Know IT All

The BBC ChatGuide website provides a range of resources aimed at children, teenagers, parents and teachers.

With the aim of helping teenagers to get the best out of chat and stay safe, the guide is grouped into three key areas:

• Socialising: covering online communities, sharing, blogging, mobile phones, gaming, internet and digital TV.
• Personal safety: covering personal details, meeting up, and moderation and hosting.
• Antisocial behaviour: covering identity, disruption, harassment and grooming.

There is also an extensive glossary covering the language of chat.

The Key Stage 3 teaching pack provides resources to assist with a lesson on internet safety for teenagers. The downloadable resources include:

• notes for teachers, including a quiz and a template for students to keep an internet diary
• ChatGuide video
• PowerPoint presentation.

A downloadable ChatGuide booklet for parents is also available online, which schools can print out and give to parents and carers.

The BBC WebWise site has a range of information on using the internet. The WebWise online course consists of ten lessons to help you become familiar with using the internet. Topics covered include:

• how to hook up
• web page basics
• finding stuff online
• email basics
• stay out of danger
• make new friends.

The ‘Stay out of danger’ section has an interactive guide and a quiz on child safety, based on the SMART rules.

The Be Safe Online website, produced by Learning and Teaching Scotland, provides advice and information about internet safety for teachers and parents.

The website covers a wide range of topics, including:

• personal web pages
• email
• chat
• instant messaging
• file-sharing
• bullying online.

BlogSafety.com is a USA-based forum where parents, teens, educators and experts can discuss and learn about safe blogging and social networking.

Users need to sign up before they can post to the forums, but safe blogging tips for teens and numerous other articles and advice can be accessed without registering.

Bullying Online is an online help and advice service combating all forms of bullying. Sections for pupils, parents and schools cover the subject of cyberbullying, with advice on topics including:

• how to stay safe on the internet
• mobile phone bullying and happy slapping
• dangerous websites
• abusive websites.

Bullying Online also provides an email service for pupils in need of further help and advice.

The Thinkuknow Cybercafe for Key Stage 2 pupils has been developed by CEOP, alongside BECTA and the Internet Proficiency Group. It aims to develop a set of safe and discriminating behaviours for pupils to adopt when using the internet and other technologies.

Hosted on the www.thinkuknow.co.uk website, the scheme consists of an interactive resource, called CyberCafe, and a teachers’ pack consisting of teaching activities, pupils' worksheets, advice and information for teachers on internet safety. Although aimed at Key Stage 2, some of the materials may be particularly useful for introducing e-safety topics to pupils in year 7, or for pupils with special educational needs.

The teachers’ pack files and lesson plans can be downloaded as PDF documents from the website.

Childnet International’s Chatdanger website informs children and young people about the potential dangers of interactive services online, and gives advice to keep them safe.

The site covers:

• mobiles
• chat
• email
• Messenger
• games.

The site uses real-life stories and online quizzes to reinforce e-safety messages.

CyberNetrix helps secondary school pupils, aged 13–16, learn about the risks of using the internet and provides advice on managing and minimising those risks. It has been developed by NetAlert – Australia’s Internet Safety Advisory Body – but the general safety messages still hold for a UK audience.

The main learning tool is an interactive room where students can create their own character and customise their surroundings. By clicking on objects around the room, students can learn key safety messages.

Topics covered include:

• keeping your computer secure
• chat rooms
• internet banking
• identity theft
• mobile phones.

A range of teachers’ materials are available online to support this resource.

CyberQuoll helps primary school pupils, aged 8–12, learn about e-safety through a range of fun, interactive activities. It has been developed by NetAlert – Australia’s Internet Safety Advisory Body – but the general safety messages still hold for a UK audience.

The main learning tool is an interactive story in which pupils ’follow the cousins from hell through six epic adventures as they stumble through the pitfalls and triumphs of using the internet safely’.

Topics covered include:

• finding stuff
• making waves
• putt’n stuff up
• trying it on
• kids in cyberspace.

A range of teachers’ materials are available online to support this resource.

