Our Digital Footprints

Overview

In this second lesson of Āhurutanga Online: Safe Connections, students explore how online actions, messages, images and personal information can affect themselves and others. They build on earlier learning about safe connections by identifying what is safe to share, what requires permission, and what should remain private.

Learning intentions

• WALT explain what a digital footprint is.
• WALT identify information that should remain private.
• WALT recognise how online choices can affect people and communities.
• WALT use respectful language when discussing digital safety and consent.

Success criteria

• I can explain that a digital footprint is the record or trail created by what I do online.
• I can sort examples into safe to share, ask first, or keep private.
• I can justify one sorting choice using “because”.
• I can describe how an online action might affect whanaungatanga, wellbeing or trust.

Curriculum links

• Technology — designing and using digital outcomes responsibly.
• Social Sciences — how people’s actions affect communities.
• English — interpreting and creating texts for different purposes and audiences.
• Learning Languages — using simple digital safety phrases.
• Health and Physical Education — making safe choices and managing relationships.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and hook. Display the first question from the digital footprints introduction deck: “What might people learn about us from one online post?” Establish āhurutanga by reminding students that no one needs to share personal online experiences. Students think quietly, then share a general idea with a partner.

2. 5–12 min · Direct teaching. Use the digital footprints introduction deck to explain that a digital footprint is the trail made by posts, comments, searches, photos, likes, messages and information shared online. Model three categories: safe to share, ask first, and keep private. Emphasise that permission matters before sharing another person’s photo, words, artwork, whakapapa-related information or location. Students use hand signals or icons to show which category they think each example belongs to.

3. 12–17 min · Oral rehearsal. Introduce and practise the phrases “Can I share this?”, “Please keep this private”, “I need to ask first”, and “That could affect someone else”. Model respectful online communication, including pausing before posting and checking how a message may feel to the receiver. Students rehearse one phrase with a partner, then explain why consent and kindness support whanaungatanga.

4. 17–32 min · Group scenario sort. Place students in five mixed-ability groups of five. Give each group the decision-making cards from the decision-making scenario cards and a three-part sorting space labelled with the category icons. Students read or listen to each scenario, agree where it belongs, and record two choices on the digital footprint sorting worksheet. They must use “We chose ___ because ___” to justify one decision. Circulate, asking: “Whose information is involved?”, “Has permission been given?”, and “What might happen next?”

5. 32–38 min · Share and challenge. Invite groups to present one scenario where there was disagreement or more than one possible response. Use the digital footprints introduction deck to show prompts about permanence and consent: “Could this be copied or seen later?” and “How could we repair the situation?” Students suggest a safe response, such as asking permission, deleting a post, apologising, reporting harm, or speaking with a trusted adult.

6. 38–45 min · Plenary and exit check. Return to the learning intentions on the digital footprints introduction deck. Students complete the final section of the digital footprint sorting worksheet: classify one new example and justify the decision in one sentence. Invite several students to share their reasoning, then collect worksheets for formative assessment.

Resources

• the digital footprints introduction deck
• the digital footprint sorting worksheet
• the decision-making scenario cards
• Three category signs: safe to share, ask first, keep private
• Category icons or picture symbols
• Five sets of sorting cards or envelopes
• Whiteboard and markers
• Pencils and highlighters
• Optional device or projector for displaying slides

Assessment

• Listen during oral rehearsal for accurate use of “ask first”, “private”, “permission” and “safe”.
• Observe group sorting and question whether students can identify whose information is involved and predict a possible impact.
• Use the worksheet exit response to check whether each student can classify an example and justify the choice; reteach privately held information and consent in the next lesson where needed.

Differentiation

• Support learners with icons, colour-coded category signs, read-aloud scenarios, reduced card choices and sentence frames: “I think this belongs in ___ because ___.”
• Allow students to respond by speaking, pointing, drawing or using a scribe; provide partner rehearsal before whole-group sharing. Avoid requiring disclosure of personal experiences.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach and display: share, private, permission, consent, message, photo, kind, and trusted adult. Pair each word with an icon and model it in a short sentence.
• Extend confident learners by asking whether a choice could change depending on the audience, whether the information could remain online permanently, and how consent could be checked or withdrawn.