Internet Safety Course Overlooked in Byron Review
The report of the Byron Review, "Safer Children in a Digital World" has generally been well-received, and rightly so. It offers a balanced view which takes account of both the dangers and the benefits of children using the internet, and it makes a number of useful and practical suggestions which could be implemented to reduce the dangers.
Unfortunately, the report suffers from one astonishing omission - it does not mention that a certificated Internet Safety course has been available since 2006 from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and is widely taught in Scottish schools and further afield. It is believed to be the only course of this nature developed by a national awarding body in the EU.
The course isn't only for schools - it's also offered to adults, including parents, teachers and youth workers through evening classes in many further education colleges. Strathclyde Police Force has used it for training police cadets and it has also been offered to around 4000 pupils in Manchester schools. A complete online package of teaching and assessment materials is available from SQA and a purpose-written textbook entitled "Internet Safety Skills", has been published by Scotland's leading educational publishers, Leckie and Leckie.
It is strange that the report fails to mention this course, particularly since various other examples of good practice are described, including an Irish project. The importance of improved education for both children and parents is emphasised throughout the report, yet it does not mention that a suitable course, complete with all the required materials, is already available.
Every Education Authority in the UK could adopt this course immediately, rather than waiting, perhaps for years, until alternative courses are developed. This could reduce the exposure of millions of children to online dangers and to increase their parents' knowledge of Internet hazards and how to avoid them.
The SQA course is interesting and engaging, while remaining highly practical. It provides information about the safety precautions which should be taken when using the Internet, and gives students practical experience in taking these. It is suitable for a variety of individuals, especially young people, parents and mature Internet users.
The first part of the course considers the threats that can exist when using the Internet, including malicious programs (eg: viruses, trojans, worms, adware, spyware and rogue diallers), hackers, spam, phishing, identity theft and emerging threats such as ransomware. It emphasises threats to user safety including grooming, inappropriate behaviour and cyberbullying, and notes that these threats can appear in a variety of contexts, eg: social networking sites, chat rooms, e-mail and instant messaging.
The second section covers safety precautions which should be taken including firewalls, anti-virus and e-mail filtering software and Internet security suites. Precautions for maintaining user safety include content filtering, proxy servers, monitoring and reporting user behaviour and withholding personal information.
The third part considers some of the legal aspects of using the Internet, including copyright, data protection, digital rights management, software licensing schemes (such as freeware and shareware(, legal constraints on the construction of websites (including disability discrimination legislation) and legislation relating to illegal content (such as racist, terrorist and pornographic material. It also examines child protection legislation which prohibits grooming and inappropriate behaviour towards minors.
The last part focuses on providing practical experience of taking relevant safety precautions. Students are expected to install and configure anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, firewalls, spam filters and internet security suites and to show that they can take additional precautions for maintaining user safety, including content filtering, proxy servers, monitoring and reporting user behaviour and withholding personal information.
Many people will be happy to simply follow the content of the course and improve their knowledge of Internet Safety. Those who wish to do so can be assessed and, if successful, be awarded a certificate by SQA. The assessment consists a short multiple choice test, which can be taken online, and a log recording the practical work carried out during the course, which can be submitted in electronic format, eg: as a blog or an online portfolio.
Tagged with: adware • internet security • Internet Security Suite • Software • Spyware and Viruses