Lesson: Trillion Dollar Footprint (6-8)

Warm-up (10 minutes)

ASK:
How many of you have …

• Created a profile on an Internet site?
• Filled out a form online?
• Chatted on AIM or GChat?
• Sent an email?
• Typed your name into Google? Were there any results about you? (Allow 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.

SHOW students the “The Digital Footprint” video. 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” – the “Trash Bin” icon on their computer that serves as a “garbage can” for their files. After the video is over, briefly review the meaning of the following imagery in the video as it relates to privacy.

• Fingerprint: Everyone leaves a different mark or unique identifier online that can be traced.
• Football stadium: Football games are huge, public events. The Internet is similar.
• Lighthouse: The light shines on boats or people that are in the dark. People can find out a lot about others through search engines.
• Copies and whispering in ear: Information on the Internet can be forwarded to many others, sometimes after having been altered first.
• 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 term persistent.

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; seen by a large, invisible audience, and can become persistent.

Pick 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, coming to the front of the class to promote their choice with evidence from the profiles that supports their pick.

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?
When all groups have made their pitch, explain to students that neither Jason nor Linda got the host position because the executive producer had too many concerns about both regarding their ability to work well with others and be honest. They are going to keep looking for other candidates.

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

ASK: Did you assume that Linda was dishonest because someone commented that the recipe she supposedly created was not her own?
Responses will vary. However, we don’t know who commented and if his/her statement was true.

ASK: Did you assume Jason was a jerk because he said he was single on his profile but said that he was married in his personal statement?
Responses will vary. However, maybe he forgot to change his status.

ASK: Did you assume either Linda or Jason would not work well with others based on aspects of what they wrote in their personal statements?
Responses will vary.

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?
They did, people who commented, news sources.

ASK: Can you tell what a person is really like offline based on what you find online?
To some degree. It depends on the size of their digital footprint and how accurate the information is.

ASK: What are some other types of information that make up your “digital footprint”?
Photos of you online, listings of you on sports team.

 

EXTENSION ACTIVITY

Have students design paper footprints that contain the kind of information they would want to appear in their digital footprint 10 years from now. Have students fill out the My Digital Footprint Student Handout. The information they put in the handout could consist of stories about their success in online newspapers, a popular sports blog that they write, or photos of them running for a high governmental position.

AT-HOME ACTIVITY

Have students teach the Trillion Dollar Footprint lesson at home. Copy the Choose a Candidate Student Handout for all students. Students look through the profiles of Linda and Jason together with their family members. As a family, they choose a candidate to host “Trillion Dollar Footprint.” Students should explain that the point of the lesson is to think about how information that is online about someone can impact how others view that person, but that it can be very problematic to make assumptions about others based solely on their digital footprint.