At the BETT educational technology show in January, one leading UK headteacher let slip, on condition of confidentiality, that he was dispensing with his school’s internet filtering systems that prevents teachers and pupils from visiting inappropriate or anti-social sites.
Instead of censoring what they see, he said that he was applying the same expectations to their internet use that he does to every other aspect of life - ie good behaviour. Those who share his views will welcome the new safety website created by Grid Club, (www.gridclub.com) the Department for Education and Skills’ website for 7 to11-year-olds. Its new Cyber Cafe shows children how to use the internet safely. Instead of simply issuing them with a series of “don’ts”, it attempts to provide children with a critical framework to develop their own strategies for internet safety.
Grid Club, created by Channel 4, Oracle and Intuitive Media, worked with Becta (the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) to create the Cyber Cafe, where children can take an internet safety test and gain a certificate to show they are internet street-wise.
www.gridclub.comhave_a_goictcybercafebase.htm
