# data[].attributes.body
defines digital citizenship

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Technology Solutions That Drive Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship & How to Embrace Them

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Follow these steps to navigate a path toward digital citizenship.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Working, teaching, and learning away from the MIT campus poses new risks to securing information. IS&T recommends that community members follow these best practices when engaging in activities remotely to help reduce the chance of the information and data you handle at MIT being compromised.

Protect your devices
Make sure your devices are running newer operating systems supported by the vendor (e.g., Windows 10, macOS Mojave 10.14, or newer) and that all updates have been applied.

Protect your information
When exchanging high risk (i.e. sensitive or personal) information over email (e.g. birth certificates, loan applications), make sure to protect it by encrypting files before sharing.

Secure your home WiFi
Make sure your home router's firmware is up-to date, that you have changed the default password to something strong, and that you have enabled WPA2 encryption for your home WiFi network.

Practice safe video conferencing
Use MIT-approved and licensed enterprise video conferencing tools, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex, which offer protections for your security and privacy, and follow suggested best security practices.

Be aware of COVID-19 related scams
There has been an uptick in malicious attacks to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Be wary, in particular, of phishing attacks and also of scams that try to trick you into making donations to fraudulent organizations or causes or revealing sensitive information. Protect yourself and your information by using caution when opening emails and attachments.

IS&T is committed to strengthening the security of MIT's infrastructure and information.
Even computers that don't appear to have any valuable information can be attractive targets for attacks. Compromised computers and other devices can be used as a foothold allowing attackers to spread through the network. Networked devices in MIT's public IP space are constantly under attack from devices across the globe. IS&T provides a variety of security services and software to protect the MIT community.

Protect yourself

Take steps to protect your computing and the information you handle at MIT.

Enable automatic updates for your operating systems and software to protect against the latest security threats.

Install Sophos Anti-Virus and CrowdStrike Falcon. Sophos protects your computer against known viruses, worms, and malware. CrowdStrike provides advanced protection against emerging threats, using machine learning to detect patterns commonly seen in attacks.

Use a password manager such as LastPass to generate and protect strong, unique passwords.

Back up your computers using CrashPlan. This cloud-based backup solution makes it easy to recover data from computers that have been lost, stolen, or damaged by malware.

If you handle personally identifiable information (PII), install Spirion to help you detect and securely encrypt or delete files with sensitive information.

Beware of phishing and other scams

Phishing emails and email scams continue to be an effective way for scammers to steal credentials, install malware, or extort cryptocurrency. Many of these emails are targeted to a specific department or lab, and may appear to come from someone you know or do business with.

If an email looks suspicious, report it to phishing@mit.edu by forwarding the email as an attachment. The IS&T Security team will take steps to protect the community.

Learn more

The Information Protection @ MIT website provides access to policies and guidance on safeguarding information at the Institute. The Awareness I: IT Security and Awareness II: IT Security courses are available in the Atlas Learning Center.

Report an IT security incident

It's important to report any IT security incident as soon as you are aware of it so the Security team can take proper steps to limit the impact and extent of loss, investigate, protect other members of the MIT community, and meet any regulatory or legal requirements.

If you believe a breach of MIT information occurred, immediately report the IT security incident by sending email to security@mit.edu or by submitting the form below. The IS&T Security team will contact you to evaluate the situation and determine the next best step. If necessary, they will assemble the Data Incident Response Team. You should not address these situations on your own, as that may corrupt forensic information needed to determine the scope of the issue and the risks to MIT.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Take steps to ensure that you are secure when working remotely Working, teaching, and learning away from the MIT campus poses new risks to securing information. IS&T recommends that community members follow these best practices when engaging in activities remotely to help reduce the chance of the information and data you handle at MIT being compromised.

# data[].attributes.body
assess you/your student's knowledge on basic tenants of the digital citizenship

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This is the first article in a series about digital age classroom. For more ideas, check out 41 Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Your 1:1 Classroom.
"Safety and security don't just happen; they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."-Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela probably wasn't talking about online safety when he said these wise words, but they certainly ring true for today's digital citizens just as they do for all citizens of society. As teachers in today's wired world, one of our most important jobs is to teach the digital citizenship skills to help students stay safe, secure and responsible while using technical tools. Here are a few tips to help you keep your students cyber-safe at school and beyond.

Follow the golden rule.

For some reason, students (and people in general) have a hard time with this when it comes to interacting online. They can be perfectly kind, courteous and respectful in face-to-face interactions, but their tone and messages can be downright hurtful when posted online. Teach students about appropriate and responsible online behavior. Help them navigate the best choices about right and wrong when using technology. The golden rule of treating others the way you would like to be treated is a good guideline. Encourage students to think before they post and ask themselves "How would that make me feel?"

