Standard 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
4.5: Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically
As teachers, we are equipping children to participate and engage in contemporary society effectively and safely (TonDeur, Van Braak, & Valcke, 2006). With technological advances being on the rise and occupying a higher prevalence in our contemporary and future society, equipping students with ICT skills has become a focus for education (ACARA, 2016). The nature and scope of ICT capability is not fixed, but is responsive to ongoing technological developments, and our classrooms reflect this. This is evident in the emergence of advanced internet technology over the past few years and the resulting changes in the ways that students construct knowledge and interact with others (ACARA, 2016).
To use ICT effectively as engaged, connected and active participants, students must not only attain the technical skills necessary to use the technology but also the safety the know how to engage with technology safely, and as such, it is the role of the educator to equip students with such skills throughout learning experiences (TonDeur et al., 2006).
Within the Australian Curriculum is the Information Communication Technology (ICT) General Capability which is a goal for all students to achieve. The Australian Curriculum states that developing ICT competence involves learning to make the most of the technologies available to them but also learning to be safe in the digital environment, as well as limiting risks to safety (ACARA, 2016). The Year 6 Australian Curriculum: Health requires students to explore the themes of health, safety and well being, and how this can be achieved (ACPPS053) and (ACPPS054) (ACARA, 2016). In addition to the aforementioned health topics, students are also required to recognise how media and important people in the community influence personal attitudes, beliefs, decisions and behaviours (ACPPS057).
On my recent practicum in a Year 6 class, I was responsible for planning and teaching the aforementioned health topics in a six-week program. Within my unit of work I focused on mental health and wellbeing, and as the content unfolded it became apparent that the topic lent itself to be incorporated with ICT use and self esteem, so I integrated these themes to ensure that I was working towards creating safe and supportive learning environments for my students.
This 7 week program for Health and ICT integration consisted of 7 lessons - one per week. Each session students were able to delve into the topic deeper and explore and examine their own use of ICT.
Above: Health and ICT programming document. Image credit: Author.
Several of my lessons focused on self-esteem, media and cyber safety. I started an early session in the sequence with a Keynote presentation which introduced some of the risks and threats to safety that ICT use can pose on students and internet users alike. In my presentation, the children were exposed to examples of my own safe use of the internet, both recreational and work related. The strategies and precautions I mentioned stimulated some rich discussion amongst the students and this in turn formed the basis of a very educative class discussion about ICT use and safety considerations. Students were reminded of the school’s ICT code of conduct and some of the school polices which protect all school ICT users -both students and staff alike.
 Cyber Safety Slide 1 |  Cyber Safety Slide 2 |  Cyber Safety Slide 3 |
|---|---|---|
 Cyber Safety Slide 4 |  Cyber Safety Slide 5 |  Cyber Safety Slide 6 |
 Cyber Safety Slide 7 |
Slides from my KeyNote presentation in Lesson 3. Credit: Author.
Computer Safety Video from Lesson 1
Video credit: Zhen Lin Lu, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvtImP7CTE
Cyber Safety and Bullying Video from Lesson 2
Video credit: WellCast, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwu_7IqWh8Y
After my guided segment and the class discussion, students were required to discuss and investigate potential cyber safety issues and how the students themselves can stay safe whilst using the internet both at home and at school. The focus on safety was concerned with both their privacy and personal information and emotional wellbeing. With all students in the class having their own iPad, students were required to prepare are a Keynote presentation which outlined some of their recommendations for using the internet safely and they then shared this with the class.
Overall, the students’ class keynote presentations demonstrated their insights and awareness of how they can use ICT safely in all of their personal, school and recreational pursuits. Throughout the activity and lesson discussions, I noticed that some students were surprised at some of the ways in which ICT use is not safe. The learning experience helped these students realise that some of their own online behaviours were indeed unsafe or potentially unsafe, and they were able to investigate ways to improve their own behaviours.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2016, August 15). Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
Sullivan, R., Armstrong, V., Barnes, S., Braw, R., Breeze, N., Gall, M., John, P. (2004). Transforming teaching and learning: embedding ICT into everyday classroom practices. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 20(6), 413-425.
TonDeur, J., Van Braak, J., & Valcke, M. (2006). Curricula and the use of ICT in education: Two worlds apart? British Journal of Educational Technology38(6), 962-976.