The River Thames outside DLD College London

Safer Internet Day

10th February 21


 

On Tuesday 9th February 2021, we celebrated Safer Internet Day, which is about how we stay safe online. This year, the theme was ‘An Internet We Trust’, focusing on the information we can find online. It is easy to believe the information out there is factful, even when it might not be. For example, news about Covid-19. There are many articles and videos from people talking about the virus, but we do need to question if those articles are accurate/reliable (Who wrote this article? When was this published? Are they similar to other resources? Check credentials), as this could impact one’s mindset on the topic (and their mental health), and perhaps even become more afraid and fearful.

Hence why it is crucial to be informed about how to stay safe online, especially as we are using the internet now more than ever, from working/studying at home. So this year, DLD’s Digital Innovators, Laura and Simran. aimed to spread awareness about how to check the validity of resources and spot fake news. Particularly, when students are writing up essays and gathering information online, it is important to be able to recognise which bits of information are actually true. But also, social media plays a big part of how we obtain information, as well as creating an online presence. Thus, it was also vital for the Digital Innovators to inform everyone about personal identity online, and the risks that may be involved such as cyberbullying, invasion of privacy, identity theft, phishing, grooming, and more.

They have created a video (see above) and gathered resources which highlight these points, which can be found on the Student Dashboard under Student Support – Online Safety.