children and the internet

Children and the internet

The internet offers your child a wealth of education and learning opportunities, entertainment, and exciting ways to connect to friends and family. Many children are now beginning to explore this exciting online world at a very young age.

Learning how to utilise information, behave ethically and responsibly, manage risks online and employ technology effectively, are important skills for all ‘digital citizens’. When your child first goes online you can introduce them to Hector’s World, a free online animated educational programme for children aged 2-9 years old which offers children a fun and magical world in which to learn and play.

Hector and his underwater friends promote the skills and values children need to grow into confident, knowledgeable and caring members of the online community - the ‘building blocks’ of digital citizenship.

http://hectorsworld.netsafe.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/parent-hand-out-november-2009.pdf to see the full newletter

We as early childhood educators are aware of the potential benefits technologies such as the internet, email and digital photography bring to children’s learning and development. It can however be easy to forget that

using these technologies, particularly in the presence of young children,creates a responsibility to carefully manage the associated risks.

As part of our ongoing commitment to childrens learning through ict we would like to share with you hectors world, which we have up and running on both of our computers