Teaching Students Internet Safety With Digital Toys

Toys have changed quite a bit since we were kids. I remember battling my action figures from my favorite animated television series against each other.  Now, toys have microphones, cameras, Bluetooth, screens, WiFi, even a smart app connection, and that’s before you get to the specific features designed for the youngster. The Internet of Things (IoT) affects many areas of our digital and personal lives. Recently, one of our partners published an article regarding the children’s toys of the digital era and the limitations regarding data management like weak password policies, vague privacy policies and easy openings for cyber attackers make these toys of today a little more worrying. Check out the full article here. The toys of the future will continue to develop as our technology advances. This is the biggest reason why we need to encourage access to technology for schools and districts across the globe.

As technology adoption continues to rise, it is important that our students familiarize themselves with the tools that they need to engage the digital world. It seems like technology doubles at an accelerating rate and what we knew 10yrs ago about technology is already obsolete as new information expands the progress. As we continue to advance the usage and use cases of technology the earlier, we need to begin the familiarization process.

A lot of schools and districts across the nation are building their technology acumen by bringing iPads, Chromebooks, Windows devices, management software, and wireless connectivity to enable 21st century learning. There is argument over the efficacy of leveraging these technology tools. There are also security risks that must be weighed, but we cannot deny the importance of familiarizing students with the tools that will be used in the workplace such as computers, telephones, software and more. The infrastructure for learning in a digital world is an opportunity for us to engage our students on how to best use the technology available to us. We can use the toys of today to teach us how to be safe on the internet.

There are games and toys today that could be a great help in assisting the next generations of learners. A lot of the basics of connecting to the internet and learning how to interact with each other in a digital format can be done at schools with video games. Minecraft: Education Edition is available exclusively for school districts to use to engage students with over 500 lesson plans built by teachers. Using hardware like a keyboard and a mouse coupled with the software running and a screen to view, students can familiarize themselves with the tools we use in a workplace. Additionally, students can learn safe behaviors by creating their first passwords for email and beginning to understand the importance of their digital footprint and how to keep themselves safe from cyber attackers and protect their digital identity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tyler Rising is a Senior Account Executuve at iT1. He connects schools and districts to the technology required to advance society and elevate the status quo with gaming and computer science.