What's Your Story? - Internet Safety Video Contest

What's Your Story? is a student video contest being hosted by Trend Micro. The contest asks students (age 13-18, in the U.S. and Canada) to produce a short video on the topics of taking action against bullying, maintaining a good online reputation, and wise use of cell phones. The producer of the overall winning video will receive $10,000. Smaller category prizes will also be awarded. Videos should be no longer than two minutes and must be submitted by April 3.

Here's a sample contest video.


Applications for Education
Producing videos for What's Your Story? could be a good way to get students to stop and think about what good digital behavior is.

H/T to Jackie Gerstein for sharing this on Twitter.

ThinkB4U - Web Safety Tutorials from Google

Revealed today through their Public Policy Blog ThinkB4U is a new series of web safety videos and tutorials from Google and its partners. Using the "choose your own adventure" aspect of YouTube video editing, ThinkB4U offers interactive videos to educate viewers about things like protecting online reputations, avoiding scams, research and critical thinking, and responsible text messaging.

ThinkB4U is divided into three basic sections; students, parents, and educators. Each section addresses nine different topics related to safe and responsible use of the Internet and cell phones. The sections include short videos about the topics, a short written lesson, and some interactive games on the topics of responsible use of the Internet and of cell phones.

Applications for Education
The Educators' section of ThinkB4U offers lesson plans from Common Sense Media and the National Consumer League. There are lesson plans designed for elementary school, middle school, and high school use.

Think Before You Click - Is That Free Coffee or a Scam?

Today is Safer Internet Day. Yesterday, I published a list of fifteen good resources for teaching Internet safety. This morning I have another resource that can help you and your students safely manage your digital footprints.

Too often I see some of my own Facebook acquaintances fall for things like "Share this post if you like Starbucks and want a $50 gift card." In fact, just last week one of my Facebook acquaintances fell for the "Free Southwest Airlines tickets" scam. While it's true that companies do use Facebook for promotions, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. A tell tale sign that a promotion is a scam is if the promotion wants to install an app that asks to access your Facebook information. Unfortunately, not all scams are that obvious. The Better Business Bureau does a good job of keeping track of common social media scams. The next time you see a promotion on Facebook that sounds too good to be true, check the BBB's list of scam alerts before proceeding.