7 February 2012
For safer internet day, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is offering schools a lesson plan and class worksheet to help teachers deliver e-safety to their pupils. The information will cover topics such as how to protect your personal information online, using social media sites safely, and how your social media profile could impact your future career.
David Clarke, MBE, Chief Executive Officer, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, explains: “Children today may be digitally savvy, but we have to remember that they also need to understand how to protect their privacy and personal information online and why it’s important.
“This is particularly important when you realise that 88% of 13-16 year olds in the UK maintain a social media profile1 and 41% of UK employers admit to rejecting job candidates based on their digital footprint2.”
As well as providing this lesson plan for Safer Internet Day, the Institute offers an e-safety level 1 qualification to help schools deliver e-safety training.
David continues: “Ofsted recently reported the need for systematic, formal training in e-safety in schools, recommending that secondary and primary schools should continue to make e-safety a priority in the curriculum, in staff training and in support for parents. Our qualification is a way to help schools achieve this.”
The BCS e-safety qualification maps to parts of the national curriculum for PSHCE - Personal Wellbeing, Citizenship, ICT and Every Child Matters. It aims to help teachers raise the issue of online safety with their students and covers the potential risks associated with being online, how to protect yourself and your personal information online, as well as how to behave responsibly and within the law whilst using the internet.
The qualification is suitable for delivery in schools at key stage 3 and 4. It covers four main safety areas: understanding the risks that can exist when using the internet, knowing how to safeguard self and others when working online, taking precautions to maintain data security, and following legal constraints, guidelines and procedures which apply when working.
The examination provides evidence of the pupils’ understanding of e-safety issues. It also ensures that schools pick up all the elements of e-safety, such as managing cookies, Facebook privacy or junk mail settings, as well as the more common themes of stranger danger and protection from viruses. It also enables emerging threats to be picked up and inserted into the exam allowing for a dynamic assessment model which adapts to the rapidly changing online landscape.
More information about e-safety can be found at: www.bcs.org/esafety
1 According to research by the London School of Economics
2 According to research published by Microsoft in December 2009
