Unit 1: Young People in the Virtual World

Duration: 3 hours

KEY TOPICS

Web 2.0 and the virtual world
Internet usage and online habits of children and young people
International conventions and other instruments relating to children’s rights

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this unit, teachers should be able to:

Understand young people’s Internet usage patterns and interests
Describe general terms and conditions, codes of conduct and privacy regulations with respect to Internet use
Develop their ability to use educational methods and basic tools to help young people use the Internet responsibly – and make them aware of the related opportunities, challenges and risks

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and ACTIVITIES

Web 2.0 is a shorthand term for aspects of the Internet that facilitate interaction and user-generated content (such as mobile phone applications).

This unit can be taught using resources you can find online, such as a rights-free videos about the Internet and its expanding features and impact society. Alternatively, you can prepare a short PowerPoint presentation on Web 2.0. It should include as many of the key elements of the virtual world as possible. Organize discussions in small groups about these key elements. Ask each group to prepare and deliver a short presentation on the benefits of Web 2.0.

ACTIVITIES

Ask teachers if they belong to social networks and/or use the web, and if so, how frequently. Ask them to surf the web, set up a profile, look up profiles of others, upload and download content from Internet platforms (e.g. Wikipedia), and take part in chat rooms, online collaboration, blogging and twittering. A discussion with trainees after this activity should focus on the educational benefits and responsible use of the web, and its challenges and risks. Write down and discuss some of your personal concerns when using the web
Trainees working in groups design and use a wiki to share information about an aspect of education practice or policy. This task should be allocated enough time for sufficient engagement, (e.g. over the course of a term). Tutors and trainees should develop criteria for assessing the wiki’s effectiveness, appropriateness and impact participating trainees
Ask teachers to organize themselves into small groups. Each group should discuss and list at least five main activities they think young people engage in on the Internet. Ask them to rank the importance of these activities on a scale of 1 to 5. Each group should present the outputs of their discussions, explaining how they organized themselves and what influenced the decisions they took. The teacher trainer should then present actual statistics (prepared prior to this session and based on existing resources) about children’s use of the Internet if such figures are available. Compare the outputs of the group work with what actual statistics say. Discuss. Are there surprises? Are there statistics about Internet use specific to your region or country? If not, what are the implications? Discuss what can be done about the absence of such statistics
Discuss the extent to which young people use the web for educational purposes, watching news, participating in their country’s political process, learning more about and interacting with people from different cultures, etc. Are there signs of high levels of such usage? What can be done to motivate young people to use the web positively? Ask teachers (in small groups or individually) to prepare a short lesson related to their subject area, integrating use of the Internet into the lesson. The lesson should demonstrate not only how the objectives of the lesson can be achieved through use of the Internet, but also how the teacher can motivate the students in this way
Discuss with teachers the general terms and conditions, codes of conduct and privacy regulations of different Internet applications. Then encourage them to develop a model code of conduct, focusing on the use of Internet by children and young people
Analyze children’s online conduct and their profiles: Trainees working in groups investigate Internet usage of children aged 6 – 17. Group reports should highlight the extent of Internet use and what children use it for, and compare this with parental knowledge and use of the Internet. What opportunities and challenges does the Internet present for children and parents?
Organize a discussion around a clause in the Human Rights Declaration, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, or in other related legal instruments in your country or region that relates to use of the Internet and young people – the right to information, free expression, protection of minors, and the role of parents, governments and civil society. Discuss these issues individually and then consider how they are related. Do freedom of expression and the right of access to information conflict with protection? Are they both necessary? Should freedom of expression and the right access to information be sacrificed for protection? Why or why not? Should girls and boys have equal access to information, the Internet and new technologies? What is happening in your region? How can this be addressed? Ask teachers to prepare a short poem on certain freedoms and rights and the need to protect minors

Media & Information Literacy For Teachers

Languages

Module 7: Internet Opportunities and Challenges

Unit 1: Young People in the Virtual World

KEY TOPICS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and ACTIVITIES