KidSMART website: click here
E-safety is a crucial part of the computing curriculum due to the issues and security threats that are imposed on children from such a young age. With so many children engaging with online gaming and social media it is important that they are educate on how to stay safe online. This is where KidSMART comes in. Kid smart are an online safety advisor that provide teacher, parents and children how to be S.M.A.R.T surfers. The acronym S.MA.R.T stands for Safe, Meetings, Accepting, and Reliable and tell. These are 5 simple rules for children to remember while they are surfing the internet to know what is acceptable and what is not. There are a range of resources for a variety of ages.
The effectiveness of kidSMART in schools is apparent from the first page where there is a section specific to those who work with kids. The interface is colourful and easy to use and it us clearly appealing to a young audience. From here there is also age related sections and resources that are specific to the aid of teaching E-Safety.
The resources that are available are premade which helps teachers in their time efficacy but also give them a well detailed lesson plan that they can rely on that they are getting the right information and have not missed anything out. One of the resources that I came across that is aimed at 3-7 year olds is smartie the penguin. He covers three of the most important areas of a young age. Pop up ads, inappropriate websites and cyberbully. This is conducted in a non-threatening way through the use of a penguin mascot. There are a range of resources that make this topic easier to introduce and allows them to ask questions in a safe environment. I personally can see this working in an early year’s classroom and I would defiantly use to introduce this topic.
Overall the resources provided by kidSMART are a valuable to all teachers that are in need of assistance in teaching sensitive issues. As well as this it is important that teachers direct pupisl and parents to view this site on their own accord to ensure that they know where to go if they are in need of assistance and don’t know where to go.