1. Give students a safe online environment to work in
Children growing up in a digital age need to develop technological skills, but they also need to learn how to use social media safely. Your students may already be on Facebook: the key is to help them learn to use social media and online software in a safe arena.
A safe way to embrace social media in a safe, school-controlled environment is through a virtual learning environment (VLE). A good VLE should include built-in social media tools – such as blogs, online messaging and discussion forums – that recreate the online world within the school’s IT environment. So choose a VLE that enables pupils and teachers to explore the possibilities, without sharing information in the public domain.
2. Think about eSafety and privacy on your school website
Your school website is a great way to share information and show what school life is like. But think carefully before putting information in this very public space. It may be useful to put information about school trips on the website, but do you really want everyone to know that your Year 3 students will be wondering around the town museum on Tuesday afternoon?
3. Give parents information, but only about their children
Inviting parents as guests into your VLE is a great way to keep them informed about their children’s education. But this also means the parent could see work by, and information about, other children. So carefully review user access rights. A good VLE will allow you to restrict what guests can see and may even provide a parent portal that only reveals information about the parent’s own children.
4. Update your network filters regularly
Even if you use a network filter to block access to sites that contain unsuitable content, it’s still possible to beat the filters. So keep your filtering software up to date.
It’s also worth noting that most students only navigate around the filters in order to use social networking sites – not to view harmful material. So consider relaxing the filters so students can access social networking sites, but are still protected from harmful content.
5. Offer continuous eSafety training for teachers
Responsibility for eSafety doesn’t lie only with school technology coordinators and senior staff; classroom teachers have a responsibility, too. So make sure they have the training and resources they need to educate their students about the dangers and pitfalls – and can avoid them themselves.
There are great resources available for this kind of training. Insafe, for example, is a European network of Awareness Centres promoting safe and responsible use of the internet to young people. And if you want materials to use in class, you could try educationcity.com, a site packed with great resources for younger students.
6. Find out how to run a successful student eSafety course at BETT 2012
Manor Primary School in Devon runs a very successful eSafety course for all pupils using itslearning, an online VLE. The teacher behind the course, Sue Parker, will be talking about the course at BETT 2012. So drop by the itslearning stand (D50) to see her presentation.
Where: itslearning stand (D50)
When: Thursday 12 January at 14:30
itslearning: a safe, secure and effective VLE for your school
The itslearning VLE is used by millions of students, educators and parents around the world to help make teaching more valuable for students – in a safe, school-controlled online environment.
