Community Level 7

Hey Everybody My name is Tek. I ’ m going to be your guide today! I ’ m a part of i-SAFE, and we are concerned with helping you to be safe online. We want you to recognize and avoid dangerous, destructive or unlawful online behavior, and we hope to empower you to communicate what you learn from i- SAFE with others.

For this lesson you will be discussing the online community and interviewing members of the community. The Plan

All Right – Let’s Get Started Who can tell me what the word Community means? Let’s brainstorm what we think this word means.

The community is the physical area where we live, comprised of places where we know and interact with real people. Community is also a group of people who enjoy the same things, or engage in the same activities, such as a club, team, or school.

The Cyber Community Cyberspace, the Internet, can also be thought of as a community called the cyber community. It is comprised of places (websites) in which real people interact.

Time for Discussion How do you communicate on the Internet? Where do you communicate on the Internet? How does Internet communication compare to communication in your physical community? How is it alike? How is it different?

A Few More Discussion Questions Discuss leaders in the community – both physical and cyber. Who are your heroes? Do these heroes have online domains such as websites, chat rooms, ? Are these appropriate or inappropriate sites to visit? Do you think famous people have responsibilities in regards to online behavior? Why or why not?

Let’s take a closer look at how these communities are alike and different Make sure you have a copy of the Reference sheet on Communities to follow along with as we continue.

Community Travel Facts Traveling in the Cyber Community is a lot like traveling in the community you live in.

Since the Internet community is made up of real people and real places, it’s important to think about the safety issues it presents. Both communities contain inappropriate, as well as appropriate places to visit. Just like in the real community, inappropriate places in the Cyber community are unsafe, and should be avoided.

Websites that are inappropriate for kids and teens include: Sites that ask for money for any reason Sites that ask for your personal information such as name and address, Gambling sites Sites which contain adult content Sites which tell about violence or hate towards people.

You can get to inappropriate places just by clicking on links from searches, advertisements, or that seems perfectly appropriate.

Websites like this are taking away YOUR FREEDOM to travel where you want to go on the Internet! The important thing to remember is that it’s not your fault if you get to an inappropriate website by mistake.

The best way to handle inappropriate websites is to immediately exit. In some cases websites are created to prevent exit through a process called looping. If this type of website is found, it may be necessary to turn the computer completely off to exit!

The Internet is a large community with its own set of rules and responsibilities. -Who are some of the people you know that participate in this online community? There are many roles in this community such as leader, web designer, participant, newsgroup member. -What is your role and the role of others you know?

I hope you learned something I know I did! All right – let’s get into groups of two. Your teacher will divide you up for our first activity.

All right – Everyone paired up? Good! Your task today is to interview your partner about their role in the cyber community. We’ve provided you some sample questions to get started – but be sure to brainstorm your own questions also. Also – there is an activity sheet with the directions on it that your teacher can pass out.

1.What is your name? 2.Do you have access to a computer? 3.Do you use a computer to access the internet? 4.Do you use ? 5.Do you have a web page? 6.Have you ever contributed to a newsgroup or forum? 7.Have you participated in a chat? 8.When on the internet, what do you browse or look for? 9.Do you play games online? 10.Do you play online games with other people? Here are some suggested interview questions to get you started. Don’t forget to add your own questions!

So Get Started! Do your best on these interviews! Once you are finished you will present the information from your interview with the class and discuss what you have learned about the Online community. And once you’re finished, check out i-SAFE’s contests! Click on the link to Contests and Incentives at

Ok – You completed the Interview 1.Share what you learned from the interview with the class. 2.As a class, make a list or take a poll of online activities people are participating in. 3.Discuss the roles and responsibilities a participant in the online community has. 4.Discuss other participants in the online community – Who else might you interview? 5.What might they use the Internet for?

How Do you Know When You’re Done? Have you: 1. Completed your interview? 2. Shared your interview with your class? 3. Discussed as a class what you have learned about the cyber community?

It doesn’t have to end here! Find out about DRiVE!

Take Action It’s Easy with the i-Mentor Training Network! The i-Mentor Training Network has short informative videos that will take you step by step through the process of accomplishing any of the i-SAFE Outreach activities you can do in your school and community. To watch the videos go to the i-Mentor Network located in the X-BLOCK of the i-SAFE website at Visit the X-BLOCK at to learn about the i-Mentor Training Network. It’s all online!

Enroll online at by clicking on Create an Account. Receive your own Student Toolkit and materials to get started. Get the recognition you deserve as an i-SAFE Mentor Take Action