Are acceptable use policies acceptable or of any use?

Should schools have Acceptable Use Policies? The following article was originally published in April 2008. Apart from the references to the ‘recent’ Byron Review and to Becta, it still seems very apposite to me. If I were writing the article today, I’d bring in Responsible Use Policies, but otherwise I believe it still stands. What do you think?

One of the things recommended by the recent Byron Review into keeping children safe in a digital world was for schools to have acceptable use policies

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BETT 2013 Interviews: Simon Finch

E-safety guru Simon Finch talks about why pupils should be allowed to use social media, why teachers should use it, e-safety and identity management.

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E-safety: Knowing your digital rights

The place: A classroom

The time: Now

Teacher: So, class, that’s your homework for today.

Boy at the back: You can’t do that, Sir. I know my rights.

T: Er, sorry, I can’t do what exactly?

BATB: Set us that homework, Sir.

T: Why not?

BATB: ‘Cos it will take about half an hour, Sir, and you’re only allowed to give us 20 minutes. I know my rights.

T: OK, do 20 minutes this evening, and 10 minutes tomorrow evening.

BATB: You can’t tell me that, Sir.

T: OK, and why not?

BATB: Cos I have a right to a private life under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, Sir. I know my rights.

Lights dim as the characters continue arguing. Exeunt.

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3 ways of maintaining privacy

Her Majesty The Queen of England serves as an inspirational role model in terms of personal privacy. Despite being in the public eye for 60 years, she has managed to keep her personal opinions to herself. Almost nobody knows, for example, what her favourite tea is (although Smokey Earl Grey has been hinted at). Yet there are many people who seem to announce to the world each time they blow their nose!

The balance between public and private is, of course, a personal choice, and one made more difficult by other people openly talking about one’s activities or tagging one’s photos, and much standard business advice. But if you do want to be fairly private while maintaining a strong online presence, here are some suggestions. You may like to share and discuss these with students, who are also striving to get this balance correct.

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Internet safety report

Concentrating purely on web filtering to keep kids safe online is a bit like looking for your keys under a lamp post because, although you lost them somewhere else, it’s lighter there. A third of children in Europe access the internet from a mobile device, according a new report:

33 % of 9 to 16 year-olds who go online say they do so using a mobile phone or other handheld device.

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e-Safety and cyberbullying news

What’s happening in the world of e-safety, especially in the UK? Here are some interesting items from the November 2010 issue of Computers in Classrooms, the free e-newsletter for those with a professional interest in educational ICT. The items include:

• Research into types of bullying;
• Research into technology and behaviour;
• The Beat Bullying website; and
• Safer Internet Day and a competition from Childnet.

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E-safety: whose responsibility is it?

Updated on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 2:20PM by Terry Freedman, Educational ICT Consultant

A year ago today I put forward some ideas for teaching youngsters how to take responsibility for their digital footprint. A year on, the article is still relevant in my opinion.

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A film competition, video judging and a consultation

Childnet International, a registered charity whose mission is to work in partnership with others around the world to “help make the Internet a great and safe place for children”, is running a film competition. Here are the details:

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Safer Internet Day

Just a quick reminder: this annual event us nearly upon us – tomorrow, 8th February 2011. See the Safer Internet Day website, and the Safer Internet Day Fair. What will your school be doing for the event? Check out the Think u Know website too. You might also find this post interesting: Digital Safety for Children and Youth. It has some interesting links.

First published in Computers in Classrooms, the free e-newsletter for edcational ICT professionals.

A Safer Internet

As I wrote recently, I attended a conference on Taming the Wild Web, which was followed by the launch of a new certificated course in safe social networking, called, appropriately enough, Safe.

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Internet Safety Issues

Why is there only one Monopolies Commission? This was the plaintive cry of would-be politician Screaming Lord Sutch, and I usually find myself asking the converse of this when it comes to internet safety: why are there so many agencies?

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E-Safety from a Self-Management Perspective

Last year I was invited to talk to a group of school students aged 16-18 years on the subject of keeping yourself safe in online social networks. An easy task, you might imagine, except that it has two main difficulties.

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