This site has been created by ACMA – the Australian Communications and Media Authority – which is responsible for the regulation of broadcasting, radio communications, telecommunications and online content. The general safety messages still hold for a UK audience.

Cybersmart Kids Online provides information on ‘smart net surfing for kids and their grownups’. The site gives general tips on staying safe online, along with specific guidance on using chat and mobile phones, and a quiz.

Content in the main information sections is split into three user types – littlies, kids and young people – so students can be directed to relevant information depending on their age and/or level of understanding.

A teachers’ section provides lesson plans, homework help and links to good educational sites, many of which are UK based.

Childnet's Digizen site offers practical information, advice and resources designed to help schools, parents and carers understand the benefits and risks of young people's use of technologies. Digizen is designed to look at how children and young people can use technology safely to change the world for the better.

The site consists of three main areas:

Young People and Social Networking Services

• Introduction to Social Networking Services
• Risks and benefits of using social networking sites for schools and colleges
• Examples and ideas for using online services with children and young people
• Information sheets from YouTube, Bebo, MySpace, MSN and Orange

DigiCentral

Digizen's competition for young people - celebrating the opportunities technology provides young people to participate in and shape their world

Cyberbullying

• An introduction to the UK Government's advice and guidance on cyberbullying for schools
• The full text of the advice on identifying, preventing and responding to cyberbullying
• Childnet's brand new cyberbullying film, Still Fighting It, and supporting resources for use in your school

FKBKO provides a range of e-safety information for children and young people, covering:

• the web
• email
• chat
• viruses
• peer-to-peer
• mobiles.

Topics under each section are typically categorised by ‘beginner’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘advanced’.

The ‘HQ’ section also provides some useful background information on topics such as:

• How does the internet work?
• How is my computer identified?
• Am I invisible on the internet?
• Who is in charge of IP addresses?

Get Safe Online aims to provide expert advice for everyone to protect against internet threats. Although not specifically aimed at children and young people, there is a section titled ‘Resources for parents, teachers and young people’, which provides a number of helpful articles on topics such as:

• setting ground rules for children
• protecting children from online threats
• filtering internet content
• sharing a home computer.

There are also links to resources for young people and parents and teachers.

Some of the ’knowledgebase’ resources on the site are also useful for teaching e-safety issues. These include:

• Protect your PC: This section contains a range of information on how to protect your PC using technology tools such as firewalls, antivirus software and the latest operating system updates. It also provides guidance on stopping spam and spyware, securing wireless networks, and making regular backups.
• Protect yourself: This section contains advice on how to use the internet safely. It is concerned more with behaviour than technology, and provides guidance on how to bank and shop online safely, avoiding fake and unsafe websites, and how to create strong passwords.

There are also a number of interactive tools, such as ‘Create a personal security checklist’ and a ‘Take a risk-assessment quiz’.

The Internet Safety Zone provides a range of e-safety information categorised for under 12s and over 13s.

The over-13s area deals with a range of general esafety topics such as email, mobiles, chat, gaming and browsing, and also covers many of the negative social and abusive aspects of new technology, such as:

• sexual content
• violence
• abusive cybersex and grooming
• cyberbullying
• eating disorders
• self-harm and suicide
• prejudice.

Each of the topics provides information on reporting abuse and further sources of help and advice for young people.

The site also includes a section for parents covering the basic safety issues of internet use and the key concerns which parents might have. There is extensive information on how parents can help their children handle problems and encourage ‘cyberwellness’.

Childnet International’s Kidsmart website has a section for young people aged 11 plus, dealing with mobiles, file-sharing, chat, trackback (for example, digital footprints) and privacy.

The site also includes games, competitions and a gallery of young people’s artwork on how to stay safe online.

It reinforces the SMART rules, and has additional sections for teachers and for parents and carers.

Know IT All (KIA) is an interactive CD-ROM aimed at Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils, to help them understand a broad range of issues when using the internet or mobile phones. Every secondary school in the UK was sent a free Know IT All pack in late 2005. Additional packs can be purchased directly from Childnet International [http://www.childnet-int.org/kia/order.aspx].

The main aim of Know IT All is to help students reflect on their use of communication technology, be aware of the dangers and develop safe and discriminating behaviour when using new technology.

