Safe Online Interactions

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📘 Lesson Overview

Unit Title: Navigating Online Respect

Lesson 4 of 8

Lesson Title: Safe Technology Use: Guidelines and Strategies

Year Level: Year 10

Time: 50 minutes

Students: 25

Curriculum Link:

Australian Curriculum - Health and Physical Education (Years 9–10)
Strand: Personal, Social and Community Health
Sub-strand: Communicating and Interacting for Health and Wellbeing
Content Descriptor:

• ACPPS092: Evaluate situations and propose appropriate emotional responses and then reflect on possible outcomes of different responses
• ACPPS093: Propose, practise and evaluate responses in situations where external influences may impact on their ability to make healthy and safe choices

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🎯 Learning Intentions & Success Criteria

Learning Intentions

Students will:

• Understand the importance of respectful and safe technology use in online relationships.
• Evaluate real-world scenarios involving online interactions.
• Collaboratively develop a set of student-generated classroom guidelines for respectful online communication.

Success Criteria

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Describe at least three strategies for staying safe in online relationships.
• Identify behaviours that contribute to unsafe digital communication.
• Co-create a classroom charter for respectful online behaviour.

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📝 Preparation & Materials

Materials Needed

• Smartboard or projector
• 'Online Interaction Scenario Cards' (15 printed cards – two scenarios per card)
• Large butchers’ paper (5 sheets)
• Markers
• Sticky notes (multiple colours)
• Whiteboard and whiteboard markers

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⏱️ Lesson Breakdown (50 Minutes)

1. Warm Up: 'One Word, One Feeling' (5 mins)

Aim: Tap into students’ personal views and experiences about being online.

• Ask students to think of one word that describes how they feel when they communicate online (e.g., Snapchat, Discord, Instagram DMs).
• One by one, students say their word aloud. Write these on the whiteboard.
• Brief class discussion: “Why do you think we have such varied feelings about online communication?”

🧠 Tip: Validate all student input. This activity initiates emotional reflection aligning with ACPPS092.

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2. Group Task: The Scenario Sprint (15 mins)

Aim: Students critically analyse digital interactions and reflect on safe, respectful choices.

• Divide the class into five groups of five students.
• Distribute one ‘Online Interaction Scenario Card’ per group.
• Each group has 7 minutes to:
  • Read the two scenarios,
  • Identify safety concerns and respectful/dangerous behaviours,
  • Write solutions or safe strategies on sticky notes (use different colours for each kind of response: respectful, unsafe, unsure).
• Each group presents one of their scenarios and shares the strategies with the class (1–2 minutes each).

Sample Scenarios (include on cards):

• “Chris screenshots a private conversation and sends it to others.”
• “Lana feels pressured by her online friend to send a personal photo.”

🔍 Curriculum Link: Encourages evaluation of influence and decision-making (ACPPS093).

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3. Brainstorm: What If It’s You? (5 mins)

Pose the question:

“What would you do if someone you trusted online made you uncomfortable?”

• Students think-pair-share their responses.
• Write key strategies on the board (e.g., block/report, communicate boundaries, speak with a trusted adult, screenshot for evidence).

✍️ Build on this to craft class-based strategies in the next activity.

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4. Task: Charter Creation – 'The Digital Kindness Code' (20 mins)

Aim: Co-create student-led guidelines for safe, respectful online communication.

• Using the sticky notes and earlier discussions, ask each group to draft 5 key rules or guidelines for safe technology use in online relationships.
• Each group records their rules on a large sheet of butchers’ paper titled "Code of Digital Kindness".
• Post all versions on the walls.
• Conduct a gallery walk: students rotate between charts, read all the rules, and place a tick next to rules they agree with.

Final 2 minutes:

• Tally the most popular rules.
• As a class, decide on the Top 10 Charter Statements to be shared digitally with all students or displayed on the health noticeboard.

📜 Student Voice Display: Safeguarding begins when students have a say.

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🎓 Differentiation

• Visual learners: Use visual cards, colour-coded sticky notes and collaborative anchors.
• EAL or lower literacy learners: Include pre-discussion of vocabulary (e.g., 'boundaries', 'screenshot', 'consent').
• High ability students: Encourage critical analysis of grey-area dilemmas (“What if the friend didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable?”).

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📈 Assessment Strategies

Formative

• Observation during group work and discussions
• Analysis of scenario solutions (sticky notes)
• Participation in shared brainstorm and final charter creation

Success is evident when:

• Students can articulate risks and guidelines using their own language.
• Learners respectfully challenge or build upon each other's ideas.

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🔄 Reflection & Homework Suggestion (if applicable)

Exit Slip (Optional, Time-Permitting, or Homework):
Students write a quick response to:

“One thing I’ll do differently online starting today is…”

This encourages personal responsibility and ensures consolidation of learning.

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👏 Wrap-Up (2–3 mins)

• Revisit learning intention
• Celebrate student voice in the charter
• Mention that next lesson will explore boundaries and consent in digital spaces

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🧠 Teacher Insight – Why This Works

This lesson combines student agency, real-life dilemmas, peer collaboration and age-appropriate empathy tasks. It takes learning beyond theoretical safety tips and positions students as ethical online participants in their own digital environments.

It aligns beautifully with the Australian Curriculum and supports values-based education without being preachy—making it perfect for the modern Australian classroom.

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✅ Resources to Prepare:

• Pre-printed scenario cards (or write your own based on school context)
• Sticky notes, markers, butcher’s paper
• A wall to proudly display The Digital Kindness Code

Note: This lesson can integrate seamlessly with pastoral care or digital citizenship programs across the school.