During this pandemic, many people are relying more and more on online resources and education. Now, more than ever, kids need guidance on how to navigate online. This past winter, Jane Piraino of the St. Charles Public Library District in Illinois used Google\u2019s program \u201cBe Internet Awesome” to teach kids best practices for navigating the internet. Hopefully her experience will provide inspiration to librarians and teachers who may be looking to beef up digital learning with practical training.<\/p>\n
Aimed at kids in grade 3-6, Jane ran this program in the first week of winter break. Coding classes and other tech-minded programming are extremely popular in St. Charles. When she learned of Google\u2019s program, she saw the value in teaching some digital citizenship as a supplement to her sought-after series. Google furnishes presentations to use on categories like \u201cShare with Care,\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t Fall for Fake,\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s Cool to be Kind-\u201d providing the opportunity to learn how to keep personal information safe, how to treat others in a digital world, and how to discern true from false information. Being smart, alert, strong, brave, and kind are the characteristics the program emphasizes. Registration for the class filled quickly, indicating a lot of interest, at least from parents, but actual attendance was lower than expected, probably due to the holiday season. However, kids who did attend were satisfied, and left with new knowledge and understanding from Jane\u2019s instruction and Google\u2019s program.<\/p>\n
If you are interested, there are slides available for classroom\/library use, and there is also a Family Guide, which outlines much of the same material while remaining oriented on home use of devices and resources. The most prominent feature of Google\u2019s plan is a game called Interland. With an engaging and sophisticated design, Interland has different levels that address issues like password choice, interacting online with kindness, and securing information. Informative without being too pedantic, substantial without being bloated, the game serves as an education in itself. Whether you create a program using the resources or just direct families to the game in a social media post, \u201cBe Internet Awesome\u201d is a great way to share essential information about living an online life.<\/p>\n