Level: Grades 9 - 12
Overview
| This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) is available in an easy-print, pdf kit version. To open the lesson kit for printing, click here. To print only this page, use the "printable version" link at the top of the page.
|
In this lesson students consider and discuss the trade-offs we all make on a daily basis between maintaining our privacy, and gaining access to information services. The lesson begins with a series of guided questions to help students assess their own perceptions of privacy and determine their comfort levels with giving out personal information. This is followed by a series of exercises and case studies that encourage them to delve deeper into privacy issues. As a summative activity, students produce short video essays that reflect those privacy issues they consider to be important.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- learn about the risks of giving out personal information online
- consider and debate the importance of privacy relative to other
concerns, such as security and access to online services - understand the possible consequences of posting photos,
personal information and messages - become aware of the distinction between privacy and security
- form and express opinions
- create a media product
Preparation and Materials
Review these backgrounders:
Photocopy these handouts:
If students do not have access to computers during the lesson, print and copy these online overviews from the myprivacy.mychoice.mylife Web site:
Procedure
Perceptions of Privacy
Begin by asking students how important their privacy is to them. (You may ask them to rate it on a scale of one to five, with one being a very low priority and five being a very high priority.) Ask those who say it is unimportant why they are not concerned. (They may feel that they have nothing to hide, that nobody is interested in violating their privacy, or that privacy is over-rated.) Ask students to give specific examples of real or feared violations of their privacy, which you may compile on the blackboard.
Using the examples raised by students, have the class try to define what is meant by “privacy.” Is it an absolute (you either have privacy or you don’t) or a relative thing (you can have more or less privacy)? Is privacy more important in some contexts than others (online vs. offline, at home vs. at school, etc.)?
Privacy Poll
If computers are available, have students go online to visit and read the mychoice and myprivacy everyday sections of the myprivacy.mychoice.mylife Web site. (If computers are not available, distribute printouts of these sections to students.)
As they do this, have them complete the following questions (these questions are repeated on the Thinking About Privacy handout):
- On the list of events in myprivacy everyday, how many might apply to you?
- Of the events on that list, which seem like justifiable losses of privacy, and which do not seem justified? For example, are the advantages of photo radar (10:30 AM) worth the loss of privacy it involves?
- Give two examples of information about you that may be collected automatically whenever you visit a Web site.
- Read the list of ways we’re prompted to voluntarily give up personal information online. How many of these have you responded to?
- List two things about e-mail that make it less private than postal mail.
- How does spam affect your privacy?
- What is the difference between a bot and a virus?
- Read the list from the mychoice section entitled “What can I do about it?” Choose the three tips you think are most useful to you, and briefly explain why you chose each one.
- How important is privacy to you? If it IS a concern, what specific aspects of privacy loss worry you? If it’s NOT a concern for you, explain why not.
Once students have finished their questionnaires, discuss their answers as a class, in particular responses to the final question. Have answers changed since the first class discussion? If so, have students become more, or less, worried about their privacy? Why?
Case Studies
Distribute the three Case Study handouts randomly, so that each student gets only one of the three. Give students time to read their case study and answer the questions. Once this has been done ask those students who read the same study to summarize the events involved and the privacy issues that were raised. As a class discuss the three case studies. Are the issues relevant to them? Are they likely to change in the future as our society becomes more and more dependent on the Internet? What, if anything, should citizens and/or government do about them?
Based on what they’ve learned, ask students to reflect on and discuss what they feel are the most serious privacy issues in their own lives.
Video Essay
Divide students into groups of two or three, and have them research and create a video essay on the privacy issue of their choice. It should cover key points relating to the chosen issue, and make a persuasive point. The video should be no longer than a minute or two long (60-120 seconds). (If making a video is not technically feasible, students should either perform a skit or write a short essay with the same requirements.)
To help students make the videos, distribute the handout Student Tool Kit: Creating a Video Essay. Review “The Pre-Production Phase” section, and explain that careful planning is the key to making a good video. Talk them through the section entitled “Start with a plan,” and then go through the “Have a script” section. Direct each group to write the script; once it’s written, have them rehearse it to make sure it fits the allotted time frame.
Review the “Create a storyboard” section with the class, and have each group create a storyboard and a shot list for their video. Check and approve each group’s work, then schedule rehearsals (both with and without actual cameras). In some cases, the storyboards and shot lists may have to be adjusted based on rehearsal results.
(During rehearsals, remind students to be aware of the material in the “Respect bystanders and copyright” section, covering aspects such as scenes of conflict and visible trademarks.)
When the groups have finished rehearsing, review with them “The Production Phase” section of the Creating a Video Essay handout. Have each group shoot their video, following their storyboard and shot list.
Finally, review “The Post-production Phase” section and have students edit first the individual segments of their videos, and then the segments together as a whole.
As a class, host a “myprivacy & me” video festival of the student’s productions. Students may also enter their video essays into the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s (OPC) myprivacy & me video competition for which they would be eligible. For more information visit the OPC Web site.
