Internet Safety
Deadline approaching (16 March 2012) - Call for Papers on Cyber Security and Education
Addressing Cyber Security in schools should foster critical digital literacy, such that children can become empowered to make informed decisions about how they choose to use and share information online. eLearning Papers seeks contributions for its 28th edition. Guest editor: Jean Underwood, Professor of Psychology in Nottingham Trent University, UK. The article submission closes on March 16, 2012..
Certain competences have been identified as necessary skills young people should have in order to manage security online. These skills include the ability to adopt a critical use of new media (including the ability to assess sources), understanding how to present oneself online, in terms of privacy, identity and reputation management, and developing responsible and ethical online behaviour. A focus on these competencies signals a shift in teaching ICT in the classroom, providing instruction not only on at how technology works, but also on its use.
An educational approach to Cyber Security means raising student awareness of the risks and consequences of their online practices. It should provide a platform that teaches students to recognize and prevent real risks, such as cyber-bullying, identity theft or sexual harassment, and introduces them to existing risk prevention resources, like the Online Police. While there is consensus on the pressing nature of these risks, incorporating Cyber Security into the curriculum is a new practice, at best. The field is in need of best practice scenarios and in-depth discussions surrounding how students can be encouraged to engage in safe Internet use.
eLearning Papers seeks contributions about Cyber Security for young people and the educational sector in both sections: In-Depth and From the Field. We specifically invite contributions which address one or several of the following issues:
- Useful approaches to online security in curriculum design and teaching practice
- Good practice in Cyber Security
- Teaching, learning and promoting critical digital literacy
- Defining at-risk populations and specific security concerns
- National approaches to online safety; national information society policies or ICT in education policies
- Competences for online safety education
- Safety risks for young people and children (safe behaviour online, privacy issues, cyber-bullying, intellectual property rights, involuntary disclosure, etc.)
The article submission closes on March 16, 2012.
The provisional date of publication is April 20, 2012.
For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu
Read the complete call for papers here
eLearning Papers topics for 2012 announced!
Cyber Security and Education; Learning and Active Ageing; 21st Century Teachers and their Workplace; The Worlds of TEL: Scientific and Cultural Perspectives; Mobile Learning, Cloud Computing and the Promise for Ubiquitous Learning are the topics of eLearning Papers for 2012. Read more!
eLearning Papers 28: Cyber Security and Education
With the rapid evolution of online media, new technologies have become more targeted and more sophisticated. This new context has been widely recognized in relation to its educational, social and even economic benefits. Wide use and popularity of social media also brings to the fore the notion of security and concerns regarding the management of the personal information circulating and stored on the web. Schools are an important resource, now that young people's use of the Internet is growing, and smaller children are quickly gaining access to and becoming proficient users of technology. Publication: April, 2012.
eLearning Papers 29: Learning and Active Ageing
Inspired by the European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity Between Generations 2012, eLearning Papers will investigate how eLearning affects the lives of senior citizens. As a population at risk of marginalization, the elderly appear particularly suited to benefit from open educational resources. What is being done to make sure these digital immigrants can use and benefit from new educational technologies. Publication: May, 2012
eLearning Papers 30: 21st Century teachers and their workplace
This issue looks at how new learning technologies and other recent innovations have affected teachers' professional environments. 21st century learners has become a buzz-word in the field of educational research. This issues applies that term to the teachers, seeking practical examples and prospective visions that analyse what it means to be a teacher in the knowledge society. Publication: July, 2012.
eLearning Papers 31: The worlds of TEL - Scientific and Cultural perspectives
Technology-enhanced learning is not a new topic but the more normalized it becomes, the more we are able to develop nuanced critical perspectives on its development and impact. This issue will invite contributions that present a diverse range of practical and theoretical examples in order to discuss the state of the art regarding this topic, with special attention to areas that seem to be more problematic, or in particular need of further research. Publication: September, 2012.
eLearning Papers 32: Mobile learning, cloud computing and the promise for ubiquitous learning
While learning has always expanded beyond the walls of the classroom, the proliferation of devices and applications, which have greatly expanded when, where and how information can be accessed and stored, brings this issue to the fore. How have such devices had an impact in learning, and what role may they play in the future? This issue hopes to showcase practical examples and generate serious reflection on an emerging topic. Publication: December, 2012.
