Overview The advent of the technological age bought with it an array of new issues and problems for schools

as they began to integrate technology into the classroom. Tools used for research suddenly became portals capable of exposing children to obscene pornography at the click of a button. Child molesters and predators no longer needed to be physically present to abuse children. A new form of bullying evolved; the cyber-bully who though not physically present could abuse on a number of fronts using social media and simple mobile phones to text-message. An individuals identity could be stolen in minutes. Children had access to documents that contained sexual, religious, racist or politically biased material and no way of judging the validity of the source. New forms of plagiarism and theft appeared where it was simply a matter of cutting and pasting anothers words and claiming them as ones own or pirating a variety of copyrighted material without payment to the creator.

The question quickly arose: How should we teach ethical behaviour to the students in our care? Teachers began to collaborate and share ideas for strategies to use in the classroom; academics published articles containing information they deemed important for teachers; and government bodies set up websites that outlined ideas for Acceptable Use Policies in order to educate both teachers and children about ethical behaviour and technology. Resources such as these may be used to prepare a curriculum that ensures ongoing safety and encourages students to act responsibly as they progress through the ever changing Cyber-world.

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Inherent Dangers of Technology The internet is undoubtedly a powerful tool not only for research but for communicating at both a local and global level and storing original works in many formats. While it may be beneficial to learning it is also fraught with dangers, some of these include: open access to sexually obscene material and child pornography (Thornburgh & Lin, 2002, p3), contact with child predators and molesters via web pages, email, chat rooms and instant messaging (Thornburgh & Lin, 2002, p4-5), victimisation in the form of cyber-bullying via social media and email (Walpole, Jacobs & Jorgensen, 2004) identity theft, the stealing of personal information and birthdates (Walpole, Jacobs & Jorgensen, 2004), exposure to racist, sexist, religious and politically biased material (Walpole, Jacobs & Jorgensen, 2004), intellectual property theft be it in the form of illegal downloading or plagiarism and exploitation of minors through the sale of alcohol and cigarettes and twentyfour hour gaming sites(Walpole, Jacobs & Jorgensen, 2004, Tullberg, 2007).

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Strategies to Promote Acceptable, Responsible Behaviour when Using Computers The teacher is in charge of delivering the curriculum within her classroom and has a duty of care to ensure that the students she is responsible for are kept safe from all danger; Englander (2010) refers to this role as loco parentis meaning the teacher is a substitute for the parent, while the child is at school. This means that teachers need to spend the time to carefully imbed the teaching of safe internet skills into the curriculum in order to reduce the risk of exposure to: obscene pornographic material, online predators, cyber-bullying, identity theft, exposure to bias, plagiarism and exploitation. Further the curriculum should work to instil respect for: ownership, privacy, confidentiality and property (Alden, 2002).

Safe internet skills must be purposefully and precisely built into the existing curriculum content while ensuring that examples and experiences are directly linked to the childs experiences. Walpole, Jacobs & Jorgensen state Learning this information in real life helps students to retain this knowledge as they can build an association between the physical and cyber worlds (2004). Teachers need not feel that they are left to invent the lesson content from scratch as there are many sites both government and private that have been set up to support teaching and learning. For example ISAFE (www.isafe.org) is a publisher of media literacy and digital citizenship education materials and has prepared modules complete with lesson plans and objectives (See Appendix A for an overview of some of the lessons). Cybersmart, an Australian Government site, (www.cybersmart.gov.au) provides teachers with lesson plans, units of work and multimedia teaching resources. Further

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useful sites include: Stay Smart Online (www.staysmartonline.gov.au), ThinkUKnow (www.thinkuknow.org.au)Netsmartz (www.netsmartz.org), GetNetWise (www.getnetwise.org), iKeepSafe (www.iKeepSafe.org), WEBWISEKIDS (www.webwisekids.org) and Protectkids (www.protectkids.org) (Walpole, C., Jacobs, R. & Jorgensen, E., 2004, Robotham, 2012).

