Kaye:
My question is around email addresses - Our students, up until now, didn't have these. Now we would like them too but wish to keep them safe. Are there boundaries with email you recommend?
Answer:
John - In my opinion, this is a learning opportunity. We prepare children for a time when they make decisions for themselves. This requires a slow and meaningful introduction to that world based on their age and level of maturity. An email address is simply a way to connect with another person which they will be doing for the rest of their lives, face to face and by email.
Define the purpose with Parents and Students. Describe your expectations of how it should be used, where it should be used and when it should be used, when this makes sense to do so. Those are the boundaries.
Change your description to, “we are giving the email to the parent and the student”. This allows the parents to have some ownership of it. It lets the child know they are not yet able to use it independently. It also promotes the partnership between you and the parent. One of the common complaints I get from parents is the school did not include me or tell me this was required. Finally, think about naming conventions, don’t have the child’s name in it.
Jacqui:
My own children are 7 and 10. Last week all of their friends and parents hopped on to ‘Kids Messenger’. It seems like a great idea as they have been dominating my phone keeping in contact with friends during lockdown. What do you think of Kids Messenger - are they sitting ducks for predators?
Answer:
John - Teaching children how to use any form of communication technology safely and ethically is the solution.
First, look at the age range. If the child is inside that range that is number 1.
Number 2, does the guardian have the ability to look and be involved with the child’s use of it. Number 3, does the child understand the risks of inappropriate use.
Number 4, does the child have the knowledge available to help themselves if they get into harm’s way.
Personally, when I look at risk for a child developed application I’m concerned about screen time and excessive use, distraction from responsibilities within the home, becoming sedentary and not talking face-to-face with loved ones. Applications are designed to keep children in them. Their ability to self-regulate, I suggest, is poor so parents have to be strong, confident and play that role if they give young children these applications. I prefer to see young children running and playing in the physical space. They learn about the world by touching it and interacting with it and they need this feedback as they develop.
- Encourage your children to talk to you if they see something that bothers them online or off.
- Children can still be bullied online regardless of the safety measure in place.
- Teach them how to respond to problems.
- Be involved with the child’s use.
- Regulate screen time.
- Keep them active.
- Good sleep patterns are also essential so keep the tech out of bedrooms especially when they are meant to be sleeping.
- Finally, remember all applications present risk.
Anonymous:
My daughter chats with her friends online via Zoom to maintain social contact, and was surprised that they all had the computers and study areas set up in their bedrooms. Parents might be working in the lounge, or siblings playing, or also online in other areas of the school. What are the dangers in that situation, and what would you advise to make that situation safer?
Answer:
John - Please take a look at this short video Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Pajamas.
Anonymous:
It feels like you are trying to tell us teaching in the classroom will not go back to the way it was prior to COVID and schools, when they go back, will be digitally based for learning. Is that what you are saying?
Answer:
John - No, that was not my intention. Presently we are still responding to the pandemic.
As we progress back to a new normal we, in my opinion, will pick up where we left off with some new additions to mitigate risk which will include remote learning. The motivation for this is to save lives. Once that risk is removed, we will look at what was gained and lost in the virtual classroom during this period and that will inform how it is used going forward.
Just because we can go virtual doesn’t mean we will or should. That would mean that ICT is deterministic and I do not think it is. We make the choices of how we use it. We should also remind ourselves of the learning and therapeutic support schools provide young people. They form friendships, learn about themselves and how others view the world. They argue, debate, cry, tolerate others while continually moving towards independence. We need physical classrooms so we can truly know ourselves and the minds and hearts of others.
Kim:
What do we do about children (primary aged) talking about their gaming on R18 games?
Answer:
John - Please listen to this “R18 Games In The Hands Of 7 Year Olds”
Inform the parent community through newsletters about the harm that can come from this exposure. Sometimes a conversation with the parents helps if you think the issues you see in the child are significant. Please remember if you think a child is in harm’s way consult with your designated lead, it may require a report of concern.
Sally:
In practical terms, we need students to work in a quiet space as the cumulative background noise of 15 communal spaces is unworkable. How does that sit with your cyber safety recommendations? Many only have their rooms to work in.
Answer:
John - Please see my Key Points Document.
Anonymous:
Children and teachers need to be in schools. There needs to be a safe place for both. Children don't need to live on computers, nor do teachers.
Answer:
John - I couldn’t agree more.
