Author: George Milliken

social media messaging

Cyber Resilience Toolkit: Social Media Messaging

  go to cyber resilience toolkit home

The main risk of social media and messaging apps to send messages is communicating and the potential harms are cyberbullying and unwanted contact.

Snapchat and WhatsApp are the most popular apps for direct and group messaging.

Main features

Platforms like Snapchat and Whatsapp offer a way to send direct messages to individuals or group chats. These can include text, voice notes, photos or video.

 

It might be useful to think of these services in the context of their main media:

  • Snapchat – direct messaging or public posting short media 
  • Whatsapp – direct messaging to individuals or groups (can include media)

Risk and potential harms

Ofcom data suggests that the most common potential harms on these types of platforms are:

With these harms, it is important to differentiate between problematic behaviour and harmful behaviour where there is a risk to safety, such as an adult contacting a child.

The presence of brands and ‘influencers’ adds the potential risk of scams and influenced or pressurised spending.

How to set up an account

Almost any app will require the same details to create an account and access its content:

  • username (usually an email or the phone’s linked Google or Apple account)
  • password

There may be requests for additional information, such as name, address or phone number – these are not always required.

These links explain how to register for and set up an account on the most popular platforms:

Using platform settings to manage risk

Each platform will have a setting for security and privacy – this can be used to control a number of aspects, including:

  • who can see your posts, media or messages 
  • who can contact or follow you

These links explain how to use settings to reduce the risks of unwanted contact and cyberbullying:

How to report harmful conduct

If a user thinks they have been potentially harmed on the platform they should be aware of how to report this to the platform and potentially the police and trusted adults.

ABUSIVE OR THREATENING MESSAGES SHOULD BE REPORTED TO POLICE SCOTLAND

Online Reporting Form | Police Scotland

These links explain how to report users and content on the most popular platforms:

Resources and activities

Prevention is better than fixing problematic behaviour and these resources might be useful to get learners thinking about how their behaviour may affect others:

Be Internet Legends curriculum

Be Internet Kind section

Common Sense Edcuation

Meet Heart of the Digital Citizens!
 
Our Digital Citizenship Pledge

The Power of Words

 

Childline
 
Friendship problems

 

Although not specifically teaching resources, these guides from Shore (The Lucy Faithfull Foundation) can support discussions and are useful to point learners to for information on harmful sexual behaviour, such as unwanted contact or unwanted sexual messages:
What to do if… 

Topic Library

Thinkuknow by CEOP is the national website for learning about child exploitation and online protection (CEOP). Their learning resources site offers information and resources for learners, families and educators. 
These are a selection of the resources for different ages:

Jessie & Friends (4-7s)

Play Like Share (8-10)

Send me a pic? (11-14)

Exploited (14+)

social media feeds

Cyber Resilience Toolkit: Social Media Feeds

  go to cyber resilience toolkit home

The main risk of social media platforms when scrolling feeds is consuming and the potential harms are inappropriate content or misinformation and disinformation (fake news).

Instagram, TikTok and Twitter are the most popular apps for viewing social media content.

Main features

Platforms like Instagram, Twitter and TIkTok offer a way to connect with, and view content, from people across the world. Increasingly these are for brands or individual ‘influencers’. They usually share short videos (sometimes live), photos and short pieces of text (posts).

These platforms also offer direct messaging and the ability to ‘tag’ other people in the posts or content – usually with @username.

It might be useful to think of these services in the context of their main media:

  • Instagram – photos
  • Twitter – short texts (posts)
  • TikTok – short videos

Risk and potential harms

Ofcom data suggests that the most common potential harms on these types of platforms are:

The presence of brands and ‘influencers’ adds the potential risk of scams and influenced or pressurised spending.

Because they offer direct messaging and the ability to ‘tag’ other people in the posts or content there is also a risk of abusive or bullying messages.

How to set up an account

Almost any app will require the same details to create an account and access its content:

  • username (usually an email or the phone’s linked Google or Apple account)
  • password

There may be requests for additional information, such as name, address or phone number – these are not always required.

These links explain how to register for and set up an account on the most popular platforms:

Using platform settings to manage risk

Each platform will have a setting for security and privacy – this can be used to control a number of aspects, including:

  • what posts or media you see in your feed
  • who can contact or follow you

These links explain how to use settings to reduce the potential risks of unwanted contact, being tagged in abusive or bullying content, or seeing inappropriate or unwanted content on the most popular platforms:

How to report harmful conduct

If a user thinks they have been potentially harmed on the platform they should be aware of how to report this to the platform and potentially the police and trusted adults.