Get your game on.

We all know kids learn best when they're engaged and having fun. So why not take the serious subject of Internet safety and game-it-up so your students can better relate to the important messages you need them to absorb? Here are just a few games to try out:

Webonauts is a game that teaches 8- to 10-year-olds how to be safe and respectful online.

BrainPop Junior has a great interactive feature for kids in grades K-3 that includes an animated review of the basics of online safety, games, activities, quizzes and more to help students understand how to stay safe online.

FBI SOS (Safe Online Surfing) is a game from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that will appeal to slightly older students.

Cybersmart Detectives is an animated video for 9- to 10-year-olds that emphasizes information that shouldn't be posted online, where to seek assistance if things go wrong online, and the difference between sensible and risky online behavior.

Image source: FBI
Partner with parents.

During an open house or curriculum night, show parents some of the online tools students are using that allow them to research and collaborate on group projects. At the same time, inform them of the dangers of inappropriate use of the tools. For example, make sure parents understand that comments posted online can be seen by anyone and that students (and adults) should never share personal information. Encourage parents to talk with their children about staying safe online to reinforce the messages you're teaching in class. You may also want to send home a sample Family Contract for Online Safety for parents and their kids to discuss and sign.

Discuss digital footprints.

Kids need to understand that there's always a chance their online activity and content can become public. Online information is almost impossible to completely remove. Almost every piece of online information is archived, making it retrievable by others-indefinitely. To get your students thinking seriously about their digital footprints, Capella University's free Digital Citizenship course recommends asking kids these questions:

If we search your online profile, what will we find?

What kinds of online activities are you leaving as digital footprints?

Is there information about you online you wouldn't want your teacher or parent to know?

What do you find when you Google yourself?

Cut the CRAAP.

Here's an acronym for older kids that's easy to remember: CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose. This printable page has a list of questions to ask in order to evaluate each criterion.

Create a Digital Citizenship Toolkit.

Image source: iKeepSafe
Use a few real-world props to make the concepts of cyber-safety, privacy, security and ethics more tangible. Fill your toolkit with a padlock to represent the idea of keeping personal information secure, a magnifying glass to remind students to look carefully at the authenticity of information they find online, and a permanent marker to illustrate how things posted online are difficult to completely remove. The BEaPRO Digital Citizenship Toolkit from iKeepsafe.org also includes an electrical plug, caribiner, and red and green flags to reinforce the concepts of maintaining balance, respecting relationships, and having good judgment.

Uphold students' digital rights.

Create or update your Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to outline students' digital rights and responsibilities. Here's a sample for elementary grade students and their parents. Not sure where to start? This video from Capella University's free Digital Citizenship course illustrates AUP best practices and requirements.

Use common sense.

Common Sense Media, that is! They have an entire digital citizenship K-12 curriculum filled with lessons to use with students in every grade. The resource is free to educators; you just need to sign up.

Stay under the COPPA cabana!

Make sure the sites you visit with students are COPPA ( Children's Online Privacy Prevention Act) and CIPA ( Children's Internet Protection Act) compliant. The Federal Trade Commission offers some good advice for schools about online privacy and protection of students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
9 Ways to Create a Cyber-Safe Classroom - WeAreTeachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is the first article in a series about digital age classroom. For more ideas, check out 41 Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Your 1:1 Classroom. "Safety and security don't just happen; they are the result of collective consensus and public investment.

# data[].attributes.body
Basics of Social Media Privacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Internet Safety: Social Media Privacy Basics Print Page

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Understand social media privacy and what information you share with others on social media in this free Internet safety lesson.

# data[].attributes.body
Article from educator's perspective on significance of data privacy in the classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Data is the new oil, and we are confronted almost daily with stories of folks trying to drill the next high-producing well. Retailers trade loyalty card perks for customer data. Social media trade connectivity for personal data-- tons of it. And schools provide a rich opportunity to trade educational programs and assistance for a rich deposit of data in students (and teachers) who may not even be aware that Big Data is gathering data points by the bushel from their simplest activities. Industry leading Summit Learning, a charter school group that has placed their software and materials in over 300 public schools, has admitted that they share the data they gather with 18 "partners." The practice is not new; generations of test takers filled out the personal information pages with the PSAT; in 2013, the College Board and ACT were sued over the practice of selling student information. The process has just been accelerated by technology. Whatever you're doing, if you're doing it on a computer, you're leaving a data trail.

More erosions of privacy occur daily. One of the items that sent West Virginia teachers out on strike last year was a rule that all teachers would carry a device that monitored their movement and activity. Last year saw incidents of a hacker group holding school district data hostage, and backing up their demands by sending threatening emails to parents.

