# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Information, Advice and Support to Keep Children Safe Online

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Working with online safety experts, we're here to provide parents & carers with guidance, advice and support to keep children safe online | Internet Matters

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Online safety for families and children with SEND

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We have partnered with Ambitious about Autism to bring online safety tips, advice and activities specifically for parents and carers of children with SEND. We spoke to parents of children with a range of special educational needs such as dyslexia, autism and speech and language difficulties.

Letting your child go online can be intimidating; you might worry about the different spaces they explore, the people they meet digitally and the potential for things going wrong.

Being online can be positive for children and young people, including those with additional needs. So much of our communication now happens online, either by messages, in a game or through a video call. Sometimes online platforms like the apps, social media sites and games your child accesses can help them connect and make friends with new people that they might not know offline.

As a parent or carer, you play an important role in helping your child to have positive experiences online. If your child has additional needs, then this role can be even more important, and it can feel like a lot of responsibility when you hear about some of the risks young people face online.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
learn about talking to your child with send about online safety

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
talking to people online and online wellbeing. download our resources and advice.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Online safety for families and children with SEND

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We have partnered with Ambitious about Autism to bring online safety tips, advice and activities specifically for parents and carers of children with SEND. We spoke to parents of children with a range of special educational needs such as dyslexia, autism and speech and language difficulties.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Children are being 'datafied from birth'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Internet giants and toy-makers should be clear about the data they collect, children's commissioner says.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teaching digital citizenship and keeping students in the classroom safe online (and off of course!) is a priority for teachers when using iPads, Google Apps, and other devices & websites in the classroom. While even the best laid digital citizenship plans can lay the foundation, teachers need to continue revisiting topics and guiding students all year.

I'm sharing some tips and lesson ideas plus I've teamed up with my Tech with Us Community to bring you more must-read ideas for teaching digital citizenship linked at the end.

Here are some things I advise any teacher looking to integrate technology into the classroom to consider when addressing digital citizenship:

Acknowledge that students use technology outside of school

Wait, don't just yell "Duh!" at your screen and click X. I promise you will be rethinking this statement in a moment!

Many times when the topic of digital citizenship and safety comes up, educators will turn to outside sources that limit students access to the internet. They will say, "Well we use such and such so students can only log into this one device and one site and I see everything they are doing." That is all well and good and I'm not suggesting that the way your school or district has set up devices is wrong.

However, you at least need to acknowledge that that is not the real world and plan to address real world situations with your students. What I mean is, if we lock down everything used at school and only use technology in a bubble, we limit students' problem solving and know-how outside of school where they might be using technology with a lot less restriction.

If you think that teaching digital citizenship and internet safety means students can only go onto a vetted school-based site with everything filtered and locked down, then you are doing your students a disservice.

Rather than ignore the issues, teach students how to navigate, how to search, how to comment, how to report, how to deal with advertisements, and how to vet content. You might have to do this in a "mock" way if you are operating under a strict set of rules, but that is vastly better than doing nothing.

Digital Citizenship is Not a One Time Lesson at the Beginning of the Year.

I know it is tempting to make your awesome giant digital footprint collaborative poster and iAm a Digital Citizen Pic College project and call it a day. But while those lessons are perfect for introducing the topic and promoting deep discussions, you need to plan to revisit and discuss digital citizenship all year long.

I suggest displaying projects created when you first introduce digital citizenship on a permanent bulletin board. Then leave it up so that you can reference it as needed. Plus, I think having a visual all year long is a great way to show students this isn't a seasonal thing.

In my class, I had students explore by reading about digital citizenship and watching videos I included on a mini anchor chart. They used what they learned to create a digital poster on Pic Collage with drawings, pictures, quotes and text. Get the templates, anchor chart and directions here.

We tie this into a lesson about earning a license to use the school devices and sign the acceptable use policy of our school. I used to have students earn their license and never talked about it again! But I have learned that if you do a lesson in the beginning of the year where students are earning a device licence, be sure to include plans for students to renew their licences throughout the year to make it more meaningful.

We want students to understand digital citizenship and internet safety should be on their minds ANY time they use a device online.

To keep digital citizenship in the forefront of students' minds, I have created a digital citizenship punch card set that can be used all year long. Each icon on the punch card stands for one of the main principles of good digital citizenship. I included a poster to hang up so students are clear on what the icons mean.

Whenever students engage in an appropriate behavior online or they notice a classmate doing so, they write it up, circle which part of digital citizenship they were demonstrating, and turn the slip into me.

I review the slips and they can earn a punch on their cards on the corresponding icon.

