What is E-Safety?

A blog is an online journal, which is updated frequently or daily with posts that can be about any topic. They can be created by anyone, from large companies and websites, to small groups and individuals.

They are informal written pieces, sometimes containing multimedia content, and can contain personal opinion, feelings and views. They also generally allow readers and other bloggers to respond or reply to the post, in an open stream where conversations take place between the blogger and other commentators.

Blogging can be a great way to establish a positive digital identity, to promote your work and your skills, and even make money and network with other professionals in your field of expertise. However, you also need to be mindful of what information you're sharing, and how you're representing yourself.
 Bloggers can also attract negative individuals who write derogatory, hateful comments (for more on this, please see the Cyberbullying and Trolling entries).

To discover the basics of starting and writing a blog, please click here

To find out more about blogging safely, please click here

Digital citizenship is about how we conduct ourselves online, and how we respect and treat others within the digital (or online) community. It’s about the appropriate and responsible use of technology and digital tools when we speak to others online – on social media, or when commenting on posts on YouTube, Instagram or Reddit, or what we tweet or blog – and understanding the implications of our actions.

This interactive Storify article explores issues surrounding digital citizenship in more depth - click here

Yeovil College has a range of interactive resources, links and media to help you understand digital citizenship. Please click on the link in the Campus Drop Down Menu to visit our Digital Literacies pages.

Your digital identity is your online image. It’s created from all your profiles, activity and posts online, and can include anything from “likes” on Facebook, tweets and comments on Twitter and social media, news articles and blog posts and even web logs of sites visited.

Your digital identity can be seen by absolutely anyone and everyone – so it’s important to control what they see, how you present yourself and what you share with the world. Click here to watch a Common Sense Media introduction to digital footprints.

Yeovil College has a range of interactive resources, links and media to help you shape your Digital Identity. Please click on the link in the Campus Drop Down menu to visit our Digital Literacies pages.

Digital literacy is how knowledgeable and confident you are with using and understanding the Internet. From different types of software and website, to showcasing your creativity, networking and blogging, it encompasses a wide range of skills, including researching effectively, understanding copyright and plagiarism issues, and behaving appropriately.

Yeovil College has a range of interactive resources, links and media to help you shape your Digital Identity. Please click on the link in the Campus Drop Down menu to visit our Digital Literacies pages.

Massive Open Online Courses are a recent development in the educations sector. These open courses have been created for unlimited access via the internet. MOOCs incorporate a number of the traditional resource features of a course, including reading material, videos and assignments, as well as features such as online forums. The forum allows an online community for students and staff.

To find out more about MOOCs and online collaboration, explore our topic in the Digital Literacies section on Moodle - go to Campus in the Menu bar above to find it.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about making your website, blog, service or brand appear more prominent - i.e. to appear as early as possible, or achieve high ranking - in a search engine's general search results. The higher the web page appears on the list, and the more frequently it appears in search results, the higher the frequency of visitors it will receive.

SEO works by manipulating how search engines work to generate results, and the behaviour of users; for example what search terms they use, which search engines they might use, key words. Websites can then be edited and changed accordingly to allow them to appear more frequently and in a higher position. They can also be promoted to increase the number of backlinks or inbound links which will direct a user to the website. Results can be targeted by search type, location, media type, and more.

Sound complicated? It needn't be. You can use basic SEO techniques to improve and promote your digital identity, or to create a positive online presence.

To learn how, click Here