Lesson 14.3: Safety Online

Overview

This lesson focuses on staying safe online and being careful about the personal information you share, especially on social media. The importance of using complex passwords and technology safety tips are also discussed.

Learning Targets

  • LO10: Evaluate how small or large your digital footprint is based on your online activity.
  • LO11: Explain why it is important to know your social media privacy settings.
  • LO12: Describe what identity theft is and how it can affect you.
  • LO13: Examine the effectiveness of your passwords and change them if needed.

Preparation

For the Warm-Up Activity: Write the Journal Question on the board or identify (and copy as needed) the worksheets you plan to use:

For the Content Focus: Open the Lesson 14.3 PowerPoint slides or make copies of the Lesson 14.3 Note-Taking Guide.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 14.3 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Keeping Myself Safe on Social Media.

Warm-Up Activity

Select a warm-up activity to help get your class focused and on task.

  • Journal Question: List at least three ways you could be safer online in general or on specific social media sites?
    • Option: Write or project the question and have students respond in their journal or on their “bell ringer” sheet as they enter class.
    • Option: Have students discuss the question with a partner or in a small group.
  • Vocabulary Review: Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to complete the Lesson 14.3 Vocabulary Review Worksheet.
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 14.3 Quiz to assess their prior knowledge.
    • Option: Collect the quiz and use it alongside a posttest to demonstrate student learning.
    • Option: Have students share their answers with a partner and then go over the answers together as a class.

Lesson Content

Review the content from the textbook lesson.

Lesson Focus: Keeping Myself Safe on Social Media

  1. Provide each student with a copy of the Lesson 14.3 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Keeping Myself Safe on Social Media.
  2. Ask students to answer the Health Behavior questions individually.
  3. Students will follow the instructions on the worksheet and answer the questions based on their own experience.
  4. Have students find a partner and trade their checklists with each other. Have students work on changing their social media behavior by using the checklist for at least one week.
  5. At the end of the one week, have students share with their partner how they did with the checklist.

Challenge Activity

Have students needing an additional challenge work on the following Thinking Critically task.

Take time to check to make sure your identity hasn’t been used by someone else. You could use a consumer credit report company to see if someone else has used your identity to open a credit card or get a car loan. Make sure to check with your guardian before doing this as they may already have the ability to check for you.

Reflection and Summary

Review the critical content from today’s lesson. Review the learning targets and ask students to answer each question posed.

Can you...

  • Evaluate how small or large your digital footprint is based on your online activity?

    Your digital footprint is all the information you share online about what you are doing, who you are with, where you are, and the history of your online purchases and websites you’ve visited.

  • Explain why it is important to know your social media privacy settings?

    The privacy settings on your social media accounts allow you to control who can and cannot see the information you are posting. Making sure your privacy settings allow only your known friends to see what you are doing can make your online presence safer. Make sure to also turn off location tracking information to keep your locations private as well.

  • Describe what identity theft is and how it can affect you?

    Identity theft happens when someone uses your identity or personal information without your permission to commit a crime. Identity theft can prevent you from getting student loans, credit cards, car loans, and other types of loans because you may have maxed-out credit cards and bills you haven’t paid that you don’t even know about.

  • Examine the effectiveness of your passwords and change them if needed?

    Passwords should be complex and unique. You should have different passwords for the different websites and apps you use. Passwords should be 12 characters long and include letters, numbers, and special characters.

Assessment

Complete one or more of the following assessment tasks for this lesson.

Take It Home

Talk to your family members about the importance of strong passwords and review the password tips from this lesson to strengthen their passwords, if needed.