At the end of the lesson, they share what they did to earn their punch as another way to hold them accountable and set examples for other students.

The cards are editable, so you just need to type student names in once, save the file and then print them out as needed. You can hang fully punched cards up for recognition or have another prize for students to earn. Since each icon is represented twice on each card, students will need to focus on all areas of digital citizenship - not just the "easy" ones. I also allow them to fill out forms if they made a good choice at home with a parent signature.

Get the set of digital citizenship punch cards, posters, and writing paper here - it also includes ink-friendly blackline of all items.

If the Shoe Fits...Consider Age Appropriate Examples When Teaching Digital Citizenship.

While your beginning of the year lessons should touch on the elements of digital citizenship (I have seen 9 tenets used most frequently) and the big ideas as outlined by the digital citizenship standards by ISTE, give students strategies and tips they can implement right away. Much of the content of what we call DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP is part of a larger goal of teaching students to be internet savvy, safe, and to minimize the risks of sharing on and using the web.

However, just like students all have different sized feet, we can't approach the concept of Digital Footprint the same way in all grade levels.

We need to be somewhat hip to what students at different ages are doing on the internet as well as what is in their immediate future. In elementary, that might be discussing YouTube, Minecraft Servers, Google Search and whatever social network they frequent - last year some of my students used Pic Collage at home this way for example. But in high school that will look very different.

If your lessons and discussions about digital citizenship are not tailored to your group, they will tune you out and your very sound advice seems inauthentic. With older students, I think painting the brushstrokes and having students step up and present the specifics can help. Younger students are more open with adults and asking a group of 1st graders what websites and apps they use will give you an anchor chart of answers in minutes.

Offer Concrete Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety Strategies

This might be the most important aspect of teaching digital citizenship and internet safety in the classroom, but also one of the most tricky ones as technology is a moving target.

Teaching digital citizenship is NOT the same as promoting classroom community, kindness, or character education.

While of course these ideas are extremely important, you cannot only address face-to-face interactions and expect it to transfer when students are online. Compelling research suggests that most of us change somewhat when interacting online. Just as students need to be guided in the classroom on what "being" kind is, they need explicit instruction with regard to their online behavior, choices and safety.

Students do best when they have a go-to specific strategy to use in a tricky situation.

For example, rather than tell students "don't search that or don't use image search" on Pic Collage, I have them write search terms on a post-it that I check off. If a term pings my teacher antennae (totally a real thing!), I try it myself or advise the student how and why to change it. After students search, I tell them never to scroll past what is presented on the screen. I explain that the results shown first are usually the closest match.

Rather than just present what is "bad" or what NOT to do, always give students a strategy. In elementary, that might be learning how to click X to close an ad, how to close a window, or what avatar name to use in place of their own. Speaking of avatars, this is another lesson in being specific - just telling students to use "another name" is not enough as many will continue to use their first name or identifying nick name.

I also advise teaching students how to comment. For example, many students communicate with Emojis or will use them as part of their sentences online. I know many teachers that ban the use of Emojis on comments. I know we want to teach best practices for writing and using Emojis seems counter-intuitive. HOWEVER, a huge part of writing instruction involves writing to a specific audience.

Teaching students to look at other comments and noticing the tone or use of Emojis is a great place to start. I personally think Emojis can help students write kinder on the internet as Emojis help give tone to a sentence, especially when students lack the ability to craft nuance. In addition, pointing out the use of capital letters, multiple punctuation marks and other quirks common to internet comments goes further in helping students make informed choices instead of banning their use outright.

These types of mini lessons and teachable moments are specific to what project we are doing so the discussions are meaningful and actionable.

Give Students Safe Spaces to Practice

This applies more for younger students, but I highly recommend using Google Classroom, Edmodo, Seesaw, DogoNews, ClassKick, Kidblog, or other safe site where students can comment and interact with others online. It's tricky to teach students about the tone of a comment without giving them space to construct comments and respond to others.

Kidblog, Edublog, Edmodo, Seesaw, Classkick and Google Classroom are the most internal options as the teacher can filter comments. DogoNews and Padlet allows the teacher to monitor the class account and see who posts what and when.

Practice What You Preach

Some teachers advocate for students to be involved in sharing their story on social media sites via a class or teacher account.

This strategy can be incredibly empowering for students and the teachers that are speaking about this are experts at giving their students that authentic experience in a safe way. Before embarking on this route:

Understand the various social media platforms inside and out.

Have complete parent and school permission. Many districts have specific permission forms to use or you can create your own media release.

Remove the photo's location tag from any photo taken on your devices.

Always test out various hashtags to see what other users are posting under that hashtag before using it yourself.

