Update from Director of STEM

eLearning @ Mordialloc College

Firstly, I would like to commend the staff, students and parents of Mordialloc for all your amazing efforts to ensure that our period of remote learning has worked so well, and delivered the best outcomes possible, given the trying situation we have found ourselves in. The uptake and engagement of staff and students with digital platforms such as Google Classroom, G-Suite apps, Stile, Edrolo and Grok, to name just a few, has been amazing.

Given the amount of time we have been spending online I think it is a good time to reflect on cyber safety to ensure that we are all doing what we can to keep ourselves safe and behave appropriately in the digital world.

Tips for staying safe online and being a responsible cyber citizen:

Keep private information private - do not share information such as your address, phone number, passwords, details of your school or sporting clubs or bank details with people online
Be careful of requests - only accept friend requests from people you know
Keep privacy settings on - make sure you check and update your privacy settings regularly
Think before you upload or share photos - once you post an image on the internet it is no longer private
Be mindful of what you write to others - you never know how people will interpret what you write online. Make sure you consider the effects your comments may have on others before you post
Block anyone who has posted negative or inappropriate content - this stops them having further contact with you or accessing your profile
Be careful what you download - cybercriminals can try and trick you into downloading malware that will steal your information by disguising it as a program or app

Cyber safety resources for parents:

There is a range of great information and resources for parents, including information on cyberbullying, time online, inappropriate content and sexting and unwanted online contact or grooming available on the following websites:

eSafety Commissioner

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/big-issues

DET - https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/parentcyber.aspx

Australian Institute of Family Studies

https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/online-safety

Justin Wischusen

Director of STEM