When dealing with computers teachers need to spend the time adequately researching internet sites that will enhance the learning of their students (Thornburgh &Lin, 2002). The teacher then has the chance to prevent any potential problems before they arise. Sites may be prepared prior to the lesson by using a page containing hyperlinks, in a program such as One Note, so that the students have only to click on the link to see the site. Preparing the sites beforehand does not mean that there will be no issues during the lesson but may insure that the lesson moves smoothly and at a good pace deterring surfing of the internet in spare moments. Allowing Primary School students open access to all available sites, without first giving them the skills to search safely, is risking their safety and demonstrates a lack of professional judgement on behalf of the teacher. Students in both the Primary and High School need to be taught formally how to search for information, read the content of sites and to evaluate sites before opening them.

Once students are familiar with how to search for appropriate sites, to research a topic, teachers need to further enhance their internet skills by teaching them how to evaluate content (Marsh, 1998). This involves the students answering the following questions: What is the URL(Universal Resource Locator) of the site?, Who wrote it?, When was it written?, What are the references on the site? and What do others say

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about the site? (Filgo, 2007). A simple checklist may be prepared to teach students how to assess the educational worth of a site (See Appendix B). Evaluating sites should then become automatic as children search the internet for relevant information. Part of this process should also include teaching children to be critical, sceptical and self-reflective (Thornburgh & Lin, 2002).

Students must be made aware of child predators and informed that individuals on the net are not always what they seem; birthdates can be falsified, real likenesses substituted with a photo of a younger aged person and personal histories invented to appeal to a younger group. Students must be warned that these are the potential dangers of chat rooms. They must be made aware of the risks of giving out personal information such as name, age and location and warned not to add individuals to their friends lists unless they know them in real life. They need to be made aware of: how to block cyber-bullies, turn on privacy settings, select the no picture forwarding option, how cached files are kept from blogs even after they are altered, that phone numbers should only be given to people you know and warned of the dangers of accepting files from unknown sources that may contain viruses that enable the downloading of unwanted material. Unfortunately, unwanted contact does not just happen in chat rooms. Sharon Roy, while a teacher in the United Kingdom, had a student alert her to some typing that appeared on a laptop screen during a computer lesson. Frighteningly, an individual from outside the school, with a Bluetooth connection, had somehow managed to begin typing messages to the children! The children were instructed not to respond and the IT coordinator contacted who then promptly shut down the blue tooth access on the computers (See Appendix C). The teaching of a simple rap like the one found on NetSmart

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(http://www.netsmartz.org/NetSmartzKids/BeSaferOnline) may do much to reinforce safe practises with Primary School children and can be easily integrated into a lesson.

Children need to be made aware of the permanent nature of the web and the impact that uploading text and images may have on their own or anothers future. Once an image or text is uploaded in a digital format it can be shared or stored and there is no way of knowing if it has been permanently destroyed. Texting hurtful messages is a form of Cyber-bullying; Because the intimidation or bullying action is delivered via the written wordthe target can read and therefore be affected by the same words again and again (Robotham, 2012). If they are asked to share provocative or sexualised images of themselves they need to ask why someone would want a picture like that and what the person may be capable of doing with it in the future. Potential employers now search the web for information about those they intend to employ and may come across an unsavoury photograph or message contributing towards the refusal of a job interview. Online sex offenders collect caches of such pictures and this could mean a policeman knocking on the door sometime in the future attempting to identify the victims (thinkuknow.org.au, Trenwith, 2012).

As educators we must not only ensure the safety of the children in our care but also ensure that the curriculum we teach imparts the values important to the society in which we live: respect for others, their property, ownership and right to privacy (Alden, 2002); in short to Treat everyone as you would like them to treat you(Luke 6:31 The Clear Word). Therefore:

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We should teach children to respect a persons right for payment for services rendered. To make unauthorised copies without permission from the creator is stealing. Copies should only be made as a backup and only distributed if the software is freeware (public domain software)( Alden, 2002). To promote the value of respecting a persons right for payment teachers may set up mock trials where a software pirate is asked to defend his actions to a panel made up of children taking the roles of the author of the software, publisher, advertiser and distributor (Strategies for Teaching Children Responsible Use of Technology). We should teach them to value a persons privacy and confidentiality by reminding them that personal emails and files are private and that passwords are there to protect a safety deposit box for their thoughts and lives. For example a database could be set up for the children to enter their details. The teacher could change the details overnight, pass out the list the following day and discuss how it felt to have your personal details altered (Strategies for Teaching Children Responsible Use of Technology). We should teach them to respect property; that files and programs must not be altered or erased and that anothers work must not be passed off as their own plagiarised; that there are processes for asking permission to use anothers work and for attributing work to another (Alden, 2002, Marsh, 1998, p5). Children may be asked to word-process a book report and overnight the teacher could swap the authors of each book report then discuss how it felt to have someone elses name on your work. We should teach them a respect for life and this includes life balance; that computers are useful tools but they can be addictive. It is important that people

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learn from a young age the value of striking a reasonable balance to enable them to make the most of lifes opportunities (Scott, cited in Tullberg, 2007). Sites such as Cybersmart have lessons prepared titled A Balanced Approach to Using Technology (www.cybersmart.gov.au) that may be used as is or adapted to teach life balance.

Acceptable Use Policies and Their role in Promoting Ethical Behaviour Many schools have decided to become proactive in their education and have developed Acceptable Use Policies to encourage self-discipline amongst their student body (iSAFE). The New South Wales Department of Education has prepared a generic Acceptable Use Policy for all of the Public Schools in NSW that was implemented from 2006 (See Appendix D ). Section Four Responsibilities and delegations outlines four areas the students are responsible for: Access and Security, Privacy and Confidentiality, Intellectual Property and Copyright and, Misuse and Breaches of Acceptable Usage. Section Five also outlines their responsibilities for Monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements.

The schools responsibility is to ensure that the students under their care are clear of the expectations outlined in their Acceptable Use Policy and the consequences for not abiding by this policy. In order that students are aware of the terms of usage, each school should develop a policy unique to their own setting and prepare a contract, outlining the terms of usage and any consequences, to be signed by the student and their parent. By signing a contract they admit they have read the contract and are liable for their own actions thus making each individual student responsible for their behaviour. Examples of contracts that schools are free to adapt may be

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found on the Victorian Governments Education website (See Appendix E) (http://www.education.vic.gov.au/management/lol/templates/aua.htm). Conclusion In any form of education children have a right to feel safe and free from harm. Educators have a responsibility to: provide not only this environment but to teach the students in their care skills to safeguard them both in the present and the future. It is essential that Cyber Safety is an ongoing component of the curriculum and relevant to the technologies used by the children. Children must be made aware of the dangers and possible harm both to themselves and others that may result while using technology. With the teachers and schools help they must learn how to act responsibly as they use technology. For true education to occur it must support the formation of lasting values and enable life changing experiences.

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Appendix A

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Appendix B

Source: Check the URL

What kind of domain is it? (org, com, edu, gov, mil?) Is it a personal site? Who is the main publisher?

Authority: Who wrote it?

Is there an author listed? What kind of credentials does the author have? Does the author have a bias?

Currency: When was it written?

Is there a date listed for when it was published or last updated? Is it using out-dated information?

Quality: Check the references

Are the sources cited or is there a bibliography? Are there links to other sites? Do the links work? Is there original information? Is only one side of the argument presented or linked to?

Reputation: What do others say?

Who links to the site? What are they saying about it?

Filgo, E. (2007) Evaluating Websites [Power Point]. Baylor University Libraries. Retrieved from: http://www.baylor.edu/lib/tutorials/index.php?id=59361

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Appendix C Interview with Sharon Roy a teacher in the UK from 2005-2011 Have you ever had any instances where you have felt the children in your care were in danger from using the internet? Although many safeguards were put in place by the IT department of the school there was an instance where filtering failed to keep the children safely screened. The instance was an IT lesson where the use of Bluetooth exposed children to outside local unscreened forces. This was a Year 5 class. Messages from people in the local area appeared on the screen asking children to respond. What did you do at the time? I alerted the IT coordinator and asked the children to ignore any messages and carry on with their class so the conversation couldnt continue if the children didnt respond. What did the school do to ensure the childrens protection? They made sure that the Bluetooth facility was disabled on the network. Is there any advice you would give to teachers using the internet? I think having someone who is knowledgeable to put in firewalls and screening processes for searches will save a lot of unnecessary concerns in the classroom but no matter what safeguards you have in place you must still walk around the room

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because people are always finding new ways to hack into computers. You cannot assume that something wont happen because of safeguards.

