Online safety and digital citizenship

Introducing and using technologies with young people is important for their present and future lives, yet it doesn’t come without perilous risks. A key idea within the Digital Technologies curriculum — beyond coding and creating digital solutions — is safety; including cybersafety, data security, and ethical and legal considerations when communicating and collaborating online.

The challenge for schools is not only to stay abreast of advancements in technology and its implication for teaching and learning, but also to think about how their students will develop into fulfilling citizens who use technology in intelligent, ethical and safe ways. The Digital Technologies Hub has a dedicated Digital Citizenship topic page to assist educators in this regard.

Together with families, schools have a responsibility to educate our young generation with the skills required to navigate an increasingly digital world:

• The Australian Government’s eSafety and iParent pages offer resources and information about using technology safely, and also provide links for students, parents and teachers to report instances of offensive and illegal content.
• The Alannah & Madeline Foundation eSmart Framework is a change management strategy for schools that aims to improve behaviours with technology, reduce cyberbullying, and increase digital fluencies.
• The ThinkUKnow website, from the Australian Federal Police provides information about the most common technology that young people use, and the associated implications. It also provides free presentations for schools or community groups, as well as factsheets for students and parents on the most popular social platforms.
• Our friends over at the Student Wellbeing Hub also have useful materials for educators and parents, suitable for both primary and secondary schools.
• The Digital Technologies Hub family section also has a page dedicated to cybersafety resources.

Safety in the curriculum

The relevant content descriptions in the Digital Technologies curriculum relating to ethical and safe use can be found below. Click the elaborations for more, or check out the Australian Curriculum website.

F–2: Explore how people safely use common information systems to meet information, communication and recreation needs (ACTDIP005)

F–2: Create and organise ideas and information using information systems independently and with others, and share these with known people in safe online environments (ACTDIP006)

3–4: Plan, create and communicate ideas and information independently and with others, applying agreed ethical and social protocols (ACTDIP013)

5–6: Plan, create and communicate ideas and information, including collaboratively online, applying agreed ethical, social and technical protocols (ACTDIP022)

7–8: Plan and manage projects that create and communicate ideas and information collaboratively online, taking safety and social contexts into account (ACTDIP032)

9–10: Create interactive solutions for sharing ideas and information online, taking into account safety, social contexts and legal responsibilities (ACTDIP043)

9–10: Plan and manage projects using an iterative and collaborative approach, identifying risks and considering safety and sustainability (ACTDIP044)

Lesson ideas

The Digital Technologies Hub features lesson ideas with step-by-step instructions for implementing one or more of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies content descriptions for each band of the curriculum.

Wondering how you can address the areas of online safety and digital citizenship in your classroom? Try one of these lesson ideas:

Check out what other lesson ideas are available for: Primary and Secondary.

Webinars

Scratch and Makey Makey

Presented by: Jo Klein
28 June, 4.30–5.30pm (AEDT)
Our next webinar will be presented by Jo Klein, and will focus on design thinking by integrating Makey Makey and Scratch. Suitable for Years 3–7, Jo will provide practical examples of design activities. She will cover what Makey Makey is, how to introduce it, and how to integrate it with Scratch programming. Jo will talk about how it applies to the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. Jo will also demonstrate how she introduces a problem solving approach, and will offer student examples of projects.

Coding and programming

Presented by: Tim Bell
Last month, Tim Bell presented the big ideas behind coding and programming, why we teach it and what we teach about. Ideas to implement coding and programming tools into classroom practice using fun and engaging activities were shown using Scratch and Python. The recording and associated resources for this webinar, and all of our previous webinars can be found on our webinars page.

Upcoming events

• Women in STEM; various dates in March–August, VIC
• Kickstart your Digital Technologies learning; 4 July, VIC
• STEAMing AHEAD: Navigating a digital future conference; 19–20 July, SA
• DigiCon17 conference; 27–28 July, VIC
• ACA Digital Technologies Workshop Melbourne; 29–30 July, VIC
• Leading a Digital School conference; 17–19 August, QLD
• Improving STEM Education conference; 29–30 August, VIC
• K–12 Digital Classroom Practice conference; 1–2 September, VIC

Digital technologies making news

• Cybersecurity skills shortage putting public, private sectors at risk, experts say, ABC News
• An algorithm for introducing algorithms, Malyn Mawby
• STEM learning: International best practice, ACER Teacher Magazine
• The future of classroom technology, Education Week
• Report: Strengthening school-industry STEM skills partnerships, Australian Industry Group

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