Materials and Preparation

• Preview the video “The Digital Footprint,” and prepare to show it to students.

• Copy the Choose a Host Student Handout, one for every four students.

• Review the Choose a Host Student Handout – Teacher Version.

• Copy the My Digital Footprint Student Handout, one for every student.

Essential Question

What is a digital footprint, and what does yours convey?

Lesson Overview

Students learn that they have a digital footprint, which can be searched, shared, and seen by a large, invisible audience. Students then learn that they can take some control over their digital footprint based on what they post online. Students watch the video “The Digital Footprint” to learn how information online can easily get out of one’s control. They then examine the blog posts, photos, and profiles of two fictional host applicants for a TV show called “Trillion Dollar Footprint” and decide which would make a more honest host who works well with others. A key message of the lesson is that although online information provides an incomplete picture of a person, it can still affect how others view that person.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to ...

• learn that they have a digital footprint and that information from it can be searched, copied and passed on, and seen by a large, invisible audience, and that it can be persistent.

• recognize that people’s online information can be helpful or harmful to their reputation and image.

• consider their own digital footprints and what they want those footprints to be like in the future.

Key Vocabulary

digital footprint: all of the information online about a person either posted by that person or others, intentionally or unintentionally

imagery: drawings or illustrations, often symbolic

persistent: lasting a long time, if not forever, such as information that one posts online that does not go away because it is passed on and spread

invisible audience: anyone who can see information about you or posted by you online

Warm-up (10 minutes)

ASK: How many of you have …

• sent a message or posted a comment online?

• created a profile on a social network site?

• used some sort of photo-sharing app?

• Googled your own name?

Were there any results about you? (Allow a few students to provide examples of what they found.)

EXPLAIN that filling out a form, sending an email to a friend, posting a photo, and pretty much everything one does online – even the simple act of visiting a website or using a search engine – leaves a trail. This trail, called a digital footprint, is made of bits and pieces of information on one’s computer and on other computers and servers around the world, which allow other people to learn about you.

Play Video (10 minutes)

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary terms digital footprint and imagery.

Before starting the video, remind students to carefully observe the imagery in the video and to think about what the images might convey about privacy. Offer students an example of imagery (for example, the Trash Bin icon on their computer that serves as a “garbage can” for their files).

SHOW students the “The Digital Footprint” video.

After the video is over, briefly review the meaning of the following imagery in the video as it relates to digital footprints and online privacy.

•Lighthouse: Search engines and social network sites can reveal a lot about people. It’s easy to discover information about people using the Internet.

• Copies and Whispering in Ear: Information online can be forwarded to many others, sometimes after having been altered first.

•Stadium/Jumbotron: Anything can be publicly broadcast online for all to see.

• Permanent Marker: Once information is online, it is very difficult to take it down because others can copy and distribute it.

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary terms persistent and invisible audience.

REVIEW with students the concept that all of the information about someone online makes up his or her digital footprint, and that this information can be searched, copied and passed on, and seen by a large, invisible audience, and that it can become persistent.

Choose a Host (25 minutes)

ARRANGE students into groups of four and give each group one copy of the Choose a Host Student Handout.

EXPLAIN to students that “Trillion Dollar Footprint” is a popular TV show that tours the country looking for teens to compete in a talent show. Tell them you are hiring them to be producers for the show.

Explain that their job is to:

• Look over online information of two fictional host applicants, Linda and Jason.

• Decide which applicant should be the host of the show based on who works better with others and is more honest.

• Role-play TV producers, giving a convincing pitch to the class about which candidate they chose and why.

HAVE students work together for 10 to 15 minutes to:

• READ the Choose a Host Student Handout directions.

• REVIEW the profiles for Linda and Jason.

• FILL OUT the feedback form.

• DECIDE on a candidate.

HAVE groups pitch for the candidate that they selected, using evidence from the profiles to support their decision. Refer to the Choose a Host Student Handout – Teacher Version for guidance.

ASK: Do you think the show’s host should be Linda or Jason? Why?

Do you think the candidate will be honest?

Do you think the candidate will work well with others?

ENCOURAGE students to examine what assumptions they made about each candidate.

ASK: What did you think about the comment under Linda’s Instapic?

Did it change your opinion of her?

What was your impression of Jason after you found out that he lied about singing in a band, his relationship status, and where he was born?

REFLECT on the importance of examining our assumptions when viewing information online. Also encourage students to think about how a digital footprint can be somewhat out of your control if others post information about you that is untrue or damaging. Then point out how it can be somewhat in your control because you can make decisions about what to post about yourself or what to send to others.

REVIEW with students that the decision of the executive producers not to select Linda or Jason based solely on information found online might seem unfair, but that these types of judgments can be a reality. Tell students that others might make judgments about them based only on what is contained in their digital footprints. Encourage students to take an active role in shaping their digital footprints to the extent they are able. However, remind students that information is not always under their control.

Wrap-up (5 minutes)

You can use these questions to assess your students’ understanding of the lesson objectives. You may want to ask students to reflect in writing on one of the questions, using a journal or an online blog/wiki.

ASK: Who helped to shape Linda’s and Jason’s digital footprints?

Can you tell what a person is really like offline based on what you find online?

What are some other types of information that make up your digital footprint?