Lesson Plan: Grade 8 Digital Citizenship Pilot Program
I.
Project Overview:
Project
Title
Rationale
Target
Audience
Unit Time
Constraints
Format of
delivery
Project
Scope
Broad
Learning
Objectives
Big Picture
Curricular
Fits
Resources
&
Technology
Digital Citizenship Grade 8 Program
We live in an increasingly technological world where we are spending more and more
time online interacting with each other, sharing, creating, learning, communicating,
shopping, and accessing information. Young Canadians need help to become better
digital citizens of this digital world by exploring technology and taking risks in a safe
environment to learn about issues such as online privacy, safety, ethical relationships,
appropriate use of technology, cyberbullying, evaluating information, decoding online
advertising, etc.
A class of grade 8 students at the secondary level will pilot the program with the
direction of their teacher-librarian, and provide feedback for the possibility of extension
of the program to rest of grade 8’s next year
Five sessions, one hour each in the library computer lab (with possibility of extending
unit next year)
Teacher-Librarian lead workshops on digital citizenship with introduction PowerPoint or
activity, class discussion of topic & individual brainstorm, online interactive modules,
summary discussion & individual feedback (journal reflection or anonymous online
survey)
1. Introduction Lesson- What is Digital Citizenship, My Technology Inventory, vote
on modules, baseline survey
2. Interactive Module 1: Co-Co’s Choco Match (recognizing & decoding online
advertising)
3. Interactive Module 2: Instant Pigeon (online chatting simulation, ethical
relationships, stranger contact, cyberbullying)
4. Interactive Module 3: MyFace (mock Facebook profile, safety & privacy
management)
5. Conclusion Lesson- summary, reflection, & feedback (to improve program for
next year)
 Recognizing and Decoding Advertising
 Behaving Ethically Online
 Managing Safety and Privacy
 Critical-thinking and problem-solving skills
 Communication Skills
 Citizenship and Ethical Behaviour
 Information Literacy
 Technological Competence
 Internet or Digital Literacy
 Library Computer Lab (plus extra laptops to make full class set with backups)
 Up-to-date internet browser (ex: in my lab it only worked in Chrome)
 Have students bring their own headphones (have a few back up headsets for
those who forget or do not own headphones)
 Projector & speakers
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Final Vision
Project
Submission
II.
Microsoft PowerPoint & Word (to create teacher materials & student
handouts)
 Learn Now BC student accounts (access point to School District subscriptions &
resources)
 Passport to the Internet (paid license program through School District No 58 to
Media Smart`s Internet Literacy Program grades 4-8)
 Printer (to print passport as students complete each module)
 Fluid Survey or Survey Monkey account (tool to create online anonymous
surveys to gather feedback)
 Digital Citizenship Student Journals to keep unit materials & reflections over
several weeks
Lesson plans for a digital citizenship unit pilot program with learning objectives, student
handouts, PowerPoints, online survey questions, and student feedback worksheet.
These materials are intended for other librarians, grade 8 teachers, LIBE 477 instructor,
other 21st Century Teacher Coordinators at my school, and my school administrator (as
part of my 5 year growth plan)
Introduction Lesson
Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Lesson Plan:
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Student Introduction Activity: What is your favourite or most used technology device or app,
website, etc? Students and teacher write personal response on sticky note and one by one
introduce themselves to the class/librarian. Sticky notes go on chart paper posted in lab.
Discussion about the kinds of activities we engage with online.
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Introduction PowerPoint: What is Digital Citizenship?
Teacher Librarian discusses the definition, elements, and questions of digital citizenship with the
class.
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Pilot Group Feedback: Librarian does quick demo of Passport to the Internet program and
students vote on the top 3 modules they would like to do. The students chose MyFace (where
students will build mock Facebook profiles and learn about privacy management), Instant
Pigeon (where students will engage in a series of interactive online chats to learn about ethical
relationships online and dealing with stranger contact and cyberbullying), and Co-Co’s Choco
Match (where students will encounter online advertising and learn to read between the lines).
This will be the scope of my Final Vision for the pilot program. If the feedback on these modules
is positive, we could expand the program next year to include Study Spaces (where students
learn how to effectively search and evaluate the information they find online) and Web Café
(where students learn to recognize whether a Web site is relevant and appropriate).
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Student Activity: My Technology Inventory
Students brainstorm what devices, websites, apps, accounts, etc. that they use daily and record
thoughts on the My Technology Inventory worksheet in their journals. Students will also map
out their activities last week and how much time they spent online. Students record the number
of hours per week on a sticky note and anonymously put it up on chart paper at the front of the
class.
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Digital Citizenship Survey:
Finally, to gather initial feedback, I had a group of grade 8s at my school complete an online
survey http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/library-vrs/digital-citizenship-survey/ of their digital
citizenship using their brainstorming activity to help. I posted the link to the survey on my school
and library webpage. I gave the students time to complete the survey (10-15 minutes). I also
invited other grade classes to take the survey on their own time to make the sample size larger.
Here are some of the results from the survey that further support the need for digital citizenship
education in our school:
Of the 42-43 grade 8 students from my school that were surveyed anonymously online:
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53.4% (23) are online more than 21 hours per week
76.7% (33) have a mobile device that can access the internet
75% (30) have Facebook accounts, 75% (30) have Instagram accounts, 70% (28) have
Snap Chat accounts, 40% (16) have Twitter accounts
76.2% (32) use the internet regularly to text/online chat, 71.4% (30) play games online,
54.8% (23) find information for school, 45.2% (19) share photos/video of themselves,
40.5% (17) find information for personal use, and only 16.7% (7) use email regularly.
31% (13) have social media accounts that they keep secret from the family & friends
46.5% (20) send more than 30 text messages per day
23.8% (10) report being bullied, harassed, or shamed online
23.8% (10) report interacting with strangers online every week or more
18.6% (8) have tried “sexting”
26.8% (11) have used a credit card online
20.9% (9) report having never talked with their parents/guardians about online safety and
respectful behaviour
37.2% (16) report having no rules at home regarding using the internet/mobile devices
76% (19) report having used vulgar or inappropriate language (swear words, racial insults,
homophobic comments, etc) in public spaces online (spaces other than a personal email
or messages)
24% (6) report having used the internet to insult, embarrass, or shame someone
12% (3) report that others have shared or posted images or video of themselves engaging
in illegal, sexual, or inappropriate behaviour
12% (3) report that they have shared or posted images or video of friends engaging in
illegal, sexual, or inappropriate behaviour
25.6% (11) believe that they are 100% safe and respectful online, 53.5% (23) believe that
they are safe and respectful online most of the time , 11.6% (5) say they sometimes take
risks or are not respectful online, and 1 students stated I am NOT safe and respectful
online, 3 students said I do not know if I am being safe and respectful online
III.
Module #1: CoCo’s Choco Match
Time: 1 hour
Overview:
A poster advertising Coco’s Crunch cereal leads students to this module, which simulates the online
advertising spaces that young internet users often encounter. Students learn to recognize
advertising material for what it is and to “read between the lines” of online advertising. Student
must identify what is advertising and what is not. They are able to play the game when they have
successfully identified all of the online advertising. See page 18 and 19 of the Teacher’s Guide for
the answers and potential trouble spots. Students can use the help tool to read about the online
advertising before they make a choice. This module is shorter than some of the other modules.
(Passport to the Internet Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Learning Objectives:
Recognizing and Decoding Advertising
 Recognizing advertising environments
 Recognizing and questioning advertising claims
 Understanding that immersive environments and “advergames” are used to collect
consumer information and build brand loyalty
(Passport to the Internet Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Lesson Plan:
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Set up projector with Module 1 PowerPoint
Review of last session: what is digital citizenship, share data from online survey with the
students, emphasize the number of hours spend online per week and favourite
technology used by hanging post it note posters at front of room, explain the three
sessions that students selected, etc
Introduction of this week’s topic and learning objectives using the PowerPoint
Discussion about where, when, what students see for online advertising. What is the
purpose of these ads?
Explain how students are going to see online advertising in module 1 and learn to “read
between the lines”
Handout Digital Citizenship journals with handouts and usernames
Teacher Demo- Access to the Program: sign in to LibLab computer using username and
password from Mr. Ollek to access the internet, plug in headset, access Learn Now BC
(www.learnnowbc.ca) using Chrome, click on Passport to the Internet icon , in Media
Smarts page click on licensed agreement link for Passport to the Internet, then click on
Technical Requirements link under Classroom Tutorial, students type in usernames
(case sensitive, must use same username each time, have students use same username
as Learn Now BC eg: lia.larson) and grade level (senior), then student selects avatar
Give students time to access the program- walk around to help students troubleshoot,
remind students that they must use Chrome, head phones, proper usernames (case
sensitive), and the senior level or they will have to start again!
Teacher Demo-Passport to the Internet:
o train station home page, the help symbol, and gives instructions to get to today’s
module (click mouse on advertising poster)
o Encourage students to take risks in this safe mock environment
o Students click on various items and then select an X to identify what is advertising
material and a check mark to ID what is not
o Use the help function to help make your decisions
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Use the How did I do button to check your progress. You must get all 15 correct!
When students have identified all 15 items, then they can play the advergame,
called Coco’s Choco Match
o Remind students that they will lose their results if they arrow back to train station
before completing the module
Give students time to complete the module and print passport (put in journal)
When finished, students complete the reflection in their journals
Summary Discussion with class:
What tactics do advertisers use to attract kids to their ads? (logos, pictures, mascots,
advergames, contests, clubs, free offers, etc)
How do ads collect personal information? (contests, games , quizzes/surveys, and
special clubs)
What information is NOT advertising? (privacy policies, copyright, nutrition info, how to
play, etc)
Take Away messages: Think critically, recognize advertising material, and question
advertising information!
Handout: Protecting Student’s Privacy on the Internet (Passport to the Internet
Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Record ideas on board and have students add to their reflection sheet
Possible extension: Teacher’s Guide provides 10 question review handout with answer
key on page 33-34.
IV.
Module #2: Instant Pigeon
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Overview:
The station’s telephone booth takes students to Instant Pigeon, which stimulates instant messaging
services. In a series of interactive online chats, students learn about safe and ethical behaviour online.
