Kia ora

Hi and welcome to our Time4 Online Conference and in particular, the Time4 Online workshop forum that runs alongside the main Time4 Online Keynote Forum, which will run for the two week period of the conference. This forum has threads for most workshop topics and allows presenters to tease out their ideas a little more through discussion with conference participants. They will be present in the workshops for the duration of Round 2 workshops, 31 May - 5 June, but discussion can continue throughout and after the conference ends.

We encourage you to join in and give your contributions - share ideas and opinions and promote dialogue by asking question to find out more specific detail, clarify a point, or give others an opportunity to expand the topic. Tip: At the end of your comment, ask a question to promote further discussion. Each person has a different context and brings a different perspective to the topic. We value all comments as they develop critical reflection on practice and combine to make for rich, professional dialogue.

We welcome presenters and participants to this workshop on Keeping Safe Online, featuring the NetSafe team. Their workshop page begins with the Introduction and their Presentation followed up with other ways for Participation (adding favourite links and resources) and Support Material.

Please ask the NetSafe team questions or raise concerns or share experiences about about keeping safe online. We encourage you to actively participate. Thank you.

From Anne
(On behalf of the conference team)

Reply

Status:Status:Status:

Thank you for the videos on the cybersafety,
I was wondering if you had any resources for the cybersafety in Teaching Practice as the item on the webpage linked to nowhere, as this is an area where we have little New Zealand focussed information. An assessment on it through the review of Unit Standards at the end of this year would be a good idea.

Hello Gerard, thanks for your comments. In terms of the video resource our our webpage, we are having a few technical issues getting google to clear the video for publication! Not sure why, but hopefully it will all be cleared up today.

NetSafe is continually working with teachers in schools to try to develop better understandings around this area, and hopefully some of the output from this workshop will move us a little further down the track! We have developed a number of resources aimed at promoting cybersafety in the classroom with a focus on younger students, and these can be found at www.hectorsworld.com

Hello, The teaching practice video is now available. Enjoy!

wonderful, thank you very much

 Just came across this Australian site that promotes cyber safety

http://www.cyberquoll.com.au/hub.htm

The thing I notice here is that they say don't put ANY photos of yourself on the net because people can manipulate them. What do others think? The children in my class are visual learners and I think it would be sad to say no more photos!

Hi Allanah
I was just watching the videos from the same site.  I think it would be great to use  in the classroom with kids but I wouldn't want to scare them.  I really like having photos on the net.  I think we need to see that there is always going to be a bad element but we shouldn't let that stop us from using these technologies for learning.  We just need to be careful.  I would like to see some statistics about children being hunted down from their information on the net.  If someone really wanted to grab a kid they could just look in our local newspapers which take photos of kids and run them along with their names without parental consent.

This is what I don't understand.... how come newspapers etc are allowed to publish photos (and even names) of our kids without their parents consent??

Do the same rules not apply to them or is it just schools and teachers being responsible?

Hello Rachel, Allanah, Jane

There is alot of very polar informatiuon out there when it comes to posting of childrens photo's online. It is very easy to make the jump to to a hypothetical predatory scenario and have visions of children abducted, traced only by pictures posted on a school website. The comments about the value of images online are spot on, there is huge value in the use of images in the learning process, and we all like to see and share our success along our learning journey. As an organisation, NetSafe would never advocate taking all images offline (What a dull world that would make cyberspace!), simply we suggest that individuals think about the concept of a "permanent digital footprint" when they do choose to share images.

Put simply, this is the idea that once information is posted, it is out there for good. Even once you choose to remove it, there are copies in internet caches and databases throughout cyberspace for someone to discover should they so desire. This isn't a problem as long as you are happy to share that info with cyberspace in the first place.

As for the fear of image manipulation, in a world of pxt capable megapixel resolution cell phones, it is hard to stop an individual getting hold of an image of you if they really want to. The potential losses of never using images online in the learning process, probably outstrips the risk of using them.

Ensure as teachers that you have permission to use images of students, from parents or guardians, and it is worth letting parents know when you do use them (Which also allows them to participate further in the learning community)

With respect to the local press, the same rules apply. Not sure how vigilant they are though.

What an excellent "conversation" this is!

