Fostering Digital Skills for Life aims for a future where children and young people are more routinely supported by their foster carers to safely access online opportunities. We have developed Fostering Digital Skills, a course that can be accessed as an online trainer-led experience or four self-directed eLearning modules that carers complete in their own time.
Foster carers engaging with this free to access course should have a better understanding of online risks and the confidence to support children and young people’s recovery online. As a result, care experienced young people should become independent digital citizens, ready to take advantage of the opportunities that being online can give them. The course is suitable for carers of children of any age, as we look at practical strategies to help you build digital resilience into your day-to-day practice. From younger children to teenagers, we’ll guide you through four modules that are based in the real-life experiences of foster carers and young people today.
Our approach is anchored in the Digital Resilience Framework and informed by the latest academic research in this area. The framework provides a structure for the discussion and exploration of opportunities and issues that are specific to fostering and the lives of care experienced young people. We have co-created and refined the content in consultation with care experienced young people and foster carers across the UK.
This project is led in collaboration by The Fostering Network with Internet Matters and the university of East Anglia. The project is funded by Nominet as part of a large-scale UK wide programme, REACH, which aims to improve the online safety of the 65,000 young people in foster care in the UK by building their digital resilience and reducing their vulnerability online.
To discuss commissioning this training course for your service, contact learn@fostering.net
If you prefer to work through the course in your own time, you can do so using the self-directed eLearning modules. Please follow the link here.
The content of this course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service.
