Everything You Need to Know About Wireless

A new Case Study has been added to our Power to Learn Internet Smarts Library. Everything You Need to Know About Wireless is an interactive slide show that will help you and your children better understand how wireless technologies work. Emphasis is placed not only on the technical aspects but on avoidance of pitfalls that may arise when using wireless technologies such as laptops, smart phones, and PDAs. —And don’t forget to put the other case studies—Social Networking: Don’t Give Yourself Away; Digital Permanence: Forever is a long time; Cyberbullying: Not Just Name Calling; Misinformation: Truth or Spoof; Fair Use: Beg, Borrow or Steal?; Keeping Personal Information Private; and Music Downloading:Paying the Piper—to work in your disccusions about digital safety with your kids.

Wireless Internet Use Multiplying

An April 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that 56% of adult Americans have accessed the Internet by wireless means, such as using a laptop, mobile device, game console, or MP3 player. The most prevalent way people get online using a wireless network is with a laptop computer; 39% of adults have done this. One-third of Americans (32%) have used a cell phone or Smartphone to access the Internet for emailing, instant-messaging, or information-seeking. This level of mobile Internet is up by one-third since December 2007, when 24% of Americans had ever used the Internet on a mobile device. On the typical day, nearly one-fifth (19%) of Americans use the Internet on a mobile device, up substantially from the 11% level recorded in December 2007. That’s a growth of 73% in the 16-month interval between surveys.

Ban the Internet at School?

Perhaps they are not out to ban the entire Internet, but the Professional Association of Teachers in Britain has voted to ban Wi-Fi and YouTube. The Association wants Wi-Fi's health risk investigated before it is used in schools. This means not installing new wireless networks and disconnecting the old ones. As for YouTube and similar sites, the Association says that these sites encourage cyberbullying against both students and teachers. What's the stance on such topics at your school? Will this be a topic at parent's night this year?

Scary Things About Home Networks

Thinking about putting in a home network or perhaps you already have one? Maybe you are moving into a new home and want to wire for the future as well as the present? No matter your situation, you'll want to take a gander at Ten Scary Things About Home Networks for info on potential flaws. For more on wireless devices and kids, see What Parents Need to Know: The Wireless World.

WiFi Safety

While most of us have accepted that our data is part of countless data bases from what we buy at the grocery store when we scan in our "dsicount card" to signing our records away at the doctor's office by signing those waivers so doctors can "confer", it's hard to imagine someone being so interested in our emails. But when you fire up your laptop at the local coffee shop or MacDonalds, it is amazing how fast someone who is interested in what you are communicating online might be able to hook into your "private" communications. David Pogue, the New York Times correspondent chronicles his experience in a recent column and it's a real eye-opener.