To know about the dates planned and to see the the Calls for Papers (to be published) click here
To know more about eLearning Papers click here
i in online
The i in online educates people about using and providing personal information online and also highlights the potential pitfalls of sharing too much personal information on the internet when using blogs or social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc, and not managing privacy settings effectively.
Digital Agenda: Coalition of top tech & media companies to make internet better place for our kids
28 leading companies have come together to form a new Coalition to make a better and safer internet for children. Put together by the Commission, founding Coalition members are: Apple, BSkyB, BT, Dailymotion, Deutsche Telekom, Facebook, France Telecom-Orange, Google, Hyves, KPN, Liberty Global, LG Electronics, Mediaset, Microsoft, Netlog, Nintendo, Nokia, Opera Software, Research in Motion, RTL Group, Samsung, Sulake, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Telenor Group, Tuenti, Vivendi, Vodafone. Priority actions include making it easier to report harmful content, ensuring privacy settings are age-appropriate, and offering wider options for parental control, reflecting the needs of a generation that is going online at an increasingly young age.
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said: "This new Coalition should provide both children and parents with transparent and consistent protection tools to make the most of the online world. The founding Coalition members are already leaders in children's safety online. Working together we will be setting the pace for the whole industry and have a great basis for fully empowering children online." KROES VIDEO QUOTE HERE
The founding Coalition members have agreed a Statement of Purpose agreeing to take action in five areas:
Simple and robust reporting tools: easy-to-find and recognisable features on all devices to enable effective reporting and responses to content and contacts that seem harmful to kids;
Age-appropriate privacy settings: settings which take account of the needs of different age groups (such settings determine how widely available a user's information is; for example whether contact details or photos are available only to close contacts rather than to the general public);
Wider use of content classification: to develop a generally valid approach to age-rating, which could be used across sectors and provide parents with understandable age categories;
Wider availability and use of parental control: user-friendly tools actively promoted to achieve the widest possible take-up;
Effective takedown of child abuse material: to improve cooperation with law enforcement and hotlines, to take proactive steps to remove child sexual abuse material from the internet.
The Coalition is a cooperative voluntary intervention. The Commission's expectation is that solutions developed by the founding members of the Coalition will be embraced by a growing number of companies, and new members will be welcome.
Background
Keeping children safe online is a key commitment of the Digital Agenda for Europe (general DAE information available at IP/10/581, MEMO/10/199 and MEMO/10/200).
On average, children in Europe now start going online when they are seven. 38% of 9 to 12 year olds who are online say they have a social networking profile, in spite of age restrictions. More than 30% of children who go online do so from a mobile device and 26% via game consoles.
The Coalition was formed following a call by Vice President Kroes to the ICT sector to step up actions responding to the challenges posed by how young European now go online (SPEECH/11/703).
Founding members include handset manufacturers, operating system providers, Internet Service Providers, broadcasters, social networks and mobile operators. New members will be welcome.
There are deadlines and performance indicators for each of the five areas for action outlined in the Statement of Purpose. In addition, Coalition members have committed to work together alongside the Commission and engage with interested parties such as child welfare and consumer NGOs. The Commission convened earlier this week a group of NGOs in order to create a clear focus for accountability and reporting in the process. The Coalition will review its work in the summer of 2012 and establish by then what subsequent review will be required.
This initiative builds on existing sectoral agreements such as Safer Social Networking Principles, European Framework for Safer Mobile Use and the Pan-European Games Information (PEGI).
EU Kids Online final report
The report makes a series of recommendations to governments, industry, children, parents and teachers which range from a call for more user-friendly parental controls and online safety features to ensuring children also lead a rich life away from the computer.
Digital Agenda: social networks can do much more to protect minors' privacy - Commission report
Only two out of nine social networking sites (Habbo Hotel and Xbox Live) have default settings which make minors' personal profiles accessible only to their approved list of contacts according to a new round of tests undertaken for the European Commission.
However, a majority of sites tested do give youngsters age-appropriate safety information, guidance and/or educational materials specifically targeted at minors and respond to requests for help. Seven sites responded to requests for help, a majority in less than a day.