If all students have permission, feature them equally.

Be sure to discuss with students likes, hearts, favorites - depends on the public site you use - as students will be sensitive to this and could feel sad if their post is not met with the same reception as other posts.

Keep it positive and light. Steer away from posts that mention hot-button topics or terms - the last thing you want to do is attract trolls to your classroom social media account!

Regardless of photo permission consider using group shots, blurring, or clever angles as your default. You never know when a family's preference could change.

You can also use a private sharing website and app like Homeroom or Seesaw to share with parents too! Regardless if you go public or keep it private, some type of sharing site is a great way to model for students.

I hope you found some ideas to help you infuse digital citizenship into any online lessons. I've linked up with 5 other incredible technology-integrating educators from the Tech with Us Facebook Community to share more digital citizenship lessons and ideas in honor of Digital Learning Day on February 23rd. While the obvious goal of Digital Learning Day is to see digital learning find a place in schools all year long, it is also the perfect time to revisit digital citizenship a second time if you haven't yet this year.

Click the links below to learn more tips, ideas, and lessons for teaching digital citizenship on Digital Learning Day and beyond!
Engaging Digital Citizenship Activity for Any Time of Year Digital Learning Day Ideas: 4 Strategies to Teach Digital Citizenship How to Get Students Excited for Online Research: Biography Lessons for Promoting a Growth Mindset Digital Citizenship Tips for Elementary Classroom Ideas for Teaching Digital Citizenship with Edpuzzle
Looking for more Digital Learning Day ideas? We teamed up last year and "Scanned" our way to Digital Learning Day with a QR code themed hop. Check out those posts here.

Be sure to check out my digital citizenship resources on www.shoperintegration.com and my digital citizenship Pinterest Board!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
TEACHING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP ALL YEAR IN THE CLASSROOM - Erintegration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teaching digital citizenship and keeping students in the classroom safe online (and off of course!) is a priority for teachers when using iPads, Google Apps, and other devices & websites in the classroom. Â While even the best laid digital citizenship plans can lay the foundation, teachers need to continue revisiting topics and guiding students all year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are numerous asynchronous tools available that are designed specifically for children and allow families to access everything they need for English lessons in a secure and private environment. They enable ease of uploading, storing and sharing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About the session

The sudden move to emergency remote teaching also brought increased safety risks. Having well-established child protection procedures in place provides secure foundations which can be adapted to changing circumstances. In this talk, Jennifer explores key safeguarding issues and considers how to set up flexible guidelines to protect both ourselves and our young learners for future eventualities.

About the speaker

Jen Dobson has experience as an ELT teacher, writer, trainer, and IT coordinator specialising in safe, creative educational technology. She is a trainer on the International House Certificate in Online Tutoring and the Social Media and Technology Coordinator for IATEFL MaWSIG. Her recent contributions to community safeguarding include the online child protection section of the new YLTSIG website, a special feature in their open-access newsletter, and the safety section of the Playbook for Emergency Remote Teaching.

Watch a recording of Jennifer's talk 'How to build a secure online environment to protect young learners and teens' below

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to build a secure online environment to protect young learners and teens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The sudden move to emergency remote teaching also brought increased safety risks. Having well-established child protection procedures in place provides secure foundations which can be adapted to changing circumstances. In this talk, Jennifer explores key safeguarding issues and considers how to set up flexible guidelines to protect both ourselves and our young learners for future eventualities.

# data[].attributes.body
Why you shouldn't post images of a child online.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
'Safety first' should be a familiar mantra for all who work with primary learners. Making the most of educational technology and online tools in the primary ELT classroom brings considerable responsibility as regards the welfare of the learners. During English lessons for primary children, we are 'in loco parentis' and this role should never be taken lightly.

Online safety may mean different things depending on the teaching and learning context, the country, the tools and devices being used and existing AUPs (Acceptable Use Policies) in place. An AUP could involve rules regarding the use of school equipment, appropriate sites to visit, privacy settings, acceptable use of mobile devices, non disclosure of personal information, respectful behaviour online, and what systems are in place if these rules are abused, for example, in the case of cyber bullying.

In this blog post I'll look at the, surprisingly, still controversial, issues of posting images of children's faces online. My aim is to raise awareness, before going on to suggest ways to ensure safe practices are followed. Firstly though, a couple of general comments.

To begin with, I'm referring here to 'teaching' situations, as opposed to that of parents / caregivers (hereafter referred to as care givers). For example, a care giver may decide it's fine to post photos of their children on their social networking sites to share with family, friends and the world. However, as educators, I believe we need to understand and consider the far reaching implications of digital literacy and safety, and recognise our responsibility to uphold the rights of the children we teach.

