Apps and Young Users: Warnings and Safeguards Assignment

I’m in the state of Georgia. Collaboration and communication apps have become ubiquitous in everyday functioning, but there

can be risks and benefits to using these web-based tools, especially for children and teens. Few

would question that the Internet substantially influences children and teenagers, yet children and

teens often lack the self-regulation skills needed for decision-making in the complex digital world.

Applications on a smartphone can easily pull children into the digital world where cyberbullying

and the constant availability of sexual content represent potential sources of stress for children.

Apps historically noted as potentially dangerous for children and teens include Snapchat, Whisper,

Blendr, and WhatsApp, yet several of these apps are used to good advantage by many. An

unfortunate reality exists where new apps are continually being developed to look harmless and to

mask the more dangerous apps in use by young people. Careful oversight and monitoring by more

knowledgeable parents and adults are increasingly important. The ability to block inappropriate

apps and content is essential for schools, teachers, and parents.

INSTRUCTIONS

Scenario: You are viewed as an expert in educational technology and have been asked by your

principal to plan and conduct a 10-minute presentation for parents on the possible dangers of social

media apps targeting children. The principals goals are to:

Inform parents of what is happening in the complicated digital world where children are

concerned.

Demonstrate the types of challenges children are facing with actual recent news stories.

Express the importance of parental monitoring.

Equip parents with tools they can use for decision-making and monitoring.

1. For your presentation, identify three or more apps of particular concern for educators and

parents that are potentially dangerous for children and teens. Avoid apps that are already

commonly known (e.g., TikTok, Snapchat, etc.) unless you focus on a new danger recently

identified in the news for these apps. Do your best to identify apps that are new on the scene.

For each app identified:

Provide a brief description along with an image of the app.

Reveal two or three possible risks for each app when used by school-age students.

Include at least two news items as evidence of the apps risks and dangers to children.

Limit your browser search to news items published/produced within the last six months.

2. You must also present information from both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and

your states attorney general to support your claims.

EDUC 730

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a. Using the Federal Bureau of Investigations What We Investigate link provided with

this assignment, browse the podcasts, press releases, and videos for resources (current,

within the past 12 months) that address issues related to each of your three apps. In your

presentation, reference and insert a direct link to a minimum of one relevant FBI

resource for each app you cover (a minimum of 3 required).

b. Using the National Association of Attorneys General link provided with this

assignment, search for your states attorney general website. To find the AG for your

state, click on Find my AG, then use the Filter by State option to select your state.

With a new section of the presentation, include the name of your states attorney general

and contact information. and then share examples of information and news items on

your attorney generals website regarding children and Internet/social media risks. Any

sources pulled from must be current, meaning they were published within the last 12

months. Encourage parents to contact the attorney general to recommend additional

safeguards for children. In your presentation, insert a direct link to any attorney general

resources referenced.

3. In the next section of the presentation, discuss warnings and safeguards that should be put in

place for child safety on the internet.

a. Use personal experience and current news items (published/produced within the last six

months) to support the warnings and safeguards you propose.

b. Also, use current professional literature (published within the last 12 months) such as

journal articles and research to support your claims. To do this, limit your search in the

Jerry Falwell Library to dissertations, theses, and journal articles.

4. Conclude your presentation with endorsements of the best parental monitoring tool and content

blocking tool.

a. It is suggested you gain actual experience with these two tools by requesting a free trial

of the tools you select.

b. In your presentation, briefly defend your recommendations based on features, cost, etc.

Build the slide show portion of your 10-minute presentation using PowerPoint or Google Slides.

Your presentation must include audio narrations recorded within the presentation softwares audio

record feature. The audio portion of your presentation must emphasize the significance of the

concerns that are being discussed in this assignment. The audio quality must also be clear without

distracting ambient noise. There must be smooth audio transitons within the presentation.

The final presentation must be professionally formatted with quality slide design based on

standardbest practices for presentation design. It must include a title slide, references slide(s) for

any sources cited, and a credits slide with any needed copyright attributions for images, etc. Use

current APA formatting for in-text citations and citations within the references and credits slides.