Today, Tuesday, February 8, the Safer Internet Day is dedicated to a safe and conscientious use of the Internet. In Italy, events will be coordinated by Generazioni Connesse, which is currently celebrating its tenth year of activity. The Fondazione Mondo Digitale is a member of the consulting committee.
Activities include the field trip to Pisa with CodyTrip and the appointments dedicated to the Safer Internet Day by various projects. Be Internet Awesome will also involve parents [see news]. A Health4U webinar will address gambling and gaming addiction [see news: On-line Addiction], while Rising Youth will explore techniques for predictive data modelling [see news: Future Scenarios].
Project Trust aWARE is currently conducting research to identify how citizens use their devices and the Internet, what measures they adopt to safeguard their privacy, their understanding of on-line risks and their main educational needs. On February 7-9, discussion groups by project partners will address youth, adults and elders.
Project Smart & Heart Rome will hold various labs with FMD experts in the Innovation Gyms of Tor Bella Monaca, Casal Monastero and Ostia: a fab lab and robotics lab at IC Poppea Sabina, digital storytelling at IC Melissa Bassi and digital manufacturing and rapid prototyping at IIS Carlo Urbani.
In particular, a cycle of labs will kick off today involving IC Melissa Bassi primary and first-degree secondary school students in introductory activities for digital manufacturing and digital storytelling with Coach Matteo Viscogliosi.
Project OpenSPACE will hold labs in the Innovation Gyms organised in suburban schools in Milan, Bari, Reggio Calabria and Palermo. In particular, there will be a video lab at ICS Madre Teresa di Calcutta in Milan, a robotics lab at ICS Sperone-Pertini in Palermo and ICS Grimaldi Lombardi in Bari, and a fab lab at IC B. Telesio in Reggio Calabria.
Project Social Hosting Hub will introduce children to emotions on-line with FavolApp, a lab organised in collaboration with USR Toscana, while older children will address the topic of on-line reputation.
At 9:30, the day will open with a lab on “Educating to Diversity” in which stories and nursery rhymes will be used to help children recognise stereotypes and understand that the words and language that one uses is important to develop our relations with others. Together with Coach Federica Boniolo, the children will learn to recognise their emotions as well as those of their friends and relatives by playing with FavolApp, an app developed by the project. By interpreting the feelings of characters such as Snow White and the seven dwarves, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Pinocchio, the children learn to identify fear, anger, sadness, happiness or joy, disgust and surprise. In recognising similarities and differences between moods, they learn to express how they feel, but also to understand how others feel, both in reality and on-line.
From 4:00 to 5:30, there will be a lab on Safe Surfing for students in second-degree secondary school, held in collaboration with the City of Rome. The meeting will introduce students to the basic concepts and principles necessary to use the Internet safely and responsibly. Simple rules and advice to surf conscientiously, without risks, exploiting the potential of the web and enjoying its positive aspects. The final part of the meeting will feature a short debate session on how digital reputation may condition our public life becoming, for example, a decisive element in our search for employment. Second-degree secondary school students from Rome will conduct the session together with Coach Valentina Guerrera.