Using a combination of animation, fictional stories, interactive quizzes and movies, the resource emphasises how young people can protect themselves from hazards online and how they can look after each other by behaving responsibly and not putting others at risk. Topics covered include:

• anonymity and online behaviours
• evaluating web content, including identifying illegal content
• unwelcome communications, including spam, viruses and phishing scams
• online friends, including issues relating to cyberbullying, online harassment and chat dangers
• the use and abuse of mobile phones
• file-sharing, including issues relating to downloading music and video, and associated risks and legal issues.

An additional Know IT All Teachers’ Guide gives background to each of the sections covered on the CD-ROM, with explanations of terms, and is essential for getting the most out of this resource. The guide contains ideas on how to use KIA as part of a lesson or a whole-school assembly, as well as further resources on a broad range of topics from copyright to cyberbullying. The guide also maps the sections within KIA to relevant parts of the National Curriculum at Key Stage 3 for ICT, PHSE and Citizenship.

The Teachers’ Guide can be downloaded from the Childnet International website [http://www.childnet-int.org/kia/teachers.aspx].

A new CD-ROM resource, Know IT All for Parents, commissioned by the DfES, aims to help parents and their children get the most out of the internet and mobile phones.

The CD-ROM contains a special section presented by children and young people as well as an advice section for teachers on how they can use the CD-ROM with parents and pupils. There is also a summary ‘Overview’ section which has been translated into Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Mandarin, Polish, Punjabi, Urdu and British Sign Language.

Schools in England can order bulk quantities of this resource free of charge from Prolog on 0845 60 222 60, quoting reference: 00308-2007CDO-EN.

The NetSmartz workshop is an interactive, educational safety resource from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) for children aged 5–17, parents, guardians, educators and law enforcement that uses age-appropriate, 3-D activities to teach children and young people how to stay safer on the internet.

The NetSmartz Teens section provides hard-hitting esafety messages predominantly through a series of real-life stories told by teens who have been victims of internet exploitation. These include:

• Amys’ Choice: gives an account of the risks of meeting people in the real world that you have first met while chatting.
• Julie’s Journey: tells the story of a 13-year-old girl who left home for three weeks with a convicted murderer after developing a relationship online.
• Tracking Teresa: demonstrates how even the smallest details provided while chatting create a trail of personal information.
• Teens PSA: ‘Promises’, a public service announcement, warns teenagers of the dangers of falling for promises from people they first meet online.

The site also features a new series on cyberbullying:

• Feathers in the Wind: discusses what teens can do to avoid becoming a victim or victimising someone else.
• You Can’t Take It Back: tells the story of teen who reflects on his participation in a website created to rate others at his school, and his subsequent regret.
• Broken Friendship: tells about the impact of sharing online passwords, even with best friends.

Each of the stories links to a series of activity cards and related news articles which can be used to prompt further discussion in the classroom.

The site also features numerous resources for teachers and parents.

The site is USA based, but the general safety messages still hold.

The newly released NSTeens features animated comic-book-style characters who model safer online practices. The materials include animations, peer response videos, and an interactive comic strip to address issues such as social networking, cyberbullying, and gaming. To supplement this dynamic content, educators, parents, and guardians are provided with safety tips, classroom activities, and discussion starters to open the lines of communication with their tweens. NSTeens is geared to help middle-school students understand the various aspects of Internet safety issues by listening to their peers’ point of views.

Out of Your Hands? is a citizenship resource for Key Stage 3 pupils, designed to tackle the problem of mobile phone crime.

Aimed at 11- to 14-year-olds, the website offers an interactive, peer-led approach to dealing with the issues of mobile phone crime, including how to prevent it and what to do if you have your phone stolen.

There are accompanying notes for teachers and youth leaders, consisting of printable activities and National Curriculum links.

PHONEbrain is a new website from ICSTIS/PhonepayPlus* (the premium rate services regulator), aimed at young people aged 10–13.

Covering four key areas – mobile, landline, TV and PC – the site aims to show young people how to stay safe and in control when using premium rate services and understand the mechanisms used to apply charges to phone bills.

