Url: https://www.esafety.gov.au/access/games_index.html

Age recommendations: Years 3-6

Cost: Free

Accessibility: This resource is free and able to be accessed on

Australian Curriculum Connections: ICT general capabilities: Communicating with ICT Level 4

“understand that computer mediated communications are directed to an audience for a purpose” (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2014)

Description: This resource is an interactive game that requires students to follow guidelines to establish who they are really talking to online.

 

Rationale:

Although our students are what Prensky (2001) considers to be “digital natives”, they still require explicit instruction in digital literacy skills such as socio-emotional literacy to develop digital competence (Ng, 2012). The Pic Your Friends activity helps to demonstrate to students that when using computer mediated communication forms such as email and instant messengers in which you cannot see the other person, you may not in fact be communicating with the person you thought you were. It is beneficial for use in middle to upper primary school classrooms as it draws students’ attention to the difference between face to face and computer mediated communication and models strategies students can use to confirm whom they are communicating with.

 

References

 

   Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority. (2014). Information and Communication Technology General Capability (ICT) Continuum. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/information-and-communication-technology-capability/continuum#layout=columns

 

   Ng, W. (2012). Can we teach digital natives digital literacy?. Computers & Education, 59(3), 1065-1078. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wan_Ng3/publication/257171162_Can_we_teach_digital_natives_digital_literacy/links/02e7e52f9560bc3b81000000.pdf

 

   Prensky, M. (2001). "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1", On the Horizon, 9(5), pp. 1 – 6. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816