Secondly, the beliefs expressed are my own. They're based on many years of using technology with children in my own primary classes, and contact with their care givers. They're also based on discussions with other teachers, through the implementation of school projects, observations and training. So, let's start bold, and contentiously.

No photos or videos of children's faces should go online.

This issue first came up for me, many years ago, when a UK school came to Spain on an exchange trip, and they told us that for safety reasons, photos were not allowed. My initial thoughts were first, the world had gone safety mad, and second, how sad that we could no longer capture the experiences of the learners. However, in those days, social networks and similar blogging tools were in their infancy, and mobile phones a rarity. I've since been convinced of the importance of not posting children's faces online, and would give the following main reasons.

Is it safe?

Adults would agree that it's unacceptable to post personal information online, for example, our addresses. However, if you, as a teacher, or your institution posts a photo of a child on a social network, are you not saying this child can be found at this place? I've even seen language school posts such as ' Pablo's class, 5.30 Tuesday and Thursday, XYZ school'. Is this not tantamount to not only giving an address, but even the time the child is going to be there, or possibly be walking to and from the school?

Publicity vs child safety?

Let's consider the main reason for putting children's images online in a primary ELT context. As teachers we're proud of our learners and the internet gives us a vehicle to show them off to the world, for example, by recording an end of term performance. But, what is the true purpose behind this? Surely, the videos could be shared with care givers within a closed, secure virtual environment? By posting on social networking sites we should consider whether the objective is actually just for marketing. Are we selling our teaching, or institution at the price of children's safety? Do we work for the education of children, or is their safety a price they are forced to pay to learn English?

I recently came across another example. A teacher posted a photo of a child in a class group on a social network site. The child was upset about how they looked. The care givers approached the school, asking them to remove the post. The school, somewhat reluctantly, finally agreed to do so, not without some considerable fuss and comments such as, '(name of child) looks fine'. My point is, surely, it's up to the child to decide if they look fine, or not? Any photo online is a digital footprint, possibly left online for years to come. Yet, how often do children get the chance to make their own choices? Who actually makes these decisions? The teacher, the institution, a marketing or social network person, the care giver? Rather than what is convenient, we should instead uphold the right of each individual child to decide.

So, what can we do?
1. Raise awareness in your wider teaching and learning context
Perhaps you could give a workshop. Discuss the issues with your colleagues, and work together to devise a common policy for your classrooms and school. If you do make one, see this as a really positive step, publicise your commitment, and explain to care givers just how seriously you consider the safety of their children
2. Raise awareness among your primary classes
Design lessons to raise the issues of online safety in general, and include the importance of the dangers of posting images online. Take in pixelated versions of faces in photos from magazines or online, and ask the children why this is done, to act as a springboard for discussion. Show them that in, or out of class, if they aren't comfortable they should say no. Develop a class slogan. A colleague uses 'No faces!' and her class will tell anyone who tries to take photos, that this is the case.
3. Focus on children's work in English classes, not their images
By emphasizing this, you'll be encouraging the children to produce quality work that they can be proud of. You can take photos of the final products, and encourage the children to explain what's happening in them. There are many smart board apps, which lend themselves to voice recording on top of visuals.

Also, the work in progress is often more important than the final product. Once your learners are used to having photos without their faces, they learn to work in ways which enable you to capture the process, for example moving back so you can focus on their hands for arts and crafts projects. You can monitor, praising and discussing their work as you record. This can then be shared with care givers, giving them a powerful window as to what happens during a lesson. You can also try recording process work, filming only the backs of the children.

Sometimes, the distraction of what's happening in a video, can lead to wanting to concentrate more on the visuals than the clarity of the children's pronunciation. By making the most of audio recording apps, and sharing these, the children can practise speaking clearly in English and re-recording, until satisfied, without the additional pressure of 'performance'.

