It’s back to school time again! I freaking our more than usual this year. My daughter will enter Kindergarten this fall and I am struggling with trust issues. I am really not ready to see my baby go off to school on the bus and spend half the day with other people guiding and nurturing her.
The internet thing is just one thing on the list of many that scares the heck out of me. I’m sure you can relate to my worries. So much junk circulates and I can monitor what she sees at home, but what happens when she’s sitting in the library with friends? Remember the days of idle hands and minds when you were in school? The outcome was less than wholesome, in my experience.
Lucky for me, I was able to talk with Matt Wallaert, a Behavioral Scientist, at Bing this week about their new initiative for schools all over the country.
Bing has decided that they take issue with bombarding our children with ads and inappropriate content during their time at school. Can you imagine? They want to protect our beloved and valuable young minds from rubbish! A Company with Ethics? Un.Heard.Of.
I am Thrilled!
Not only are they offering additional protection, but they also want to help teach children the skills necessary for using the internet as an effective tool in their education and do it safely.
There are three main points to the Bing for Schools Digital Literacy Program:
- Bing is offering ad and adult content free web searching for schools. School Districts can register with Bing to have these tools implemented in their schools. Currently, a limited number of schools will be accepted for the initial pilot program, but schools can still participate and will be added as soon as possible.
- Bing will offer three lesson plans each day based on Bing’s homepage theme (broken down K-4, 5-8 and 9-12). Those lesson plans are broken into 10 minute critical thinking activities that require students to practice search skills. These can be done in the classroom and at home.
- Bing for Schools has enhanced the Bing Rewards program to allow parents, students and faculty to accrue points towards earning Microsoft RT Surface Tablets for use in the classroom!
Such a simple plan and yet it feels revolutionary to me!
Download a letter to notify your school here
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