Useful bits and interesting bobs, No. 8
In a vain attempt to prove that I'm not a total luddite, this week I'm looking at two aspects of technology I really do find useful: hot keys and AI...
Last week I laid into smartphones and social media, because I think that they’re bad for our children and young people (read that here).
But whilst I’m naturally a bit of a tech-sceptic, I do recognise that not all technology is bad. So this week I’m looking at two tech related things that I find useful in my job: hot keys and AI. Apologies to anyone that is actually properly good with IT, because you will find all of this info embarrassingly obvious (and I’m afraid I’m also probably about to use all the wrong words and generally sound like a little old granny trying to operate the VCR). If you are one of those people - especially if you’re using AI better than I am - and you have helpful advice about how I can do this, then please please get in touch!
COOL THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH HOT KEYS
Whatever the exact nature of your role, if you’re a DSL I’m guessing you spend a decent amount of time working on a laptop or desktop. Hot keys are those buttons you can press to do stuff a bit quicker than if you do the same thing with the mouse cursor. Every time I learn one it makes me happy for a few days, because just occasionally I feel a bit busy in my job, so anything that helps me to go faster is much appreciated.
ctrl C, X and V
In the unlikely event that there’s anyone that still doesn’t know about copy, cut and paste, then you are about to have your mind blown. Just select the text you want to copy (ctrl C) or cut (ctrl X) and go to where you want it to be, and then paste (ctrl V). Must save me hours every year copying and pasting emails to social workers onto myconcern and vice versa.
ctrl + and -
I’m pretty sure I’ve knackered my eyes through too much squinting at small text on screens. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if I’d known that you can just hold down ctrl + or ctrl - and the text will instantly get bigger or smaller. Really helpful with emails that seem to come up in ridiculously small writing, and on myconcern (where on some screens you need to have the text quite small to be able to press all of the buttons or tabs etc).
ctrl F
Looking through a document for a specific word? Press Ctrl F and then you can go straight to it. Also works on web pages and quite wonderfully on myconcern chronologies. Want to check if that 137 page chronology contains any references to ‘drugs’ or a guy called ‘Steve’? Will take you two seconds now.
Windows L
You are supposed to lock your screen all of the time. It is a pain. But if you just hold the windows button (four little windows, probably in the bottom left hand corner) and press the L key it will lock your screen.
Open window in a new tab
When I’m navigating around myconcern or scholarpack, when I click on something it will generally open in the same tab (ie the new page comes up over the one I was on). So if I’m sorting a concern and want to check something from the main chronology, I’ve got to go there, and then go back (and I find the back button is usually slow and sometimes just downright uncooperative). I’ve now discovered that if you hold down ctrl when you click on a link, it will open in a new tab, leaving the page you were on still there for you to go straight back to. This has changed my life.
COOL THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH AI
There’s people out there saying that AI is going to save the world. There’s people out there saying it’s going to be the end of the world. I downloaded ChatGPT and so far I’ve discovered it’s just quite useful sometimes. But it is useful. If you’re not aboard the AI train, my advice would be to just download one of the apps (I went for ChatGPT because I think it’s the most widely used, but there are others) and just play around with it. [Quick note, I still don’t really understand AI, so I wouldn’t trust it completely and definitely wouldn’t use it to process anything GDPR sensitive, and I gather it’s not good for the environment]. But putting those reservations aside, here’s what I’ve discovered…
You can ask AI lots of things
Basically, you can ask ChatGPT safeguarding related questions and - at least I think this is how it works - it will then scan the internet and generate answers assembled from all of the info out there (so it’s answers are only as good as the info online, but it can still be useful). I asked ChatGPT the following question:
“What can you tell me about FGM in Senegal? How high risk is it, and are there certain parts of the country or certain ethnic or cultural groups that are more at risk?”
Here’s the answer it generated for me (NB I’ve tried to fact check this info briefly and it seems reasonable, but please still don’t quote me on it!).
