Trying to Teach About the Privacy Rights

Outcomes

CRB10.1- Comprehend and respond to a variety of visual, oral, print, and multimedia texts that address:
• identity (e.g., Diversity of Being);
• social responsibility (e.g., Degrees of Responsibility); and
• social action (agency) (e.g., Justice and Fairness)

CC B10.2 Create and present a visual or multimedia presentation supporting a prepared talk on a researched issue, using either digital or other presentation tools.

Digital Continuum Skills

Understanding the legal implications of online activity

Course Theme

Equity and Ethics

Overview of the topic and lesson

Privacy rights and other aspects of the legal implications of digital citizenship can be difficult to teach. These topics are dense and complicated. Even trained legal professionals could struggle to adequately explain how privacy rights work, and what the implications of them are, so how are teachers supposed to be able to properly prepare students to understand their rights online. This is a difficult topic to try and approach, but organisations have tried to give a road map for how to teach about this.

In 2016, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and MediaSmarts teamed up to try and create resources for teachers to teach their students about online privacy and some of the legal consequences that can come from being online. One of the resulting lessons was titled “The Privacy Dilemma.”

The lesson takes students through a series of case studies about students dealing with privacy issues online. The first one is about a Grade 10 student named Rick who notices a camera in his school cafeteria. Seeing the camera makes Rick think about all of the cameras he interacts with on a day to day basis, from school to the webcam in his computer. This leads Rick to do more research about cameras in public, and he presents a report to his class about what he learned. The second case study is about a Grade 12 student named Jill who starts to get targeted ads for dating services on a website she shops on. Jill begins to worry that she is getting sent ads that are someone far older than her, and she starts to think about whether her younger sister could get similar ads online. The final case study is about a Grade 9 boy named Jared who gets in trouble at school for photos that were posted online of him without his permission. A photo was taken of Jared drinking something, and people begin to claim that it was alcohol. Jared objects, but he gets into trouble with his parents over the photo (Johnson, 2016). Students are to be divided into groups, with each group doing a different case study before sharing their findings with the class.

Each case study has some value, but there is also potential for them to be elevated slightly. Instead of just reading and sharing about their case study, students could create a role play, or write an alternative scenario. This could allow students to start to think about a time in their lives when they experienced something similar.

After going through their case studies, students are to go onto the Privacy Commissioner of Canada website to the “What information is collected about me when I am online section?” Students are supposed to go through the website and see how much of the information on it applies to them. As well, they are supposed to learn about what information is collected about them as soon as they go onto a website, and try to learn what they can do to protect their privacy online (Johnson, 2016). The hope is that students will learn about the different ways their data can be collected, and what they can do to stop this, such as using private browsers and adding content blockers, as well as managing their internet history (Office of the Privacy Commissioner, 2020).

The culminating activity for this lesson is to have students create a video essay about what they have learned about privacy. To successfully do this, they are encouraged to go through the full process of creating a video, from storyboarding and scripting, to getting ready to shoot the video. This is a valuable part of the video creation process because it allows students to see the full process that is necessary to create a video. As well, their videos are not supposed to be too long. MediaSmarts encourages just a one to two minute video (Johnson, 2016). This could allow students to use platforms they may be more familiar with, such as TikTok, to upload their content to. As well, the content they create could be used to be shared with other students to teach them about privacy online, and what they can do to protect their data.

As well, there are other ways that students could use what they learned to help encourage others around the school to learn about online privacy. Students could create a podcast through a service like Audacity to communicate problems people have had with online privacy, or they could create posters and other marketing materials on services like Canva to educate their fellow students about these issues.

By providing students with opportunities to educate their peers about these issues, they may be encouraged to take more control of their learning, and they may be able to more effectively communicate a message about digital citizenship to their peers. By allowing students to use mediums they are familiar with, it may allow them to provide a more powerful message.

Refernces

Couros, A. & Hildebandt, K. (2015). Digital Citizenship Education in Saskatchewan Schools. Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. file:///Users/jordanhalkyard/Downloads/83322-DC_Guide_-_ENGLISH_2%20(5).pdf.

Johnson, M. (2016). The Privacy Dilemma. MediaSmarts. https://mediasmarts.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/lesson-plan/Lesson_Privacy_Dilemma.pdf.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. (2020, Jan.). What kind of information is being collected about me online? https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/about-the-opc/what-we-do/awareness-campaigns-and-events/privacy-education-for-kids/fs-fi/choice-choix/.

Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. (2011). Saskatchewan Curriculum: English Language Arts 10. https://curriculum.gov.sk.ca/CurriculumHome?id=37.

Having Students Reflect on Their Online Behaviour and Usage Through Journaling

Outcomes

CC B10.4 Create a variety of written informational (including a business letter, biographical profile, problem solution essay) and literary (including fictionalized journal entries and a short script) communications.

AR B10.2- Set personal language learning goals and select strategies to enhance growth in language learning.

