Survey on e-learning

The Internet Safety qualification is actually part of a larger project about "e-only" qualifications - that is, qualifications provided in digital format ("paperless qualifications"). An important part of that project is research into practitioners' experience, training and attitudes towards e-learning and e-assessment.

To that end, I've created an online survey. Although it's primarily designed for teachers and lecturers, it's appropriate to anyone with an interest in e-learning/e-assessment. It should only take around 10 minutes to complete. The results will help to determine the way that SQA develops qualifications in the future.

I would appreciate if you would take the time to complete the survey. Please click here.

Internet Safety programme launch

I attended the launch of Glasgow Community & Safety Services Internet Safety programme this morning. The event was held at Lourdes Secondary School in Glasgow. The programme is designed to warn young people (Primary and early Secondary pupils) of the dangers in using the Internet. A resource pack is available to all Glasgow schools. More here. 

Safety awareness wiki

This looks like an interesting resource for teachers and parents.

Skypecast

We held an online meeting yesterday morning using Skype. Only three people attended (me, Ted and Alan Paterson) but it was an interesting exercise in conducting an online meeting.

Technically, it went very well - which shows how mature this technology (VOIP) is becoming. There is an art to online meetings that humankind in general (and me in particular) has not mastered so my chairing skills left something to be desired. But the meeting went well.

I had hoped to record the meeting and share the resulting MP3 but one of the microphones was not picked-up properly so the recording was partly inaudible and not worth sharing. Oh well, you live and learn. But I would definitely use this technology again.

Online meeting is scheduled

We're planning on having an online meeting on Thursday to give teachers from pilot centres the opportunity to talk to the development team.

To join the discussion, you'll need to have Skype installed on your computer (any version will work) and a headset (microphone and headphones) if you want to participate in the discussion.

Ted and Lisa will be there to answer any questions you may have about teaching materials or assessment - and I will be happy to answer questions about any other aspect of the project.

I'll need to know your Skype ID before the meeting so drop me an e-mail if you want an invitation.

I plan to record the meeting and I'll share the podcast once the meeting is finished.

So, I hope to see you on Thursday!

Wiki is available

The Internet Safety qualification is actually part of SQA's "e-only" project - which is an experiment to trial various online technologies. One of those technologies is a wiki.

We have put all of the teaching and learning materials into a wiki so that teachers and lecturers can change the materials. So, if you've discovered errors or omissions then this is your chance to fix them.

Wikis sound a great idea - but practical issues (such as time constraints on busy teachers and lecturers) might be a problem. So it will be interesting to see if this wiki is used.

Net crime 'big fear' for Britons

IM safety tool

Steering Group meeting

The Steering Group for this project met again this morning. It was another good meeting.

In addition to the usual business (minutes of last meeting, project update etc.), Lisa demonstrated the e-learning material and the online assessment, and Nick demonstrated Glow, the new network for Scottish pupils and teachers.

Rob Hay of Strathclyde Police also outlined an exciting development, which may involve new recruits to the Strathclyde force undertaking the qualification. More details will follow.

Warnings over social site 'abuse'

Survey for pilot centres

I created a short survey today for pilot centres, to find out exactly who is doing the unit and also find out something about the backgrounds of the teachers who are delivering this unit. The survey is open to pilot centres (only).

Second launch event

The second launch event was held today. It was much smaller than Friday's event - five people attended. It was a relief to teach a small class! Today, also went well - and the technology behaved itself again.


The development team were delighted at the events - but relieved that they were over.


Now that the launch events are over, we appreciate that we have to get down to the hard work of supporting centres on a day-to-day basis. But, for the next day or two, we plan to bask in the glory of a successful development and launch!

Launch event today

The first launch event took place today. It was held at Cardonald College. There was an excellent turn-out with 16 centres represented. The event went very well - which was a relief since we were demonstrating a wide range of new technology.


I was the MC for the day, Ted demonstrated the teaching and learning material, and Lisa demonstrated the assessments. The event was part-launch and part-training since everyone got the chance to get their hands-on the technologies involved in the pilot (such as Moodle) Every person was also supplied with a CD-ROM that contained all of the teaching and learning material, and all of the assessments.


The feedback was positive and I think that the day went well.

Launch events

We've now organised the launch events for Internet Safety. Two events will take place - both at Cardonald College - on Friday, 1 September and Monday, 4 September. The events will not only launch the new awards but also provide some hands-on training on some of the new technologies involved in the pilot (such as Moodle and CP3). The events are only open to registered pilot centres. Contact Derek for more information.

Steering Group meeting

The Steering Group met this afternoon at Jury's Inn in Glasgow. We're getting to an important stage in the project so we had lots to discuss - such as the teaching and learning materials, the online assessment, and the forthcoming launch events. It was a good, positive meeting. We plan on having another meeting next month to review progress with the pilot.

Unit is available to any centre

Following the recent publication of the unit on the SQA website, the unit has today been added to the "auto-approved" list of qualifications - which means that any SQA centre is automatically approved to offer it.

Microsoft/CEOP meeting

I went along to a meeting this morning in the Ofcom building in Glasgow, which was organised jointly by Microsoft and CEOP. There were representatives of various organisations involved in Internet safety including LT Scotland, Children First and East Ayrshire Council in addition to SQA, Microsoft, CEOP and Ofcom.

The purpose of the meeting was to bring everyone up-to-date with developments so that we each had an idea of what is going on. It was a good meeting. Attendees were very interested in the Internet Safety qualification. We agreed to meet again in November.

Internet Safety unit specification is now available

The definitive version of the unit specification (which includes the unit reference number) was uploaded to the SQA website today. It's available for download here [PDF].

Launch event

We're in the process of organising the launch event for the new Internet Safety qualification. There will be two events - held on Friday, 1 September and Monday, 4 September, both at Cardonald College.

The events will be a combined launch and training event - with attendees having the opportunity to get their hands on some of the technologies that will be involved in the pilot (such as Moodle).

The events are for pilot centres (only)... of which there are 41. Contact Derek for more information about these events.

"Children and the Net" article

Yesterday's Independent on Sunday carried a front page story on Internet safety - followed by a major investigation inside, covering four pages.