Not everyone fully grasps what's happening, and even then, many are unsure what to do about it. To fill those gaps, the Badass Teachers Association and the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy have issued the Educator Toolkit for Teacher and Student Privacy. (Disclosure: I did a small bit of advisory work on the project.)

The toolkit explains, in frightening detail, why teacher and student data is vulnerable, including, in both cases, the fact that ownership of the data is not always clear. There is a full chapter laying out the pertinent privacy laws as they currently stand (if you think you know FERPA, you may be unaware of the loopholes that have been added over the past decade). Is that data wall in your child's classroom legal? Probably not. If the teacher wants to use a free app to monitor student behavior and communicate with families, is that okay? The answer turns out to be complicated. And what are the rules for that survey that the school just handed out to all students? The laws have become complex, and most parents and teachers did not go to law school. The toolkit provides some simple guidance.

Educators are being pitched all manner of educational technology these days. Some are meant to help educate students. Some are meant to mine students for data. Some are meant to do both. Schools need to be doing their homework before adopting, and the toolkit lays out the questions that should be asked. In particular, schools need to be wary of black box algorithms, programs that use super-secret proprietary software to make educational decisions. If a human walked into your classroom and said, "Those three students should be in the advanced group, but I won't tell you how I decided that," you would show that human the door. Software is no different. And if any vendor answers teacher requests for transparency with some version of, "My ability to make money is more important than your ability to do your job," the teacher has learned some valuable information about that vendor.

The toolkit offers ten teacher rules for using social media (or not). The kit also provides practical tips for protecting privacy, and for advocating for better protections for all. And as an extra treat, an appendix shows the results of a survey given to teachers about technology in their schools. Almost half of those responding said their school uses an online app or program to track student behavior. And well over half reported that their school requires them to use certain computer based programs and materials. That "requires" can become aggressive, as witnessed by a Florida teacher whose set of favorite textbooks was taken from her room by her principal in order to force her to use the district's new digitized textbook.

We're just beginning to see where all this data mining can lead, particularly when the various sources are combined. Students can have their careers picked for them by graduation. Employers can order up very specific employees ("I want a person who never argued with authority in school, is good at algebra, has no family history of major illness, and whose social media shows them to be stable and quiet"). The data itself, and the people who generate it, can even become a commodity that investors can bet on and make money by manipulating.

The toolkit certainly doesn't have all the answers, but if you are a teacher or a parent, particularly one who's just starting to realize there's something to worry about in our new data era, this is a good place to start. The toolkit was supported by grants from the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, the American Federation of Teachers, and the NEA Foundation, and you can access a copy right here on line.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Guide For Protecting Data Privacy In Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Data is the new oil, and we are confronted almost daily with stories of folks trying to drill the next high-producing well. Retailers trade loyalty card perks for customer data. Social media trade connectivity for personal data-- tons of it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Personal Information. Don't give out personal information without your parents' permission. This means you should not share your last name, home address, school name, or telephone number. Remember, just because someone asks for information about you does not mean you have to tell them anything about yourself!

Screen Name. When creating your screen name, do not include personal information like your last name or date of birth.

Passwords. Don't share your password with anyone but your parents. When you use a public computer make sure you logout of the accounts you've accessed before leaving the terminal.

Photos. Don't post photos or videos online without getting your parents' permission.

Online Friends. Don't agree to meet an online friend unless you have your parents' permission. Unfortunately, sometimes people pretend to be people they aren't. Remember that not everything you read online is true.

Online Ads. Don't buy anything online without talking to your parents first. Some ads may try to trick you by offering free things or telling you that you have won something as a way of collecting your personal information.

Downloading. Talk to your parents before you open an email attachment or download software. Attachments sometimes contain viruses. Never open an attachment from someone you don't know.

Bullying. Don't send or respond to mean or insulting messages. Tell your parents if you receive one. If something happens online that makes you feel uncomfortable, talk to your parents or to a teacher at school.

Social Networking. Many social networking websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Second Life and MySpace) and blog hosting websites have minimum age requirements to signup. These requirements are there to protect you!

Research. Talk to your librarian, teacher or parent about safe and accurate websites for research. The public library offers lots of resources. If you use online information in a school project make sure you explain where you got the information.

For more tips, please see the following PDF: http://www.safekids.com/kidsrules.htm.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Internet Safety Tips for Children and Teens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Personal Information. Don't give out personal information without your parents' permission. This means you should not share your last name, home address, school name, or telephone number. Remember, just because someone asks for information about you does not mean you have to tell them anything about yourself! Screen Name.