Internet Safety Course Overlooked in Byron Review
Ted Hastings
The report of the Byron Review, "Safer Children in a Digital World" has generally been well-received, and rightly so. It offers a balanced view which takes account of both the dangers and the benefits of children using the internet, and it makes a number of useful and practical suggestions which could be implemented to reduce the dangers.
However, the report suffers from one glaring omission - it completely fails to mention that a certificated Internet Safety course has been available from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) since 2006 and is widely taught in Scottish schools. It is believed to be the only course of its type developed by a national awarding body in the EU.
The course isn't restricted to schools - it's also offered to adults, including parents, teachers and youth workers via evening classes in further education colleges. It has been used for training police cadets by the Strathclyde Police Force and has been delivered to about 4000 pupils in Manchester schools. The course is supported by a complete online package of teaching and assessment materials and a purpose-written textbook entitled "Internet Safety Skills", published by Leckie and Leckie.
It is strange that the report fails to mention this course, particularly since various other examples of good practice are described, including an Irish project. The importance of improved education for both children and parents is emphasised throughout the report, yet it does not mention that a suitable course, complete with all the required materials, is already available.
Every Education Authority in the UK could adopt this course immediately, rather than waiting, perhaps for years, until alternative courses are developed. This could reduce the exposure of millions of children to online dangers and to increase their parents' knowledge of Internet hazards and how to avoid them.
The SQA course is interesting, engaging, and highly practical. It is designed to provide information about the safety factors which need to be taken into account when using the Internet, and give practical experience in taking the relevant precautions. It is suitable for a wide range of individuals, particularly young people, parents and mature Internet users.
The first part of the course examines a range of Internet threats including malicious programs (such as viruses, trojans, worms, adware, spyware and rogue diallers), hackers, spam, phishing, identity theft and emerging threats such as ransomware. It also looks at threats to user safety including grooming, inappropriate behaviour and cyberbullying, and highlights the fact that these threats can appear in a variety of contexts, eg: social networking sites, chat rooms, e-mail and instant messaging.
The second part considers the safety precautions which can be taken including anti-virus and e-mail filtering software, firewalls and Internet security suites. It also examines techniques for maintaining user safety including proxy servers, content labelling and filtering, monitoring and reporting user behaviour and withholding personal information.
The third part considers some of the legal aspects of using the Internet, including copyright, data protection, digital rights management, software licensing schemes (such as freeware and shareware(, legal constraints on the construction of websites (including disability discrimination legislation) and legislation relating to illegal content (such as racist, terrorist and pornographic material. It also examines child protection legislation which prohibits grooming and inappropriate behaviour towards minors.
The fourth and final section gives students practical experience in taking appropriate safety precautions. They are expected to demonstrate that they can install and configure anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, firewalls, spam filters and internet security suites and to show that they can take precautions for maintaining user safety, including content filtering, proxy servers, monitoring and reporting user behaviour and withholding personal information.
Many people will be happy to simply follow the content of the course and improve their knowledge of Internet Safety. Those who wish to do so can be assessed and, if successful, be awarded a certificate by SQA. The assessment consists a short multiple choice test, which can be taken online, and a log recording the practical work carried out during the course, which can be submitted in electronic format, eg: as a blog or an online portfolio.
Ted Hastings has many years of experience of IT and education. He writes a regular blog entitled http://surfsafely.eu) Surf Safely. The http://surfsafely.eu/netsafe) Internet Safety course is available online from Millennium City Academy.
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