Kym and Tracey did a great presentation on different online resources. It is such a broad topic that we could have spent a week looking at the resources they found. It was interesting to hear about safe search engines being created for young students. Zoeybot is one such search engine. It is still being developed but I found it quite unsuitable with its distracting chatty robot and information written at an adult reading level.
Their range of sites the girls found that were recommended for children were an absolute eye opener. Some were totally unsuitable for anything other than a porn site. Just goes to prove teachers and parents have to check everything their children access on the internet as well as teach the children appropriate actions when they come across inappropriate material.
I think that many teachers, schools and education systems have developed a range of tools allowing modified searches, for students to use. Far better to use webquests, specified websites and MyInternet properties (in Catholic Education) than let the students randomly search. Let’s not forget the valuable lessons on using the advanced features of search engines to teach children how to become more exact in their searching.
