Flow of Activities
Activity Passwords
What should I know about passwords?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
What's this about?
Passwords are an important part of using digital systems. They are designed to restrict access to personal files and information. Knowing the username and password authorises the user to access specific information that is intended for their own use.
Students need passwords at a young age, especially when they are interacting online.
At this level it is important for students to understand the concept of password strength. When creating a password, they should not include information that people might know about them, such as their name or their pet’s name. The password shouldn’t be a simple number sequence, such as 12345.
Students also need to know that passwords must not be shared.
Learning tasks
- Find out what students know about passwords: what they are, who uses them, why they are used, why they are kept secret and what a strong password is.
- Talk to students about their experiences of passwords when using the computer.
- Introduce passwords in an engaging way, such as through the animated ‘Password rap’, linked under supporting resources.
- Students then create a poster that describes how to create a password and important things to consider when creating a password.
Supporting Resources
Assessment
Suggested approaches may include
- Poster about passwords
Activity Cyberbullying
What is cyberbullying?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
What's this about?
Cyberbullying at this level is most likely minimal; however, it is worthwhile to discuss bullying.
It is suggested that students be made aware of how inappropriate it is to bully online, as well as how to recognise cyberbullying.
Discuss simple strategies for dealing with cyberbullying, including telling a trusted adult.
An underlying principle in acceptable online behaviour is respecting the feelings of others.
Learning tasks
- Revisit classroom rules about how to behave online in a safe and acceptable manner. Discuss respecting the feelings of others and what that might look like in the classroom, in the schoolyard and when online.
- Explore cyberbullying to recognise what it is and ways to deal with cyberbullying situations.
- If time permits, ask students to role play certain situations that involve cyberbullying and ways to deal with the situation.
Lesson Ideas
Assessment
Suggested approaches may include
- Role play about cyberbullying
Activity Computer security
What files might harm a computer?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
What's this about?
As students learn about digital systems, they need to understand the potential dangers of using the internet.
Raise the topic of computer viruses with students, and talk about how viruses can harm a computer.
Discuss how downloading a file to the computer is a potential risk if the file is not from a trusted source. Viruses can be hidden in downloadable files.
Learning tasks
- Discuss the potential dangers when using digital systems such as a computer or tablet device.
- Discuss the ‘second click’ rule. This is the idea that students can click on something safely, but if something pops up that seems inappropriate or that they are unsure of they need to talk to an adult before clicking a second time.
- Use a relevant activity to explore the harm that pop-ups and viruses might do to a computer.
Supporting Resources
Assessment
Suggested approaches may include
- Presentation or demonstration
Activity Sharing information online
What rules should I follow when sharing ideas online?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
What's this about?
Online spaces are valuable for their ability to encourage and enable collaboration.
Collaborating online requires that people understand online etiquette and are able to effectively and respectfully navigate the environment.
Learning tasks
- Provide opportunities for students to share ideas in an online space using a suitable classroom context. Students may use a collaboration tool such as Seesaw, OneNote or an intranet space.
- Apply rules for safe and acceptable behaviours.
- Discuss the fair use of images located on the internet for use in students’ own digital solutions.
- Set the students a simple task that taps into their interests or that is a currently studied topic, such as researching a famous sportsperson or animal.
- Students work in small groups to produce a shared document (for example, on Google Docs). Together, they create a digital poster describing the key information about a topic.
Supporting Resources
Assessment
Suggested approaches may include
- Online document
