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FAQ for teachers and parents
Here are some frequently asked questions on issues relating to the Safer Internet story-telling competition. |
If you can't find the answer here, you can also to send your questions to info-insafe@eun.org
What is the underlying objective of the story-telling contest?
Recent EuroBarometer surveys show that few young people discuss online encounters with parents and teachers. Because young people are supposedly more at home with technology than their elders, we simply don’t broach the subject. Yet their lack of experience makes them vulnerable in the relatively unprotected environment of online and mobile technologies. We have an important role to play in helping them deal with the pitfalls of life. Discussing Internet is the first step to overcoming its potential dangers.
What is the Internet?
The Internet is a global network of smaller networks over which computers can communicate once they are connected. The World Wide Web opened to the public in 1993 and is therefore quite a new phenomenon, which is constantly growing and developing.
What about mobile technology – Cell phones?
Mobile technology has developed in parallel with computer technology and today there isn’t really that much difference between a cell phone and a computer. The downside of mobile technology is well documented: SMS harassment, rocketing phone bills, cancer-causing rays, unethical use of cell phone cameras, cell-phone dependency... But what about the upside? What do we gain by using cell phones? At least nowadays you can always get in touch with your children, you can call for aid in the middle of nowhere, communicate with others anytime, anywhere...
Privacy and security – is the Internet a safe place?
Living in the typical modern-western city can be dangerous in many ways. You could be hit by a car, robbed, struck by lightning or caught in an earthquake. But people live with the dangers and develop common sense that helps them avoid dangerous situations. Internet can be a dangerous place too, you simply have to learn your way and know how to travel.
What are the points of focus when working on contest entries?
The theme has been chosen to emphasise the ways in which technology can be used positively – to meet new friends, to reinforce the sense of belonging through shared interests with people from all over the world... Stories should be about the fun and exciting experiences Internet and mobile technology can bring. Technology can also open up new opportunities for the physically disabled. It can help us in dangerous situations by providing an immediate contact with the world whether you are on a ferry that suddenly loose radio contact, on an airplane that makes a forced landing in the middle of the Sahara desert or in natural disasters such as the recent tsunami in South East Asia.
Copyright is apparently an important issue. Where do we obtain further information?
Contact your national awareness node at www.saferinternet.org/cfocus.htm for all up-to-date information on safe and ethical use of Internet. The three characters presented may be used for the purpose of the contest without further copyright permission, however contestants should add a “credits” page with the name of author, illustrator etc. and all copyright notices. If youngsters wish to use characters from their favourite online games, warn them that infringement of copyright means automatic disqualification and help them send off their request for copyright permission.
What issues might come up in discussions about the dangers of Internet?
Very useful teacher and parent guides are available at the following websites:
These sites offer information on most issues that would be raised in discussions with young Internauts. As an example, excerpts on topics contained in these 3 manuals follow.
Can you trust everything that you read on the Internet?
The Internet gives us a magnificent chance to communicate and share information. It can give us a shortcut to knowledge that would take us hours to find otherwise. But the Internet isn’t always the most reliable source. Students need to learn to make judgments about the credibility and quality of material they find, or are sent, while online. Racist websites can claim to tell or represent the truth about complex social, cultural or historical issues in ways that appear logical and plausible. Such websites can actively merchandise or even recruit students. In short, since no matter who can anonymously post material on the Internet, content should be ”handled with care”.
Search Engines
A search engine is a program or set of programs that helps you when you surf; it scans the websites and the computers that make up the Internet for words that makes your query. You can look for material on the Internet just as you would in a library, but whereas all the books about a same subject are in one place in a library, on the Internet the information can be found on millions of websites throughout the world. Encourage use of academic, non-commerical search engines indicated in the three manuals listed above
Chat
Chat is real-time, interactive communication on the web that takes place on a dedicated discussion channel. Youngsters should be encouraged to use sites adapted for their own age group or better still, invite their friends for their own private chat on MS Messenger, for example, or ICQ.
Harassment and bullying
Cyber bullying can be carried out through an Internet service such as email, chat rooms, discussion groups, instant messaging or web pages. It can also include bullying through mobile phone technologies such as SMS. Cyber bullying can include teasing and being made fun of, spreading of rumours online, sending unwanted messages and defamation. Open discussion is the best antidote to bullying and harassment. Contact your national node at www.saferinternet.org/cfocus.htm for further information.
Privacy
Some websites encourage pupils to complete forms on which they are asked to reveal their name, email address, age and gender, and sometimes even their telephone number and postal address, in order to access information. Few such requests are legitimate: youngsters should learn to think twice before giving any private information. Amongst less serious consequences, they could end up being targeted for spam (unsolicited email), advertising materials and/or viruses. Privacy issues are also applicable to students developing personal websites and publishing online. Personal details, including photographs of themselves or other students, may lead to the information being captured and reused by others for illicit purposes.
Spam
‘Spam’ is the email equivalent of junk mail or nuisance phone calls – it refers to all unsolicited electronic mail sent out in bulk to individuals or organisations that have not consented to receive it. Spam is a time-consuming and costly form of pollution for anyone with a personal email address. Filters can be used to prevent spam from entering a mailbox, but spammers are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to bypass filters. Students should learn to recognise and delete spam without opening it, as spam can include pornographic content or viruses.
Viruses
While email is a useful way of communicating and sharing information, there are risks associated with its use. These include email from unknown senders that contain virus-infected attachments, or following links in an email to a virus-infected website.
Consult the above web links for further information, or ask the appropriate national Safer Internet contact point for links in the language of your choice
What sort of computer applications can be used to create digital stories?
Almost any word processing programme can be combined with scanned drawings or digital photos to make an attractive story. You can also use image or photo-processing programmes, alternatively with slide presentation software, to produce an exciting, professional-quality result that you can save on disk or CD Rom, or upload directly according to instructions from your national contest organiser. With even the youngest child you can easily produce high-quality results with an innovative, down-loadable freeware called mini-book, available at www.technolink.lu
More ambitious story-tellers may wish to create their entry as web pages. Certain well-known ISPs offer limited but sufficient online space for this. See the appropriate chapter. You can obtain further information from the ICT coordinator in your school or from a national contest organiser.
Teachers and parents are invited to ensure that authors include a credits page at the end of their story, indicating copyrights and, of course, contributing authors, artists etc.
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