Will my information be secure on mylearningni?
Mylearningni has a privacy policy that we would encourage you to read before you get started; all your information is password protected and you decide whom or what people see. However, whilst mylearningni welcomes and actively encourages you to share information through the online communities, blogs and forums it reserves the right to remove any post or comments it deems obscene, libellous or defamatory.
How can I be sure that my personal details will be protected when I’m online?
Protecting our identity online is one of the areas that concern us all when using the Internet. To reduce the risk of something bad happening always install anti-virus and other malware software – new computers often come with trial versions installed. However, software programs can only go so far. Always use strong passwords which include a mixture of letters, numbers and possibly special characters.
It is also useful to be aware of the shape threats can come in. For instance, most people will be aware of the dangers of spam and will be able to recognise such messages. However phishing emails are more difficult to identify, as they appear to be genuine messages from your financial institution, but are not! They are just fakes; they want to steal your data!
To help you get started read Get Safe Online or find out more on the Ofcom website.
How can I be sure that my children will be safe when they go online?
This is always a challenge in todays environment, but you can help by becoming more media literate yourself so you are aware of the potential problems and how they can be addressed. There are many sources online to help you, read Think U Know, BBC - Safe Surfing, Parents Centre to help you get started.
What is spam?
You need to be aware that a lot of what you read online may not be what you think it is. Advertisements that appear real may actually be fake and used for fraudulent purposes. Spam filters on email accounts etc can help you remove the bulk of these however your discretion is also very important and that’s where a good level of media literacy is important.
What about Copyright?
A lot of people using the internet think that images and content are free to copy and use because it is free to access the information and easy to copy. There are a lot of laws protecting what people publish online and users must be aware of what the can and cannot take and use. When posting to a blog and using an image taken from Google Images for example, a user must ensure they have consent from the image owner to do so. The same applies to any narrative from a website.
There is a lot of content that can be used freely under the 'Creative Commons' license. An example of a site providing free images for public use would be StockXchange.
What are my legal responsibilities?
When using the web and particularly posting information online you must be aware that what you are doing has to remain within the law. Issues such as copyright, trademarks, IPR, libel, accessibility and data protection are just some of the things that you may need to be aware of when publishing online. Find out more on Website Law.
Can I access the Internet through other devices?
There are many ways that you can access online information such as a web browser on a laptop, phone, pda or sometimes via the red button on digital tv or a web tv box. You should be at least familiar of these other forms of access. Connectivity is also important as you should be aware that a mobile device can make use of wireless Internet and hotspots or even the facilities offered by internet cafes.
How to get more from the Internet?
Searching for a particular topic on Google or sending/receiving emails are simple forms of utilising the web. You can extend your participation further by contributing to forums and joining social networking sites right through to setting up and running your own blog or even building and publishing a full website. mylearningni aims to help you on this journey.
What should I know about searching the Internet?
You should understand that when you search for something on a search engine that the results returned have been generated using a number of criteria. Some of the results will be based upon the popularity of a site, the relevancy and also if the link has paid to improve their rankings.
You should also be aware that there are lots of different search engines and each will provide their own unique, if not similar, set of results.
Popular search engines:
Enjoy your learning experience!