Monthly Archive for January, 2010

Safer Internet Day 2010

Published on 25 January 2010 in E-Safety and Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service. 0 Comments

Tuesday 9th February is Safer Internet Day 2010. The main objective of Safer Internet Day is to bring together relevant public and private stakeholders, in as many countries as possible, to raise awareness about safe and responsible use of new technologies especially among children and young people.

With so many of our own colleagues working with young people on a daily basis, this is a great opportunity to promote Safer Internet Day and its wider cause, in the aim of making Merseyside a safer, stronger and healthier community.

In preparation I have sent out an online survey to all MF&RS staff to ask them what they want to mark the event, whether it be a presentation, a booklet to take away, or simply a Q&A session. The purpose of this is to avoid spending a large amount of time organising a session which only three or four people turn up to.

In being able to customise a resource, I can make sure our staff receive the exact information that they want and need. This will spread the message to a wider range of people, helping to safeguard children and young people online.

The Samsung Q1’s… so far!

Published on 22 January 2010 in Emerging Technology, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Projects and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

We have now had the Samsung Q1 Ultra Device for a couple of days and had time to get to grips with them. Several pros and cons have arisen in this time.

Pros

My first impressions are that they are great for activities such as video diaries or capturing a discussion.

The option of either using the front or back camera is extremely useful, especially in combination with the preview screen which allows you to see exactly what it is you are filming. The microphone is sufficient to pick up a conversation.

The size of the device is respectable; whilst still portable the screen is big enough to see what you are doing which out having to squint.

The option of using either the mouse function or the Stylus Pen is also effective as it allows the user to select either option dependant on what they are doing; different functions lend themselves better to the different options.

Cons

When filming, any fast movement makes the footage distorted and blurred. Although the lens focuses quite quickly on a subject, it is much more effective for slow moving or still action.

Upon first use and without a helping hand the devices are not the easiest devices to operate, however once you get used to the functions it is quite straight forward. The mass of buttons of fascia can appear quite confusing and until you learn what each one does it is luck if you can right click or change the screen brightness! So much so, I have created my own ‘Quick Guide’ to hand out to those using the devices!

For anything more than short filming the device is very slow and hard to operate. I would not use it for word processing or web browsing. I found it is best to pull the footage off the device and then edit it using the PC or a laptop.

When our Prince’s Trust Team took the device out to a team building day, the device froze and crashed several times, we suspect this may be due to the cold weather.

I am still yet to connect the device to internet so have not had chance to test the speed of uploading footage straight to a blog or internet site; something which I will be interested in doing.

Conclusion

First impressions are good, despite a couple of drawbacks, the device appear to be perfect for creating video diaries and capturing indoor group activities. Depending on the ease of uploading footage to the web, these may be ideal for what we want to achieve with the Prince’s Trust students.

The next couple of weeks will really test the devices as we start to get more footage and create PodCasts.

Lights, camera, action….

Published on 19 January 2010 in Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

Today saw the first test for the Samsung Q1 Ultra. Using the handheld device myself and the Huyton Prince’s Trust staff took some footage of the new team that started yesterday.

We were quite impressed at what the device have to offer, having a front and rear camera, however we found that it does not react will to fast moving subjects, so we had to ask the Team to try and be as still as possible when being filmed and limit their hand movements!

Once we have got used to using the devices and the footage starts coming in I believe we will be able to produce some excellent podcasts.

MF&RS on Facebook

Published on 19 January 2010 in Facebook, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Social Media and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

Following the meeting with Steve Haw from Formby, I met with the Publicity Officer, Communications Officer, New Media Manager and ICT Infrastructure Manager about using Facebook within MF&RS.

Straight away we were informed that allowing every station access to Facebook regularly would not be possible at this time, this is due to the large amount of bandwidth Facebook takes up due to the media content (videos / photos / applications, etc), this may have a detrimental effect on other core functions that requires bandwidth. This however is subject to change in the future, opening up new opportunities.

For the time being, we discussed opening up a Facebook Page for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. The page would inform the public about news and events, as well as issue safety advice and useful contact details. It would also enable the public to ask the questions directly and receive a personal response.

Before setting up the group, a Social Media Policy must be in place to safeguard and inform staff on the correct procedures.

Social Media Stations

Published on 13 January 2010 in Facebook, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service and Social Media. 0 Comments

Yesterday I went to visit Formby Community Fire Station where I was met by Steve Haw and his team.

Like a lot of people Steve has noticed how Facebook has evolved and become extremely popular, not just for personal use, but also professional. He wants to get on board and take advantage of Facebook whilst it is free and so popular.

Together with the Fire Fighters on duty we had a discussion about how Facebook could be utilised to MF&RS advantage. We agreed that each station should have its own Facebook public page. This would allow members of the public with Facebook profiles to ‘become a fan’ of their local station. On the page the Fire Fighters would keep the public updated with news, events, what is going on in the area, promotion for community events such as car washes, along with a number of others things.

The information that can be put onto the page is endless from competitions to contact details for a range of service. The opportunities that could be created from utilising this service are numerous, such as allowing the community to ask location specific questions to the Fire Service and allowing each station to provide its own response. Not only this but it would allow the station to communicate with other local businesses improving relationships and service for the public.

I could conduct research on whether this would work or not for the next year, however the only real way we can find out is to ‘just do it!!’

As Steve rightly stated, this is the time to do it while Facebook is so popular and free!

Formby Fire Station

CYP Online Advisory Board

Published on 7 January 2010 in Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

An idea which I find extremely appealing is the launch of a Children and Young Persons Advisory Board. This board would be made of selected current and past participants on the Youth Engagement Programmes run by MF&RS, such as Prince’s Trust and Beacon). They would not only moderate and advise on the content of our online space (i.e. Facebook) but would also offer advice, information and answer queries that are sent in.

Having been through or currently completing the program, it is their point of view that is most valuable, knowing what will appeal to other people in a similar situations to them and to highlight how the programmes have effected them personally.

This is something I would like to look into in more detail and speak one to one with the young people about what they think.

Happy New Year!

Published on 4 January 2010 in E-Safety and Social Media. 0 Comments

2010 has arrived and with it a large amount of children and young people are online!

Christmas brought presents and this year among the most popular presents were net-books, laptops, games consoles and mobile phone; all giving their owner access the world wide web.

Children as young as 5 have been given netbooks from Father Christas, allowing them to borwse the web anywhere they want at any time they want; in their bedrooms, at their friends house, in the shopping centre… the list goes on.

Although I believe that it is excellent that young people are becoming familiar and confident using technology to enhance their lives, I am worried about the lack of knowledge parents have surrounding e-safety and just how accessible the Internet is.

As we approach Safer Internet Day in Febuary I aim to find out what parents know, what they want to know and what they should know. Breaking down the knowledge barriers between adults and young people will help both sides understand why the other is so interested in what they are doing and increase safety starting from a young age.