Safe Keeping Blog

As 2011 comes to a close, iKeepSafe is proud to look back on a year of success with Generation Safe. Hundreds of schools around the globe are subscribing and digital citizenship is expanding.

One of the most popular components of Generation Safe is the 360 Self Assessment Tool. Steve Giles, a principal in Utah, explained that the tool enables him to feel that he has “the association of a cadre of well-informed experts to assist” him as he evaluates his school.

And while educators like Steve clearly appreciate the positive impact the tool has in their schools, they may not realize the international success it has seen this year.

WHERE DID THE TOOL ORIGINATE?

So first, some background. The South West Grid for Learning (SWGFL) is a not for profit, charitable trust company, funded by 15 Local Authorities across the South West of England. For many years, UK schools approached SWGFL for advice on how to improve e-safety. And although SWGFL was happy to help, they soon began to wonder if there wasn’t a more efficient way to provide sound and consistent advice.

They created a framework of questions to assess a school and a list of important next steps for improvement. Then, about three years ago, they decided it would be ultimately much better for schools if they created a tool that empowered schools to move forward themselves—evaluating their success and collaborating together on future goals.

“We realized, we don’t need to do this—schools can do this themselves,” SWGFL E-Safety Consultant David Wright said. “We just needed to provide schools with the right tools to prioritize their time and resources to effectuate meaningful change.”

SWGFL consolidated those tools into its 360 Degree Safe Tool.

And the objectives of SWGFL aligned so well with iKeepSafe’s objectives and plans for their Generation Safe program, that the two organizations soon established a partnership and iKeepSafe customized the 360 Degree Safe Tool into the new, international product, Generation Safe™ 360 Self Assessment Tool.

YEAR IN REVIEW

This year has been filled with momentous achievements for the 360 Tool and both iKeepSafe and SWGFL are thrilled to reflect on its success.

BETT AWARD

In January, SWGFL won the British Educational Training and Technlogy (BETT) award. It was the only charity to do so.

The BETT Award judges (consisting of influential stakeholders within the education sector and technology industry) commented, “This is an incredibly powerful tool that offers schools a process for identifying strengths and weaknesses in their e-safety provision. Offering immediate feedback, the system helps leaders and practitioners to continually improve. The tool also provides examples of good practice and expert opinion. This, along with the action plan allows school leaders to make informed decisions.”

They went on to explain, “It was ‘clear winner’ by the fact that it engages the school community in the whole process . . . It is comprehensive, easy to use and developed clearly with users in mind. The resources and advice that is available is good and saves time.”

GENERATION SAFE PILOT LAUNCH

In February, thanks to the generous support of Qwest, the Eccles Foundation, the Santa Clara Office of Education and Yahoo!, iKeepSafe officially launched Generation Safe. Schools within the Jordan School District in Utah and fifty-two schools in California took part in the launch.

Since that time, additional schools in Maryland, California, Idaho, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia have subscribed to the program. And Utah has launched a statewide initiative to roll out Generation Safe in all public schools, starting with the middle schools.

“It’s remarkable to think that schools in Utah and California and elsewhere are now using the 360 Degree Tool,” Wright reflected. “It is fantastic that Generation Safe embeds this technology for the use and advancement of schools across the globe.”

ISTE CONFERENCE

In June, iKeepSafe and SWGFL team members presented together at the ISTE Conference. Their learning session, “Generations Safe: New Media Mentor for Global Digital Citizenship,” addressed the concerns voiced from educators around the globe: that technology has created an ever-changing minefield putting their schools and students at risk of unnecessary legal and civil action.

“Our positive partnership was really highlighted during this time,” Marsali Hancock, iKeepSafe & CEO said. “There were six of us in all—some from iKeepSafe and some from South West Grid—working together to promote Generation Safe and the 360 Degree Tool. We were so well integrated that no one could tell who was from which organization.”

People’s positive reaction to the product encouraged both teams that the work they were engaged with was worthwhile and appreciated.

UK INTERNET INDUSTRY AWARD (ISPAs)

In July, the 360 Degree Safe Tool won an ISPA award after senior decision makers, media, and government representatives gathered in London for the award ceremony.

It is especially impressive that they won considering that SWGFL’s 360 Degree Safe has more to do with environmental and cultural change than with technical or digital advances.

NOMINET INTERNET SAFETY AWARD

Nominet manages all of the UK domains, making them one of the world’s largest internet registries. Each year, Nominet rewards UK individuals and organizations that help make the internet a secure, open, accessible, and diverse experience for everyone who uses it.

SWGFL was honored to receive the “Making the Internet Safer” award in July. After the awards ceremony, Wright said, “We are delighted to have received [the award], especially given the strength of the short listed field. 360 Degree Safe is clearly considered as an innovative and effective tool for schools.”

INTENET GOVERANCE FORUM

Towards the end of September, SWGFL was invited to lead a workshop at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) at the United Nations centre in Nairobi, Kenya. The IGF is mandated by the United Nations and welcomes around 2,000 delegates from governments and NGO’s around the globe.

“It was one of those moments,” Wright said, “where you think to yourself, wow—how do I find myself here? How did this happen?”

UK IT INDUSTRY AWARD

In November, SWGFL won a UK IT Industry award. Other finalists from the award gala (attended by over a thousand people) included: Tesco.com, MT, JP Morgan, Shell Aviation, Beam SRC, Community Gateway Association, Go ON Adopt, MSM, UK Safer Internet Centre, World Vision UK, WORLDwrite, and the Zoological Society of London. 360 Degree Safe was highlighted as an innovative community project.

THE YEAR IN A NUTSHELL

 

 

 

2011 has clearly been full of exciting moments for the 360 Tool. As Wright reflected on SWGFL’s perfect track record, he said, “Yes, I think we’ve won enough awards.” He went on to share some goals they have for the upcoming year, which you can read about in an upcoming post.

One thing is clear, though: there is still an enormous amount of work to be done in helping schools prevent, detect and respond to cyber incidents. iKeepSafe and SWGFL will continue to support each other and work together as a dynamic partnership, hoping to improve educational climates and promote global digital citizenship.