Gray:
For many of our students, they will be in the way of their parents if they are in communal spaces. Therefore, they often need to be in their bedrooms. Would we still need to push for online learning outside of the bedroom?
Answer:
John - Please see my Key Points Document.
Helen:
Under the current circumstances this is tricky - no pressure to learn as we have no idea of family circumstances. We are not being prescriptive and insisting that learning happens, so how can we specify expectations of times that they must/should be learning? We have many key workers, etc.
Answer:
John - You have had to respond within 24 hours to a completely new way to engage students from your home space, deal with a global threat, take instructions from the government on a daily basis, support scared parents and students, and watch as thousands of people tragically pass away. What your profession has achieved so far during this pandemic is, simply put, sterling.
Going forward if this is going to form part of how teaching occurs then I’m suggesting we need formality and guidelines in place to keep all parties safe. Perhaps in three month’s time, some of my risk assumptions will be meaningless and result in some of the measures we suggest mitigating risk won’t be needed.
However, just as you have had to evolve so will parents if they want to create a supportive learning environment within the home.
Anonymous:
Some students prefer not to turn on their cameras during a video call. So for the whole session, I can only see a faceless square with the student sitting there. Is there any way to encourage them to turn their cameras on so that they are seen?
Answer:
John - I think this is a sensitive issue, potentially. There could be many reasons why a student does not want to do that. I think it is important to try to discreetly find out why and apply wisdom and logic to each student that wants to do this.
Anonymous:
It feels as if some of this advice is a bit like locking the barn door after the horse has bolted. How do we 'rewind'?
Answer:
John - Risk and harm are two different things. The problem we have is when we talk about risk, we can start to feel that harm has occurred. We had four weeks of this situation and successful live streaming sessions, I would suggest, have taken place. We cannot rewind, we can learn from what we know and anticipate. Then we adapt and evolve. Teachers are really good at that... Look at what they have done in four weeks.
Ardelle:
It is very, very difficult when there are a number of children in the home, at different levels AND parents are working as well. A shared working space isn’t realistic as it's too noisy, busy and distracting.
Also, schools are not collaborating around expectations for their students. So College says they want students to be doing their full timetable and primaries are saying two Zooms a day per classroom/ student. And again, parents might still be working.
Answer:
John - I agree that it is not always possible. In the Key Points Document, I do add the suggestion that when it is not possible, and the bedroom is the only location, make it fit for purpose. Change the background and try to make it neutral. Having said that, we do need to be realistic about this and simply do the best we can.
Kathryn:
Will Family Zone’s free software expire after term 2?
Answer:
Saunil - the free offer is for term 2 which finishes July 3rd. A school can then subscribe to our services to continue leveraging the benefits after term 2 ends.
I suggest you attend my webinar next week where I will talk in more detail on the free offer for schools and how they can leverage that to protect their kids online while learning at home. Link here.
Angela:
There have been many discussions about Zoom and Google meet up. What are your thoughts on safety?
Answer:
Saunil - Safety in online platforms always has its limitations. Bear in mind, some of what makes the platform safe is determined by the settings the users themselves enforce in it. This is not just limited to the host, but attendees too who can control what happens in the session, what can be seen/heard by others etc. I would encourage you to do your research carefully and be aware that both Zoom and Google have done a lot of work since the start of the COVID pandemic to improve their platforms, where they fell short. In many cases, they simply weren’t prepared for this situation and it caught them off guard, and they’ve been playing catch up (as many of us have!).
Another important consideration is whether the platform you’re using allows you to limit student hangouts to the domain only. Google has this feature -- I’m not sure about Zooms ability to limit hangouts. Essentially, it allows you to limit students to only be able to hang out with teachers and other students (not strangers).
It’s also important that users manage their behaviours in online video platforms to keep themselves safe. Sharing of personal information, even inadvertently, happens all too often and can compromise user safety.
Jocelyn:
What is an example of parental software?
Answer:
Saunil - Our company, Family Zone, provides software for schools and families to use to support and protect every child’s internet journey. Once installed, it allows schools to protect students 24/7 in school Google accounts and on school-managed devices. It also allows BYOD devices to be filtered in accordance with a school’s acceptable ICT-usage policy during school hours, regardless of internet connection, so learning time is learning-focused, on any network -- even the home wifi. On BYOD, school time is managed by the school, and outside school time is managed by the parents through our parent tools. The integration and changeover between school and parent is seamless. School time = school rules; parent time = parent rules.
