Digital literacy and online safety: how the pandemic tested our skills

Start: April 2021

Finish: May 2021

Estimated effort: 4 hours (16 in total)

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The online life we live today comes with many opportunities as well as many risks to avoid. Being digitally literate and having awareness of such risks plays a crucial role in being safe online. Moreover, the importance of the digital literacy skills was further emphasised in 2020 when the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic. The necessity to exclude physical interaction from the daily life resulted in teleworking, remote education and increased digital media consumption throughout the year.

Against this background, this MOOC will explore online trends and issues in the context of the new COVID-19 reality. It will provide the course participants with essential knowledge, tips and tools to handle a wide range of issues such as misinformation and disinformation, conspiracy theories, online scams (such as phishing, malware and ransomware), account security, online privacy, benefits and risks associated with livestreaming and health online relationships among others. Overall, this MOOC will enable participants to gain a better understanding of risks and challenges that young people face when they go online. With the course moderators, they will discuss strategies for supporting young people and helping them to develop safe and responsible online and offline behaviours. A wide range of resources that can be used in schools will be provided, and participants will also be asked to share their own experiences, challenges and successes.

You can follow the course at your own pace, there is only a final deadline you need to pay attention to (for the quizzes and the peer-assessment activity).

Learning objectives

To understand the benefits and risks associated with digital technologies and the internet in the context of a pandemic, especially in relation to children and young people.
To explore the opportunities that the internet provides to access knowledge, communicate, and develop skills and creativity, but also critical thinking skills.
To learn about various online challenges such as disinformation and scams, and how to support children and young people if they encounter such difficulties.
To raise awareness about the importance of heathy relationships with technology and the internet.
To raise awareness of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) strategy and Insafe network, as part of the network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs) in Europe, and associated resources.

Modules

Module 1: How did the pandemic affect online life?
Module 2: Digital literacy and disinformation
Module 3: Online scams
Module 4: Healthy relationships with technology and the internet

Prerequisites

The course is targeted at primary and secondary school teachers of any subject. ICT administrators, school counsellors and parents may also benefit from the course.

Certification

In order to earn a course certificate, course participants need to pass all the quizzes, submit a lesson plan and review 3 of their peers' lesson plans. The participation in the quizzes will count for 15%, and the lesson plan together with the peer reviews will count for 85%. The overall passing grade is 95%.

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