Hector’s World^® has just gone into hyperspace with the development of the magical, animated community of Silicon Deep.  Here, Hector and his friends learn about ICT (information and communication technology) and how to become confident and responsible digital citizens.  You will find ‘venues’ like the Town Hall and the Music Club, which we will continue to fill with fun and challenging content.  The growth of this world, and the range of educational content it holds, is limited only by our imaginations and our funding!

Safer Internet Day 2010
February 9th is international Safer Internet Day. To celebrate, Hector’s World will launch new animated website tours on February 9th.  The 10 minute guided tours will give children a fun overview of website activities, with special versions for parents and educators to help them promote digital citizenship and safe online behavior. Click here to find out more about Safer Internet Day how you can make the most of this learning opportunity in your school.

New Content
The latest addition to Hector’s World is a set of cyberbullying resources designed to help younger children understand what cyberbullying is, and that help is available for those who have been targeted.  The materials also offer important messages to bystanders about how to support someone who has been victimised and the importance of bringing this often hidden problem to light where it can be resolved in a caring way.
The new resources include:

• an interactive animated episode (in the Episodes Theatre in Silicon Deep East www.hectorsworld.com)
• a music video (in the Episodes Theatre in Silicon Deep East www.hectorsworld.com)
• a song (in the Music Club in Silicon Deep East and Resources and Activities page on Information Island)
• colourful song sheets (in the Music Club in Silicon Deep East and Resources and Activities page on Information Island)
• teacher lesson plans for three different age groups (in the Resources and Activities page on Information Island).

Here are some special aspects of Hector’s World worth noting:

• Our target age group is 2-9, but the key ages are probably 5-8. We will soon have a special section for teachers working in the early childhood sector.  We will also later this year have suggestions for teachers of older students – different ways their students can study HW (and get the benefit of the messages too). 
• HW learning objectives are ideal for cross-curricular work.  As we design new content, we look for opportunities to tick more than one learning objective.  For example, activities may tick: online safety + literacy, digital literacy + numeracy + science, or information literacy + reading + citizenship, etc. 
• Our partners in New Zealand are the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Police. The Police Youth Education Service has integrated Hector’s World into their excellent Junior Primary Keeping Ourselves Safe Programme.  Hector’s World is also being used by a growing number of overseas countries.
• The Hector’s World website works well with children using a standalone computer, working in a computer suite, or using an interactive whiteboard. Thus Hector’s World should be appropriate for any classroom with reliable broadband. 
• The HW website can also be used by students in unstructured class time and in school libraries.  You can give them tasks in the site, almost like a treasure hunt, and they’ll learn as they play. 

We welcome your ideas, and inspirations for future development, and would love to hear how you are using HW in your classroom– please send to feedback@hectorsworld.co.nz .

Hector’s World will grow as fast as we can build it. We’ll try to highlight new content so you don’t miss it.