Working with the Web

Back to:

Internet Management

Internet Service Providers

    The information available outlines the provision of internet from a panel of recommended Internet Service Providers. (ISPs) See Internet Service for Schools.

    Filtering

      Each school has the ability to allow or block a website at the school level. This is one of the tools provided by the Internet Service Providers. The school will have a Network administrator who has the password to access this tool. Schools may wish to make a request to their ISP to allow the site for all schools using that ISP service. This can be done by contacting the ISP directly. See Internet Services for Schools.

      Connect

        As part of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) public website, the Connect (the new Victorian Education Channel) links students, teachers and principals to online resources from Australia and the world.

        The VEC links to all DEECD resources and to websites recommended by teachers of all year levels and from all curriculum areas. The VEC team research these and other local and international websites, reviewing them for quality and safety before including them in the Channel.

        So whether you are looking for a science lesson plan from the CSIRO, a WebQuest from the United States, educational online games from the BBC, statistics on AFL teams, safe images, or the latest information on curriculum initiatives, you can find it in the Channel.

        And if what you want is not there, join the teachers who regularly 'suggest a website' to make this collaborative project relevant to your classroom. VEC Brochure (PDF - 377Kb) 

        Staff email accounts

          All DEECD staff members have had an email account set up on Edumail. The format of that is surname.firstname.initial@edumail.vic.gov.au

          Some schools have their own school email server. It is recommended that staff redirect their Edumail account to their school email account to ensure all messages are delivered to them. Full details are available on the security and protocols around staff emails.

          Back to Top

          Student email accounts

          Set up

          Student email accounts are provided for each student in every school. This service is provided by each Internet Service Provider (ISP) and generally included as part of the schools internet deal. It is not connected to Edumail.

          A student’s school email account should have clear purpose and protocols set and aligned to the school's Code of Conduct (PDF - 876Kb) and Internet Acceptable Use Policies.

          Technologies should be in place to support the school’s management of the service. Contact your ISP for clarification.

           

          Safety

          To protect all students it is important that student personal information, such as their full name, is not part of the email address created. Usually the school name will be part of the address.

          An email address such as phi001@myschool.vic.edu.au does not identify the student beyond the school. It would however allow the school to track the email and activities of that student.

          It is recommended that schools don’t use generic accounts such as Grade6@myschool.vic.edu.au which has a password known by all students. This could allow students to send anonymous emails to others and be used as a tool for cyberbullying.

          Should a teacher wish to establish a class email account it is important that the teacher creates and protects the password. This will ensure that what is sent from the email address is what they want attributed to their students.

           

          Email and web 2.0

          To allow students to participate in web 2.0 applications an individual email address is essential. The creation of student email accounts at school allows participation in web 2.0 applications for students and their teachers. It supports teachers in online supervision and allows identification of ‘who said what’ in an online collaboration. 

          Setting up class projects with students personal email accounts from locations such as hotmail and gmail affects the ability of teachers to supervise online communication. Even identification of individual students can become difficult. For teachers to properly supervise online, they must be able to oversee all areas of communication including email.

          School email accounts also allow teachers to create access rules for the use of particular technologies, especially when they want to establish a project which is only for their school.

          For example a blog could state that only comments posted by myschool.vic.edu.au email addresses will be allowed. This defines the audience for the bloggers and provides the project with a safe online environment.

           

          Blogs

          Global blogs

          The blogging environments Global Teacher (http://globalteacher.org.au) and Global Student (http://globalstudent.org.au) were set up by the Victorian Education Channel and the School Library Association of Victoria to allow teachers to explore and celebrate the educational value of blogging. They are free to join and open to all Victorian schools. Both sites run as working blogs with new posts continually added.

          It is recommended that you become proficient with your own teacher blog before you create any blogs for your students. Set up your student blogs in spaces specifically designed for education.

          Principals must be notified of any blogs being set up by both teachers and students as part of any school based project

          What is a blog? For more information go to Connect - Teacher