I suggest you attend my webinar next week where I will talk in more detail on the free offer for schools and how they can leverage that to protect their kids online while learning at home. Link here.
Miel:
How can we support the parents at home when kids are learning when they are also working from home? We have lots of children in homes where that is the case.
Answer:
Saunil - Miel, I would suggest you consider empowering your parents with tools to help them keep their kids focused on learning when that is what they should be doing. Our tools for schools and families can help. I suggest you attend my webinar next week where I will talk in more detail on how this can work. Link here.
Of course, there’s more than just technical solutions needed, and John may be able to add more here to help.
Stephen:
It's not only the content that is inappropriate it's the distraction. Is there focus techniques to encourage engagement in online learning?
Answer:
Saunil - Stephen, I would suggest using tools to help keep kids focused on learning when that is what they should be doing. Our tools for schools and families can help. I suggest you attend my webinar next week where I will talk in more detail on how this can work. Link here.
Of course, there’s more than just technical solutions needed, and John may be able to add more here to help.
Mike:
Is there any teeth in legislation that back up a teacher mentioning to a parent about students under 13 being on Social Media. At present, there is just an EULA but it seems no one reads them.
Answer:
Saunil - Mike, good question to which I don’t know the answer. I’ll ask our broader team to examine this. I believe the minimum age requirements for a lot of these companies are put in place thanks to COPPA; however many companies coming out of countries other than the US often don’t have minimum age restrictions in place. Watch out for them.
Amanda:
What does Family Zone have in place for high schools?
Answer:
Saunil - Amanda, our school solutions are used differently by different schools, depending on what the school wants to achieve. I suggest you attend my webinar next week where I will talk in more detail on how this can work. Link here. Generally speaking though, most high schools will:
- Protect school Google accounts 24/7 -- if a student uses their school domain Google account at any time, on any network, they are safe and only act in accordance with the school’s acceptable ICT usage policy.
- Protect school-managed devices 24/7 -- ensures any user on a school-managed device (often includes TELA) are safe and can only act in accordance with the school’s acceptable ICT usage policy.
- Protect BYOD devices during school hours -- ensures BYOD devices are protected from accessing risky content on unsafe networks during school hours.
- Manage all users and devices on the school network -- through a combination of using our software and hardware, a school can manage internet access for all users and devices using the school network. This includes mobile phones. Schools know who is doing what and can apply different filtering rules to different user groups (eg teachers vs students).
- Empower teachers to manage internet access during lessons -- Family Zone Classwize allows teachers to see what students are doing on their devices during lessons (incl. screenshots) and allow/block access to the internet and specific sites/apps as required. Applies to the students across all their devices connected through Family Zone software or hardware.
- Empower parents to more actively participate in their child’s cyber safety -- Schools extend free Family Zone tools to parents so they can monitor and manage their children’s internet access, as appropriate. Our tools are designed to be as light or heavy a touch as the parent wants it to be. Note that school rules apply during school hours though, to ensure the school can extend it’s duty of care to students internet access no matter the network (eg mobile data, hotspots).
Helen:
Q about cyber bullying - grey area is when the issue is brought into school as you mentioned but also when it takes place on the school buses, but using social media.
Answer:
Saunil - Helen, you may want to consider using our tools to ensure all student devices are compliant with school policy during school hours, which can be set to include “getting home time”. I’ll admit this is hard for a school to enforce on mobile data; however. In that case, getting parents engaged through our parent tools might help mitigate or at least provide a discussion platform for after the fact. Cyberbullying in social media is a tough nut to crack and requires a multilateral, multi-pronged approach. Some might say it’s a best-efforts approach to provide empowering tools combined with advice and guidance for students, staff and parents.
I suggest you attend my webinar next week where I will talk in more detail on how this can work. Link here.
Jocelyn:
What are suitable social media platforms for 10 year olds
Answer:
Saunil - Jocelyn, you may want to see something we posted on this previously. Click here to read.
John works with education, health and private sectors, providing specialist advice and direction on the safe and ethical use of Digital Communication Technology. He is a published author of “Keeping Your Children Safe Online” and a social commentator who works throughout New Zealand and Internationally. www.citizen21.co.nz
Saunil taught for 10 years across a variety of ages and curriculum areas. His postgraduate studies in eLearning led him out of the classroom and into professional development for teachers, then eventually to cyber safety, where he now leads a team of talented people which helps New Zealand schools and communities support & protect young people’s digital journeys. Connect with Saunil on LinkedIn.