Course Theme

The World Around Us and Within Us

Overview

For students to engage with their media consumption they should take time to reflect on what they are consuming and why they are consuming it. This is why students should take time to journal about their social media habits, and what they liked or did not like about that media.

One aspect of the ELA course in Saskatchewan that can be easily overlooked are the Assess and Reflect (AR) outcomes. These are the outcomes that ask students to reflect on their language learning and create goals about how they want to improve in their language learning in the future. These outcomes require a lot of time and modelling for students to understand what it takes to make a deep reflection of their work.

One way to expand the Assess and Reflect outcomes is to redefine what is meant by “language skills” in the curriculum. Many times language skills can only be described as a student’s reading and writing skills, but their language skills go far beyond those two strands of literacy. Students need to think about all strands of their literacy, including their social media literacy. To do this, students will journal about their media consumption on two days of the week and reflect on what they viewed and what they think this media was telling them.

The hope with this task is to have students investigate why they are making the choices they are on social media to try and gain a better understanding of themselves. Part of this deals with the change in focus social media literacy has from mass media literacy. In their conception of social media literacy, Cho, Cannon, Lopez, and Li state the social media competency of analysis differs from analysis of traditional media in how it “includes the abilities to monitor and observe one’s social media use behaviour, motivations, and outcomes” (Cho et al, 2022). For reasons like this, social media literacy needs to be looked at with a different set of skills than traditional media analysis. Instead of analysis of the content being presented itself, the focus of analysis in social media shifts to the self and “the choices it makes about what content to consume and engage with” (Cho et al, 2022). This makes social media literacy a much more reflective process that requires more time for consumers to think about their choices and what values they represent.

How it can de conducted?

Social media journaling could take a number of forms. Students could be encouraged to set up traditional blogs on websites such as WordPress, or Blogger and update their blogs once a week, or whatever amount of time the teacher sets as they believe appropriate.

However, traditional written blogs do not have to be the only way students can journal about their social media lives. Students could create a monthly vlog where they take on a month long investigation into what their social media diets look like. They could look at the amounts of time they spend on certain apps, and go through what they were most likely to engage with.These vlogs do not have to be uploaded to a website like YouTube if students are not comfortable with putting their videos out into the world.

As well, there is no reason that students could not take part in the practice of traditional journaling if access to digital technology is a problem. They will still be engaging with the process of reflecting on their media consumption and the affects their choices have on them.

No matter what their method of journaling is, the practice of consistent reflection should aid students in assessing their own media choices and help them develop a deeper sense of social media literacy.

References

Cho, H., Cannon, J., Lopez, R., Li, W. (2022). Social media literacy: A conceptual framework. New Media and Society, p. 1-20. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/14614448211068530.

Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. (2011). Saskatchewan Curriculum: English Language Arts 10. https://curriculum.gov.sk.ca/CurriculumHome?id=37.

The Filter Bubble and how it fits into ELA B10

Outcomes:

CR B10.1 – Comprehend and respond to a variety of visual, oral, print, and multimedia texts that address:
• identity (e.g., Diversity of Being);
• social responsibility (e.g., Degrees of Responsibility); and
• social action (agency) (e.g., Justice and Fairness).

CC B10.2- Create and present a visual or multimedia presentation supporting a prepared talk on a researched issue, using either digital or other presentation tools.

Course Theme

The World Around and Within Us

Digital Citizenship Continuum Skills:

Weigh the value of online “filter bubbles” and their impact on search results and their implications for society.

Resources:

Eli Pariser’s Ted Talk about Filter Bubbles- https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles?referrer=playlist-how_to_pop_our_filter_bubbles&autoplay=true

Wall Street Journal “Blue Feed, Red Feed”- https://graphics.wsj.com/blue-feed-red-feed/

Ahmadi, Shaherzab. “Lesson Plan: Filter Bubbles.” https://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/2018/01/02/lesson-plan-filter-bubbles/

The Filter Bubble:

“Filter Bubbles” have been a hot topic in digital citizenship for over a decade.

In 2011, internet activist Eli Pariser introduced the concept of the “filter bubble” in his 2011 book The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You. In addition to his book, Pariser delivered a Ted Talk the same year his book was realised, and it has gone on to have been viewed millions of times.

Pariser was one of the first people to speak about how the algorithms used to recommend content on the websites like YouTube and Facebook can have detrimental impacts on the relationships between people with different political perspectives. He believed that because internet were becoming more personalised to individual users, more information was being kept away from users instead of seeing all of the information they needed to see to be fully informed on any host of topics. To put it simply, Pariser believed the internet was showing what users “want to see instead of what we need to see” (Pariser, 2011).

In the decade plus since Pariser first spoke about the filter bubble the power of algorithmically recommended content has transformed and become even more powerful. For this lesson, students are asked to investigate the impact filter bubbles have on them, and how they impact the way they view the world.

