Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Part A: Setting The Scene

20 minutes

Part B: What Do You Do?

20 minutes

Part C: What’s The Harm In That?

10 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions:

Students will:

become aware of how risks encountered online can flow into everyday life
understand that the internet is a useful tool, but must be used with care.

Success criteria:

Students can:

interpret data and reflect on statistics
identify appropriate ways of sharing information online.

Part A: Setting the scene

Safety first: Introduce the Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues Factsheet. Review this document together and take time to clarify anything.

Step 1

Explain to students that you’re going to perform a little experiment. You will need four volunteers.

Give the first volunteer an atlas
Give the second volunteer an internet-enabled device
Give the other two volunteers a stopwatch or timer and assign them to time either volunteer 1 or volunteer 2 in the activity.

Ask both volunteer 1 and 2 to find a map of Japan and say "Go!". Have the two students with the stopwatches time how long it takes each volunteer to find the map.

Step 2

No doubt, it was quicker using the internet. Explain to students that the internet has made our daily tasks quicker, easier and more accessible. It’s also a great place to share things and keep in touch with friends.

Step 3

Display the infographic Australian digital teens: Time online and activities from the eSafety Commissioner.

Ask students if any of the information surprises them. You can also encourage them to chat about what their favourite sites on the internet are. The aim is to build a conversational and comfortable tone and to promote a sense of trust and engagement that will be required throughout this lesson and the others within this unit.

Part B: What do you do?

Step 1

Ask students to consider how many times in a standard day they might interact with someone they don’t know very well, face to face or in person. It might be someone in a shop or a student in another class at school. Make an estimate of how many strangers or acquaintances they might encounter in a day.

Step 2

Hand out the Student Worksheet and direct students to the 'My Digital Day' record table.

Explain that this is a chance to consider what you feel comfortable sharing with people you don’t know well online compared with people you don't know well face to face.

Students will need to keep track of their online activity that day, answering each prompt.

Choose whether to complete the worksheet now, as an estimation/average or ask students to continue working on it throughout a whole day, filling it out as they need.

Step 3

Compare how many people students think they interact with online versus in person. Discuss whether this surprises them.

Note: The timing of this step will depend on how you choose to run the My Digital Day record keeping.

Part C: What’s the harm in that?

Step 1

Pose the question "What would you be happy to share about yourself with people you meet in person that you don't know very well? Why?" Ask students to Think Pair Share their responses. They can use the Student Worksheet to record their answers.

Extension opportunity: Invite students to consider: "How does this compare with what you share with people you meet online?"

Step 2

Start this activity by letting students know that what they’re going to watch next might seem a bit embarrassing or awkward to think about - especially with their teacher in the room - but it’s really important to know about it.

Safety first: Remind students who they can talk to about this (e.g. teacher after class, wellbeing, helplines on the Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues Factsheet, etc.) and encourage them to talk to parents/a trusted adult if they need to.

Note: We highly recommend you view this video before playing it to the class so you can anticipate any reactions or questions that might arise.

Step 3

Play this video:

NSPCC: I saw your willy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1n9Jly3CQ8)

After viewing, emphasise the point that even though Alex didn’t share his picture with a stranger, there are lots of ways that what you share with someone can make its way out of your control.

Step 4

Use these See Think Wonder questions to allow students to safely discuss the content in the video:

What did you see in this video?
What do you think about what happened to the boy in the story?
What are you left wondering about?

Note: To unpack this video further, use the lesson, Express Yourself Safely.

Step 5

Invite students to complete the Risky Social Media Bingo Board on the Student Worksheet.

Here are some key terms to help:

Followers - a person/account that asks you to follow or 'friend' your profile/account
Usernames - a tag or identifier that you use - like a name, but for the internet/social media
Online public interactions - commenting or reacting to posts, chatting in forums, blogs, etc.
Identifiable features - name, address or suburb, school uniform, age, date of birth, etc.
Check-ins - using social media to show where you are or what event you are attending in real time
Online private interactions - instant messaging, in-game chat (verbal or written), video chat, Snapchats, etc.
Privacy settings - application or online platform settings that allow you to choose who can see your online activity or personal information.

Students will learn more about many of these concepts in Cleaning Up.

Note: If you notice students selecting any boxes of concern (such as 'Interactions with people you know that make you feel icky') encourage them to talk about this with a trusted adult. Remember, this person may not be you or their parent or caregiver.

Reflection

Invite students to complete the following questions on the Student Worksheet:

Have you ever thought about internet safety before?
Do you think you're using the internet safely?
What would you like to learn more about?
Any other thoughts?

Take It Home

Students are to take home their copies of the My Digital Day activity and Risky Social Media Bingo Board (both on the Student Worksheet). Alternatively, you could photograph/scan them and send them to their parents/caregivers via Seesaw or whichever digital learning/communication system (or LMS) your school uses. This way, you can be sure that all parents/caregivers will see them. Parents/caregivers should also be encouraged to watch the I saw your willy video. This video will also be used in a later lesson, Express Yourself Safely.

Students should discuss their digital usage with their parents/caregivers and identify any areas of risk. The rest of the activities in this unit will help guide them through the process of mitigating or avoiding these risks. This step is about opening up the conversation at home. Find tips for parents/caregivers on this lesson in the Take It Home Resource Pack.

Differentiated Learning

Extension

Some students might want an opportunity to think more about the people they interact with online or face to face. You could give them this reflection task:
- Think about someone you have chatted to online. What do you really know about them? What do they know about you? Do the same with someone you know in person. Do you know more or less information about either person? Does either person know more or less about you?
Some students might want to explore the motives or feelings behind the characters in the 'I saw your willy' video. You might like to provide these students with one of the following reflection tasks:
- Draw a picture of a human body. Think about one of the characters from the 'I saw your willy' video. Give them a name. Draw some thought bubbles around the head and write what they might be thinking. Use colour to show how this person might be feeling in the different parts of their body, e.g. red cheeks might mean they feel embarrassed, an orange swirl on the stomach might mean they feel angry.
- Write the conversation that the boy had with his parent or caregiver when he got home after everyone saw his willy picture. What could a parent or caregiver say to make the boy feel better? What might the boy want to share with his parent or caregiver?
- Write a letter to the boy whose willy was shared with everyone, apologising for sharing his picture. Explain that you know it hurt his feelings and suggest something you could do to make him feel better.

Provisions for Learning Support

Consider that there may be students in your classroom who have had uncomfortable experiences related to the content in this lesson. Monitor students for their reactions and if you are aware of any students facing these issues, consider asking them if they want to be included or excluded from the lesson.
Understand that not all students will feel comfortable discussing this content with peers, teachers or parents/caregivers. Allow these students opportunities to reflect on their own and maybe journal about their thoughts or feelings through writing, audio or video.

eSafety for Kids - Know the Internet

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