Online safety for educators
Yes, we should all change passwords frequently, but what else can keep us safe on the internet?
It’s not just the foolish or careless who get duped by scams – schemes to part you from your money and steal your identity are more sophisticated than ever, and no one is immune. And even if you’re a sparing social media user, you can become the target of cynical trolls, ruthless activists, malicious software, or amoral cybercriminals who don’t care about your reputation, career, and wellbeing.
Educators are particularly vulnerable, and need to be especially careful: the IEU has seen far too many examples of the weaponisation by parents, students and investigators of online materials and histories which outside of a school context would be completely acceptable to most reasonable people.
Remember: Social media and email basics:
· The employer owns the school’s email system and may monitor it
· Employers check Facebook
· Employers can check your work internet history
· Never send an email in anger
· Don’t assume that things are private
· Never communicate with students on anything other than the school’s systems or in person
· Keep work on work devices and personal on personal devices.
Remember: online dangers
· Identity theft
· Data breaches
· Malware and viruses
· Phishing and scam emails
· Fake websites
· Online scams
· Romance scams
· Inappropriate content
· Cyberbullying
· Faulty privacy settings.
Be aware of your digital footprint and online reputation
Search for yourself with a popular search engine to see how others view you and your profiles. Use the ‘View As’ function on your Facebook profile to see how your profile appears to the public or to a specific person. Err on the side of caution, and be prepared for a tech-savvy student deciding to have a dig into your online life!
Your online reputation is formed through:
Posts by you
Posts by others but about you or linked to you
Posts by others pretending to be you.
Remember that when you post something online it will always be there.
The internet does not have a delete key. Any comment or image you post online may stay online forever because removing the original doesn’t remove any copies that other people may have made. There is no way for you to ‘take back’ a comment you wish you hadn't made or to remove an embarrassing image you posted. So, don't put anything online that you would not want a parent or prospective employer to see.
Also be careful about disclosing personal information about yourself online. For example, don’t disclose your medical details, your address, or date of birth in social media bios. You wouldn't hand this information out to strangers in person, so don't hand it out to strangers online.
Be careful about where you display or submit your email address. It's good to have a secondary, throwaway email account that you use solely for email sign-ups and subscriptions, separate from the one you use for friends and family, and separate from the one you use for work.
Safeguard your students’ privacy
When sharing information with your students or showing their work, keep it within password-protected, school-approved platforms, including school email accounts and private learning management systems. Password protect virtual conferences and keep meeting IDs and passwords private. This will keep unwanted visitors out of video meetings with students.
If you run a classroom Twitter or Instagram account or have a blog, keep your account private so that you can approve followers and limit them to students and their parents or guardians. Even with these precautions, act as if anything you post can be seen by the public. Stick to only using students’ first names, only include faces in photos with parental permission and keep any locations private.
Using social media in your personal life
As a teacher, you should firstly customize your privacy settings to control who sees what information about you. Configure your settings so that you have approval over who is viewing your posts and limit what comes up in search results, so only specific groups can see your photos, posts or likes.
If you want to interact with students on social media, check if your school board or institution has policies on this. If you want to use social media to discuss classroom projects or share student work, you may consider having one private account and one for school.
Further education-specific tips
Think before you post
Ask yourself if you happy with the content you are posting being seen by students, parents, or employers. Many people don’t consider who can see their posts, likes and comments. Could words, likes, pictures and comments linked to you be misinterpreted? Could they be interpreted as being offensive or inappropriate for an educator?
Use the privacy settings
Make sure your privacy settings are at their maximum. Ensure your albums, likes and comments are viewable by friends only, and not for public viewing. Be aware of your friend list as well - it’s fine to be online friends with your colleagues, but remember that this is another way that your online activities can make their way into the school community.
Have a social media policy for your school
Ensure you have a policy at your school which covers acceptable social media use by learners, staff, and parents. Be aware of your establishment’s policies and familiarise yourself with what is expected of staff members and learners.
Have a school policy on the use of mobile phones
An acceptable use policy needs to be agreed on by the school with regards to personal use of mobiles. Staff should be advised not to use personal devices when
Contacting learners or parents (via text)
Storing images of learners at the school
Hide your Bluetooth and air-drop while in school
Should your mobile device be close to learners, ensure the phone is ‘hidden’ and the Bluetooth or air-drop is not visible to everyone. This will protect your phone from potentially receiving images sent by learners.
What else?
Use school devices for work purposes only.
Staff should be advised to use school devices for work purposes when off premises, and to not share the device with others in the home. Files and storage drives taken from school should be encrypted if working on personal or sensitive data.
Agree how and if to share images with colleagues.
When socialising or attending a work event with colleagues, decide as a group what are the expectations with regards to posting images and online tagging. Respect every individual’s wishes should they not want their picture to be posted online.
Overall online safety tips
· Keep software and operating systems updated
· Check that websites look and feel reliable
· Review your privacy settings
· Be careful of suspicious links and where you click
· Make sure your devices are secure
· Backup data regularly
· Close unused accounts
· Be careful what you download
· Be careful what you post and where
· Double check online information
· Be Zoom-wary: Remote learning has opened up a whole new field where cyber criminals can launch malware attacks and data breaches.
Sources: Safer Internet UK; Kaspersky; esafety.org.au; https://hwb.gov.wales/keeping-safe-online/resources/a-teacher-s-guide-to-staying-safe-on-social-media; https://www.cira.ca/en/resources/news/cybersecurity/cyber-safety-tips-for-teachers/