Social networking and sharing content are an integral part of young people’s lives. They provide enormous opportunities to develop creative, critical thinking and communication skills in ways relevant to them - in school, at home and for their future workplace.
Background – Safe Levels 1 & 2
In 2010 DigitalMe began working with a small group of primary schools, testing a new approach to teaching children aged 7-11 the skills they need to enjoy age-appropriate social networking and stay safe online. Children learnt by doing, completing real social networking challenges in a secure and moderated environment.
Safe levels 1 and 2 certificates covered the basics of social networking, from creating profiles and blogging to connecting, sharing and commenting. Key messages were embedded in each activity, encouraging children to consider what information they were sharing, with whom and where.
With support from the Nominet Trust the project grew from a small pilot to a network of over 1,000 primary schools in the first year. Although designed for a primary age group, secondary schools began to use Safe levels 1 & 2 with their Year 7s (11-12yrs).
Safe Secondary Levels 3 & 4 pilot
In 2011 we interviewed young people (aged 13-18) from the SSAT Student Digital Leaders about their views on e-safety education, reputation management and career opportunities using their social media expertise.
This research highlighted three challenges:
-How to teach digital safety to young people with a high level of digital literacy
-How to ensure that children transitioning from primary to secondary get a foundation in basic social networking safety education
-How to make the connection between how students use social media and future career opportunities
-How to recognise and build currency around social media skills the students develop
-How to deepen teachers’ experience so that they can confidently explore the potential of using social media more widely for learning
We have designed two strands of activities to address these challenges which we now want to pilot in a new project funded by the Nominet Trust.
1. Safe Level 3 - Student Mentors
Older students (aged 13+) mentor younger students through their Safe Levels 1 & 2 at school and online, cementing their own knowledge and gaining skills in leadership, communication and assessment. Students awarded with Safe Level 3 by their teacher on completion.
2. DigitalMe Award (Safe Level 4) - Social Media for Change
Students design and implement a social media campaign from a charity or business brief, gaining the life and work skills of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication and digital literacy. The project will develop students' understanding of social influence, reputation management and the application of social media to real-world problems. Tools used in the project will include social media platforms, web page design, forms and analytics. Students will be awarded with The DigitalMe Award (Safe Level 4) by their teacher on completion.
How does a school get involved in the Safe Secondary Pilot Project?
Safe Secondary will run as an open pilot with any school welcome to take part anywhere, with resources available to download from the Safe website as they are developed. However, we want to work closely with ten schools (five testing Safe Level 3 and five testing the DigitalMe Award - Safe Level 4) over the spring / summer 2012 terms. They must be willing to:
-Commit to taking one class through the activities
-Be visited by the DigitalMe / Safe team to meet students and management
-Feed into the development of teacher and student resources via Skype sessions
-Use social media in the classroom
-Release the lead staff member on the Pilot Project to attend two out of school training / feedback days
In return, we will be able to offer you the following:
-Supported activities in Safe Secondary Level 3 & 4 pilot project by DigitalMe team
-Free Safe Membership (usually £249 p.a.) including Safe School Award, DVD tutorials, Safe Resource Pack for Levels 1,2, 3 & 4, e-newsletter for parents
-CPD opportunities for staff
-A case study of your involvement in the Safe Secondary pilot project
Places are limited and we are also able to support a limited number of international schools who will be supported online.
If you are interested in taking part, please complete the application below before December 19th 2011.
https://digitalme.wufoo.com/forms/safe-pilot-project-levels-3-4-application-form
Information on Safe levels 1 & 2
We look forward to your application and if you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the DigitalMe Safe team.
Contact Us
Tel: 0113 245 6445
Email: safe@digitalme.co.uk
Safe Secondary is supported by the Nominet Trust
They had the opportunity to test out their skills for real at the Newcastle Falcons v Gloucester match last Friday.