European SafeOnline Prototype

A toolkit to implement the SafeOnline Initiative in different national contexts

Would you like to adopt the SafeOnline Initiative in your country? In the next section you will find all the information you need! Discover the experience of ESOI partners, listen to their tips and tricks and get inspired to develop a SafeOnline Initiative for parents in your country.

Introduction

The European SafeOnline Initiative project (ESOI) is the result of the adoption and localisation of the Flemish SafeOnline Initiative in five different regions – Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Romania – showing the successful potential of the replicability of this model. To support stakeholders willing to reach out to parents and raise awareness among this audience on e-safety issues children may face online, the project team has developed the ESOI prototype, a step-by-step guide to design a SafeOnline initiative. With a set of free-to-use videos and documents showcasing the experience of partners that have implemented the SafeOnline model, this toolkit provides all the practical information and tips essential to develop and localize the project in different national contexts.

Building from the experiences with the implementation of the European SafeOnline initiative in real learning environments, the ESOI prototype incorporates the conclusions that resulted from the delivery of the ESOI sessions to more than 2000 parents in the five abovementioned adopting regions.

With the goal of increasing the media literacy levels within families and eventually empower and protect all children online, the SafeOnline Initiative aims at filling the gap between children’s digital practices and parents’ perceptions, worries and contradictory feelings towards the Internet, promoting a positive, conscious and empowering approach towards this medium and opening dialogue within families.

The SafeOnline initiative aims to inform parents about the media use of their children within a context of positive parenting. The content and training sessions of the project are based on the range of possibilities that online technologies have to offer. They are designed to stimulate the interest parents show towards the Internet and the digital world, support them in understanding the social media usage of their children and give them useful and practical tips to identify the risks and opportunities of the digital space.

The ESOI Prototype wants to go much further and provides to interested stakeholders all the components that comprise the European SafeOnline Initiative so that they will be in a position to upscale, adopt and implement the initiative in their own national and regional contexts.

PHASE 1: PREPARATION

I. CREATING A THEME AND VISION

The SafeOnline Initiative aims at filling the gap between children’s digital practices and parents’ perceptions, worries and contradictory feelings towards the internet, promoting a positive, conscious and empowering approach towards this medium and opening dialogue within families.

II. LOCAL CONTEXT ANALYSIS AND ADAPTATION TO TARGET GROUP NEEDS

Exploring, studying, and conducting an analysis of the national context from a political, social, cultural and economic perspective is essential to ensure that the training sessions fit the needs of the national society and are adapted to its social context.

PHASE 2: DEVELOPMENT

III. THEMES AND TOPICS TO ADDRESS

When determining themes and topics to address in the training sessions, it is important to use various sources of information, figures and data to understand what are the latest trends and tackle the most important hot topics. This is important to ensure that the issues that are of interest to parents and that are the most concerning are effectively addressed.

IV. WORKING WITH EXPERTS

Even though extensive knowledge and expertise in the field of digital parenting, media literacy and e-safety may be available, it is important and strongly advisable to work with a pool of experts in the subjects addressed.

V. PLATFORM TO HOST INTERACTIVE TRAINING SESSIONS

The choice of the technical platform or tool that will be used to host the content of the training sessions is crucial, as it will determine the flow in the training sessions and the accessibility to the content material. The tool needs to be flexible enough to allow different trainers and facilitators to use it, and to adapt it to the needs of the attendees.

The French-speaking Belgian partner, Ligue des Familles, used a WordPress template to host the content of its training sessions.

The site created by the West University of Timisoara was developed and embedded in the University website for smooth operation and faster loading speed, helping users to access the platform quickly. It has a well-defined structure in several modules, which helps the user to go through all the attractively structured training sessions.

PHASE 3: iMPLEMENTATION

VI. RECRUITING AND COACHING TRAINERS

A trainer is someone who guides and instructs people to become competent in doing something they wish to achieve. In our particular case, the role of the trainers corresponds better to that of a facilitator. Their objective is to help trainees acquire knowledge, skills and positive attitudes in the field of safe Internet usage in general.

VII. WORKING WITH PARTNERS TO DISSEMINATE THE INITIATIVE

The development and adoption of the SafeOnline initiative may require the cooperation of different partners in order to ensure that the vision and pedagogical goals are met. Therefore it is important to choose the right partner to work with, and we strongly recommend never to start this process alone.

VIII. DELIVERING THE TRAINING SESSIONS

The ESOI training sessions do not have the format of a lecture. The goal was to design an interactive experience, focusing on peer-to-peer learning, that would give parents the chance to express their concerns and gain useful knowledge and skills that would help them support their children when using the Internet, building a communication bridge between them.

THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS

IX. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION PLAN

To ensure the sustainability of the project, it is key to establish a good communication plan, both internal and external. The internal communication plan refers to the strategy applied to communicate with the partners in the project and with the trainers, whereas external communication targets the parents, schools, libraries, family organisations, and other stakeholders that might show an interest in the project.

X. BUSINESS PLAN

Building a business model for the project is essential to ensure the kick-off and sustainability of the SafeOnline training sessions at the national level. Considering emerging parents’ needs in relation to the digital environment and its fast development, the innovation that will be brought by introducing the SafeOnline model, a high level of interest and turnout in the training sessions may be expected. Therefore, planning short, medium and long-term expenses will be crucial for a successful, sustainable and strong project.

About Us

The European Safe Online Initiative is the brainchild of the Flemish SafeOnline Initiative applied to the larger context of the European Union by organisations from five EU countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Romania.

What do we do?
Associations and educational institutions bring their know-how to build a program to educate parents and other carers to become fully aware of the risks and opportunities the new media offer to their children.