Welcome to the BIK Teacher corner
This section of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) site is for teachers, educators and other adults who work with children and young people. It is your ‘one-stop shop’ for learning and teaching about digital citizenship and online safety. Here you will find free information, advice and suggested resources to empower you to educate and support youth to safely and positively navigate their digital world.
What is available?
In the BIK Teacher corner you will find everything you need to better understand the digital worlds and experiences of young people. A range of learning modules are provided to ensure you have the knowledge required to understand the risks and opportunities that accompany the digital experiences of youth, and to help you develop the skills to support them to manage and benefit from these experiences.
These learning modules are split into two types: introductory modules and deep dives:
- Introductory modules – provide you with a broad knowledge base to understand the opportunities, risks and educational approaches related to digital citizenship and online safety.
- Deep dive modules – provide you with greater information, advice and resources to understand specific topics/areas of risk such as cyberbullying, misinformation and sexting.
Alongside these resources, you can also access other learning resources such as MOOCs (massive open online courses), upcoming events and other opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding.
How to protect, empower and respect children and young people online
Introductory online learning modules for teachers
Digital technology and online spaces offer many benefits to people of all ages, especially children and young people. These benefits include access to information/learning, instant communication with other online users, entertainment and exploration, the development of self-identity, and the opportunity to be creative and expressive.
As with all things in life, alongside these opportunities, there are also risks that can impact the safety and well-being of youth; including some that can lead to significant and lasting harm. Recognising risk and understanding how best to manage it is an important life skill and is fundamental to enabling children and young people to enjoy everything the digital world has to offer them.
As an educator, you have a responsibility to support your learners to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to keep themselves and others safe online. However, you and your colleagues also play an important role in inspiring your learners to explore, enjoy and benefit from the opportunities that their digital lives can offer.
What can I learn from these modules?
These introductory learning modules cover everything you need to know in order to understand both the benefits and risks present in the digital lives of youth, as well as why technology and the internet are so important to children and young people.
Across the four modules, you will develop an understanding of how to protect, empower and respect children and young people online:
- Protect: You will learn about the key online safety risks that can affect the safety and well-being of youth online. You will also learn more about the role that educators and schools can play in protecting young people from harm online, through education and whole-school policy and practice.
- Empower: You will explore how children’s rights apply to the digital world, and what you can do to help uphold those rights and empower youth to exercise those rights in their digital lives.
- Respect: You will gain a greater understanding of why children and young people value the use of digital technology and the internet so highly, and how you can approach education about online safety in an inclusive way that encourages and values the views and voices of your learners.
How can I learn more?
- Deep dives: If you are keen to further your knowledge and understanding of a particular aspect of the digital world, why not check out the deep-dive articles? These short learning modules explore specific topics and areas, including cyberbullying, misinformation, sexting and cybersecurity. New modules will be added on a regular basis, providing you with further opportunities to deepen your understanding of the issues that are relevant to your learners.
- MOOCs (massive open online courses): If you are keen to explore other areas in greater detail, then why not check out the selection of MOOCs offered by the European Schoolnet Academy (in English) and the European network of Safer Internet Centres (available in local languages)?