors.  A full discussion of this topic can empower students to distinguish, fact from opinion. This can further assist students in distinguishing educated opinions from simple belief driven views. Shea (1994) suggested that sharing expert knowledge was a core rule of Netiquette. I believe the key to this rule is the term expert. Although the degree of expert knowledge necessary to be credible is objective, facts should still be a core basis for sharing knowledge over the Wed.
    To integrate technology literacy into a lesson, I would recommend incorporating technology activities that utilize interaction with the computer or media. For new learners, simply checking and replying to email messages is a great start to computer literacy. This gives users a chance to interact with the Internet while physically interacting with the computer through typing and mouse maneuvering. After and introduction to email communication, I would introduce the use of a blog. Blogging and email functions are closely related and the asynchronous communication concepts should be easily transferred. Objectives for these activities would include:
The learner will:
open an internet browser
navigate to an email host
compose an email message
send an email message
read and email message
read a blog post
compose a blog post


 
References
Anderson, R.S., Grant, M.M., and Speck, B.W. (2008). Technology to teach literacy: A resource for k-8 teachers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Sturgeon, J. (2008). Five don’ts of classroom blogging. T H E Journal. 35(2), 26-30.
Shea, V. (1994). Core rules of netiquette. http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/index.html retrieved 6-17-2008

My current experience with training evolves around a design that builds on initial instruction and repetition. The Internet works well with this type of instruction. Web-based instruction allows students that are in transition to a new airframe the opportunity to learn anytime and anywhere. Coaching and mentoring can also be facilitated over the Web using synchronous or asynchronous communication. Instructions are delivered using computer-based modules; stand up presentation or small group discussions. These lessons are designed to provide instruction on the lowest levels of blooms taxonomy.  Lower level learning activities are used to introduce basic concepts and skills. These skills are repeated until they become routine.
Theoretically, these tasks and assignments fall under the behaviorist approach. The main concern during and after this instruction is the behavior of the students. Students inter the training events with basic knowledge and experience of aviation, aircraft systems, controls, and procedures. After training, students are expected to recognize the functions, indications, controls and procedures necessary to navigate a new aircraft. A change in behavior is expected after instruction. Students are expected to demonstrate interpretation of flight indications and respond accordingly to ensure safety in all aspects of flight.
    The teaching and learning strategies that are associated with these tasks and this instructional theory are Generative Learning and coaching and mentoring. Mills (2006) defines generative learning as a process of creating ideas by reorganizing facts into more flexible knowledge structures that reveal relationships among ideas. Procedural aviation knowledge is gained through the introduction of facts that can be translated into ritual steps necessary to solve a problem. In the case of aviation, facts are used as a basis to interpret the indications associated with normal and non-normal flight. Every procedure can be traced back to a basic fact or combination of facts. Computer based training is used to offer students the opportunity to interact with the content. Multimedia lessons are designed that allow reflection of new content while courses are designed to offer ample time for learners to make connections with previously learned content.
    The use of computer-based training also provides effective feedback for students.  Denton, Madden, Roberts and Rowe (2008) define effective feedback as that which indicates to learners where they have done well, where their mistakes have been made and how much remediation is required. This form of assessment is easily adapted to systems test, which focus on facts and concrete processes. Learners are able to focus on areas of concern immediately versus waiting on results and continuing to ponder on misleading processes and beliefs.
    Professional instructors, line students and check airman offer new trainees the opportunity to develop skills though instruction based on their expert knowledge and experience. The final stage of training for students entering a new aircraft is Line Oriented Flight Training. This training takes place in an actual airplane versus simulated devices. These training events are lead by experienced students while trainers observe interactions with aircraft controls and procedures. This type of training event not only involves the application of ideas and content but also allows trainees to synthesis the content during actual flights.

    
      


References
Denton, P., Madden J., Roberts, M., and Rowe, P. (2008) Student’s response to traditional and computer-assisted formative feedback: A comparative case study. British Journal of Educational Technology 39 (3), 486-500.
Mills, S. C. (2006) Using the Internet for active teaching and learning. Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ.

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