New courses on cyberbullying for teachers and school leaders in Ireland

PDST Technology in Education together with Webwise has developed two new online courses for all teachers and school leaders in Ireland, to help them understand, prevent, and respond to cyberbullying.  

Date 2022-11-24 Author Irish Safer Internet Centre Section awareness Topic cyberbullying, media literacy/education Audience parents and carers, teachers, educators and professionals
Image of the online course for decoration

Webwise and PDST Technology in Education developed two courses, one for primary schools and another for post-primary schools called ‘Cyberbullying (Primary Schools): Understanding, Preventing, and Responding’ and ‘Cyberbullying (Post Primary Schools): Understanding, Preventing and Responding’. 

The aim of these cyberbullying courses is to provide teachers with the knowledge, resources, and confidence to teach about cyberbullying and deal with cyberbullying incidents as they arise. Both courses seek to inform primary and post-primary teachers and school leaders about the issue of cyberbullying, outline a school’s role in creating an anti-cyberbullying culture and promote students’ well-being including online well-being. 

It will help school leaders understand the practical ways their staff can incorporate anti-cyberbullying initiatives both in the curriculum and in their daily interactions with students. It will also help teachers gain awareness of how they can make use of anti-bullying initiatives, policies, and procedures in order to be better equipped to prevent and tackle bullying and cyberbullying and promote a positive, respectful, and caring student-centred environment. 

The courses have been developed in consultation with students, educators, the Health and Well-being team, the Digital Technologies Team, the Leadership Team and SPHE experts Suzanne Graham and Deirdre Lavelle. 

It also includes input from experts including Dr. Seline Keating (Lecturer in SPHE and Wellbeing in DCU Institute of Education), Dr. Tijana Milosevic (Elite-S Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, DCU Anti-bullying Centre), Dr. Colman Noctor (Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist), Dr. Maragret Nohilly (Coordinator, Professional Master in in Education & Lecturer, Mary Immaculate College Education & Lecturer) Mary Immaculate College) 

The two-hour self-directed courses are available 24/7 online. 

Find out more about the work of the Irish Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services – or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.  

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