These links explain how to report users and content on the most popular platforms:

Resources and activities

Our Learner Digital Skills Toolkit has a section on information and media literacy with advice and resources to use in class Finding and checking – learner digital skills toolkit 

This includes Project Real resources for understanding misinformation and disinformation Project Real

 

Digital Literacy Series 2024

Digital Literacy Series

DigiLearnScot home

This section contains a series of three documents designed to support educators in delivering the Scottish Government Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy (2016). The three documents detail:

  • the digital skills and knowledge that teachers require for their workplace
  • the skills and knowledge that learners require, with contexts and examples for teaching them
  • guidance on how teachers might apply their digital skills to enhance aspects of learning and teaching, such as delivery and assessment

digital learning teaching strategy Scottish Government

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- The teacher toolkit documents provide guidance on the skills and knowledge that teachers should have to meet GTCS standards for registration. The skills are organised into three levels: Essential skills that are required by every… …
- The support document aims to make clear the digital knowledge and skills that learners require to be digitally competent. Being digitally competent means being able to use the most common devices and apps. It is… …
- This document aims to support educators in evaluating their use of digital to enhance learning and teaching. It takes features of How Good is Our School and exemplifies how digital can be used to enhance… …

 

 

 

scottish computing science conference

Scottish Computing Science Conference – live from 3 locations across the country! Saturday 11th November 2023

Open to all early years practitioners, primary school teachers, and secondary school teachers who teach Computing.

During this unmissable event, you will have the opportunity to hear from industry experts who will share insights into future career prospects and to attend practical breakout sessions designed to empower you with innovative teaching methods for the classroom

The conference will be held on Saturday 11th November at 10am simultaneously at the following venues;

 

When registering, you can choose the nearest venue to you.

 

 

The proposed agenda for the day is as follows:

  • 9:45 Arrival. Registration and refreshments
  • 10am Welcome
  • Ollie Bray Strategic Director Education Scotland – Inverness College (streamed to all venues)

 

  • 10:15am Keynotes
  • Karen Meechan ScotlandIS – West Lothian College/Livingston
  • tbc – West of Scotland College/Paisley
  • tbc – Inverness college

 

  • 11:45am Workshop Session 1

 

  • 12:30pm Lunch

 

  • 1:00pm Workshop Session 2
  • 2:15pm Workshop Session 3

 

  • 3pm Closing Speaker tbc

 

  • 3:15pm Networking Event

A Microsoft Form will be sent to you nearer the event to allow you to select the three workshops that best suit your needs from a list and to allow you to select your dietary requirements.

Use this link to sign up for your nearest event

 GET TICKETS 

Cyber resilience and internet safety: enabled or dependent

DigiLearnScot home

When assessing the potential risks of online behaviour, it is important to evaluate whether it is internet-dependent or internet-enabled: is the internet required for this risk or behaviour to happen?

This should be the first point of evaluating whether it is in a cyber or internet incident or a societal or safeguarding one and help you find the best support for the issue.

  go to cyber home

communicate with colleagues

Communicate with colleagues (Essential Skills)

back to Essential Teacher Digital Skills

Use the tabs section below to select a topic and see the tutorial videos for it:

Find out more about Teams and how to communicate with colleagues using it:

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Find out more about Teams and how to communicate with colleagues using it:

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This video demonstrates these skills with Outlook in Glow. Some educators may use a different service but the skills are common to most email:

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Device Basics

Device Basics (Essential Skills)

device basics

back to Essential Teacher Digital Skills

Use the tabs section below to select a topic and see the tutorial videos for it:

These short videos explain how to open your browser, log in to Glow and use the launchpad.

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This video explains some of the essential skills for effective web searches – find out more on our information literacy page with this link:
go to information literacy page

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Accessibility features can make your devices and platforms easier to use but will vary depending on the device and platform but also your school or local authority settings. Start finding out what’s possible on these platforms:

This video playlist has some hints and tips to get you started:

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CyberFirst Colleges Project

CyberFirst College Pathways

 

Colleges are seeing a decline in the number of students undertaking the Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Cyber Security. Meanwhile, an increasing number of schools find it difficult to offer comprehensive pathways for learners in cyber security due to staffing and timetabling. This is having an impact on the number of learners progressing to Cyber Security courses offered by our colleges.

 

Education Scotland will be working with colleges across Scotland to pilot an approach that will offer places on colleges courses to learners directly from schools. The pilot will involve the college running a CyberFirst day where learners will be able to show the skills and knowledge they have developed as part of the NPA.

While attending the CyberFirst day young people will have the opportunity to take part in cyber security activities. These activities will be used by the college staff to assess whether the young people would be suitable candidates for the National Certificate (NC), HNC or Higher National Diploma (HND) in cyber security.  At the end of the CyberFirst day, all young people will be offered a place on a NC, HNC or HND course at the college.

West College Scotland and a Scottish based charity called Citizens of Cyber will deliver this programme of days.

  • West College Scotland – 6th March 2024, 20 places  
  • West Lothian College  – 4th March 2024, 13 places  
  • Edinburgh College  – 18th March 2024, – 18 spaces  
  • Borders College – 25th March 2024, – 36 spaces  
  • Ayrshire  College – 29th March 2024, – TBC spaces  

To find out more contact Scott.Hunter@educationscotland.gov.scot