10 tips for engaging pupils and parents in e-safety and digital citizenship

ten top e-security tips: show younger people the positive side of social media and the web, says head of ICT Mike Britand. Photograph: Alamy

Recently, we held a live chat on educating digital citizenship and how colleges can help hold students risk-free on-line. Beneath are some of the ideal pieces of advice that had been shared for the duration of the discussion.

Use a quiz: I after employed a quiz that asked queries like: what was your first pet’s title? what is your date of birth? what is your electronic mail deal with? what is your favourite film? After they handed in their solutions I informed them that I had in my possession the info to retrieve passwords or worse. The bulk of pupils didn’t make the connection amongst these concerns and frequently asked safety inquiries. I then went by means of a series of personalisation methods to make the information a lot more safe.

Get pupils to search themselves up: One activity I use to kick begin discussion is asking students to search up their identify in a search engine – note I don’t say Google, just like I wouldn’t tell them to have a bottle of Evian at break.

Credit score photographs to educate copyright: If I use a photograph from an picture search, I display a photograph credit score that includes the search term. At first college students thought it was so they could locate it as well, but increasingly they started to realise that the photograph belonged to somebody.

Keep your college policy appropriate: Digital citizenship policies need to be a functioning document. As well numerous colleges get positions on certain locations of e-safety, only to locate it outdated in 6 months time. Similarly, the school network needs to operate like the residence network – open and trusted, but with monitoring and frank discussion when breaches are made.

Will not get bogged down in e-security: Digital citizenship discussions sometimes only focus on using the net securely and responsibly, but there are many other competencies essential by younger men and women. For instance, information of on the internet equipment and how to use these effectively for individual use, schooling, enterprise and socialising, how to deal with data overload and knowing enterprise versions on the web – this kind of as how firms use marketing and acquire data. We need to help younger folks produce their essential pondering expertise around all factors of getting on the internet. Getting students to go over how celebrities or politicians use on-line networks is a very good way of receiving them to reflect a lot more deeply on how they are used.

Alan Mackenzie, training e-safety adviser: @esafetyadviser

Get older college students concerned: One of the most positive approaches I have used with college students is peer education. A group of older pupils acquire in-depth training to turn into e-security ambassadors and train students, workers and mother and father on digital citizenship. I have delivered the coaching across a assortment of colleges, all with very good outcomes. The students had been specifically responsive to this strategy as the guidance was practical, reasonable and relevant. No mentions of dated social networking internet sites or “will not meet online buddies,” which is often noticed in standard e-safety one-off assemblies.

Observe Ted talks: A excellent way of engaging older college students is to maintain an eye on the TED talks series – deep and genuine video insights into plenty of items relevant to technologies and its use. They’re a really successful way of exploring many areas of citizenship by provoking imagined and debate.

Engage parents tiny and often: E-safety and digital citizenship should be noticed as each day discussions, not just anything spoken about at a single off occasions. It truly is a shared duty and if schools have standard and open communication with families then it can aid to make sure that messages are consistent. Right here are some hints and ideas I found even though operating with colleges.

Mike Britland, head of ICT and e-security co-ordinator at Oak Academy in Bournemouth: @MikeHBritland

Locate out how significantly mother and father know: This yr I designed an superb survey for mother and father that was posted on our academy site. We employed the responses to tailor particular information evenings to cover the issues raised. Like students, some mothers and fathers know far more than others, so a tailored method functions ideal. Acquiring mother and father and students with each other to examine issues is extremely advantageous.

Be positive: Young individuals need to be proven the constructive side to social media. Lessons should not take the approach of appear how scary the web is, but focus on how great it is and how productive you can be employing it. And within that to teach that they want to keep in mind to use it cautiously and responsibly.

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10 tips for engaging pupils and parents in e-safety and digital citizenship