Worried about Web 2.0?

Whenever I talk to teachers or advisors about using Web 2.0 applications in curriculum contexts they invariably come up with worries about security. In a growingly litiginous society this is understandable but the worries should not provide barriers.

There are ways forward and I note that my good friend Peter Woodhead from Hong Kong offered a look at how they are making steps or even leaps forward ... 'To see how we are using Web 2.0 on our learning platform - which gives all students a safe place to create their digital identities - go to the ESF home page and sign in with the guest account details as given on the page explore the web 2.0 folder for goodies - nothing new but it's what we like doing and also see how I have used a freebie java script editor to embed an RSS feed from my Furl site onto the home page - something your kids could probably do easily' ...

The Byron Review

The Byron Review is an independent report into the risks posed by inappropriate web and game-based content for children and young people. It supported by the UK's Department for Children, Schools and Families. It is being headed up by Dr Tanya Byron and will finally report in March 2008. The responses on her Bebo site make interesting reading.

The review, commissioned by The Prime Minister will look into the risks to children from exposure to potentially harmful or inappropriate material on the Internet and in video games. I do hope that the trawl for information for the review will be a wide so that we get to know, on a world scale, what is happening rather than, as is usual, on a very anglo-centric one.

For me one of the main issues developing from early reports concerning the Review is the perception of 'danger'. It would be wonderful if , just for once, the immense power of the advances in technology and the ability for people all over the world to interact with each other on a social, political and even interest level could be seen as positive not negative.

The media/press do their best to hype up any issues associated with social networking that they can find. The public at large are being ill informed and ill served by being led down a path of doom and gloom with regard to what our young people see as a gigantic leap forward in their ability to free themselves from their geography and expand into a much wider world.

The safety of our young people has to be a prime concern but that is, as it always has been for me, one for education. In your kitchen, are there any knives? Or have you removed them or put bolts on the kitchen door so that children cannot get in to see/find/use them? We know that useful things may be potentially harmful but, in terms of a sort of 'cost/benefit' analysis we make an educated decision about them and move on.

There are key issues here with regard to curriculum in our schools and the necessary importance of personal safety education. (Isn't that one of the aspects of PSHE sessions?)

Dr Tanya Byron appears to me to be a sensible person who will report sensibly without hype. I just hope that the media manage to report her report in the same way.

Safeguarding our Children in a digital world

The Becta Conference held earlier this month in Birmingham brought to the fore some of the key concerns and the subsequent calls for action to protect young people growing up in a digital world. There was concern about digital awareness in a population driven by technology aired by a number of speakers. Jenny Simpson, Safeguarding Development Officer, Leicestershire CYPS, gave valuable tips on developing a Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB) strategy taken from her own experience and she made clear points saying that:

'... in developing a co-ordinated response, it was important to recognise:
e-safety comes within the context of Every Child Matters
e-safety is part of the wider work of the LSCB
e-safety is not a technological issue
the importance of education, training and information

For me the key point here is the fact that this is not a technological issue. The safety of people in a digital world should not and must not depend on the producers of the technology. We do not hold television manufacturers responsible for the programmes we and our children watch. And you can't hold the BBC responsible for programmes watched by minors after the watershed.

It is down to education ... in our schools it is a PSHE issue and in our homes it is about knowledge and responsibility. Penny Patterson, ICT Inspector, London Grid for Learning (LGfL), London Borough of Havering made a very valuable point when she commented: children and young people should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own e-safety and those of their peers, and be given the skills so that they are better able to make the process ‘self policing’...

I totally agree here that it is up to everyone to invest time and effort into teaching and learning the necessary skills and techniques that living in a digital age necessitates. After all, we are all familiar with 'road safety' issues and this education has formed a part of the curriculum in schools for decades. Time to move forward. Road saftey is still important as is drug awareness, sex education and 'not going with strangers'. The e-safety agenda is another in the line of responsibilities we have towards our young people. To help them we may need some help ourselves.

Stephen Carrick-Davies, Chief Executive of Childnet International, spoke of the pressures on parents and their plight in trying to keep their children safe on the internet, when many are intimidated by their own lack of knowledge. He commented: Some parents feel intimidated by the internet and unable to help their children because of their own lack of internet knowledge. We need to continue to inform and develop adult confidence and competence so that our young people can feel supported not only at school but at home as well.
This is not an issue which will go away and so all of us must engage in it - collective responsibility must be the theme.