Technology Reminders

By Tim Barlow, St Leonard’s College Director of Technology Innovation

Just as a routine health check can be beneficial, in our technology rich lives, it is also useful to remember some key technology tips.

Monitoring Your Child’s iPad Screen Time
‘Screen Time’ is a feature for iPads (& iPhones and Macs) that helps give us all a better understanding of the time we, and our children, spend on apps and websites, and on our devices overall. Parents can use Screen Time to access their child’s Activity Report right from their own iPad or iPhone to understand where their child spends their time and can manage and set technology limits for them. Learn more here.

Personal Security
Keeping your phone and other devices safe with good security practices is very important. Some free and simple steps you can take include:

• Locking all your devices, using a secure passphrase, pin or biometric (e.g. Face ID).
• Treating your phone like a wallet. Keep it secure by knowing where it is at all times.
• Keeping your devices updated. Turn on automatic updates, to regularly update your phone.
• Using secure and reputable apps. Ensure they come from the official app store. Remove apps you no longer require, or that ask for permission to access cameras and microphones where it is not required.

To learn more about cyber security, head to cyber.gov.au or esafety.gov.au

Phishing
As these are so common, and in an endeavour to continue to prepare our students for their future, we send phishing test emails to all staff and all Years 8 to 12 students as part of our cyber security education and awareness programs. Everyone should be on the lookout for these types of scams at all times …

Beware of phishing email (and call and message) warning signs.

Be vigilant if an unexpected email:

• Comes from an email address you are not familiar with.
• Invites you to click on a link or button within the message.
• Addresses you in a familiar tone or generic manner.
• Asks for personal or financial information.
• Urges you to take action, such as changing your password.
• Informs you that you have won something.

Always remember:

• Never open or download phishing email attachments.
• Check where a link will take you by hovering your cursor over it.
• Never click or tap on suspicious links or buttons in such messages.

Ergonomic Reminder
Poor ergonomics can lead to fatigue, bad posture, or you may even suffer from a musculoskeletal disorder. Fortunately, the main factors affecting posture and ergonomics are completely within one’s ability to control and are not difficult to change.

These tips may help you avoid the effects of poor ergonomics:

• Watch your head position and try to keep the weight of your head directly above its base of support (neck). Don’t “crane” your head and neck forward.
• Don’t be a slouch! Slouching puts more pressure on the discs and vertebrae of your back. Move your chair close to your work to avoid leaning and reaching.
• Avoid eye strain by making sure that your screen is not too close, it should be at least an arm’s length away.
• Take steps to control screen glare, and make sure that the monitor is not placed in front of a window or a bright background.
• Rest your eyes periodically for several seconds by looking at objects at a distance to give your eyes a break.
• Take regular breaks, stand up and move around.

Back Up
We have all heard a story of someone losing significant data due to a hard drive failure.

It is important to regularly back up, or make extra copies, of any important data you have stored on your personal computing equipment. In fact, for very special data it is recommended that you make multiple backup copies!