This topic fits well with the course theme of “The World Around Us and Within Us.” The apps that students use, and the algorithms and artificial intelligence these apps use to predict what they will want to see, can affect the way students understand the world, and it is important that students gain an understanding of how their online activity can impact their worldviews. Students should also be empowered to engage with their own filter bubbles to think about how they can shape them and how they can take control of the content they see.

Lesson Overview:

Ahmadi recommends one period for this lesson, that also includes a final project, to introduce the concept of a filter bubble, and to allow students to start demonstrating their skills in the area.

For this lesson, there are a few changes I would recommend to make to the lesson to ensure student understanding.

1. Begin the lesson with Pariser’s Ted Talk video about “Filter Bubbles.” Before playing the video, I would recommend making it clear to students that the video comes from 2011, so there have been some changes that have happened since then, but the concept Pariser is talking still holds power today.
2. After watching the video, discuss the concept with the class, and introduce how we can see filter bubbles around us today. For example, students can conduct Google searches on different topics and compare the results they get. As they are comparing results, they can be asked about what may be influencing the differences in results they are seeing around the room. As well, they should start to think about the broader topic of how seeing different results on search engines like Google can alter your world view and change your activities in the world.
3. Students will then look through the “Blue Feed, Red Feed” service from the Wall Street Journal. This website creates an example of what a Facebook feed can look like for a conservative and a liberal user. One drawback of the service is that it has stopped being updated, and has been archived from 2019. As they are investigating the posts, they should be looking for examples of different tones that are used in the verbs and adjectives that are used in the headlines. As they are reading, they should be thinking about what the intention is in using these types of words, and what the potential impacts could be on their audiences.
4. After investigating the feeds, have students discuss common factors they could find in the use of language in the conservative and liberal feeds. Ask them about the similarities they can see in the use of language and how this could impact the worldviews of audiences. Also, have them think about what could influence the formulation of these feeds.
5. Have students reflect on their own social media bubbles. What kinds of websites and viewpoints dominate? What kinds of people (ethnic background, class, gender, etc.)? How can these representations of the world impact their worldviews?
6. As an final assessment, students should create a type of advertisement to try and reach across the divide and appeal to someone in a different filter bubble. This can be for any type of product or service, but they should try to appeal to someone that is in a different background than them. This should help students to expand their view of others and try to think from a different perspective. Ahmadi recommends using Canva to create the advertisements. This service allows students to make a wide array of visual projects, and provides templates that can help students get started with their projects. As well, there is a new AI service from Canva called Magic Design that allows students to refine their work even more.

Other Resources that can be used for this topic:

“How Algorithms Spread Human Bias” by Corey Patrick White

• a TED Talk from 2021 about how algorithms and their recommendations can have wide spread impacts on society, and can help spread dangerous ideas such as racism. This topic can be quite heavy for students, but it can still be important for them to understand the potential impacts of these ideas.
• “How TikTok Reads Your Mind” by Ben Smith
• A New York Times article from 2021 that tries to explain to readers the way that TikTok’s algorithm has made it the most successful app of the last few years.

References

Ahmadi, Shaherzab.(2018, Jan. 2). Lesson Plan: Filter Bubbles. Digital Writing and Research Lab. https://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/2018/01/02/lesson-plan-filter-bubbles/.

Couros, A. & Hildebandt, K. (2015). Digital Citizenship Education in Saskatchewan Schools. Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. file:///Users/jordanhalkyard/Downloads/83322-DC_Guide_-_ENGLISH_2%20(5).pdf.

Keegan, Jon. (2019, Aug. 19). Blue Feed, Red Feed. The Wall Street Journal. https://graphics.wsj.com/blue-feed-red-feed/.

Parsier, Eli. (2011, March). Beware Online “Filter Bubbles.” TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles?referrer=playlist-how_to_pop_our_filter_bubbles&autoplay=true.

Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. (2011). Saskatchewan Curriculum: English Language Arts 10. https://curriculum.gov.sk.ca/CurriculumHome?id=37.

Smith, B. (2021, Dec. 5). How TikTok Reads Your Mind. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/business/media/tiktok-algorithm.html.

White, C. (2021, May). How Algorithms Spread Bias. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/corey_patrick_white_how_algorithms_spread_human_bias.

EC&I 832 Summary of Learning

Above is my summary of learning for EC&I 832. Making this video was a bit of a learning journey for me, as it was my first time trying to us additional content in a video aside from slides with me talking over it. It took some time to put together, but I am happy I did. Please forgive me for any mistakes I made.

The video is only around five minutes long, but I feel like I could have gone through so many things about what I have learned about this semester. Digital citizenship and media literacy are such big topics, I feel like I could have gone through so many more things that meant something to me from this semester. It was a rewarding experience to think back on the semester and to reflect on what I learned and what mattered to me from the course content. It will be nice to look back on this in the future and see what matters to me then, and to see what stays with me over the years.

Thanks to everyone for all of the great discussions, and for exposing me to so many interesting ideas throughout the course!