Since 2022 we have had the pleasure of working closely with the Queensland Academy for Science Mathematics and Technology to deliver real, relevant, and relatable cybersafety education to all students in Grades 7-9 at the academy.
Run during term four each year, these workshops have been designed by young people, for young people with the aim of providing a fresh perspective on cybersafety education. Each workshop features a myriad of hands-on challenges, group discussion opportunities, debates, games, and quizzes to help young people put their best foot forward while connecting, collaborating, and creating on the multitude of digital platforms that we use daily.
Workshops for Grades 7-9 are all run over the course of the day with three workshops running simultaneously for each cohort to ensure all students have a positive learning experience. The workshops are as follows:
Grade 7 - Your Digital Universe
The Your Digital Universe program has been designed to help students develop their understanding of our digital world and how we use technology to connect, collaborate, and communicate. During this workshop, students engage in a series of hands-on challenges such as 'spot the scam' and 'guess the password' to develop their knowledge of the cybersafety basics in a fun and gamified way before they dive into a design thinking challenge to develop an innovative solution combatting digital addiction. Throughout this process, students develop their foundation of understanding relating to passwords and scams, before they then dive deep on the topic of digital addiction and how they can support themselves and their friends.
Grade 8 - Your Digital Persona
With over 70% of employers saying that they will search for job applicants on Google or social media ahead of inviting them in for an interview, it is more important than ever that young people today take an active approach to curating their digital persona. This program sees year eight students working to document their digital footprint and look at ways they can optimise their digital persona to start accessing opportunities in line with their passions, values, and skills, ultimately contributing to their desired career pathway. This program has been designed to get students thinking about their futures as they consider how they turn up online.
Grade 9 - Your Digital Wellbeing
With our society spending more time online than ever before, a growing number of young people are noticing a direct correlation between their digital habits and their mental health at an early age. In this program, we will be exploring the concept of digital wellbeing and the mental health effects that come with excessive digital usage as students work to develop a digital solution to support a member of their local community who struggles with the adverse effects of excessive digital usage. Throughout their design thinking process, students will be developing an understanding of the negative effects of excessive digital usage as well as researching solutions that are being developed by countries and companies around the world to combat the issue.
These three programs have been designed to build on one another, exploring the myraid of challenges that young people face when growing up in our increasingly digital world. With a focus on real world case studies, relevant examples, and current advice, this is a modern twist on traditional cybersafety education designed to engage and empower young people in their digital lives.
To find out more about our cybersafety incursions, head to: www.bopindustries.com/cybersafety
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