To all parents and caregivers,

Welcome to 'Mr Davies Cybersafe Blog'. This blog has been created as a platform to discuss the ICT capabilities within the Australian curriculum as expected in your child’s year 10 History classroom. As you would likely be aware, we are now living in what is known at the ‘digital age’, and it is important that young people are highly skilled in the understanding and use of ICT (ACARA, 2016). Further to this, I will also be making suggestions of critical strategies to assist your child in safe, ethical and responsible use of ICT at school, home and in the community.

Figure 1: ACARA.
 http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Pdf/ICT

For your convenience I will split this blog into 2-parts, and post each part weekly. I believe it is important that you have the appropriate amount of time to discuss and implement the suggestions made in this blog with your child, and use the time to seek feedback with me, and other parents in the community.

To begin I will be discussing inappropriate online behaviour, in particular cyber bullying. This is a significant issue that has seen an increase in prevalence and devastating consequences in communities around the world (Hanewald, 2008). As highlighted in the ICT capabilities of the Australian Curriculum, by the end of year 10 students should be able to recognise when others are being cyber bullied and independently employ anti-cyber bullying strategies (ACARA, 2016).

Within my history classroom, social media platforms (predominantly Twitter & Facebook) are utilised to discuss, collaborate, and debate historical content. The students engage with each other, historians, and myself. As you should be aware, all students were required to sign an ‘Online Expectations Agreement’ in which they must; respect all ideas, behave appropriately, use academic language, avoid emotional investment in arguments/ideas, and provide constructive feedback. While this agreement has thus far been an effective deterrent of inappropriate behaviour within an educational context, it is important to note the potential dangers of these platforms in the community and wider society.

It is imperative that educators and parents can work together to combat inappropriate behaviour, and promote informed, thoughtful, and engaged online interactions. A comprehensive and detailed website www.esafety.gov.au provides parents with specific strategies to deal with issues such as cyber bullying. In particular, the four-step approach seen below (Figure 2) is a simple, but effective approach to recognising inappropriate behaviour against your child. Additionally, Hanewald (2008) highlights a variety of approaches to take when dealing with cyber bullying (Figure 3), however it is important to note this is only a guide, and responses to serious abuse should be reported to the authorities immediately.

Figure 2: Australian Government.
https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent/online-risks/cyberbullying/how-do-i-know-if-my-child-is-being-cyberbullied

Hanewald (2008) 'Confronting the pedagogical challenge of cyber safety'

While the suggestions have been from a victim perspective, it is important to recognise that some students, even unwillingly, may be the perpetrators of inappropriate online behaviour. In conjunction with my personal teaching philosophy of researching and understanding different historical narratives, I have attempted to increase ethical and empathetic understandings in this class. As such, it is my hope that your children take into consideration all of the consequences of their online interactions and recognise and respond to inappropriate behaviour they witness.

I implore you to build on these understandings, and continue to have open and honest discussions with your child at home in order to prevent any current or future inappropriate online behaviour.

With warm regards,

Mr Davies.

References

Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (2016). Information and Communication Technology Capability Learning Continuum
< http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Pdf/ICT> (Accessed on 12/10/2017)

Hanewald, R 2008, 'Confronting the pedagogical challenge of cyber safety', The Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 1-16.

Office of the eSafety Comissioner (2017) Cyberbullying.
< https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent/online-risks/cyberbullying> (Accessed on 12/10/2017)