Thanks also Sean for your 'commonsense' reply - good to know that photos can be used online when the appropriate permissions have been given and when they enrich the learning process/activity etc.

I agree that the potential losses of never using images online would outweigh the risks of using them... but we still need to be aware of those risks and work to minimise them in our schools.

Thank you all for your time and participation in the Keeping Safe Online workshop. By working with us through this forum, you have taken a proactive step towards providing a cybersafe learning environment within your own networks and communities.

Much of our work with schoools to date has been focussed around the establishment of cybersafety infrastructure, a large part of which can be seen through our kit for schools.

This conference is part of a new focus for us, in terms of the way in which we provide support to classroom practitioners on their journey, utilising the tools that web based technologies have to offer, whilst ensuring that young people enjoy a safe and rewarding experience in their time online.

To this end, NetSafe have begun to develop curriculum materials, beginning by developing a 'framework' of skills and knowledge for growing safe and responsible cyberscitizens. We are   looking to engage with  teachers in assisting us to develop resources to use within this framework, and we would welcome any suggestions you may have

As always, we are happy to provide feedback or assistance on any lessons etc teachers are currently creating around the topic.

Enjoy the Conference, and we look forward to working with you all

Sean Lyons, Development Manager. NetSafe.

The kit is GREAT!

We are using it to totally reddesign our school's policies and permission forms for parents... it became aparent this year that our old forms were no longer good enough (comprehensive enough) due to our increasing use of web 2.0.

Thank you for the Hector the Dolphin button concept which I have never been able to use because we are an Apple School. Are there any moves in the pipeline to bring out a package of a similar nature that will help children deal with on-line content that may disturb them. I know that Hector is sponsored by Microsoft but there must be something out there for Mac users??

Also I make great efforts to ensure that my students (Year Yr4/5) are aware of the possible dangers of posting content on the net by modelling & discussing safe practices. Although children seem aware in the school environment a couple of the children in my class have made Bebo accounts or have had other family members make an account for them. I believe this is way too young for children to be playing with this sort of website.

Even innocuous things like Club Penguin could be dodgy with anyone with an email address able to join.

http://www.clubpenguin.com/

How can I better help educate parents about cyber safety when their children's expertise and confidence outstrips parents' use?

I had to laugh when I saw your question above Allanah... I AGREE TOTALLY!!!

Hi Allanah
I read on a blog post just recently that the Hector button is being made for Mac and should be released shortly.  

Hi Jane,
Great to see that information is getting out there about the upcoming Hector's World resources! We can confirm that there will be a Mac OS10 version of the Hector Safety Button™ launched at the end of August 2007. At the same time there will be launched a deluxe XP version (using .NET2) released which will allow users to choose from a variety of characters and languages. At the same time Hector's World™ will release a streamlined version of the current XP button (built in C++), and a Vista version.

I also noticed that there was some discussion around teaching cybersafety to students. For under 10 year olds, there are some new Hector's World™ Lesson plans for teachers, and a parent information sheet for use with the Hector episdodes which may be of help. A new online Forum for teachers using Hector's World resources will be launched toward the end of June as well (check out the home page of the NetSafe site for more information).

Anyone interested in finding out more about Hector's World™ resources are welcome to contact feedback@hectorsworld.com.

Hi Allanah

Perhaps alerting parents that it is important to read the terms of use agreements on these sites before they set them up is a good step?? Most of them seem to have age limits anyway, regardless of whether we think our students/kids are "old enough" to use them.

eg. this is from Bebo terms of service page http://www.bebo.com/TermsOfUse.jsp

Eligibility and Registration

You must be 13 years or older to use the Bebo Service. By registering for the Bebo Service, you represent and warrant that you are 13 or older and that you have the capacity to understand, agree to and comply with these Terms of Service.

I think it is also crucial that parents are aware of the sites their kids are using and talk to them about which are suitable for them to go onto etc. If they want to know about them, I think the only way is for them to sit down with their kids at the computer and look at the sites and see what they are actually doing.

Maybe the way you use Delicious to reference suitable school sites, could also be applied to a home situation? EG. Parents and children could set up a Delicious account and add suitable sites, then if the kids wanted a new site added to the Delicious (safe sites) area, they would have to look at it with Mum and Dad first before they start using it independently??

