To the wonderful parents of room 7,

As you may or may not know, we live in a digital age whereby anything and everything is readily available through the rapidly advancing technology, the Internet. Whilst this is an amazing feature and obviously very useful, we as a community need to be highly precautious in the way we use this powerful source of information. In particular, the possible information the youth of our society are able to share and access which can commonly be misleading. Student’s online ultimately have an infinite boundary of possibilities, we as teachers and parents have the responsibility to educate our students and children the critical components of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) safely, responsibly and ethically. Students support in the area of ICT is crucial to develop highly capable, confident and knowledgeable users of this diverse technology as its becoming more frequently used within the workforce and general lifestyle.  

This term our class are commencing several research projects in various areas of the curriculum in aims to build inquiry based learners, where students ask questions about certain topics of interest and investigate answers. The Internet is obviously a major resource of information and will be used not only to develop individual projects, but also used to display and present work in digital format. We will be creating online access for you as parents to view students work, including the modern technologies of video footage, music and interactive slides. We see this as a very convenient and more engaging option, whilst developing skills in ICT including how to act responsibly online. Understanding this we will ensure any media published online will not include student’s names or faces for privacy purposes. Our school is committed to limiting any risks that can be associated with the use of ICT. 

Throughout our classes learning and exploring I am adhering to my own responsibilities in introducing web safety to all students, this is derived from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. I am currently classed on the graduate level, although I’m constantly striving to improve my own understanding and teaching methods in preparing students for the complications involved in using ICT.

Figure 1. source: http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list
 

In the current Australian Curriculum there are a total of seven general capabilities, one being the Information and Communication Technology capability. As previously mentioned this is becoming a highly required and recognised skill in the modern era as the use of ICT is forever growing in our society. Refer to the link that takes you to the ICT capability and explore the learning continuum, which explains the achievement standards in reference to school grade. This is divided into five strands:

• Applying social and ethical protocols and practices when using ICT
• Investigating with ICT
• Creating with ICT
• Communicating with ICT
• Managing and operating ICT

Figure 2. source: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/information-and-communication-technology-capability/introduction/introduction
 

Cyber smart is an interactive website developed by the Australian Government that has a high focus on cyber bullying. This is particularly relevant in today’s society due to the extensive amounts of bullying that occurs on social media sites such as Facebook. This website offers plenty of modules for various ages and groups that engage students in becoming “Cyber smart digital citizens”. We will be introducing this website at school and encourage you to stay involved in your child’s progression in this topic.

http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/

Cyber security is of upmost importance to you and your child to prevent identity theft and online hackers accessing personal information. Eliminating online dangers requires a certain level of understanding of how the internet works and can be accessed. Stay smart online has a range of fun interactive games through the access of Budd:e to ensure students are capable of using ICT  in a safe and secure manner.

http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/school

https://budd-e.staysmartonline.gov.au/primary/main.php
 

Creative Commons (CC) is a worldwide organisation we will becoming familiar with throughout our ICT learning development. Legally all copyright work must be granted permission to reuse the work; obviously sometimes this is highly difficult to contact the creator which makes it almost impossible. CC can help us to download and share digital technology legally, although there are still laws we must abide to whilst using this work, this can further be explained in this video.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFaqtpkfU44



EDUC3625 Resource on the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT by Todd Kitto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://educ3625ict.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=0g3IjUgBAAA.iXhDvjavBYXJo7yGgfdthg.qlbkXDlUK-v90hPxWNCZhA&postId=8215595887562087046&type=POST.