Implementing e-safety across an organisation

On a practical level Management will need to ensure that e-responsibility considerations are integrated into most areas of practice, for example:

1. Management structure

Is there a clear line-management structure with appropriate responsibilities and accountabilities?
Is there regular review and monitoring of the e-responsibility arrangements for the organisation?

There are many models for a management structure incorporating e-safety. A few are detailed below, but implementation will depend on the existing management structure and the needs of the educational community being addressed:

• e-safety committee

• e-safety officer

• Safeguarding team

• Cross curricular representatives meeting

In each case the purpose of the structure is to make sure that the policies are regularly reviewed, that the policies are transmitted to all those who need to agree to them, and that the procedures and structures are in place to address the policy issues and the needs of the community. The end result should be that staff and learners know what is and is not acceptable and that both know what they should do or who they should contact when issues arise which may covered by the policy.

2. Dissemination of policies and procedures

What is the process by which the policies and procedures are disseminated? Are learners and staff aware of the policies and procedures relating to e-responsiblity? Are the policies and procedures written in language accessible to learners and staff? Are they available in different styles and formats to accommodate the differing needs of groups of learners, e.g. those with a learning disability?

A variety of sample policies: AUPs, e-safety, social networking, data protection are available from the RSC East Midlands.

3. Learning teaching practice

Lesson planning, schemes of work and observation of lessons.
How is e-responsibliity awareness embedded into practice? How do tutors make students aware of the e-responsibility factors affecting their current academic/practical work?

New versions of Safeguarding in a digital world are available on the excellence gateway. Guidance for learners, technical staff, curriculum managers, teachers and trainers and for Learning Providers.

4. Staffing issues

Staff recruitment
There are issues relating to staff recruitment - Criminal Records Bureau checks, for example, which need consideration. LSIS on the Excellence Gateway has new information on eSafety within Safeguarding and a page of frequently asked questions relating to CRB and other issues including confidentiality, disclosure and risk assessment. LSIS also have a course on staff recruitment and safeguarding.

Staff development
Staff development programmes should include e-responsibility issues, both from the point of view of the learners and of the staff as users of technology. The following Moodle courses are available to use, adapt and share.

1. East Midlands Regional Support Centre have developed a Moodle course covering e-Safety.The course aims to introduce tutors/managers to the issues involved in making information technology safe for learners – whether they are children, young people or adults.

2. The RSC Scotland South & West have an e-Safety module - Module 9 of the eSkills for eLearning resources licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 UK: Scotland License. 

Formal staff development on e-safety issues leading to a qualification should be considered.

Resources to support and actively promote e-safety skills

What resources do you make available for the use of staff and learners? What time is allowed? Are these resources differentiated? Do they actviely promote e-safety and make learners feel safe?

Resources should raise awareness, offer opportunities for assessment and be adapted to ability to understand, they should be included in formal induction and information literacy, and integrated into the curriculum through schemes of work, pastoral contact, reporting processes and learner consultation and could refer to acceptable learner behaviour and staff classroom management.

A wealth of resources are available to use with students. There is good e-Safety guidance on the Excellence Gateway and links to specific resources on the learning and teaching pages of this wiki.

Self assessment

E-responsbility issues need to be part of the criteria for self assessment. How well is it being dealt with? How well is it being transmitted to staff and learners? What processes are in place to ensure that learners feel safe within the e-environment?

This tool for e-safety Self Assessment (TESSA) on the RSC NorthWest website may be useful and is a practical interactive resource to assist Learning Providers to review their e-safety under the themes of Managment, personnel and Technology. There are three levels from 'not started' to 'embedded' to evaluate against and you are encouraged to make  a note of the evidence that supports your assessment as you go through the questions.

• to understand why online safety is important and that it should involve everyone;

• in creating a safer online environment for their learners;

• by providing guidance;

• to identify their current position, strengths and weaknesses;

• to move from a basic level of online safety to best practice.

E-safety: Quick self assessment tool for OFSTED inspections from September 2009 - Although designed for schools the same framework applies to providers delivering to learners up to the age of 19 years and when working with vulnerable adults.

Reporting process
What processes are in place to report on and monitor breaches of e-safety? For guidance on how best to tackle the issues of reporting and confidentiality see archived Becta Guidance.

This flowchart of incident reporting procedure helps identify good practice and may provide a model which could be adapted for your own organisation.

SMOG Testing Policies

It is a good idea to SMOG (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook) test policies to ensure accessible text. Using Word 2007 you can add a readability test to the spelling and grammar check, you will need to enable this function and can find SMOG testing instructions at the Microsoft Office training site under "test your document's readability". Each readability test bases its rating on the average number of syllables per word and words per sentence. Learners with barriers to learning will need a SMOG test rating appropriate to their cognitive level an example from a specialist college rated 9 can be seen here.

Related Links

Online Briefing giving an overview of e-Safety and the implications for the post 16 education sector developed by RSC Scotland South & West.

Microsoft Office training site under "test your document's readability" for readability testing.

East Midlands Regional Support Centre Moodle course covering e-safety.

eSkills for eLearning, module 9 an e-safety module to support staff training.

LSIS FAQs on Criminal Reference Bureau, confidentiality, disclosure, risk assessment at http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=304096.

LSIS staff recruitment and safeguarding course at http://www.leadershiplearning.org.uk/

Case Studies from the Excellence gateway - Making use of e-safety training

Sample policy documents - e-safety, aup, social networking, data protection

SWGfL has a range of policies and agreements for learners, parents, volunteers and staff that can be downloaded and adapted by any provider. 

Northern Grid E-Safety site with specific links and advice for pupils, parents and carers and other useful links.

GetSafeOnline - a joint initiative between government, law enforcement, leading businesses and the public sector, to provide computer users and small businesses with free, independent,user-friendly advice on using the internet safely. 

Reporting of e-safety incidents.