esafety-adviser

If its of interest to anyone, I wrote a small BYOD paper which can be found here. (4th resource down) It's non-technical but looks at considerations of use

I'm starting to hear good things about My Big Campus, which includes device management in school and out. Haven't had a chance to check it out properly yet but worth a look.

Termination fees, mad and frustrating as it sounds, are not uncommon whether at end of contract or not. If the termination fee is written into the contract there is no get out clause, although £1000 is pretty steep.

Good luck and let me know if you need any help. One last thing that I forgot to mention - I've written a small guide for schools that want to use Twitter. It's completely free for use and distribution. Alan

As with anything like this, there is very little in the way of what is right and wrong; only what is appropriate, and appropriate is subjective to the school and its own unique circumstances. That could be appropriate to education, to the school, to the child etc. On the point of law, policy isn't law, it's only a term and condition. Twitter and Facebook are being used for some really good things in schools these days (both primary and secondary), most notably as said above like a broadcast account where the school doesn't follow any account, but parents and students can follow the school (once checked and approved). In e-safety there is always 4 angles that must be considered - policy, liability, safe use, technology. If you think using the analogy of the fire triangle, i.e. if you have fuel, oxygen and heat you have a fire - so it is the same with e-safety, in other words if you have covered the school policy, the liability to the school (through misuse), empowered safe use, and using the right technology with the correct considerations, so you e-safety compliant. In the case of using Twitter: Policy - the school must have a social media policy (either separate or embedded within AUP) which states the controls for use. Liability - the school must consider the implications of misuse by the school, i.e. risk assessment and mitigate. Safe use - the school must empower ALL staff with good e-safety awareness, and include the students and parents Technology - (using Twitter as the example) - a dedicated school account, locked, used as a broadcast account only (in the context of this post), users can only follow once accepted. For the sake of being concise, that's a really quick description, but of course there are so many variables. As long as any school remembers the 4 principles and gives them due consideration any risk is mitigated.

I was recently asked to give some advice to a school who were holding a parents evening/forum, I thought these may be useful to some of you: 1. Age is not a consideration. Children are using technology in truly innovative ways at younger and younger ages and therefore the risks and issues are applicable to everyone. Clearly the younger children will need to be guided more as they may lack the ability to risk assess. 2. A balanced approach is required between explaining the risks and dangers, and the fun and enjoyment of ICT. I have seen countless parent and school talks given whereby the speaker was trying to do the right thing but concentrated far too much on the dangers. I have witnessed parents react in a knee-jerk fashion and banned their children from PC’s, Xbox, mobile phone etc. 3. ICT is a toolbox of many tools. You and I will use ICT for professional purposes and we will both use a range of tools to fulfil our work requirements. Children and young people use ICT because it is fun. It is fun to play, it is fun to learn with: in many situations it makes the teaching and learning easier, collaborative and more productive. However many adults will shy away at the sheer mention of computers or technology for a variety of reasons: have never used it; don’t ever want to use it; scared of it; were not brought up with it; had a bad experience of it…..etc. Therefore you will need to tailor your forum to take in this broad spectrum of individuals. 4. Esafety is not about ICT in the same way that a bank robbery is not about the getaway car, it is just the mode of transport, the medium for the doing. 5. When you have given your presentation be prepared that some parents may be horrified and will demand to know what you are doing about it in school. Stress how you embed esafety into your school. Esafety is not a subject in its own right: it is not dissimilar to health and safety whereby it affects everything that we do everywhere. Therefore online safety is embedded into every area of the curriculum and school life in general. The children are taught to risk assess, they are taught what is appropriate and what is inappropriate. 6. Parents may be left wondering what they can do at home to help, or to be aware of what their child is doing. It is important to stress that much of esafety is about common sense. There is nothing new about any of the risks and dangers, the internet simply allows for a much larger audience in a number of different ways. Here are the 6 most important tips for parents (in my opinion): a. Try to understand the technology so you can talk in an informed manner with your child b. Understand how your children are interacting on the internet, using what – talk to them! c. Tell children that people may not be who they seem, if not sure ask d. Talk to children about what personal information is, what they can and cannot give out e. Learn how to use security settings within I.E., Playstation etc for assurance f. Most important of all – engage, learn, enjoy, use common sense. If in doubt, seek somebody out!