Education and learning - What children learn - Learning at home/outside school:

Internet learning

Safe use of the internet

If the internet or even computers are new to you, perhaps the most important thing you can do is to make sure that you don't suspend your judgement as a parent. Your instincts as a parent are as valid dealing with IT as they are in dealing with the books your child reads, the friends they meet and the TV programmes they watch. The issues are no different - good influences and bad influences, good education and bad education are the same in whatever form they appear.

The world wide web is an incredibly rich resource for everyone. It will not normally be difficult to find things on the internet that interest children, and are both stimulating and educational. But of course there are many websites on the internet which contain material which is unsuitable for children. There are ways that you can allow your child to use the web and still keep control over what they see. One good way to keep track of computer usage is to keep the computer in a family room, rather than a child's bedroom. It helps to set up your own family agreement, covering:

Computer access times and costs
What is inappropriate computer usage
Respect for parental password systems
Any other issues which arise in your family

Older children should be aware of your family policy on violence, unsuitable text and images and unacceptable language. This policy will vary between families and it is up to you to establish the guidelines and limits that are acceptable to you.

If a young child accidentally comes across text or images that are unpleasant or disturbing, it is important to reassure them that it is not their fault. It is possible to work with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) as many offer different filtering options. There are also many filtering software packages that work in a variety of ways to load on to your PC. This kind of software can be useful, but only in addition to and never instead of parental supervision. Filtering is not foolproof and needs to be constantly updated to work most effectively.

Below are some links to websites that offer advice on safe use of the internet.

The Superhighway Safety Pack [External Site]
This pack gives comprehensive advice about safe use of the internet for parents and schools.

Becta [External Site]
Becta online information sheets provide:

An introduction to the ways in which IT can be used to support children's learning
Guidance on the role parents could play in children's computing
Advice on censorship issues, computer addiction and video games
Help in selecting, purchasing and using computer hardware and software at home
Relevant sources of further information and support for parents
This site also has links to other sources and contacts of interest to parents.

Kid Smart [External Site]
The site focuses on five key SMART Safety Tips which children need to remember when they use computers, whether at school or in the home.

Parents' guide to the internet [External Site]
Produced by the charity NCH Action for Children

Chatdanger.com [External Site]
This website gives parents and children advice about how to keep safe in unmoderated web chat rooms.

Internet Watch Foundation [External Site]
This pack gives comprehensive advice about safe use of the internet for parents and schools.

Learning about the internet

There are varying definitions on what the internet is. One way to describe it is a gigantic network connecting millions of computers across the world. But it is also the sum of all the information held by those computers.

To find out more about the history and background of the internet, go to the Internet Society [External Site]
To search the internet successfully, you need:

To understand what web browsers are and how they work (i.e. Internet Explorer, Netscape)
To understand site addresses or URLS
To carefully think through your search strategy to get the best results.
Time, patience and practice

Useful websites for the web beginner

BBC's webwise [External Site] If you are not sure quite what you are doing when you use the internet, there is a guide to using it with confidence on the site.

Parents Information Network [External Site] (PIN)
An independent service helping parents to support their children's learning through the use of computers, software and the internet. You will also find evaluation of software and websites which support learning at home for 3 to 18 year olds.

UK online centres [External Site]
UK online centres are designed to help people develop the skills to use the internet to access information, send emails and explore the opportunities that the web offers.