Internet Safety with Professor Garfield

What it is: Professor Garfield has offered an array of interactive games and activities for kids.  I learned from blog Educadores Digitales that he has now teamed up with the Virginia Department of Education and the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia to help students protect themselves online.  Internet Safety with Professor Garfield is offering lessons on online safety, cyberbullying, and coming soon: fact or opinion and forms of media.  Each lesson is composed of three parts, watch, try, and apply.  In the “watch” section, students watch a video starring Garfield and his friends.  The video teaches an important Internet safety lesson.  In the “try it” section, students are given a chance to play a game that checks for understanding and redirects thinking if students missed a concept.  In the “apply it” section, students help a character from the video to make wise Internet safety decisions.  

How to integrate Internet Safety with Professor Garfield into the classroom: This is an excellent place for elementary students to begin learning about how to keep themselves safe online.  I make it a point to visit Internet safety throughout the school year.  I always start out my year with a few weeks that are focused on and dedicated to Internet safety.  I make a big deal of the activities that take place during those weeks.  At the end of the Internet safety unit, my students take an interactive quiz (usually using our ActivVote system) so that I can gauge their understanding.  Each student must pass this quiz in order to receive their Internet drivers license for the year.  Professor Garfield’s Internet Safety is the perfect addition to the Internet safety week.  The videos and activities are fabulous!  Revisit the site throughout the year so that students are reminded of the safety rules they agreed to follow at the beginning of the year.  I find that mid-year students start to get critical of each other.  The name calling and bullying seems to start up every February.  This is a great time to reintroduce Cyberbullying, and the lesson on Professor Garfield is a great way to do this.

In the lab setting, each student can go through these lessons at their own pace. Students will receive immediate feedback from the activities if they have any misunderstandings.

If you are a classroom teacher without a regular computer lab time, use an interactive whiteboard or projector to watch the videos as a class.  During the try and apply, turn the questions into a class discussion and choose the answers together.

Tips: Internet Safety with Professor Garfield has lesson plans and unit quizzes, an Internet safety certificate that can be printed at the end of the unit, and a printable poster for your classroom to remind students how to stay safe online.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Internet Safety with Professor Garfield in your classroom.