There was a time when safeguarding in relation to technology use was simple.    I remember when this was the case, when I was teaching IT in a secondary school as well as acting as the IT coordinator.   The only devices with internet access which the students had access to were in the school, the technologies to allow bypassing of filtering or which might make filtering difficult were few and far between, plus generally only for techie types rather than users in general.  Back then it was simple; Your internet filtering kept students from harmful content plus allowed you to monitor what students were doing online so you could tick the compliance box in relation to online safety.

The world isnt as simple anymore.

Although you still have your filtering in place you cannot consider this enough anymore.    Firstly students now are likely to have a mobile phone with data connectivity;   The filtering of internet access on your school network is of little use here whether students are using their connectivity for themselves or even sharing it as a wi-fi hotspot for their friends.  And in some schools students will even be bringing their own devices to school to actively use in lessons.

Tools for maintaining user privacy have also changed significantly.  15 years ago, in the secondary school I taught in, students would attempt to bypass filtering using web proxies.  These were easy to identify and therefore easy to then block.   Students used these as it was easy for them to use, simply requiring only the web address of the proxy.    Today students have access to all manner of tools from VPNs, which are now advertised on TV in relation to personal data security, to the ability to setup a dark web site with only one or two clicks.    Some services even market the fact they don’t keep logs.   Disposable email and social media accounts can easily be created as and when needed, or maybe even spin up a virtual PC in the cloud, use it then destroy in when done, taking with it any evidence of what it was used for.    The tools schools have to keep students within a safe internet bubble havent changed much, but the user-friendly tools which students have access to in order to bypass any restrictions have grown significantly.

Next the increasing need for privacy and security online is moving all sites and services towards systems which are less easy to monitor.   First it was almost all sites moving from HTTP to HTTPS.   The next step seems to be a move to DNS over HTTPS.   Given DNS requests are a key feature of filtering solutions, the encryption of these requests will render filtering solutions unable to see which sites students are actually visiting.    A solution here is SSL decryption which would allow filtering solutions to decrypt and then re-encrypt DNS requests as well as data however this in itself has its implications;   Is it acceptable to break a fundamental security measure built into sites in the interests of safeguarding?     By breaking the fundamental security of website traffic could we put student data at risk as it traverses our filtering solutions, and if so, is this risk acceptable?    And, is all of this effort worth it if students can simply hop onto their 4G/5G signal and bypass all of these precautions at will?

For me, what was very much a simple compliance measure in the need for a filtering solution has now changed significantly.    We need to therefore stop looking at this issue in terms of simply having filtering/monitoring in place and consider it from a broader risk point of view.   What are the benefits of how we use technology in our school?   What are the risks?   How do we reduce/mitigate these risks?  Do any of our mitigation measures limit potential positive uses of technology and is this acceptable? 

For me it is all about a balance between an open network allowing students to explore the breadth of potential positive uses of technology, along with the corresponding risk, versus a closed environment where technology usage is limited in the name of safety but equally this limits potential beneficial uses of technology.     Each school needs to identify where it stands on this continuum, what it supports in terms of technology use and what mitigation measures will be put in place.   This then needs to be regularly reviewed in relation to new technologies and also new or changing uses of technology within school.

Safeguarding in relation to technology use is no longer simple;  It is no longer a simple compliance tick box, or simple internet filtering box but instead a larger conversation around the benefits and risks of technology use in school, by staff and by students.

Ok, so my first thought was: “time to google their helpline phone number.”

Not a great start given internet wasn’t working plus my home is very much a 4G/Mobile communications black spot.   And so it was I had to rummage through old paperwork in the hope of finding the sky customer service helpline number.    Thankfully I keep my paperwork so it didn’t take too long to find a number and get in contact with the helpline.

Having been told it would be up to 72 working hours before an engineer would be able to look into the issue I was very impressed when a call came through from an engineer only 4 or 5 hours after my initial call.   He promptly arrived and looked into the issue, pronouncing shortly after 5pm that he would need to investigate further and that this would be done the following morning.

And so I found myself, and family, sat without internet over the evening.   I repeatedly found myself in the early parts of the evening, accessing the router to check its status in the hope that internet would have been restored as if by magic.   Upon realising the futility of this I put my devices aside but still found myself periodically reaching for them to check my twitter, email, etc. again in the hope that the internet issue had got bored and resolved itself.    As it was it hadn’t.   In hindsight I cannot see what reason I had for believing my connection might have re-established itself without outside intervention.

The above goes to show how important, going on essential internet is.   I had an issue and the first place I wanted to look for a solution or a contact who might be able to assist was the internet.   Despite clear awareness of the fact the internet wasn’t working I repeatedly, due to habit and learned behaviour, kept reaching for my devices to access the internet.

Have you ever taken time to stop and look at your usage and reliance on technology?   Is this something we need to discuss with our students including the need to “disconnect”?

The current phase of the transition can be likened to living like a student.    Basically the various items of furniture, etc have been ordered however as yet have not arrived and as such I am currently sleeping on the floor until the bed arrives.   The only furniture currently within the house is a TV, a TV stand on which the TV sits and also a coffee table which currently doubles as the extent of our dining furniture.

So all in all things have been very busy and stressful as of late however I haven’t as yet mentioned the major cause of stress.     I am without internet!!!!      I am currently awaiting the installation of broadband which is due to occur in almost two weeks from now so until then I have no access to internet at home.    To make matters worse mobile signal strength around my new property is very poor so I don’t even have the use of mobile internet via my phone.    It is only sat here being without internet that I find myself realising how integral internet access has became to my life (Note: Writing this I am sat without internet however clearly I must have had internet to upload this blog…..the wonders of Costa Coffee!!).    It provides me flexibility in accessing work materials to allow me to work beyond the normal hours of work and on weekends.   I find myself writing this even although there are work related issues I want to be addressing however I am unable to without internet access.   Internet provides me with a communication channel both professionally and also personally, allowing me to speak to my parents ahead of finally visiting them in person after many years away.    It provides me access to services such as water and electricity services, online banking and many more services which are all important in everyday living but possibly even more important when setting up a new home.    Basically the internet is no longer a luxury for me but in fact is now a necessity.

All of this leaves me wondering about the argument often stated with regards limiting student use and reliance on technology.    Basically these calls all come too late as we are already reliant.   Just think what would happen in your local supermarket if the computer systems went down and stopped working.   I very much doubt it would be business as usual.

Now just to be clear I believe that the critical issue in current education is teaching students the skills which will set them up for life such as the 4 C’s of critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and collaboration.    It is also important to teach them about community, globalisation, character and resilience among other skills or characteristics.    The key issue for me is that we should be engaging and using technology to help develop these skills, plus we should be encouraging students to identify new ways that technology can help them in meeting their needs and wants plus in developing these skills.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net