Living in a digital age
Technological change in education means we are facing the largest transformation in how our students receive, interact with and respond to the learning experience that the teaching profession has ever seen. These changes mean that schools and early childhood settings are now broader than the walls of a classroom. Teachers, students and parents are increasingly using digital technologies to teach, learn and communicate, challenging the traditional concept of a school.
The world of digital learning beckons, with opportunities for teachers and students alike to benefit from the opportunities and capabilities a digital world offers.
Schools need to support students to develop the skills needed for critical evaluation, online collaboration and communication and behaviours which support the safe, responsible and ethical use of digital technology – essential to participating in life and work in the 21st century.
The following advice is the result of DEECD research and evaluation projects carried out by Victorian teachers participating in trials and/or pilots within the Innovation and Next Practice Division. The advice should be considered when using social media tools:
1. Educational purpose
Have a specific and clearly articulated educational purpose for using the technology and/or social media tool (group interchange, collaboration, etc).
2. Educational spaces
Where possible work with tools that are specifically designed for education.
3.Safety
Teachers should be the administrator for every social media tool that is created for their students’ use. This will allow teachers to moderate and edit content instantly.
For more information, see: Duty of Care in Online Spaces
4. Terms and conditions
Refer to each website or social media tool’s specific terms and conditions. These will assist to determine whether the tool is appropriate for your students or not (in particular, understand the requirements around privacy, safety, registrations, account security and protecting your rights).
For more information, see: Things to Consider when Setting up a Social Media Profile
5. Permissions
Obtain parent permission for students to register to use a social media. Use this as an opportunity to inform parents / guardians about the social media tool you intend to use and its educational purpose.
Obtain parent permission to publish student work and/or photos on the internet.
For more information, see: Consent Forms and Templates
6. Privacy
Personal information such as full names or addresses should never be published on the internet.
Students should upload an avatar not a photo of themselves (For example, a ‘voki’ image (http://www.voki.com/), or DoppelMe avatar (http://www.doppelme.com/)
For more information, see: Online Privacy
7. Acceptable use agreements
Develop, in consultation with students and parents, agreements for the acceptable use of digital technologies and consequences of students behaving inappropriately online.
For more information, see: Acceptable Use Agreement Templates
8. Explicit teaching
Students should be explicitly taught the skills and knowledge to act safely and responsibly in the online world. Skills should be reinforced as new technologies are introduced.
For more information, see: Cyber Teach Toolkit
9. Community engagement
Encourage the school community to be supportive of the task by sharing the students' work with the wider school and community (e.g. via the school website, staff meetings, newsletters).
For more information, see: Working With Your School Community
10. Student email accounts
Many social media tools require individual student email accounts and those of their teachers. This can also support teachers in online supervision and allows identification of ‘who said what’ in an online collaboration. To protect students it is important that personal information (e.g. full name) is not part of the email 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.
For more information, see: Duty of Care in Online Spaces