eSmart

Cyber Safety Lessons

This week many of the classes in Digi Tech participated in a variety of lessons, all with a cyber safety theme. Foundation and Year 2 students will complete their eSmart lesson later in the term.

The Year 1 students listened to a story about Smartie the Penguin who has been given a new tablet for his birthday and needs help from trusted adults to find out how to use it safely. The students learnt a song to help them remember to stop and think before clicking and tell someone if they feel something isn't right - ask them to sing it to you.

The Year 3’s have viewed an animation about two children, Lee and Kim, who are playing an online game where they interact and play with different people using animal avatars. The online safety messages from the cartoon are reinforced by Sid, a superhero in the cartoon, who helps Lee and Kim navigate the online game safely.

The Year 4's have discussed the importance of creating rules for gaming online that consider balance and safety. Using digital devices can be a positive part of your child’s life, but just like anything, it’s important to keep things in balance. Read this article for tips on how to promote balance. School-age screen time: tips for balance 

The Year 5’s will learn how photos can be altered digitally. They will consider the creative upsides of photo alterations as well as its power to distort our perceptions of beauty and  health. 

Finally, the Year 6 students will learn about identify theft and how to avoid being tricked into clicking malicious links and giving out private information. There are many tricks scammers (and advertisers) use such as creating a sense of urgency, making us believe we might miss out on something or it's a deal too good to refuse. Students had the opportunity to look for these clues and more in a number of different posts to help them to spot them more easily in real life.

If you have any further questions about these activities or would like information on a particular topic, please email julie.hall2@education.vic.gov.au