Curriculum

Digital Citizenship: Grades 9-12

Safeguarding Your Stuff, My Stuff, Our Stuff

Download Student Sheet(s) for printout in PDF format.

Read a Letter to Educators about digital citizenship from CyberSmart!

Overview

Students explore real stories of cyber security threats and damage and learn to think responsibly about securing their families' data at home and when using public computers. They think creatively about how to talk with their families about cyber security.

Objectives

Identify some sources of and kinds of security threats to home and public computers.
Research ways to stay informed about cyber security.
Share cyber security information with their families and prepare a family cyber security plan.

ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007

Source: International Society for Technology in Education

Communication and Collaboration
1. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
2. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
Digital Citizenship
1. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
2. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.
Technology Operations and Concepts
1. understand and use technology systems.
2. select and use applications effectively and productively.

Home Connection

Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.

Site Preview

Several Web sites are recommended for optional student research:

Optional strategies for using Web 2.0 tools with your students are recommended under Teach 1 and Teach 4.

Materials

Student Sheets (3)

Introduce

Ask: What is it about using computers that you cannot live without? Allow students to establish that using computers is often central to their ability to do school assignments, socialize, find out more about themselves and the world, and have fun.
Acknowledge that security issues are probably not uppermost in their minds as they do these things and then challenge them to consider how they might feel if their computer or data was attacked and they were prevented from doing these activities.

Teach 1: Analyze the Problem

Divide students into three groups and distribute Student Sheet 1. Have students read all three scenarios on the page and record their initial responses to the questions following each scenario. Then assign a scenario to each group for further discussion. Point out that these stories come from the news.
Have students discuss the security issues related to each scenario and prepare more detailed answers to the questions. You may wish to allow students to find out more about these stories by searching news Web sites online.
In the first scenario, an 18-year-old high school senior hacks his school network to change his grades. The charges in this true story included burglary, identity theft, and changing public records—all federal offenses. The fact that he was 18 meant that he could be charged as an adult. His actions were certainly in violation of the school's acceptable use policies.
In the second scenario, the 19-year-old teen pled guilty to accessing protected computers to commit fraud. The consequences for the victims were all the problems associated with identity theft, which can affect their ability to use credit cards or borrow money.
In the third scenario, students may realize that the employee violated his company's computer use policies, that his malware could affect the ability of his company to carry on its business, and that the malware could damage or destroy files on the victims' personal computers.

Instead of a face-to-face discussion, use Web 2.0 tools and post these scenarios on a class blog, include links to news organization coverage, and invite students to post comments.

Teach 2: Think About It

Distribute Student Sheets 2 and 3 and have students read and discuss Think About It. Point out that the Internet is international and that attacks can come from a next-door neighbor or from the other side of the world—there are no border crossings between countries on the Internet.
Have students imagine the chaos that could result if suddenly all the computers that operate our critical infrastructure services—banking, communications, transportation, water supplies, public health, and law enforcement—were infected. Point out that security experts in companies worldwide do imagine these scenarios and have prepared detailed prevention plans. All of these plans address the important role that individual citizens can play to help prevent such disasters.
If students want to learn more about how viruses, worms, Trojans, phishing, and pharming work, allow them to search online for explanations of each type of attack.
Phishing is also addressed in the CyberSmart! lesson titled Online Identity Theft: Information Is Power.

Teach 3: Find Solutions

Point out to students that recent versions of operating systems include firewalls. If they have an older operating system, they may have to install separate firewall software.
Have students visit the US-CERT Web page for Non-Technical Users for up-to-the-minute information on home computer security. Other reliable sources of security information are suggested in the Site Preview list above.
Make sure students understand that while personal computers and networks in their homes can and should be protected from intruders by passwords, public computers (also known as public access computers) and public networks such as those in libraries, airports, hotels, and Internet cafes may or may not require passwords.

Teach 4: Take Action

Students may have heard the expression the talk as shorthand for parents talking to their kids about “the birds and the bees” (human sexuality). Suggest to students that, because teens are often more knowledgeable about Internet technology than their parents, they need to have a serious and informative talk with their parents and guardians about cyber security.
Students may use the checklist on Student Sheet 3 as a starting point for their family cyber security planning. Whether they have a home computer or not, all students should talk to their families about using public computers.

Have students use Web 2.0 tools to create a wiki where they can collaborate in a discussion of security issues that should be addressed by each family. Allow them to update its content as security issues and techniques become available, alerting families to the new information.

Assess

The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.

Ask: What are some sources of security threats to personal and public computers?
Ask: How can you stay informed about cyber security?
Ask: What are some essential cyber security actions that families can take?

Extend

Students will benefit by revisiting this lesson each year.
For students who completed this lesson in a previous grade, have them research the most recent cyber security events or threats and create cartoon strips that easily, clearly, and creatively communicate the nature of the threat. As an example, show them Student Sheet 3, containing a cartoon meant to inform rather than to amuse.

Cyber Safety and Security Awareness Activities for Your School, Families, and Community

Extend this classroom lesson with activities that will support a cyber safety and security awareness campaign for your school, families, and community.

includes strategies for using interactive online Web 2.0 tools.

CyberSmart! Online Workshops

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