Two sites (Dailymotion and Windows Live) ensure that minors can only be contacted by default by friends via public or private messages. In all the sites tested, minors can be sent friend requests by anyone. On six of the sites, minors' profiles can be directly accessed by friends of friends. All sites tested provide a shorter and more child-friendly version of their Terms of Use or Service.
Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda said: “Young people enjoy and derive great benefits from social networking online but are often not conscious enough of risks such as grooming. Social networking sites need to take seriously their responsibilities towards these youngsters. I intend to address these issues later this year in a comprehensive strategy on making the internet a safer place for children through a combination of protective and empowerment measures."
The report looks specifically at implementation of the "Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU" by blogging (Skyrock) and gaming (Xbox Live) platforms, photo and video sharing platforms (YouTube, Dailymotion, Flickr), virtual worlds (Habbo Hotel, Stardoll), platforms that have some social networking functionalities (Windows Live) and platforms that allow the creation of personal profiles with the possibility of uploading blog entries, photos and updates (Yahoo! Pulse). The tests were carried out between March and June 2011.
The latest report complements the one published in June 2011 on implementation of the Principles by fourteen dedicated social networking sites (see IP/11/762).
The Commission is reviewing protection of minors online from such risks as grooming and cyber-bullying as part of the objective set by the Digital Agenda for Europe (see IP/10/581, MEMO/10/199 and MEMO/10/200) to enhance trust in the Internet. The results of the two surveys of implementation of the Safer Social Networking Principles will be taken into account by the Commission in a comprehensive initiative to empower and protect children when using new technologies due later this year.
Background
"Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU" are a self-regulatory agreement brokered by the Commission in 2009 to keep children safe online (see IP/09/232).
Twenty one companies have signed the Principles to date: Arto, Bebo, Dailymotion, Facebook, Giovani, Google, Hyves, Microsoft Europe, MySpace, Nasza-klasa, Netlog, One, Rate, Skyrock, VZnet Netzwerke, Stardoll, Sulake, Tuenti, Yahoo! Europe and Zap. Wer-kennt-wen signed-up in November 2010 but was not tested in the current assessment.
The latest report found that:
Only Habbo Hotel and Xbox Live have default settings which make minors' personal and identifiable information visible by default only to their approved list of contacts, regardless of how much information about themselves is posted on their profiles.
In the other seven websites tested results showed that a considerable amount of personal information - including information added by users after registration - was displayed by default to users beyond the minor's approved contacts list. This information did not necessarily lead to immediate identification of minors, but could do so.
In six of the services, minors' profiles could be directly accessed by friends of friends. Unregistered users could get access to minors' profiles via their blog, or a video or picture the minor had posted online. Once a minor’s blog, individual videos, pictures, video channels or photostream are found (e.g. via an external search engine or via a link sent via e-mail, etc.), access to the minor’s profile is granted.
Eight out of the nine sites tested provide safety information, guidance and/or educational materials specifically targeted at minors (all except Windows Live). In Windows Live the information provided was aimed rather at parents or guardians, although it could also be easily understood by young people.
Dailymotion, Flickr, Habbo Hotel, Yahoo! Pulse, Skyrock, Stardoll and YouTube provide safety information for children and parents which is both easy to find and to understand.
By default, only in one of the nine services tested could profiles of minors be found by name searches either via internal or external search engines (e.g. Google, Bing or Yahoo!).
On several of these websites user profiles are not the main point of entry or of interest for users. This is especially true of photo-sharing and video-sharing platforms where users would typically visit a photostream or a video channel, but not necessarily a user’s profile.
The Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU and the assessment of their implementation:
Safer Internet Programme:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/index_en.htm
Digital Agenda website:
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda
Neelie Kroes' website: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/
Follow Neelie Kroes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/neeliekroeseu
NEN Internet Safety in the Context of Developing. Aspects of Young People’s Digital Citizenship. Draft report
Conducted in partnership with the University of Lancaster, for consultation and comments. The draft will be available until the end of May 2011, after which comments will be reviewed and the final report published.
SIP-BENCH 2: Benchmarking of parental control tools for the online protection of children
This Report is the first out of 5 reports that will be published on a six-monthly basis containing the results of the Study - Benchmarking of parental control tools for the online protection of children - SIP-Bench II - funded by the European Commission in the framework of the Safer Internet Programme.