The site uses a number of real-life case studies to reinforce the key messages. Other resources include a jargon buster, technology overview covering 3G services, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Bluetooth, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and a FAQ section.

Teaching resources include a lesson plan, PowerPoint slides and worksheets, along with ‘top tips’ sheets which can be downloaded as PDF documents.

Visitors to the site can build up virtual credits by completing games and activities. Sufficient credits allow users to customise their virtual phones.

The QUICK website is a teaching aid to help young people evaluate the information they find on the internet. It consists of fictional examples, quizzes and puzzles to allow young people to explore the concepts around information quality. Although many examples are health related, the concepts can be used with any subjects that require information skills.

The site is aimed at Key Stages 2 and 3, and in particular years 5, 6 and 7. Some of the examples might seem a little ‘young’, but the underlying principles are sound.

There is a useful, printable summary checklist for evaluating information, and a teachers’ guide.

*Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holder of this site, without success. We have included it in this updated publication based on permission received for the original publication, as the site continues to provide useful e-safety resources. Should the copyright holder want to contact us, please email to publications@becta.org.uk.

Childnet International’s Sorted website has been designed by young people, for young people, to provide advice and information on computer security issues in practical and simple way. It covers:

• spyware and adware
• trojans and viruses
• spam and phishing
• identity theft
• pop-ups
• file-sharing.

The site also includes 10 top rules for maintaining privacy.

This NCH site gives advice on cyberbullying under a number of headings, such as:

• text
• calls
• photos
• emails
• chats
• web
• identity.

It includes information for parents and teachers, along with a downloadable poster of top-10 tips, and an (offl ine) classroom quiz designed to find out how much pupils know about mobile bullying and the sources of help available to them.

This website, developed by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, provides information for young people on how to stay safe online. It covers various topics, including:

• mobiles
• gaming
• social networking
• chatting
• podcasts
• blogs
• P2P TV.

A teachers’ area provides information on training and materials to support the Think U Know programme. The site also provides a link to a parents’ area (hosted on the CEOP website) with a good overview on technologies such as:

• chat and instant messenger
• blogs, forums and social networking
• mobiles
• gaming.

Each of the parents’ topics includes a summary of what’s good, what’s bad and what parents can do to help their children stay safe.

In all areas of the site, there are prominent links to the CEOP ‘report abuse’ page where you can make a complaint or report a problem.

Websafe Crackerz is a spoof world, with a range of microsites offering teenagers strategies to help them deal with all kinds of technology-related situations.

The site makes use of interactive stories and games to teach e-safety in a fun, non-patronising way, offering prizes to those that can navigate the cyber-hazards and crack the safe.

The microsites include:

• BBB or BlahBlahBlah.com: deals with issues surrounding communicating via the internet – for example, using chat and IM. It also looks at anonymity and how to protect your personal information.
• Don’t click here: deals with the world of dodgy sites, including online scams, pop-ups and spyware. It provides advice on evaluating material found online and how to be a safe online shopper.
• S.P.A.M. Corp: deals with all the issues relating to spam, including how to protect your presence and your PC, and how to prevent mobile spam.
• Ih8u: deals with the many forms of abuse – such as online abuse, mobile phone abuse, cyberbullying, self abuse and identity theft – that can happen with new technology.
• Nick-star: is a mock file-sharing site which deals with issues surrounding safe downloading, legal issues, and bugs, spyware and adware.
• InTransit: deals specifically with the ever-expanding range of services available via mobile phones and the issues which these raise. Topics covered include Bluetooth, tracking services, moblogging and camera phones.
• H@cktev15t: provides a news-based section for teenagers, drawing together technology-related news from the BBC, details of current technology security threats and links to virus-removal tools, and general information on the law and reporting online abuse.

Wise Up to IT explores the lives of four young people and their experiences on the internet through four hard-hitting video case studies. Topics covered include cyberbullying, spyware, the risks of meeting online friends in the real world, and cyberstalking.

This resource was developed by NetAlert – Australia’s Internet Safety Advisory Body – but the general safety messages still hold for a UK audience.