Recently Richard of Netsafe ran a cybercitzenship workshop for the eLead teachers.
Netsafe has been around for about ten years and provides some very useful resources for the education sector. Check out their website.
The netbasics resource is particularly spectacular, meet the Jones family watch some mean computer animations and learn about internet safety as you go. Hint access the "Your Computer Security" and "Protect Stuff " tabs to find the detail.
Under the teaching resources section you will find printable pamphlets, puzzles and a very useful cyber citizenship pathways matrix which will eventually link to lesson plans. The matrix is still in development however we were given a preview of the resources which look to be very useful. The challenge for us is to work out how to implement them in a distance learning environment.
Richard concluded the workshop by providing these prevention strategies:
1. Do the Netbasics- follow the advice! ***** 5 Star rating *****
2. Protect privacy – take care where you provide your contact details; name, address, phone number, email address and phone.
3. Use discretion – only post material on the internet that you would be happy for a future employer to view.
4. Use strong passwords – a combination of words and letters, no nicknames, birthdays or pet names.
5. Education is important – Club Penguin, a Disney site for young children provides four simple rules, these are good rules to follow.
Club Penguin's rules for online safety:
- Never give out personal information, such as your real name, age, location, phone number or school.
- Never share your password with anyone except your parents. Someone else might use your password and pretend to be you, give out your personal information or do something that may get you into trouble.
- Tell your parents if someone says or does something on the Internet that makes you uncomfortable, or if someone asks you for personal information.
- Choose a username that does not reflect your real identity. Avoid names that are in any way suggestive, even if they seem innocent to you.
- Avoid chat rooms that are not monitored by moderators.
