I’m feeling smarter tonight.  Not because I had my fish oils, nor because I finished my weekly indulgence of Hello magazine.  It’s because I took a course tonight.  An online learning course and I have the Certificate to prove it.

I was asked by The Parent Learning Board to review their course entitled: Internet Safety: Protecting Our Children In An Online World. Being a nervous nelly, particularly about the internet, I was happy to oblige. I watch the tweens and teens around me with their noses stuck in their cellphones, PDAs and laptops, fingers moving faster than lightening and I get a pit in my stomach.  How can we protect these savvy young minds online?  How long can I shield my own children from predators and bullies lurking and waiting on the web??

The Internet Safety course was user friendly, based on the effective teaching process of the 3 R’s of Learning™: Review the material, Reflect upon what has been learned and Remember that which most meets your needs. The course itself was broken down into 3 modules; The Technology, Vulnerabilities and Threats, and Protecting Children. I liked that I had the freedom to hop around the content at my discretion. I could fast forward through materials which I already knew, then spend the time on what interested me most.  There was also a printable copy of the What If… Guidebook as well as an Internet Use Agreement template and several must-know resources.  I don’t want to brag, but I did receive 100% on my final assessment.  Wish I had pulled in those marks during high school!

It was most valuable learning how I can actually help protect my children. It was empowering being given concrete tools for setting up my computer for their use and tips on how to educate and talk to them about internet safety.  I will say the ideas weren’t revolutionary.  They were based in common sense, but having the steps validated again was still beneficial.

The content was delivered in well written, easy to follow slides, and the “Checking Your Understanding” activities were great for consolidating what I had just read.  Being a little cross-eyed tired tonight, I left a few sections to re-read more closely- I love that I have 90 days to access the course materials. There were also a couple videos integrated throughout … a little something for every learner type.

The Internet Safety course, and many others are also accessible at The Parent Learning Board’s sister site  The Teacher Learning Board. If you happen to be a parent. educator or… parent educator this is important because your certificate would then include continuing education clock hours from The Professional Learning Board. Well worth a visit.

The Parent Learning Board has very generously offered a 50% discount off their courses for practicalmum readers.  Simply enter the word ’safety’ upon checkout and your will receive your course at half price.  Thank you!

How do you keep your children and those around you safe online? Please leave a comment, and share your ideas with others – we need to unite together and keep our children safe.
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Just so we’re clear: I was given access to one online course in exchange for doing this review. The Professional Learning Board has generously offered a 50% discount on their courses for Practicalmum readers.  Thank you!

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