Esafety
From DB Primary Wiki
Contents |
E-Safety: safe and secure communication with DB Primary
Introduction
DB Primary ties together all the communication tools your children will be (or are already) using out on the web in a safe and secure way. By introducing concepts like e-mail and forums in a simple and structured way, students can learn about the important dos and don'ts of on-line communication in the safety of the classroom. Read on to learn more about how to utilise the features DB Primary provides to keep children safe online.
In DB Primary children can send and receive written, voice recordings or video messages to their friends or teachers in a simple to use system.
‘Safemail’ is DB Primary's way of keeping children safe when using email and free of unwanted messages and spam. By setting up their accounts with the Safemail box checked you guarantee that no emails from outside the platform can get to their inbox. It also means that they are restricted to only emailing other users within the school.
The teacher in charge of a community or superadmin is able to gain an overview of all emails sent by participants in that community. They can search for emails by date, recipient, sender etc. Even if an email has been deleted by a pupil and deleted thence from the pupil’s ‘bin’ it will be accessible for a further 30 days. IP addresses are also logged enabling you to trace the source of an email.
For further details on how to monitor emails please visit our Email_Monitor help page.
In the classroom:
The following resources can be used when you talk to the children about e-safety and email etiquette:
- The SMART rules
- The Adventures of The SMART crew on the KnowItAll website
- THINK on the Cybersmart website
- Chatdanger , an advice column
Things to note:
- Pupils should keep usernames and passwords ‘Top Secret’.
- A responsible adult should keep a record of all usernames and passwords.
Moderating forums
Forum posts can easily be monitored by a community leader. When you visit the forum click on the cogs at the top right. You will have the option for each post made to edit, remove, hide or reply to the post:
In this case, choose 'remove post'.
If you would like to view replies to the topic before they are made public, you may choose the option to ‘watch topic’:
Once selected, all replies to the topic will be sent to the community leader’s email for approval before being posted to the forum.
In the Classroom
Agree your own set of rules for taking part in a discussion forum with reference to:
- The SMART rules
- Hectors World Episode 2: Welcome to the Carnival
- Hector’s World Episode 5: Heroes
- THINK on the Cybersmart website
Topics worth discussing include how personal information may be revealed or what constitutes unacceptable language or behaviour used within a forum.
Whistle Monitor: reporting inappropriate content
If a child or parent finds any content they believe is inappropriate, they can report this to a nominated "Whistle Monitor" at the school by clicking on the whistle icon.
This will email the details to the nominated member or members of staff. The email will contain a link and brief description of the offending page.
Further details on using the ‘whistle monitor’ facility can be found here:
Creating user guidelines
It could be a good idea to post a set of rules for using the learning platform to let children know what acceptable use is.
Here is a list of possible rules from Holmfirth Junior, Infant and Nursery School. They may change depending on the school/year group they are for.
| Think before you post – will your writing offend anyone or hurt their feelings? |
| No pointless or silly group emails to be sent – these are spam. |
| Make sure that any pictures you upload (profile picture, or pictures in posts) are suitable for a school audience. |
| Do not share personal details that will stop you being safe (address, phone numbers, passwords). |
| Any links that are shared must be suitable for all children. |
| Check copyrights before uploading. |
| If you are unsure, then don’t upload! |
| Report any misuse or cyber-bullying to XXX |
| Any restrictions about text / MSN style writing? |
| Do express your opinions in forums. |
| Do email your friends outside school time. |
| Do email your teacher with questions about school and work. |
| Do share links to cool sites by posting them in your blog / forums. |
Or view their slideshow of these rules.
It is good to remember that rules apply 24/7 and not just at school.
Other rules may include:
- No posts after 10:00pm
- No text-speak
- No posts about friendships and fallings-out
Using the learning platform to teach e-safety
- Online forums and public chat rooms are often accessed even by younger children. But how can we be sure that the person we see pictured in a forum actually is who they say they are? To make children aware of this, you could create a phony account for someone that the children would like to communicate within a forum, say an 'exchange student' from France. After a couple of weeks, you could reveal that in fact, the person they thought they were communicating with was another teacher from within the school.
- At the following site watch the Superhero SID's Music Video and read SIDs top-tips to reinforce the message:
- Create a quiz to test children’s e-safety knowledge. Include questions such as ‘Which of the following should you never give away online?’
Other E-safety information
For more general information on e-safety when using the internet, the following sites orientated to the primary school age provide some excellent child-friendly information including animations and interactive content:
