Joining in

If you’ve never taken part in a Net Detectives activity it can seem a bit daunting at first but don’t let this put you off. Many teachers have taken the plunge and discovered that it is a unique and valuable experience.

Net Detectives is an activity that takes place in real time on a specific date. The usual timing is one and a half hours, starting at 9.30am and finishing at 11am.

Each Net Detectives event is a scenario in which your pupils take on the role of a senior officer. During the activity they receive a series of messages at roughly five minute intervals. Each message gives a little more information as a story unfolds. The story will be one of several available which include crimes, road accidents, antisocial behaviour, etc.

What makes Net Detectives so valuable is that during the activity your children can send questions or suggestions to a control room which is manned by real police officers and other relevant experts. This means your children are working with real officers and they gain insights into police work and build positive attitudes. If you’re also able to involve your local police officer you’ll find that their relationship with your class and school is strengthened through the common experience.

How it works

Net Detectives activities take place on the Internet. You can use any computer that is connected to the Internet.

The screen is split into two halves as you can see here.

On the left is the inbox where messages are received and sent. This is like email and your pupils are in contact with the officers in the control room.

On the right is the “Global Messages” area where all the questions sent by all the children taking part can be seen, together with the answers they receive from the control room. This is like an open forum and your children will see that they are part of a wider activity which involves many schools.

Net Detectives in your classroom

We don’t tell you how to run a Net Detectives activity. That is left entirely under your control. Teachers have used many different approaches and all work satisfactorily. They include:

• The whole class working at tables with one computer used for incoming and outgoing messages. This is best if the computer can be projected onto a large screen.
• Groups of children working at tables with access to a small bank of computers which they use to send and receive messages.
• Groups of children seated at computers in a computer suite.

We do not recommend children taking part as individuals because they then miss out on the benefits of collaboration and discussion.

Make sure that you are well briefed by reading the teachers’ support materials for the activity.
Also make sure that the children are briefed by going through the students’ briefing with them and looking at the map and any other materials that are part of the activity.

It is also an excellent opportunity to invite your local police officer and also parents, governors, etc. to join in.

We do recommend that you stop the children from time to time (e.g. when messages arrive) and discuss with them what is known, what might happen next etc. This keeps them on task and shares information.

We recommend that you do not allow the children to sit unsupervised at computers, firing off messages to the control room. This overloads the control room and leads to frustration on both sides.

Look out for messages to all groups from the Control Room. These appear in orange and contain feedback about how the event is going.

Note that school and team names appear with every message so in the case of inappropriate or abusive language, we can make sure it doesn’t appear in the global messages and can also let you know. This is a valuable safeguard for both you and us.

The main thing is to enjoy the experience. This is a live event and invariably captures children’s imagination and leads to a valuable and rewarding experience.