2d. Digital Citizen | English Language Arts | Grades 6-12

To examine the privacy policies and data collection of popular websites, teachers can have students visit 3-5 of their favorite “pleasure reading” websites, which may include websites dedicated to FanFiction, sports, history, fashion, art & culture, space exploration, etc. For each website, students can cite the website using the appropriate format (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.), a one-sentence summary of the website’s content, and a response to each of the following prompts:

• What type of information does the website collect about its users?
• What does the website do with the information it collects?
• Are there options for electing if you can opt-in or opt-out of the data collection?

As students collect their information, teachers can have them “crowdsource” the information by adding it to a shared document or digital collaborative space. That when, once the students have added their information to it, teachers can have students look across the information they identified from the websites’ privacy statements to identify commonalities. To conclude this activity, teachers can have students share the commonalities they identified as part of a class conversation.

EdTech Resources for Citing Sources

Purdue’s Online Writing Lab

Students can use this resource to access styles guides for citing websites in APA, MLA, Chicago, and other formats.

EdTech Resources for Crowdsourcing Information

Google Docs

Students can add their citations, summaries, and responses to the prompts to a shared Google Doc. That way, once all the information has been added, students can look across the entries to locate commonalities. Teachers can provide an example entry to serve as a model.

Instructions