ROANOKE, Va., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internet is a student's playground, yet it is a powerful, complex network that can pose a serious threat to students' safety and well-being. The Virginia Department of Education has teamed up with Pokemon USA, Inc., to provide administrators, teachers and parents with engaging, high-quality instructional resources to help them teach students how to stay safe online. The "Internet Safety Program" was launched last night at the start of the Virginia Department of Education's Educational Technology Leadership Conference in Roanoke, Va.
Comprised of interactive lessons, teacher's guides, and other materials, the "Internet Safety Program" is suitable for lower and upper elementary grade students and will be available through a special online portal on Pokemon Learning League(TM), the award-winning online suite of standards-based animated, interactive lessons in language arts, math, science, and life skills.
Students use the Internet daily -- often for hours at a time -- for information, entertainment and a way to communicate with people around the globe. Internet safety, particularly in the interest of protecting children, is paramount in today's technology driven, globalized world. It was a key topic at the U.N. Internet Governance Forum held in late November in Brazil, where high-ranking government officials, information technology experts and civic societies gathered to discuss Internet-related public policy issues.
Last year, Virginia became the first state to mandate public schools to teach Internet safety. To help schools and districts take a step toward meeting this goal, officials with the Department of Education collaborated with the Pokemon Learning League team to combine sound educational practices with the enduring popularity of Pokemon characters to teach students essential skills for studying and playing online safely.
"We are very pleased to be able to make this outstanding resource available to schools as they implement their Internet safety programs," said Tammy McGraw, director of the Office of Educational Technology at the Virginia Department of Education. "It effectively supports the guidelines for Internet safety issued by our agency last year and enables us to leverage the tremendous appeal of the Pokemon characters to help students become safe and responsible Internet users."
"Educators are looking for ways to provide students with Internet access while protecting them from inappropriate material and online predators," said Yves Saada, vice president of interactive media for Pokemon USA. "Virginia has taken the lead in this charge, and we are happy to have the opportunity to work with the state to offer a program that teaches critical life lessons about Internet safety in a non-threatening way that is accessible to students."
The "Internet Safety Program" consists of three interactive lessons, upper and lower elementary lesson plans and unit quiz, tips for parents and guardians, a printable Internet safety certificate for students, and a printable poster to remind students how to stay safe online. Upper elementary and lower elementary teacher's Guides are provided so that educators may best integrate the Pokemon Learning League lessons into their classroom planning.
More than 4,000 students will start piloting the program in January 2008. These students can access the "Internet Safety Program" at http://www.pokemonlearningleague.com/internet.
Guided by an advisory board of experienced educators and education experts, Pokemon Learning League lessons guide students through a three-step approach to learning: an animated, narrative tutorial (Watch), guided practice (Try) and an interactive challenge (Apply). School and district-wide subscriptions to Pokemon Learning League include formative assessment and assignment tools to measure and document student achievement and individualize instruction. The assignment feature allows educators to assign topics based on students' abilities, set due dates and monitor progress on an individual basis and for an entire class.
For more information on the "Internet Safety Program" from the Virginia Department of Education and Pokemon Learning League, visit http://www.pokemonlearningleague.com/internet.
About Pokemon USA
Pokemon USA, Inc., a subsidiary of The Pokemon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia which includes licensing, marketing, the Pokemon Trading Card Game, an animated TV series, the Pokemon Trading Figure Game, home entertainment, the official Pokemon website, and online retail center http://www.pokemoncenter.com/. Pokemon was launched in Japan in 1996 for play on Nintendo's Game Boy(R) and has since evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Pokemon was introduced in North America in September 1998 and today is one of the most popular toy and entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit http://www.pokemon.com/.
Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Yves Saada http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=54050 Diane Urban http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=53690
Pokemon USA
