Beware... stranger danger!

Working legally, safely and ethically online is fundamental to e-learning. For teachers and students working online (ie all of them!), we need to understand these issues, and understand the consequences of not complying with the rules.

In today’s digital age, ICT and the online world are part of everyday life, including being an essential part of schooling. I think it would be safe to say that every student has some involvement in the online world. And with ICT being so embedded and essential in schooling today, the Queensland Government have developed Student ICT expectations to specify the ICT learning that is expected of all students in Queensland state school by the end of Years 3,5,7,9,10 and 12 (Queensland Government, 2012b). These ICT expectations are in line with the Australian Curriculum General Capability, ICT competence, whereby it is recognised that students need to be ‘creative and productive users of technology’ in order to be successful learners at school and beyond in this digital age (Queensland Government, 2012b). A key component of the student ICT expectations is the use of ethical, safe and responsible practice when working with ICT (Queensland Government, 2012). Even by the end of Year 3, students are expected to understand that it is not appropriate to copy large amounts of information on the internet, be aware of ethical and unethical ICT communications, and recognise the significance of private passwords (Queensland Government, 2012). I think that when I was in Year 3, I didn’t even know what a computer was, and even if I did, it was not connected to the Internet. While I am supportive of using ICTs for enhanced learning, it does make me think how children of today have to deal with ‘adult’ issues earlier in their lives. Stranger danger is no longer the man in a van parked out the front of a school yard; it is so much more subtle, sinister and hard to track over the Internet. This is why children in lower primary years (and possibly even younger) need to be able to identify stranger danger in online environments, and be equipped with safety strategies.

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The Department of Education’s Acceptable Use of the Department's Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) specifies that teachers need to ensure students understand what is meant by acceptable use, and are able to demonstrate and model suitable behaviour at all times (Queensland Government, 2012a). The procedure outlines that all EQ staff and students need to keep their username and strong password secure. Teachers need to model suitable behaviour, as well as provide direction for the use of ICTs within the classroom, including ensuring students understand and demonstrate acceptable, safe behaviour. Inappropriate behaviour includes (but not limited to) online or email harassment or abuse, accessing any offensive, pornographic or illegal material, infringing copyright laws, forwarding spam, accessing or using restricted Department information without authorization (Queensland Government, 2012a).

According to this procedure, teacher’s need to ensure their students understand what appropriate online behaviour constitutes, ensure their students can demonstrate appropriate behaviour, and adhere to the schools online requirements and policies (Queensland Government, 2012a). Students need to demonstrate acceptable online behaviour, maintain the security of their usernames and passwords, and understand and sign the school’s online agreement/guideline annually (Queensland Government, 2012a). The procedure also requires that parents of students provide consent for their child to access and use the school’s ICT services and facilities, and to also understand and sign the school’s online agreement/guideline annually (Queensland Government, 2012a).

For a more “reader friendly” version of safe, ethical and legal online guidelines, The Australian Government's Cybersmart website is worth going to. This website provides information to students, parents and schools about online safety and legal issues, including how to deal with cyberbullying, identity theft, sexting and trolling (Australian Government, 2013). The website also offers online counselling (through Kids Helpline) and can provide professional development to educators. This is a great website because it talks about all the issues and guidelines in terminology that students understand and use, making the information more accessible to the target audience. This website could be used when the class is developing their own class guidelines/rules for their work in wikis, blogs, videos, images etc.

For copyright guidelines, I found the Australian Copyright Council’s website very helpful. In particular, the Student page outlines the copyright guidelines for students generally, and specifically in regards to copying and downloading videos and DVDs, using music in videos and films for assignments, and taping TV and video. The information sheets are clear to understand (with limited legal jargon) and include frequently asked questions that were helpful. These information sheets could be used by teachers when proactively instructing their class on legal guidelines, and by students (and teachers) when they are creating resources and their class ‘online’ guidelines/rules for working in wikis, blogs, websites etc.