News

23/04/2008

O2 joins ICT industry alliance to launch TeachToday initiative

Fourteen leading mobile operators, mobile content, social networking companies and internet providers have colloborated to launch www.TeachToday.eu, a website designed to help teachers encourage children to use the internet and mobile technology responsibly and safely. This is the first time such a significant number of major businesses have worked together to address this complex issue. 
 
Available in English, Czech, French, German, Italian and Spanish, TeachToday provides teachers with a wealth of information. This includes lesson plans, case studies, reporting procedures, as well as outline policies which are designed to keep them abreast of the changes in communication technology. The website facilitates teachers to guide their pupils to take advantage of the opportunities and avoid the risks of new technology.
 
 “New technologies bring huge benefits to children and young people, but issues such as online safety, cyber-bullying, and privacy are of major concern,” states Marc Durando, Executive Director of European Schoolnet. “Teachers are telling us they want to have the know-how to deal with these issues in the classroom – and TeachToday will help them to make sense of technology.”
 
The industry consortium worked closely with European Schoolnet, a network of 28 Ministries of Education across Europe, to create the materials and ensure that teachers were consulted throughout the development of the site.
 
Marc Durando comments, “This collaboration between technology companies and educators shows we are all determined to make sure that teachers have the latest advice on how to promote safe and responsible use of new technologies.”

Carlos Lopez Blanco, Director, International Office, Telefónica added, "At Telefónica, we tailor our social actions as closely as possible to our business strategy.  We want Telefónica's activities to drive progress and improvements in people's lives.  So, when it comes to protecting children and young people we take this seriously by giving them the guidance and information they need to use technology responsibly".  
 
Participating companies are AOL, BEBO, Buongiorno, Deutsche Telekom /T-Mobile, Facebook, Google, GSMA Europe, Microsoft, MySpace, Orange, 02/Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Vodafone and Yahoo! Europe. 
 
The website is online at www.teachtoday.eu.

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