Many projects I've worked on with primary learners have included audio, video, and a need for the learners to be present. With lower primary, more teacher suggestions will be needed, but we've found upper primary children have been incredibly creative in finding ways to 'appear', and give themselves a sense of identity, without showing their faces. This includes using masks with their faces, identifying themselves with their shoes or even backs. Primary children often love dressing up, so you could take in, and encourage them to bring in, sunglasses, hats, wigs, and even rolled up paper for the children to disguise themselves.
7. Permission forms
Despite the general 'no faces' rule, there may be special occasions, such as a video of a school play, when, if all the children are in agreement, we might want care givers to sign a permission form. I've heard some schools say that for convenience, care givers have already signed a general form allowing use of the images. For the reasons stated above, this is not addressing the real issue, and, is also insufficiently robust. Each occasion should be looked at on its own merit. So, when a really special project does come up that requires the need to see the children, then the effort required to collect permission slips, along with proper risk assessment of safety precautions, demonstrates how deserving the project is.
8. Limit where you share
There are some excellent educational communication websites and apps that allow you to set up closed groups and communicate with care givers safely. In this way you can upload a range of different file formats to show work from the classroom, but in the knowledge that only people you choose will be able to access
9. Create avatars
An avatar is the graphic representation of a user. Some online tools may ask for a profile picture. Show the children that they shouldn't use a photo of their face, but can create one of their own, through drawing and taking a photo of their avatar, to then upload. Alternatively, you can make use of avatar tools on the web.
10. Stop, and think
Before using any photo online of a child's face, stop and think. Write down your reasons to justify them to yourself, your institution, children's care givers, and above all, and always, the child. Consider all the possible alternatives. I hope you will conclude that you shouldn't post a child's face online.

Useful links

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Online Safeguarding in Primary ELT - Why you shouldn't post a child's face online

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
'Safety first' should be a familiar mantra for all who work with primary learners. Making the most of educational technology and online tools in the primary ELT classroom brings considerable responsibility as regards the welfare of the learners. During English lessons for primary children, we are 'in loco parentis' and this role should never be taken lightly.

# data[].attributes.body
Please read this one!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
More data is collected about children growing up today than ever before.

Data can deliver an incredible range of benefits to individuals and society, but we do not know everything about how children's data might be used - not just now, but also in the future, as children become adults.

The Children's Commissioner is concerned that information collected about a child today might jeopardise their future, potentially affecting whether they are offered a university place, job or financial products (such as insurance or credit). She is worried by the risk of a child's data being used to commit identity theft when the child turns 18.

Our aim has been to map the key points at which children data is collected and explore the possible implications of this.

Read the full report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Who knows what about me? | Children's Commissioner for England

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Data can deliver an incredible range of benefits to individuals and society, but we do not know everything about how children's data might be used - not just now, but also in the future, as children become adults.

# data[].attributes.body
Digital learning in Scotland.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Glow offers a number of tools and services to help you as an educator to enrich and enhance learning across the curriculum. You can share teaching materials, design online resources and activities to engage learners and take part in professional learning opportunities.

Benefits of Glow for educators

Access to Office 365 - Glow provides full access to Microsoft's Office suite including: Mail, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, OneDrive and SharePoint. As well as using this service online through Glow, educators can download a full version of Office 365 at no cost. This provides educators with tools to assist in planning and creating learning and teaching resources, support learners out with school and allow easier collaboration with peers.

Access to Google Workspace - Glow customers can opt-in to using G Suite in Glow. This will provide access to the following cores services: Classroom, Drive, Docs, Hangouts, Calendar, Contacts, Sites and Vaults.

Develop your network - Glow provides access to Glow Yammer as part of the O365 offering - an online community for educators, enabling you to speak to colleagues across the country. Share experiences, resources and information, and open up potential areas for collaborative working.

Create school, staff and class sites - Use SharePoint to set up a school intranet or a site for your school, whole staff, departments or classes to enable information sharing.

Learning communities - Access the National Professional Learning Community, a place to share resources, strengths, learning opportunities and professional intentions. This includes access to the Professional Learning Catalogue detailing professional learning events.

Practical examples of Glow being used by educators

Further support and help

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Glow offers a number of tools and services to help you as an educator to enrich and enhance learning across the curriculum. You can share teaching materials, design online resources and activities to engage learners and take part in professional learning opportunities.

# data[].attributes.headline
Safeguarding-a right not an afterthought 

# data[].attributes.subject
Safeguarding-a right not an afterthought 

# data[].attributes.body
page 17 of free IATEFL YLT SIG article.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Our twice-yearly publication TEYLT Worldwide is for IATEFL YLTSIG members. Featuring articles on fresh, creative and innovative topics underpinned by theoretical principles with practical relevance to global TEYL.

To support YL ELT professionals during the global pandemic, the YLTSIG Committee decided to make TEYLT Worldwide Issue 1, 2020 freely available:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our twice-yearly publication TEYLT Worldwide is for IATEFL YLTSIG members. Featuring articles on fresh, creative and innovative topics underpinned by theoretical principles with practical relevance to global TEYL. To support YL ELT professionals during the global pandemic, the YLTSIG Committee decided to make TEYLT Worldwide Issue 1, 2020 freely available:

# data[].attributes.body
Active English
Free ebook with many practical suggestions