Britt Smith (2166962)- Blog post

ICT IN SCHOOLS- 26th October 2018

Written by: Britt Smith

Information and communication technology (ICT) is rapidly
becoming more and more popular over the years and has become a
vital part of our everyday lives, especially within schools. Both
computers and the Internet have social, cultural and economic roles
in society, which is why it is important that students develop skills
and abilities that enable safe practice whilst using ICT (Tondeur,
Van Braak & Valcke, 2007). When exploring the Australian
curriculum there are multiple capabilities that your children are
required to meet by the end of year 10, which is why there is a vast need to explore
these capabilities within a purposeful classroom environment. From this, it is also
recommended that you as parents are apart of your children’s ICT learning
experience, thus further supporting the process of safe, responsible and ethical use of
ICT.

There are four key capabilities that Australian students are expected to meet by the
end of year 10, which are displayed below:

Figure 1

It is important for students to learn about the mentioned capacities so they can
understand why ICT boundaries and rules are needed for when they create,
communicate and share information. It is also important so students are able to
understand the specific benefits and consequences that are involved with the use of
ICT, and how this can affect individuals, groups and communities (ACARA, 2017).

In addition to this, it is vital for your children to be able to understand the basic safety
rules of ICT, especially for when using the Internet. ‘Cyber safety’ can be described
as the safe and responsible use of ICT. It is extremely important for your children to

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understand what ‘cyber safety’ actually is, in order to be protected from any dangers
that may occur online. A key element involved with
cyber safety is to ensure appropriate strategies are
put in place to help minimise as well as manage the
risks (Cross et al, 2011). Someone that is cyber safe
will only speak to people they know, will create
complex passwords and will be click smart (Von
Solms & Von Solms, 2014). Students can become
apart of a cyber safe lifestyle through the use of
education in schools and at home. Therefore, your
child will be encouraged to make cyber smart
choices through classroom discussions, in addition
to the use of videos that demonstrate what safe and unsafe cyber behaviours look like.
A question box will also be created to allow for anonymity, meaning students can ask
questions if they do not feel comfortable bringing it up in classroom discussions.

It is also important for students to be responsible ICT users, as it can help them to
apply strategies to protect the rights and emotional safety of others. All schools within
South Australia have anti-bullying policies that aim keep your children safe, but sadly
sometimes it’s not enough to control ‘cyber’ bullying. Cyber bullying is forever
occurring and is on the rise within Australia (Donegan, 2012). Cyber bullying can be
done anonymously and can have a vast mental effect on others. Therefore, any
behaviour that would be seen as ‘inappropriate’ should be immediately reported to an
adult, so immediate action can be taken (Grey, 2011). It is essential for all students to
remember and recognise what they post or say online is there forever. Therefore, your
child needs learn how to be safe and responsible when using the Internet, and learn
how to secure and protect their information. To further help students understand what
responsible use of ICT is and looks like; online resources and quizzes will be used, as
well as classroom discussions (as mentioned above), thus further supporting
responsible use of ICT. These quizzes will display issues relating to real life
scenarios, thus making it more relevant to your child’s current life. Students will also
be encouraged to use sites such as ‘view pure’ that strips out suggested videos and
YouTube comments, which can be useful for the classroom and at home to avoid the
fear of your child seeing inappropriate pop ups and unfamiliar links.

Another issue involving ICT is ethics. It is vital for your children to understand that
when they use a resource created by someone else, they need to correctly site the
source. It is understood that when information is taken from an online source, it is the
property of someone else’s work. Therefore, it is evidently important for students to
correctly reference all work. Students will
become aware of the ‘Creative Commons’
website, which is a association that has been
created for people to put ‘copyright’ on a source
they have created and grant permission as to
whether or not it can be used (Creative Commons Australia, 2018). Students will be
taught how to use this website efficiently and will learn the symbols relating to the
different types of licences (eg. BY, SA, NC, ND), thus allowing them to recognise if
they can reuse or alter a chosen site. By developing these skills in the classroom,
students will be more aware of ethical use when completing online research.

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Therefore, all assignments submitted in the future are expected to have correct
referencing, to prove students know how to successfully cite other people’s work.

As parents/carers, there are many ways you can be involved with your child’s safe,
responsible and ethical use of ICT. In fact, knowing how to safely use ICT in the
classroom is just as important as it is at home. There are many available resources that
can be used with yourself and your child, and if you wish, these resources can be
emailed to you upon request. An example of one resource that you are able to use is a
website that is targeted towards teenagers called ‘ProProfs quiz’. This website/quiz
will help to ensure your child makes the right choices when using the Internet. It is
also essential for you to maintain open communication between you and your child.
For example, you could discuss what they think correct online behaviour is and looks
like- which will further help with responsible use of ICT in the classroom. From this,
it is also significant that you as parents/carers demonstrate what safe, responsible and
ethical use of ICT is and looks like, thus becoming suitable role models for your
children. A chat forum will also be created for you (parents/carers) to chat with one
another about safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT, thus discussing strategies you
use with your child and what you think works best.

It is clear that these factors help to make up what it is to be safe, responsible and
ethical users of ICT. By focusing on ICT within the classroom and from your help at
home, these four mentioned capabilities apart of the Australian curriculum can be
successfully achieved. Thus creating students whom are responsible users of ICT not
just at school, but also within our current tech savvy society.

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Reference List
ACARA. (2018). Learning continuum of information and communication technology
(ICT) capability. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-
curriculum/general-capabilities/information-and-communication-technology-ict-
capability/learning-
continuum/?isFirstPageLoad=false&element=Applying+social+and+ethical+protocol
s+and+practices+when+using+ICT&element=Investigating+with+ICT&element=Cre
ating+with+ICT&element=Communicating+with+ICT&element=Managing+and+ope
rating+ICT&level=Level+6

Creative Commons Australia. (2018). Learn about CC. Retrieved

fromhttp://creativecommons.org.au/learn/

Cross, D., Monks, H., Campbell, M., Spears, B., & Slee, P. (2011). School-based
strategies to address cyber bullying.

Donegan, R. (2012). Bullying and cyberbullying: History, statistics, law, prevention

and analysis. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 3(1),
33-42.

Grey, A. (2011). Cybersafety in early childhood education. Australasian Journal of

Early Childhood, 36(2), 77.

Tondeur, J., Van Braak, J., & Valcke, M. (2007). Curricula and the use of ICT in
education: Two worlds apart?. British Journal of Educational Technology, 38(6), 962-
976.

von Solms, S., & von Solms, R. (2014). Towards Cyber Safety Education in Primary
Schools in Africa. In HAISA (pp. 185-197).