In Senegal, the situation with FGM is complex: while the national prevalence is lower than in some neighboring countries, it remains very high in specific ethnic and regional communities, making risk assessment highly dependent on family background.
Prevalence of FGM in Senegal:
National average: Around 25% of women aged 15–49 have undergone FGM.
But this masks dramatic variation by ethnic group and region.
FGM has been illegal since 1999, but enforcement is uneven, especially in rural areas.
Key Risk Factors:
1. Ethnic Groups:
High prevalence among:
Mandinka
Soninke (Serahule)
Poular/Fula (Peulh)
Diola (Jola) in the south
Low or negligible prevalence among:
Wolof
Serer (many of whom actively oppose FGM)
So ethnicity is a critical determinant of risk.
2. Regions:
Southern and eastern regions (e.g. Kolda, Tambacounda, and Sédhiou) have much higher prevalence.
Dakar and central areas tend to have lower rates.
3. Religion:
Senegal is ~95% Muslim, but as in many other countries, FGM is not religiously required.
It is often culturally, not religiously, motivated.
4. Age and Timing:
FGM typically occurs between infancy and age 10, though ages vary by group.
Sometimes linked to initiation rites or preparation for marriage.
5. Legal Status:
Illegal since 1999.
Advocacy has reduced the national rate slowly, but social pressure remains strong in some communities.
Some families take girls to neighboring countries (like The Gambia or Mali) to avoid the ban.
In the UK Context:
A Senegalese-background girl’s risk depends on ethnicity, family beliefs, and ties to rural communities.
If her family is Mandinka, Soninke, Fula, or Diola, she may be at significant risk, especially if:
There’s a tradition of FGM in the family.
Travel to Senegal (especially rural areas) is planned.
If the family is Wolof or Serer, the risk is much lower, but still not zero.
Summary:
Yes, a girl with Senegalese heritage can be at risk, but risk is very dependent on her family's ethnic and regional background. Strong safeguarding protocols are essential if her family comes from a high-risk group or practices FGM traditionally.
That’s just an example. I’ve personally found that now I basically spend less time trying to google stuff and looking at different websites, because ChatGPT just condenses and improves that information searching process for me.
You can also use AI to generate lots of things
This is the other way you can use AI. I’m not very good at it, but here are some examples…
I asked ChatGPT to write a short humorous story about a Designated Safeguarding Lead who is useless with technology and somehow manages to delete the entire internet, and it came up with this in less than two seconds.
I asked ChatGPT to come up with the text for a letter to send home to parents and carers of the children in our school about the dangers of letting their children use Snapchat. Here are the instant results.
I told ChatGPT I wanted to test the staff in our school on their understanding of Keeping Children Safe in Education Part One and it instantly generated me this ten question quiz.
I thought that quiz was too easy so I asked it for harder questions and it came straight back with this.
I asked ChatGPT to create an image of Father Christmas saying ‘Have a great holidays Class 3, and don’t forget everything Miss Lewis has taught you about staying safe online’. It takes a bit longer with images, but it came back with this…
And finally, I sometimes use NotebookLM, which I do just on the internet rather than on an app, and I think is a slightly different AI type of thing (stop me if I’m getting too technical). It is amazing for digesting big documents, collections of information or sets of data.
Let’s say that you want to know what’s in the Government’s 2017 Green Paper on ‘Transforming Youth Mental Health Provision’, but for some reason you’ve decided that you don’t want to read all 50 pages of it. Well you can upload it to NotebookLM and get it to generate a quick summary of it for you. Or better yet - and this still blows my tiny mind - get it to turn it into a podcast episode for you that you can listen to instead of read…
That’s all I’ve got. Like I said, if you’ve got other tech related tips for DSL’s please do send them my way.
As ever, thanks for reading, and if you know anyone else that might be interested in this blog then please do share it with them: you can just click below…