Students select “buddies” to chat with, review conversations, and make decisions on how to respond.
They are given a score out of 5 and an evaluation for their decisions. See page 27-29 of the Teacher’s
Guide for trouble spots and answer key.
(Passport to the Internet Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Learning Objectives:
Behaving Ethically Online
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Managing online relationships
Reacting to provocation
Dealing with online bullying and stranger contact
(Passport to the Internet Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Lesson Plan:
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Set up projector with Module 2 PowerPoint
Introduction of this week’s topic and learning objectives using the Module 2 PowerPoint
Handout Digital Citizenship Journals with handouts and usernames
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V.
Give students time to access the program- walk around to help students troubleshoot,
remind students that they must use proper usernames and senior level or they will have to
start again!
Teacher Demo-Passport to the Internet: train station home page, the help symbol, and
gives instructions to get to today’s module (click mouse on telephone booth), students start
by clicking on one of the buddies in the list, students read the online conversation and must
choose how to respond (given two choices), students are given an evaluation on their
choices and a score out of 5 at the end, students can go to the passport section and print
the passport when complete, emphasize the need to follow through to completion or
students will have to start again! See page 28-29 in Passport to the Internet Teacher’s Guide
(2014) for a description of the four different conversations.
Give students time to complete the module and print passport (put in journal)
When finished, students complete reflection in their journals
Class Discussion: Why is it important to be careful when talking to people on the internet?
What shouldn’t you share with people you only know online? What do you do when you
encounter a bully online?
Handout: Four Steps to Stop Cyberbullying (Passport to the Internet Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Possible Extension: Worksheet with seven questions and answers on page 43-44 of
Teacher’s Guide
Module #3: My Face
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Overview:
This module, accessed through the station’s ticket booth simulates social networking sites. Here the
focus is on privacy management, as each student constructs a profile page that represents him or
her online without sacrificing too much privacy. See page 25-26 of Teacher’s Guide for more detail
on this module.
(Passport to the Internet Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Learning Objectives:
Managing Safety and Privacy
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Protecting personal data
Creating and managing “Friends” lists
Dealing with stranger contact
Managing photos and videos online
Recognizing and avoiding inappropriate/unpleasant content
Becoming aware of the permanence of materials posted online
(Passport to the Internet Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Lesson Plan:
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Set up projector with Module 3 PowerPoint
Introduction of this week’s topic and learning objectives (social networking) using the
PowerPoint
Introduction Activity: Google Yourself, What information can you find about yourself
online? Record results on sticky note and put on poster at front of room
Discussion about Facebook and other social networking sites, privacy settings, risk, etc.
Review data from the survey that is relevant to social networking
Explain how students are going to build their MyFace profile in Module 3
Handout Digital Citizenship journals with handouts and usernames
Teacher Demo-Passport to the Internet:
o train station home page, the help symbol, and gives instructions to get to today’s
module (click mouse on ticket booth)
o Ask students to play the game with the settings they think they currently have on
Facebook. If they do not have a Facebook account ask them to think about what
they would set up if they did/when they are older. Encourage students to take risks
in this safe mock environment.
 Remind students that they will lose their results if they arrow back to train station
before completing the game
 When they are ready they can click on publish
 The program with show them what they did write (+1) and wrong (-1). It will give
them the chance to go back and fix their mistakes and then republish
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When done all complete, ask students to print their Passport using the Passport
symbol. It will show a check mark by the session completed today. Put passport in
their folder.
Give students time to complete the module and print passport (put in journal)
When finished, students complete the reflection in their journals
Discussion about what they learned- make list on board of suggested limits to put on
your Facebook page. Student follow along recording on own handout in journal.
Possible Extension: Worksheet with 15 questions and answers on page 39-42 of
Teacher’s Guide
Handout: Online Tips for Younger Students & Parents (Passport to the Internet
Teacher’s Guide, 2014)
Anchor activity: Social Media Audit of own Facebook account privacy settings. If they
do not have Facebook, ask them to partner with a friend who does. Do you need to
make any changes to protect your safety and privacy online? If time have your
neighbour who is not your “friend” search your name in Facebook. What can they see?
Conclusion Lesson
Time: 30 minutes
Lesson Plan:
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Activity- What is Digital Citizenship? What can we do to be better digital citizens?
Have students write down one or two answers on sticky notes on put up on poster at the
front.
PowerPoint- review the definition, elements, three modules, and questions from the
Introduction PowerPoint
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Discussion (Feedback on pilot program)
Feedback Survey Worksheet (anonymous, collected at the end)
I decided to collect written feedback on the pilot program using a paper based worksheet
rather than an online survey since I am looking for more detailed qualitative feedback than
quantitate or multiple choice responses. I do not have any data to share with you at this
time as this portion of the program will not happen until the end of April.
References
Passport to the Internet Teacher's Guide [PDF]. (2014). Ottawa: MediaSmarts.
Ribble, M. (2008). Passport to Digital Citizenship: Journey Toward Appropriate Technology Use
at School and at Home. Learning & Leading With Technology, 36(4), 14-17.