Materials and Preparation

• Copy the The Unintended Consequences of Sharing Student Handout, one for each student.

Essential Question

How can you respect the privacy of others online?

Lesson Overview

Students reflect on their responsibility to protect the privacy of others when posting information about them online. Students read a true story about the unintended consequences of sharing a compromising photo, and then they consider how this situation might be different if someone else shared the photo. Next, students brainstorm questions they should ask themselves before posting and tagging photos, videos, or any information about others online, and create a decision tree to guide them through future choices.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to ...

• consider the possible benefits and risks of sharing information online.

• recognize the importance of context in posting or viewing online images.

• understand what choices they need to make to protect the privacy of others online.

Key Vocabulary

reputation: the general impression of a person held by others and the public persist: to continue and endure

context: different factors that surround a piece of information that help determine its meaning

tag: to add a descriptive word, label, or phrase to a photo or video

Warm-up (10 minutes)

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary terms persist and reputation.

ASK: Why do you think things posted online tend to persist, even when you prefer they didn’t?

What kinds of things might be good for your reputation in the future if they are posted online now? What kinds of things might be harmful?

TELL students that they will explore a situation in which information posted online had unintended consequences and damaged someone’s reputation.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words (15 minutes)

INVITE students to reflect on the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

ASK: What do you think this saying means?

ARRANGE students in groups of four or five, and distribute the Unintended Consequences of Sharing Student Handout, one for each student.

INSTRUCT students to read the “Drunken Pirate” article, either silently or aloud (taking turns). Alternatively, assign the reading as the previous night’s homework. The purpose of the article–about a young teacher in train-ing whose career is affected by a photograph on a social networking site– is to encourage students to understand how oversharing information online might affect their privacy, and to grasp the importance of context around sharing things online.

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary terms context and tag.

Explain that tagging can be done on many social networking sites without the permission of the person who is being tagged.

INSTRUCT students to discuss the following questions in their groups, with one group member writing down their responses.

ASK: Do you think Millersville University was justified in disqualifying Stacy from earning her teaching degree because of her profile page? Why, or why not?

How would the situation be different if the context of the photo were taken into account? For instance: What if the caption of the photo was not “Drunken Pirate,” but “Happy Halloween” or “My friend forced me to wear this pirate hat”? What if a post accompanying the photo said that it had been taken at a child’s birthday party and Stacy was drinking punch?

What if Stacy’s friend Joe had posted the picture of Stacy without her knowing it, and tagged her with the “Drunken Pirate” caption? Does the fact that Joe posted the picture change the situation? Why or why not?

Does Joe have a responsibility to ask Stacy before he posts (and tags) a picture of her? Do other people, including strangers who come across the photo online, have the responsibility to check with Stacy before they tag or repost the photo? Why, or why not?

Think Before You Post (10 minutes)

KEEP students in groups.

ASK: Do you ever post things online about your friends? Do you comment on or tag their posts or photos? How do you decide what is okay?

What if your own judgment about a post is different from a friend’s? For example, imagine you’ve posted a photo of a group of friends. One friend immediately comments that she loves it, but another complains that he doesn’t like the way he looks, and asks that you to take it down. You think everyone in the photo looks great. What do you do?

INVITE students to brainstorm a list of questions that someone should ask him- or herself before posting anything about another person. Have them write these questions on paper or on the backs of their student handouts.

Sample responses: • What am I posting, and where am I posting it? • Who might see what I post? • Might it be harmful, harmless, or something in between to the person? • Do I have permission to tag people? • Even if I don’t think something is harmful, is it possible that my friend will? • Do I know my friend’s feelings about what he (or she) would want posted? • Would I feel comfortable if someone posted this about me? • What are the possible consequences of sharing this information about that person? • How might the information affect the person’s reputation? • Could the information be offensive to some members of the online community?

Create a Decision Tree (10 minutes)

CHALLENGE students to work in the same groups to create decision trees based on their brainstorming of questions in Teach 2. They should develop a flow chart of decisions on a large sheet of paper. Alternatively, have students create a flow chart using tools on Microsoft Office (e.g., shapes and lines in MS Word and PowerPoint, or the flowchart tool in Excel) or by using the free online flowchart maker Gliffy (www.gliffy.com).

Allow for additional time. Students should start their decision tree with the first question they would ask themselves when deciding whether to post something, and then continue to additional steps or questions based on a “yes” or “no” answer. Below is an example of the first steps of a decision tree:

Could what I am about to post be harmful or embarrassing to my friend(s) in this context?

If Yes > Do not post it.

If No or Not Sure > Go on to the next question.

Have I asked my friend(s) if it’s okay with them to post something?

If Yes > Go on to the next question. I

f No > Go ask them if you can.

If you can’t ask them, go on to the next question but remember to ask them soon.

Did your friend(s) say it was okay to post something about them?

If Yes > Go on to the next question.

If No > Do not post.

INVITE students to display their decision trees and discuss how they share responsibility for protecting the privacy of their friends and anyone with whom they connect online.

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: How can people’s reputations be affected by what is posted about them online? What impact could this have on their future?

What should you ask yourself before you post a photo, video, or other information about another person online?

How can you take responsibility for protecting the privacy and reputation of others?