NetSafe has a parents area too with advice: http://www.netsafe.org.nz/parents/parents_default.aspx

Cheers
Sarah

Thank you Sarah!
This TOS from Bebo will be great to back up our decision to ban students from visiting this site while at school.
Cheers!

Thanks Sarah but the child just totally didn't read or totally ignored the recommended age restrictions. I told the child that it was restricted to R13 but I could see it was going to fall on deaf ears.

Like Club Penguin- I joined myself up so I could see what it was the the kids were doing. It was also supposed to have parental permission- you had to email your 'parents' for permission so I emailed my gmail account and gave myself permission. Kids aren't silly. They can do the same!

I want parents to be aware of cyber safety but many have bought the computer for the kids to use and wouldn't read on line at all.

I want children to be safe on line but see many school Blogger accounts with the navigation bar with next blog still sitting there. Someday soon someone will see some truly objectionable content by clicking on NEXT BLOG and all hell will break loose and the resulting furore will spoil it for those of us that try so hard to keep our blogs clear of unsavoury outward links.

For those new to Web 2 I have made a blog on blogging that shows you how to hide the nav bar that you may find useful.

www.bling4yrblog.blogspot.com

It takes you through some fairly easy steps in making your blog more secure and a bit flasher!!!

Hope you like it.

AK

Hi Allanah

I agree about the danger of the "next blog" link on blogger, schools should definitely not have this on their blogs. For those of you out there that don't know what we mean, got to www.blogger.com and at the top of the page click on next blog... keep going and see where you end up! Some delightful (sarc.) material out there just a click away.

I helped my son's teacher set up their class blog in blogger and worked out how to remove this bar (possibly the way you explain in your blog - thanks for providing that). While I felt strongly about not having it there, I did feel unsure as it goes against blogger terms of use to remove it.

That made me feel more inclined to think that using a site like David Warlick's blogmeister is the best choice for schools? Although Rachel has mentioned that Blogger was an easier tool for students and teachers to use. I haven't used blogmeister so I wouldn't know.

It would be good if blogger had a navigation bar option without "next blog" but with the other items such as login etc included wouldn't it?

What browser are you using at the moment? I use Firefox on a mac to work on Centre4 - are you using that or another browser?

Cheers

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

The Blogger terms of agreement say to display the Blogger logo and give them credit which do as you have to add the logo to your blog so you can easily log in so that is consciously displayed so that is a good thing. Also technically you are not removing the nav bar- just hiding it!

Dave Warlick's Blogmeister is a great blogging platform as it allows children to blog from home and with their own blog page and log in. My children also love the way they can add a photo and customise their layout the way they like. It can be VERY secure if you want with only those with a password allowed to even view the site. All posting and commenting can go through the teacher's email for moderation so that is a good thing as Blogger can also.

http://bling4yrblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/navbar-option.html

BTW I notice many teachers allow instant posting of comments to their Blogger blogs which I think is foolhardy as it only takes a second to post inane or unsafe messages. Again all comments on my children's blogs are moderated by me.

Back to Blogmeister- there is a fairly big downside to Blogmeister in that it does not host photos- you have to insert html code to link from your Flickr account which can be tricky if you don't know what you are doing

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=70735

If you look at our Blogmeister the two photos at the top are hosted- the left is a class photo that is on all the blogs and the right is an individual photo that children can change. The photos in the middle are actually linked from Flickr not Blogmeister.

Thanks Allanah

I wasn't aware of the difference with uploading photos onto blogmeister so thanks for enlightening me and others.

Also thanks for the suggestion about putting the blogger logo on the site - that is really helpful as we have just been accessing two different bookmarks eg dashboard and main site, so this will be alot easier having the direct link through.

We set the site up with moderated comments and I agree that it wouldn't be safe practice not to. It creates a bit of extra work for the teacher I suppose but then I think it is important that they keep track of what is going up there so they can discuss or highlight it with class etc.

Thanks again for your help

Sarah

I use classblogmeister with my class and find no problem copying and pasting the html code... but now use flock instead of firefox and it is a VERY SIMPLE drag and drop of the flickr photo into the article box  and flock instantly does all the html ... so east even my five year olds can do it. 

