VIEWS & OPINION


What does the Age Appropriate Design Code mean for the safety


of children online? Comment by MUBINA ASARIA, LGfL Online Safeguarding Consultant


We are thrilled that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published its final Age Appropriate Design Code - a statutory code of practice which seeks to protect children within the digital world. What does this mean for you and the safety of children online? This ground-breaking piece of regulation is the result of lengthy consultation between the ICO and key stakeholders including the LGfL DigiSafe team, and heralds a momentous step towards safeguarding young people’s digital experiences. Aimed at online services that are likely to be accessed by children –


including social media platforms, content streaming services, online games, apps, devices, search engines and other websites – the Code places the responsibility on industry to prevent children’s data being exploited in ways that undermine their safety and wellbeing. The term ‘likely’ is very significant because this means the code isn’t solely aimed at providers which state that their services are ‘designed for’ or ‘aimed at’ children: this widens the impact of the code. What does the code say? The Age Appropriate Design Code outlines a set of 15 robust standards that these online service providers should meet. You can read the full list of standards in the link at the bottom of this piece, but in summary: • the child’s best interests should be of primary consideration when planning or designing online services • settings must be ‘high privacy’ by default • geolocation settings that allow a child’s location to be shared should be


How real-time engagement can help support two-way lecturer/student communication in challenging times


Comment by PETE EYRE, Managing Director, Vevox


Over the past few weeks, as the coronavirus crisis has gathered momentum, universities and colleges have been calling off lectures, cancelling face-to-face teaching and moving classes online. This migration into the virtual world has happened so quickly that many institutions and their teaching staff have understandably not felt fully prepared. These are confusing and disorientating times for lecturers. They are


under pressure to deliver lessons in ways they are not used to. In this unfamiliar new world, they feel pressure under the inevitable constraints of the current distance learning environment. Teaching remotely is very different from teaching in a classroom. Delivering a timetable and engaging with students in the virtual world is more complex than working with students face-to-face whilst everyone finds their bearings. Often too, lecturers and tutors are used to routines, which they have


established and feel comfortable with, and these have been disrupted. They want help and guidance as to how they can make things work in today’s difficult circumstances. In scenarios such as these, the use of live engagement apps to support


24 www.education-today.co.uk


switched off by default • ‘nudge’ behaviour encouraging children to reduce or switch off their privacy settings should not be deployed • services should provide an obvious sign to the child when they are being monitored by parental controls • options which use profiling should be switched ‘off’ by default • personal data collection from children should be kept to a minimum and only collected when there is a compelling reason • there is detailed guidance on the approach to be taken for users of different ages. Regulation and enforcement: It is encouraging that the Code defines children as anyone under the age of 18 – this is higher than existing UK data protection law where the age of consent to being tracked online is 13. Additionally, the regulator has powers to take action for any breach of the Code – Baroness Kidron, who introduced the Code into UK legislation said: “An online service must say what they do, do what they say or be held accountable – in this case they face fines of up to 4 percent of their turnover, which could mean billions for the largest tech companies. If you say you don’t host violent, harmful or suicide promoting material, then you must not, or face enforcement action.”


What next? Share these developments with your staff and parents, but remind them that whilst the Code provides greater safety for children to learn, explore and play online, it can never replace parental supervision, communication, education and guidance. Why not visit digisafewebinar.lgfl.net to view our


CPD webinars on key safeguarding issues to share best practice in online safety as part of your whole school approach – open access and free for all. Age-appropriate resources for teachers, senior leaders, parents and carers are available at saferesources.lgfl.net Visit coronavirus.lgfl.net/safeguarding for the latest updates, guidance


and resources to support staff, pupils and parents during school closures. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/key-data- protection-themes/age-appropriate-design-a-code-of-practice-for-online- services/code-standards/


student engagement and enhance communication between lecturers and their classes can help. Often, lecturers already have this kind of technology at their disposal but because of the current chaos, they may not have considered how they can best utilise it as a way of encouraging communication and allaying students’ concerns whilst teaching and studying remotely. Live polling and Q&A apps can help by allowing lecturers to measure


student’s understanding so they can keep track of the effectiveness of their teaching methods under circumstances where they cannot see their students face-to-face. So, whether lecturers are live streaming classes or teaching


asynchronously, engagement technology can be a help in supporting uninhibited, open communication. The approach can assist them in gauging the progress students are


making on specific learning projects. It can help measure engagement. And it can enable them to run quizzes and polls related to course content to drive involvement and interaction. Most important of all, it allows them to get that face-to-face feeling and interaction that they get in a traditional lecture, with a virtual audience. At the same time, especially where apps are anonymous, the approach


can also help give students a voice in troubled times where learning can often feel difficult and they can feel confident in raising challenges they may have and making suggestions about what learning styles might work best for them. In short, it gives students the chance to keep the lines of communication open and express how they feel without fear of the consequences. Student response apps have typically been used in the past as a tool to


enhance student engagement in a classroom environment. Now, they can also be a great feedback loop for students and teaching staff to support each other and enhance learning in this time of crisis. Today, lecturer/student communication is being challenged more than ever. But with students and lecturers widely dispersed, and working almost exclusively from home, these kinds of apps can be a great way to build a more positive learning environment and help bridge that gap. reach world class speeds!


April 2020


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36