eLearning News

This year the College is transitioning in our one-to-one program from iPad devices to laptops. The Mount Carmel College Board has approved a leasing model with a staggered introduction, starting with Year 7 this year and rolling out over the next three years - allowing for staff to update curriculum to reflect the changes.

Recently we have become aware of concerns with students’ use of the social media platform TikTok. When students access the platform they rarely read or understand the user agreement. It is important that teachers and parents understand that accessing TikTok gives a foreign government a clear route to your child’s device including, but not limited to, the device’s camera, microphone, contact list and location using GPS tracking.

There are grave concerns by many in Australia’s security organisations that the main target of the software is facial recognition. As expected, organisations such as the Australian Defence Force have started to tighten up on their members using this social media platform due to the compromising nature of the data collection policies.

Also as expected teenagers are either unaware or unaffected by the idea that their data is being gathered on this platform, and thus it is up to us as adults to help them understand and regulate it’s usage.

Mount Carmel College currently advises that TikTok should not be used by any child in our care until all concerns about unfettered access by the platform to their data have been resolved.

We are preparing online courses in cybersafety for both parents and students, in the meantime it is a very good idea to check in with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner website regularly.

If you have any questions about cybersafety, the laptop technology or the roll out, please do not hesitate in contacting the College.

Anthony Peck

eLearning Manager