http://www.teachers.tv/video/26942 

This programme outlines simple classroom activities to help teachers to take practical steps to keep pupils safe online and to increase awareness of the potential dangers of internet usage.

E-safety consultant Dr Alan Beecham visits Rhodesway Secondary School in Bradford to work with a group of Year 9 students. Humanities teacher Haroon Gardee and Year 7 inclusion manager Max Crowther join Dr Beecham to gauge pupils’ reaction to a fictitious profile they created on a social networking site.  Another activity highlights the dangers of sharing too much information, while a further task focuses on security and privacy settings.   At Stocksbridge High School in Sheffield, e-safety officers apply an internet safety policy, run parental awareness evenings, and act as a point of contact for pupils.

Hector’s World is available at http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/hectorsworld   Children as young as five years old are the focus of a new online safety programme being launched today, Thursday 8th May 2008, by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. 

OFCOM research indicates that 59% of 5-7 year olds access the internet at home and that 21% do so unsupervised (anecdotally in Havering these figures are even higher). Building on the success of the organisation’s Thinkuknow education initiative, which has already reached over 1.7 million children and young people between the ages of 8-16 years, the UK’s Centre for tackling the sexual abuse of children is now reaching out to parents of much younger children with vital ’safety first’ advice.

Hector’s WorldTM comprises five animated episodes. It takes children on a journey with Hector and his friends as they explore issues such as personal information, trustworthiness, making positive choices online and how to be open with a trusted adult when they use the internet.

The animation has been adapted for a young UK audience following successful running of the programme in New Zealand and is backed up by a series of free resources available to parents and teachers via the dedicated CEOP education website – thinkuknow.co.uk. All materials have been developed in consultation with Becta and with teachers (including representation from Havering).

BBC News article on Hector’s World

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7389584.stm

http://cms.lgfl.net/lgfl/web/safety

At last after lots of publicity this morning by those who have read it and discussion and speculation based on their comments the Review is finally on line for all to read.

Final Report:

• Safer Children in a Digital World (Full)
  The Full Report also contains a glossary, bibliography, details of the Review process, and a list of key contributors to the Review.

So the first read will be

• Safer Children in a Digital World (Executive Summary)

and really readable is the children and young person report

• Safer Children in a Digital World – A summary for Children and Young People
  

So have a look at it. what do you think? Will this make using social technologies easier for you in school. Leave a comment.

Extract from Tricia Neal’s Emerging Technologies Blog

(Well-worth subscribing too)

 http://trishetech.blogspot.com/ 

Byron Review competitions

Pupils can enter any or all of these three competitions. Winners will also be invited to London where they will help Dr Tanya Byron launch the report to the public at the end of March.

1. How to be ‘Netsmart’ . Give advice to other children on how to be safe and have fun online; or to parents telling them how they can help their children remain safe whilst enjoying the internet.
2. How to be ‘Gamesmart’ . Give advice to other children on how to have fun and be safe when playing video games; or to parents on how to choose the right video games and game settings for their children.
3. Design a Front Cover for the Byron Review report.

Pupils can use whatever media they want. Written advice should not be more than half a page of A4 (200 words); videos no longer than 2 minutes.

Closing date Sunday 2nd March. (The original timescale was only 2 weeks.)

Click on the link for details:- www.dfes.gov.uk/byronreview/Byron-Review-Competition-Flyer.pdf  

A useful quote from the author Douglas Adams

“I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:           

1.  Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.           

2.  Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.           

3.  Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.” 

Panorama One Click from Danger – 7th January 2008

View programme: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7174814.stm 

RBC Panorama Response – Internet safety – 7 January

One Click from Danger Panorama – an investigation into how paedophiles are using the internet as a tool to make contact with unsuspecting teenagers.

It is possible this programme may raise issues relevant to us as providers/enablers of Internet services in schools.  LGfL (London Grid for Learning) has worked with other RBCs (Regional Broadband Consortia), with some input from legal advisors, to (quickly) prepare the attached brief paper (click on the link above), which may be useful to colleagues as a resource, should it prove necessary or appropriate to respond to the above, or to concerns raised by schools or parents. There are also ample resources (including policies) provided at www.safety.lgfl.net

If you need any further information or there are any specific actions you wish me to additionally take please do let me know. 

Penny Patterson

General Inspector ICT HIAS – Havering Inspection and Advisory Service

The BeatBullying charity in co-operation with YouTube has launched an online anti-bullying video channel. The channel will provide advice for children being bullied in a number of short videos. A moderated community will also be available for user to chat about their experiences. http://uk.youtube.com/profile?user=Beatbullying

A new report by the Information Commissioners Office warns about the legacy of social networking content. The report suggests that 71% of young people would not want an employer or potential university seeing content they have posted on social networking sites, however 60% of the same group had not considered that this content may be still available online for many years to come. This is known as digital persistence. The report clearly shows a gap between young peoples ability to create online content and their understanding of the potential issues that surround it. www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/pressreleases/2007/social_networking_press_release.pdf

Advice on online safety is available from the Becta website http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=is