Jisc is supporting colleges and schools in raising awareness on internet safety standards

In September 2012 Ofsted produced new guidelines to ensure e-safety measures are commonplace within schools. By this they mean, how the school protects and educates staff and students in its use of technology, and what measures are in place to intervene and support should a particular issue arise. Due to the importance of safeguarding students e-safety is now seen as a top priority within education.

Malcolm Bodley, further education advisor at Jisc, comments:

“E-safety has been raised high on the agenda for schools, but there are also risks for colleges. Although students may be older, technology in colleges is becoming more and more widely used and students often have more online freedom.

I believe it’s important to put e-safety measures in place within any learning environment to protect students and staff.”

Jisc aims to raise the agenda of e-safety and encourages colleges and schools to:

• Train staff and students to be aware of e-safety and recognise e-safety issues
• Put in place a member of staff who is accredited to act as an e-safety officer
• Provide a clear reporting processes
• Ensure a recognised internet service provider (ISP) with age-related filtering is in place
• Offer a good risk assessment process.

Malcolm continues:

“Jisc offers a wealth of tools and assistance that can help colleges and schools to ensure they are safeguarding their staff and students.”

For more information on internet safety from Jisc:

• Read Jisc Legal’s top ten tips on e-safety
• Find e-safety advice from Jisc Regional Support Centre blog posts
• Listen to the Jisc TechDis webinar to find out more about learners who might be at risk in an online environment
• For more information view Jisc’s information on Safer Internet Day or contact their Regional Support Centres.