Overview
Students will learn how to safely set up an email account as well as a social media account by creating secure passwords to interact safely with others while online. Note: This is the first video in our MediaWise/PBS series called How2Internet, designed to help students learn important skills that will guide them on their journey to becoming good digital citizens. For grades 4- 8 (45 mins)
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Choose a secure username and password and explain why they are crucial for staying safe online.
- Compare and contrast private public accounts and describe the pros and cons of each.
Downloadable Lesson Documents
Before You Watch
What is the appropriate age for young people to begin using social media? Why?
Suggested resources for the activating question:
While You Watch
Tell students to preview the following questions. Then answer them while they watch the “How2Internet” video. According to the video…
- What is something you should do to safely set up a personal social media account?
- What is the youngest age someone should sign up for a social media account according to experts? (circle one)
- What is the first thing you need to set up a social media account?
- What should you do before you enter personal information to obtain an email address?
- How can you stay anonymous — and safe — when creating a username?
- List three tips to create a safe password?
- What are the features of “public” and "private” accounts?
- What is a good rule to follow before posting something to a social media account, even if it is a private account?
- How could someone share a post of yours even if you have a private account?
- How long does information stay online after you post it?
After You Watch
- Think about your existing social media accounts. What might you change about them after watching this video?
- What kind of content would be safe and appropriate for a public social media account?
- What would you not want to post on a public social media account?
- Who benefits if you set up a social media account with the default privacy settings? Why?
Exit Ticket
Write a secure username and password for an e-mail or social media accont based on what you learned.
Standards
ISTE 1.2 Digital Citizen—Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model digital citizenship in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
Chris Schwalm is a youth producer at PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL). Before coming to SRL, Chris taught high school journalism for 20 years in Lancaster, Penn. For 12 of those years, Chris reported on nights and weekends for the Lancaster News. In addition to the How2Internet series, Chris wrote SRL and MediaWise’s Teen Fact Checking Network lesson series on media literacy. You can reach him on Twitter/X @cschwalm.
These lessons were developed by PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs in partnership with MediaWise and the Teen Fact-Checking Network, which are part of the Poynter Institute. This partnership has been made possible with support from Google.
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