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Hector's World is a New Zealand educational initiative targeted at helping 5-11 year olds stay safe online and learn about digital citizenship. Hector and his friends are engaging characters that live in the magical world of Silicon Deep. They face interesting and challenging situations in order to model the behaviour of good digital citizens. The topics include personal information online, cyber-bullying, and computer security and are presented through videos episodes, mp3 music files, puzzles, games, and downloadable storybooks that provide opportunities for students to be safe and ethical users of digital technologies.
Tips for integrating Hector's World into your classroom: Begin by taking the 10 minute guided tour for teachers of the site. This helps with navigating and understanding the layout of the site and all of the different options available for teaching and learning. Hector's World provides educators with excellent lesson plans (developed for 3 different age levels) on each of the episodes under the topics presented. The lessons begin with engaging videos that would be great presented to students using a projector or interactive white board. The downloadable material can be printed and used in the classroom without the need for independent use of a computer. This is a nice option when computer times are limited. A resource for planning a Digital Citizenship Week is also available and would be a great addition to SMART Week. Digital Citizenship certificates can be printed in colour or black and white from the site and posters are available to order from the Netsafe Contact Centre.
Also, take time to install the Hector's World Safety Button on the computers used by students. Hector's World safety button is a button children can click on to cover the screen with a beautiful underwater scene if something on-screen upsets or worries them. Send home the parent newsletter provided on the site with information about the button for parents to install on home computers.
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