Instructify

The recent disgraceful outcome of the Julie Amero case does at least show how very, very much we want our children to be protected from the worst parts of the internet (and there are some very, very bad parts of the internet). If you know some parents who are worried (or ought to be) about what their little ones might see online, you might recommend that they give KidZui a try. KidZui, which is meant for kids younger than 12, is basically a kid-safe browser; you download it to a hard drive and, presumably, remove the icons to other browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox so that your kids can’t use those.How can a browser be kid-safe? Well, it’s only allowed to access certain sites and certain content on certain sites such as YouTube; over 200 teachers and parents worked for about three years to create a long list of approved online content. A parent can add additional sites with a parent account, and can even recommend those sites for inclusion in everyone’s KidZui. Parents can also track exactly which sites their kids are visiting, which makes me a little uncomfortable — but then again, kids under 12 don’t have or even need the same level of privacy that teens or adults do.

Perhaps most importantly of all, there are many educational websites on KidZui’s approved list, and a “Homework Helper” is available in the paid version (the “Basic” version of KidZui is free). The Homework Helper is described as “an exclusive teacher designed [sic] system of websites and content matched to their grade level and the subjects they’re studying in school.” (I hope they study hyphenation at some point.) It’s nice to see a company that trusts teachers so much that it involves them so thoroughly in the design of a piece of technology. — AMANDA FRENCH

KidZui

Related Stuff:

Teach students safety with iKeepSafe.org

NY Times: Technology raising student anxiety levels

Panwapa: Should I ask for some fries with that?