Hector's World™ - New Zealand's animated cybersafety education for 2-10 year olds
Young children (ages 2-10 years) can be very adept at independently navigating the internet, using mobile phones and other information communication technology (ICT). Their young age means they have difficulty understanding risk and protecting themselves from harm, yet often their online activity is unsupervised. In this connected world, such cybersafety education now needs to be considered fundamental child safety instruction, alongside road and water safety.
Engaging children in cybercitizenship education from the very first time they use the ICT, is key to ensuring that children's online lives stay safe, secure and happy.
Hector's World™ is a visually stunning animated education program which uses entertainment to provide younger children with the fundamental building blocks of cybercitizenship.
Click on the image above to check out the underwater world of Silicon Deep where the bottlenose dolphin Hector Protector™ and his friends help children learn about staying safe online.
Hector's World™ education uses digital technologies to offer engaging characters children can bond with and use as positive online role models. These characters, including the bottlenose dolphin Hector Protector™, encounter situations online that are often complex and which need to be carefully thought through. Children can then pattern their behavior on our characters’ critical thinking, group problem solving, and consultation with parents and other trusted adults, while they increase their own safety knowledge and skills.
Hector’s World™ content includes:
• The Hector’s World Safety Button™ is a free download that empowers children to deal with unwanted content online. There are Windows 2000, XP and Vista button versions, and soon Mac OS10. With the XP version, there are also character, language and accessibility options.
• At www.hectorsworld.com you can find five cybersafety episodes about personal information online, funded by Microsoft NZ and the New Zealand Government’s Digital Strategy. Future episode topics include computer security, cyberbullying, intellectual property and safe surfing.
• There are also puzzles, colour-in books, ‘discussion points’ for parents and sample lesson plans for teachers.
• We also have an online Teachers’ Forum where teachers from many countries can exchange ideas on creative ways to use Hector’s World resources.