Appendix D

Online Communication Services: Acceptable Usage for School Students

This document defines the policy for school students of the NSW Department of Education and Communities for the appropriate and acceptable use of internet and online communication services provided by the Department.

1.Objectives - Policy statement 1.1 The internet provides an opportunity to enhance students learning experiences by providing access to vast amounts of information across the globe. Online communication links students to provide a collaborative learning environment and is intended to assist with learning outcomes. Todays students are exposed to online communication tools and the internet in their community. They have the right to expect secure access to these services as part of their learning experiences with the NSW Department of Education and Communities. 1.2 Use of the internet and online communication services provided by the NSW Department of Education and Communitiesis intended for research and learning and communication between students and staff. Access to internet and online communication tools at school will assist students to develop the information and communication skills necessary to use the internet effectively and appropriately. 1.3 Responsible use of the services by students, with guidance from teaching staff, will provide a secure and safe learning environment. 1.4 Students using internet and online communication services have the responsibility to report inappropriate behaviour and material to their supervisors. 1.5 Students who use the internet and online communication services provided by the NSW Department of Education and Communities must abide by the Department's conditions of acceptable usage. They should be made aware of the acceptable usage policy each time they log on. 1.6 Students should be aware that a breach of this policy may result in disciplinary action in line with their schools discipline policy.

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2.Audience and applicability 2.1 This policy applies to all school students located at NSW public schools who access internet and online communication services within the NSW Department of Education and Communities network and from any external location. 3.Context 3.1 This policy document takes account of the Memorandum Student Access to the Internet of 18 July 1997 and the Memorandum DN/04/00215 Review by Schools of their Student Access to the Internet Policies. 3.2 This policy document should be read as consistent with school discipline, child protection, antidiscrimination and anti-racism policies. 3.3 Document history and details 4.Responsibilities and delegations 4.1 Access and Security 4.1.1 Students will:

not disable settings for virus protection, spam and filtering that have been applied as a departmental standard. ensure that communication through internet and online communication services is related to learning. keep passwords confidential, and change them when prompted, or when known by another user. use passwords that are not obvious or easily guessed. never allow others to use their personal e-learning account. log off at the end of each session to ensure that nobody else can use their e-learning account. promptly tell their supervising teacher if they suspect they have received a computer virus or spam (i.e. unsolicited email) or if they receive a message that is inappropriate or makes them feel uncomfortable. seek advice if another user seeks excessive personal information, asks to be telephoned, offers gifts by email or wants to meet a student. never knowingly initiate or forward emails or other messages containing:

a message that was sent to them in confidence. a computer virus or attachment that is capable of damaging recipients computers. chain letters and hoax emails. spam, e.g. unsolicited advertising material.

never send or publish: unacceptable or unlawful material or remarks, including offensive, abusive or discriminatory comments. threatening, bullying or harassing another person or making excessive or unreasonable demands upon another person.

sexually explicit or sexually suggestive material or correspondence. false or defamatory information about a person or organisation.

ensure that personal use is kept to a minimum and internet and online communication services is generally used for genuine curriculum and educational activities. Use of unauthorised programs and intentionally downloading unauthorised software, graphics or music that is not associated with learning, is not permitted.

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4.2 Privacy and Confidentiality 4.2.1 Students will:

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never damage or disable computers, computer systems or networks of the NSW Department of Education and Training. ensure that services are not used for unauthorised commercial activities, political lobbying, online gambling or any unlawful purpose. be aware that all use of internet and online communication services can be audited and traced to the e-learning accounts of specific users.

4.3

never publish or disclose the email address of a staff member or student without that person's explicit permission. not reveal personal information including names, addresses, photographs, credit card details and telephone numbers of themselves or others. ensure privacy and confidentiality is maintained by not disclosing or using any information in a way that is contrary to any individuals interests.

