February 2009 - Posts
A new internet Safety book "
Who wnts 2 no?" is
being launched on the 5
th March 2009 and is available free to all
Schools and Libraries across the UK.
The book explores online situations with the "Cybernuts" to help
children and young people consider their online activity and how to keep
themselves safe online. This book is aimed at children aged 8 to 12 to help
promote awareness about internet safety and to also develop key literacy
skills.
The book was created with help from children aged 8-12 and in collaboration
with Childnet International.
Visit here to order now to
help introduce children to the Cybernuts and make their digital adventures
safer - and much more fun!
Childnet
International has updated its report into Young People Social Networking on
the Digizen Site
The project is designed to investigate how social networking services can
and are being used to support personalised formal and informal learning by
young people in schools and colleges
The report considers what Social networking is; evaluates the different services/sites
available and examines the benefits as well as the barriers and risks of using
Social Networking in a School environment.
This report is essential reading for any schools or professionals who are
considering using social networking in the classroom. The report considers
issues such as moderation, age restrictions, privacy settings, sites to
consider and risk assessments. The report also includes examples of good
practise for establishments to consider should they be considering using social
networking with students.
For full details on Social Networking on the Digizen site, click here
For the full report in pdf click here
For an evaluation chart considering the different Social Networking Sites
please click here
Please note we urge any schools or establishments considering implementing a
project with Social Networking to contact the e-Safety Officer initially.
Plagiarism is a high-profile issue for schools,
particularly issues relating to the internet and coursework.
Netskills have created some resources to support Secondary Achools in raising awareness and in tackling this issue which
can be used with staff or students. The materials can be found here
The
European Commission has completed a deal with internet companies to
help protect children using social networking sites. The agreement was signed
at the Safer Internet Day, which was organised by the European Commission as a
means of self-regulation by the major online players.
The agreement - which covers sites including Facebook, Bebo, Google,
Microsoft, yahoo! MySpace and YouTube - will see a number of safeguards put in
place to help protect young people while they are using the web.
Seventeen websites and networks across Europe
have agreed to the proposals, and as part of the deal they have promised that
there will be significant progress towards implementing the rules by April 2009.
Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner for information society and the media,
said that the agreement was an "important step" in the process of
making social networking safer for children.
"Social networking has enormous potential to flourish in Europe, to
help boost our economy and make society more interactive - as long as children
and teenagers have the trust and the right tools to remain safe when making new
'friends' and sharing personal details online".
The social networks have stated they will provide an easy to use and
accessible ‘report abuse' button, make sure that full online profiles and
contact lists of website users who are registered as under 18s are set to
‘private' by default, users under 18 will not be searchable, develop systems to deal with Cyberbullying and prevent under-age
users from using their services.
The agreement will evaluate the success of the plans to stop cyberbullying,
grooming and risky behaviour like revealing personal information, in a years
time.
These proposals are similar to the social
networking guidance which was issued
by the Home Office in Britain
in 2008. That agreement - which included a self-regulated code of conduct for
social networks operating in the UK - included requirements for visual privacy
prompts, and required sites to attempts to remove younger users.
The commission has also launched a new video and campaign against
cyberbullying.
To help promote European Safer Internet day on the 10th February, the North West Learning Grid have created some e-safety games. They are free to use for anyone that wishes to do so and are aimed at Primary and Secondary pupils as well as parents/carers.
Please find them here
10 February
2009 is
European Safer Internet Day. The main objective of Safer Internet Day
(SID) 2009 is to bring together key stakeholders, in as many countries as
possible, to raise awareness about safe and responsible use of new technologies
especially among children and young people.
We would like
as many schools in Kent
to highlight this day in their calendars with an event such as a special
assembly, a competition or a project.
Schools can
download a pack of resources including brand new stand-alone KS2 and KS3/4
assemblies (with Teaching Materials to support them) which have been produced
by the Child Expolitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). These two short
(approx 8 minute) films are highlighting the issues of safe Social Networking
for Young People and being aware of how information they may have posted online
can put them in danger.
CEOP will be
signposting all the resources schools will need for SID 2009, including those
focused on cyberbullying and other issues on theri ThinkUKnow website.
Please click here
to register and CEOP will keep you up-to-date with developments and new ideas.
The new assemblies are avaiable in the "Resources" section of the
website.
If you are
already a registered user of the Thinkuknow website, please login here before downloading the resources for the Safer
Internet Day Assemblies. Please note these resources are only available to schools/teachers registered
with CEOP.
Find out more about Safer Internet Day here
If you or your School are highlighting Safer Internet Day please contact the e-Safety Officer
here for support, advice and to share good practice