Source: Made using Piktochart, with resources from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner
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| Source: Made using Piktochart, with resources from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner |
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is a serious concern, especially for young
people. It is an insidious and pervasive form of harassment that follows the
victim wherever they go and often protects the perpetrator with anonymity. With
young people living so much of their life online, online attacks pervade their
everyday life and impact mental health, resulting in depression, anxiety,
self-harm and even suicide (mindmatters.gov, 2017). Cyberbullying is not the only issue young people
face online.
Personal information and digital reputation
Young people often underestimate the impact of posting and
sharing personal information about themselves or others, not recognising the
reach and longevity of this data once it is published. Not only from scammers
and phishing attacks, but also protecting their digital reputation. Having
experience in recruitment I saw myself how many candidate resumes were binned
when a google search of their name turned up inappropriate content. Young
people need to know how to protect their digital reputation, and practice good
online hygiene to protect themselves now and in the future. (eSafety, n.d.)
Image-based abuse & Sexting
1 in 5 Australians have experienced image based abuse (Matthews,
2017), and young people are at risk from behaviour such as sexting which is
worryingly normalised among teenagers. It is illegal to possess or distribute
nude photographs of a minor, even if the person distributing the photograph is
also a minor. Students risk not only reputational damage but criminal charges
which may result in their being registered as a sex offender. Young people need
to understand their rights and responsibilities in how the law applies to them.
Online games and screen time
Online games are a fun way to spend time but becomes a
problem when it negatively impacts your life. Young people may be playing games
instead of doing homework, and even in class. I have had to confiscate devices
from students who were playing games in class instead of doing their
work.
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| Source: kingpinlifestyle.com |
So what do we do? Ban them?
The question then becomes, should we limit or ban devices
from classrooms? I say no! Technology has revolutionised the
classroom and provided so many opportunities for enrichment.
I personally love to use websites and blogs for students to
guide online research and present multimedia in form of WebQuests. Here is an
example of a website I constructed for a Year 9 Civics and Citizenship class
for my last prac: https://hasteclasscivics.blogspot.com.au/
Students also used Google Docs to collaborate in their
groups and used presentation programs which were submitted through Google
Classroom. Additionally, formative and summative assessments were administered using
Google Forms, however were mostly limited to quizzes due to the limitations of
multiple choice and short answer submission formats, I am seeking other options to make assessments online a more practical and flexible option.
However...
Some considerations must be made in how they are used, as students are generally not autonomous learners and need to
be motivated to engage with online content. As the analytics on my
blog showed, students accessed the blog in class time as they worked through
exercises under supervision, however only accessed the blog outside of school
hours when they were explicitly told that questions in the exam would be drawn
from the blog.
Curriculum links:
Use a range of methods to collect, select, record and
organise relevant and reliable information and/or data from multiple sources
that reflects the type of analysis of information that is needed (e.g.
questionnaires, surveys, emails, discussion lists, tables, field sketches,
annotated diagrams), with and without the use of digital and spatial
technologies (WAHASS82).
References:
eSafety issues. (2017). Office
of the eSafety Commissioner. Retrieved 15 October 2017, from
https://www.esafety.gov.au/esafety-information/esafety-issues
Haste, S.
(2017). Civics and Citizenship. Hasteclasscivics.blogspot.com.au.
Retrieved from https://hasteclasscivics.blogspot.com.au/
Internet Safety. (2015) Western
Australia Police. Retrieved from https://www.police.wa.gov.au/Your-Safety/Internet-safety
Matthews, A.
(2017). One in five has experienced image based abuse, research finds. triple
j. Retrieved 15 October 2017, from http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/one-in-five-experiences-image-based-abuse/8504718
Technology and Mental
Health in Secondary Schools - MindMatters Spotlights. (2017). Mindmatters.edu.au.
Retrieved 15 October 2017, from https://www.mindmatters.edu.au/spotlights/using-technology