Intellectual Property and Copyright 4.3.1 Students will:

4.4

never plagiarise information and will observe appropriate copyright clearance, including acknowledging the author or source of any information used. ensure that permission is gained before electronically publishing users works or drawings. Always acknowledge the creator or author of any material published. ensure any material published on the internet or intranet has the approval of the principal or their delegate and has appropriate copyright clearance.

Misuse and Breaches of Acceptable Usage 4.4.1 Students will be aware that:

they are held responsible for their actions while using internet and online communication services.

they are held responsible for any breaches caused by them allowing any other person to use their e-learning account to access internet and online communication services. the misuse of internet and online communication services may result in disciplinary action which includes, but is not limited to, the withdrawal of access to services. 5.Monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements 5.1 Students will report:

5.2

any internet site accessed that is considered inappropriate. any suspected technical security breach involving users from other schools, TAFEs, or from outside the NSW Department of Education and Communities.

Students should be aware that:

6.Contact

their emails are archived and their web browsing is logged. The records are kept for two years. the email archive and web browsing logs are considered official documents. they need to be careful about putting their personal or sensitive information in emails or on websites. these records may be used in investigations, court proceedings or for other legal reasons.

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Director, NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre, (02) 9715 8150.

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NSW Government Education and Communities. (2006). Online Communication Services: Acceptable Usage for School Students [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/general_man/general/accep_use/PD20020046.shtml?level

Appendix E

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References

Alden, S.B. (2002). Computer Learning Foundation Emphasizes Responsible Use of Technology. Computer Learning Foundation [Electronic Version]. Retrieved from: Avondale College Moodle, EDUC32400, Issues in Educational Computing: Myths_and_Misperception_on_Computer_Ethics (1) Englander, E.K. (2010) Should Schools Search Cellphones? The New York Times. Retrieved from: well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/should-schools-searchcellphones/ Filgo, E. (2007) Evaluating Websites [Power Point]. Baylor University Libraries. Retrieved from: http://www.baylor.edu/lib/tutorials/index.php?id=59361 Marsh, M. (1998). Piracy, Pornography, Plagiarism, Propaganda, Privacy Teaching Children to be Responsible Users of Technology Protects Their Rights and the rights of Others [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: Avondale College Moodle, EDUC32400, Issues in Educational Computing: Piracy_Pornography_Plagiarism_Propaganda_Privacy (1) NSW Government Education and Communities. (2006). Online Communication Services: Acceptable Usage for School Students [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/general_man/general/accep_use/PD2002 0046.shtml?level Robotham, J. (2012) Smartphones drive latest wave of cyber-bullying. Sydney Morning Herald [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: smh.com.au/digitallife/mobiles/smartphones-drive-the-latest-wave-of-cyberbullying-2012062921809.html Strategies for Teaching Children responsible Use of Technology. (1990).Computer Learning [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: Retrieved from: Avondale College Moodle, EDUC32400, Issues in Educational Computing: Strategies_for_Teaching_Responsible_Computing_and_Ethics (2) Thornburgh, D. & Lin, H.S. (2002). Youth, Pornography, and the Internet. Washington D.C: The National Academies Press [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: Avondale College Moodle, EDUC32400, Issues in Educational Computing: Youth_Pornography_and_the_Internet (1) Trenwith, C. (2012). Online child sex grooming tip of the iceberg. Sydney Morning Herald [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: www.smh.com.au/wanews/online-chilc-sex-grooming-tip-of-the-iceberg-20120405-1wf9a.html Tullberg, J. (2007). Computer addition a growing problem. Sydney Morning Herald [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: www.smh.com.au/national/ computer addition-a-growing-problem-20071207-1flm.html Walpole, C., Jacobs, R. & Jorgensen, E. (2004). Internet Generation Gap: An Analysis of Student Assessments and Parent Surveys from an Active Learning Internet Safety Environment.

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WHY Do Schools Need AUPs? i-SAFE America. Retrieved from: Avondale College Moodle, EDUC32400, Issues in Educational Computing http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/cds/internet_safety/OJP/iSafe/Internet%20Generation%20Gap.pdf