Entry 33 IDT1415 Cyber well-being

As we are dealing with online learning, I think it highly appropriate that we tease out the meanings of the term as well as the different implication that these meanings have for our practice.

Unfortunately, whenever one searches for information related to cyber well-being one cannot but notice that most of it is about cyber bullying, how to prevent it and online safety to protect oneself which to me is a clear indication that it there is bigger underlying problem, that of people using the internet to mirror what they already do or would not dare do live because the medium offers some sort of anonymity behind which they hide. On to a brighter and more positive approach I would agree with Jennifer in that cyber well-being is about educating internet users as to what to share and how to share it. My idea of cyber well-being has different dimensions: the personal, the social and the teaching dimensions. The first one incorporates a healthy and permanent diet of monitoring what I share and who I do it with. For instance, I have seen my PLN changing over the years with one of ingredients in my network, Facebook, going from purely family oriented to now personal and professional oriented with family communication being mainly done via messaging rather than publically. This of course after a very good dose of high private settings adjustment. The second one overlaps a little with the personal but has mainly to do with how I interact online, what I share and who with wile the third one, the teaching dimension, has to do mainly with education of my students and course participants as to how to keep themselves protected. This means mainly sharing information about the basics of online protection and offering advice when necessary. One of the videos from Being Smart Online I regularly use with students for discussion and awareness is here. I also like Wellcast's 4 Top Tips on Safe Web Surfing. There are some very good resources and reliable information on internet safety for young people on the basics of internet safety, internet safety for kids, and also the FBI's own page on the subject with a very nice and interactive page.

Encouraging self respect and respect of others along with basic information which deals not only with cyber criminals but also with local legislation, viruses, malware, hacking, phishing, cyber stalking and what may not be considered a crime: illegal file sharing and piracy amongst others is essential and should be part of all online courses at some stage.