Online Safety
Supporting staff and students to achieve their full potential since 1968.
Welcome to our weekly CENMAC blog post.
Online Safety by Wayne McCullough, CENMAC Advisory Teacher
On 9 February 2021 this year, we highlight the need to recognise the importance of Online Safety. This event is held every year in February with a focus on a particular theme, and this year’s theme is “An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world.”
We need to encourage students to question what they see and read online to ensure that time they do spend online is not impacted.
The Internet is a powerful resource, with a world of information but it is not always clear if the information we are looking at is always accurate, how do we know what is fact and what is fiction?
As educators’ we always try to encourage students to be independent learners, to use the Internet as a resource to support their learning and help them to decide what information is trustworthy. This helps them to reflect on the information they are reading and decide if what they are reading is indeed factual.
It is important that we encourage students to ask questions about the information they are using:
- Is this information accurate?
- Where has the information come from?
- Is what I am reading trustworthy?
- Who has written the information, a publisher or influencer?
- Is this story or video fake news?
We need to encourage students to question what they see and read online to ensure that time they do spend online is not impacted.
Remember these top tips when questioning information online:
- Use other websites and sources to fact-check online information.
- Question, evaluate and reflect on the online content you see.
- Fact-check and reflect before sharing content, posts or pictures.
Here is a great video about how we can work together to provide a better Internet:
Test your knowledge on fake news, with this interactive quiz:
www.internetmatters.org
Of course, it is important to remember that as most students are currently learning remotely, we need to encourage them to use the Internet safely during this time and remind them if they see something upsetting to report it to someone they trust.
Always remember:
- Never share your personal details or trust strangers online.
- Talk to someone you trust if you see something upsetting.
- Use strong passwords.
- Remember to use trusted sites for online shopping.
- Be careful what you post online – always remember to Think!
It is important to remember that Internet safety isn’t just for one day but every day throughout the year, and by supporting students we can help them to develop the skills to review the information they access online.
There are some wonderful activities on the Safer Internet website, to complete which complement the theme of “An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world”. Try their interactive quiz to test your knowledge www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2021
Here are a few more links and resources on Internet safety which may be useful:
And there is a really good search engine, which is designed with pupils in mind, called Swiggle. Results are visually displayed making it easier to carry out different searches for their learning and finding the information they need.
To help parents and carers develop their own knowledge of social media and fake news, to help keep their own child(ren) safe online, there is a free 30 day online course offered by Equaliteach – elearning.equaliteach.co.uk
Don’t forget you can share your CENMAC experiences for our CENMAC family to enjoy.
#SaferInternetDay #AnInternetWeTrust #AssistiveTechnology #Education #Mainstream #SEN #Homeschooling #CENMAC #Technology #Support #Solutions
The Internet is a powerful resource, with a world of information but it is not always clear if the information we are looking at is always accurate
Always remember:
THINK Before you post.
