New Internet ABC material for teachers: Safe online with students

The use of digital media is increasingly finding its way into lessons at elementary schools. But what experiences and competencies do children have with regard to their own media use, and why are schools called upon to teach media literacy?

New Internet ABC material for teachers: Safe online with students
www.internet-abc.de/lehrkraefte/unterrichtsmaterialien/lehrerhandbuch-und-arbeitshefte/

For more than ten years, the Internet-ABC association has been providing answers to these questions with its website of the same name. Teachers can find comprehensive material on topics relevant to teaching such as research, safe surfing, data protection or copyright here, as well as instructions on how to carry out media education projects. Children can learn all the basics for safe and responsible use of the Internet in a playful way in the Internet ABC.

Now, the Internet ABC is publishingfurther workbooks for lesson planning: With the now total of four workbooks on the topics "Surfing and the Internet - this is how the Internet works," "Join in the conversation and participate - become active yourself," "Watch out for the dangers! - How to protect yourself" and "Reading, listening, watching - media on the Internet" introduce students in grades 3 to 6 to the topic of the Internet in an age-appropriate way. Together with an accompanying teacher's guide, the materials supplement the Internet ABC's interactive offering with concrete worksheets for the classroom. All documents of the media competence initiative are now available for download at internet-abc.de or can be ordered as a print version free of charge.

Trying out apps and games, watching the latest video of your favorite star, or chatting with friends - even elementary school students use the Internet in a variety of ways. And in many places, work with the Internet also complements lessons at school. To ensure that young Internet users use the Internet safely and confidently, the Internet ABC is now supporting teachers with a total of four workbooks and the teacher's guide "Safe online with your class". The workbooks contain print versions of the learning modules already available online in the Internet ABC. This makes it possible to teach the basics of the Internet even in schools with limited technical equipment or insufficient access to the Internet. 

The workbook "Surfing and the Internet - how the Internet works" provides basic knowledge: What is the Internet? How does a browser work? How do (children's) search engines work? What safety rules should be observed? The workbook "Mitreden und Mitmachen - selbst aktiv werden" (Talking and participating - becoming active yourself ) expands all online learning modules about communication and participation on the Internet: What should you watch out for when using chats and messengers like WhatsApp? Why are social networks like Facebook only for adults? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of e-mail?

The students work on these questions using various tasks: For example, they create a checklist as a personal safety plan for dealing with social networks. They take a quiz to test their knowledge of Internet terms. And by filling in a cloze , they create their own tips for researching with search engines.

The two workbooks have now been supplemented by two more. The booklet "Beware the dangers! - How to protect yourself" will cover topics including: Fraud on the Internet; viruses, worms and other computer diseases; advertising, sweepstakes and shopping; cyberbullying; and data protection. The booklet "Reading, Listening, Watching - Media on the Internet" will include the worksheets for the online modules "Text and images - copy and share?" and "Movies, videos and music - what is allowed?".

The topics in both the online and print versions do not build on each other chronologically. It is therefore also possible to work on individual learning modules. Approx. 2 teaching hours are calculated for the implementation of a single learning module. The time needed to complete the module can vary depending on the grade level and the (reading) skills of the children. Therefore, the exercises can be individually compiled for the teacher depending on the knowledge level of the student. 

Further information:

More on the topic:

  • klicksafe.de: "Through the year with klicksafe - 12 units of media education for elementary school"