Be Internet Awesome is Google‘s free multifaceted program designed to teach kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and online safety and has been officially launched in the Philippines this month.
Implemented as a pilot run of the program together with the Department of Education (DepEd), Google tested and gathered feedback from participants in more than twenty (20) schools across Antipolo, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, and Nueva Ecija. Over 50 teachers and a total of 2,014 students from Grades 4 to 8 were taught about the lessons of Be Internet Awesome.
This program focuses on five (05) important topics: how to be smart, alert, strong, kind, and brave on the internet. It contains several teaching materials and related resources that can help teach digital literacy concepts to children with the help of teachers and parents.
“The internet is a crucial part of everyday life. For kids and students, it opens up many opportunities to play, learn, and connect. However, it also exposes them to risks that adults face too. With Be Internet Awesome, we hope to help parents and educators in promoting and teaching digital responsibility inside and outside of the classroom — to raise the next generation of netizens who’s more smart, alert, strong, kind, and brave online. We will continue to work closely with the Department of Education and other partners from across sectors to bring Be Internet Awesome to more students and communities nationwide,” according to Bernadette Nacario, Country Director of Google Philippines.
The results of the pilot run were encouraging. The students gave a high rating between 90% and 94% across key attributes of Be Internet Awesome. They said that it helped them learn valuable internet safety tips and it is essential for them to learn it in the digital age. Meanwhile, the teachers found the content highly relevant and said that they have more ideas to further build it.
“Educating students about digital responsibility is imperative and using Google’s Be Internet Awesome is an effective way to do this. We’d like to thank Google for launching an important program that will equip our teachers and parents with the accessible resources they need to teach digital citizenship. Coming from the success of the pilot run, this program holds great potential to educate more students nationwide. The Department of Education will continue to work closely with Google to potentially integrate Be Internet Awesome into the national curriculum so it can be formally taught in the classroom,” said Leonor Magtolis Briones, Secretary of the Department of Education.
At present, Be Internet Awesome’s website in the Philippines is available in English and Filipino.