 Hey Jody,

Just wondering with all your photos hosted on Flickr if you have a private account there or if you had to seek specific parental permission to have photos hosted there?

Agreed about the comment moderation!!

VERY important and it will only take one bad comment to be instantly published for the trouble to begin. It really isn't a big ask for teachers to moderate the comments; quickly check that it is all good and click "publish". Laziness on the teachers part is no excuse to allow things to be directly published!

I even moderate comments on my own edublog as it just seems safer; also better than having a whole bunch of spam advertising links put in there as a comment!

To turn on comment moderation in blogger: log in - go to Settings > Comments > Enable Comment Moderation - click yes and enter an email address you use most frequently - also make sure you click save. New comments to the blog will now be emailed to you for your approval before going online.

Another thing you can do is put on word verification which will make the user type in a small bunch of goobledy-gook letters (to prove they are human and not a computer putting on spam) but this is NOT a substitute for comment moderation and is only additional.

Regarding the NAV BARS - agreed again! But what I don't think teachers remember is that even after they've gotten rid of the bar; if they change their template to a new one the nav bar will reappear and will need to re-enter the code again. (Easy once you know how - see this document for assistance)

What we need is a big company to provide Blogmeister with free photo hosting!! :) - until then it will have to be Flickr.

 

Hey, on an aside, did you know that Club Penguin functions like old communist China?  After you have been an active member for 30 days, you can sign up to be a 'secret agent' which means that you get to inform on other users for swearing or being mean etc.  My daughter has just become a secret agent and now she can go on different quests that aren't available to normal users.  I don't know what  think about this though.  On the one hand it is making the users responsible for maintaining the integrity and safety of the site, but on the other hand users are watching each other .... mmm ...

Further to my comment above, here is a section from the terms of use agreement for rockyou, a photo sharing site:

10. Ability to Accept Terms of Use
By your use of the RockYou! Sites, you affirm that you are either are at least 18 years of age, or an emancipated minor, or possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations, and warranties set forth in these Terms of Use, and to abide by and comply with these Terms of Use. In any case, you affirm that you are over the age of 13, as the RockYou! Sites are not intended for children under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the RockYou! Sites. There are lots of other great websites for you. Talk to your parents about what websites are appropriate for you. We recommend that minors over the age of 13 ask their parents or guardians for permission before using or visiting the RockYou! Sites or sending any personal information to anyone over the Internet.

I am interested that it says to talk to your parents about appropriate sites...

Sarah

Thanks Sarah,

Lots of people use Rock You as their slideshows are full of bling. I like BubbleShare as you can just have your slideshow without the extra links.

BubbleShare Example

I think the thing is with the Terms of Service- you don't really read them. Least of all the very people who they are often trying to inform. Me included.

Bubbleshare is a great way to present self animated slideshows. Some examples can be seen here: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/99191.ea98e4c1ad7/overview
http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/110115.391ecdf05e7/overview

Slideshare is another great tool for sharing slideshows that a number of educators have used with children. Some examples can be found at:
http://www.slideshare.net/bethharing
http://www.slideshare.net/westpat/the-miracle-continues/
http://www.slideshare.net/iteachgate/charlottes-web-project-20793/

These are not self animated slideshows though and the user needs to click the next button to view a new slide. But this tool, mixed with Google Video creates sensational multi-media presentations in Zentation.com. See Suzie Gould's presentations for more details.

www.zoho.com also provides a large number of online publishing tools such as Zoho Show, which is a lot like Slideshare and it's free.

Tess

Hello Allanah.

We often come across this fear with parents, that the fact that the kids have more technical knowledge, means that parents have little to offer in terms of cybersafety.

The trick is in fact, to convince the parents that with a little techno-awareness, and the parenting skills they have in terms of protecting their children from all sorts of other risk factors, that the differences they can making to improving the cybersafety skills within their families is HUGE.

We are currently developing an on line parents course to help provide some of this support, and you can request further information about this course by emailing the training center (training@netsafe.org.nz).

NetSafe can also work with you to deliver parent meetings around a cybersafety theme either in person or by video link. Drop us a line at queries@netsafe.org.nz for more detail.

Thanks

Sean.