Curriculum: Understanding YouTube & Digital Citizenship

Overview

We have devised an interactive curriculum aimed to support teachers of secondary students (approximately ages 13-17). The curriculum helps educate students on topics like:

  • YouTube’s policies
  • How to report content on YouTube
  • How to protect their privacy online
  • How to be responsible YouTube community members
  • How to be responsible digital citizens

We hope that students and educators gain useful skills and a holistic understanding about responsible digital citizenship, not only on YouTube, but in all online activity.

Lessons

Below is a list of lessons, and the recommended flow for delivery. Lessons are designed to fit within 50 minute classes, but can be adapted to fit your schedule:

  1. What Makes YouTube Unique - basic facts and figures (40 minutes) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  2. Detecting Lies - (35 minutes) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  3. Safety Mode - (5 minutes) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  4. Online Reputation and Cyberbullying - (45 minutes) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  5. Policy - The Community Guidelines (30 minutes) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  6. Reporting content - Flagging (20 minutes) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  7. Privacy part 1 - (40 minutes) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  8. Privacy part 2 - (50 minutes) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  9. Copyright - (40 mins) - Teacher’s Guide, Slides
  10. Additional resources/Appendix including parent resources - Teacher’s Guide, Slides

You can download the full Teacher’s Guide here.

Learn more

To learn more visit the Classroom videos page of the Google in Education website, where you can find links to information on:

Lesson 1: What makes YouTube unique

Time

40 minutes

Lesson objective

Understand the environment and scale of YouTube

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Approach

Start by talking the students through the various lessons that they will be completing in the coming weeks. The focus of the Curriculum is to make students knowledgeable and confident when engaging online, whether on YouTube or on other platforms. Throughout the lessons, they will be obtain information and tools and will participate in group activities and discussions to help them understand the principles behind each of the lessons.

Starter- 7 minutes

Show YouTube clips from multiple of the following categories, which demonstrates the range of media that is available online.

Instructional

  • CPGrey
  • Xx
  • xx

Inspirational

  • Travel video

Social/political

  • Xx
  • It Gets Better

Entertainment

  • “Baby” by Justin Bieber
  • Hangout with Will I Am- first few minutes

Explain there is a range of content online. Ask students what different videos may be used for.

Instruction- 7 minutes

Explain that the net few days/weeks/hours you’ll be covering information on how to use YouTube to be engaged, inspired, and to learn & how to ensure you’re using it as a good digital citizen.

Today you’ll do two things:

  • Get an understanding of how students use YouTube today
  • Get students reflecting on how to use it responsibly

Ask students to answer the following questions by a show of hands or through class discussion.

  • Who here uses YouTube regularly?
  • Who uses YouTube for social networking?
  • What are your favorite YouTube videos? Why?
  • What is the most common use for YouTube? e.g. music videos, tutorials

Before delving into the ‘serious’ stuff, we think it’s beneficial to develop an understanding of the scale and make-up of YouTube (and maybe a chance to look at some fun videos too!).

YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe.

Please check out the YouTube timeline video on page 3. This video was released in May 2012.

Activity- 8 minutes

Now, go to page 4. Read through the trivia questions and go to the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/t/press. The class can either answer the questions as a group or if IT resources allow, can break off into groups and write down their answers.

Answers

  1. Founded in 2005, making it 7 years old in 2012.
  2. Over 800m visitors to the site each month.
  3. The first video ever uploaded was Me At the Zoo! Please see link to the video if you want to take a look. This is what we call UGC footage or user-generated content and is the backbone of YouTube as a video-sharing platform. Everyone can be a content creator!
  4. Highest viewed video ever is ‘Baby’ - Justin Bieber (over 2 billion views!) and for user-generated content, it is Charlie Bit my Finger
  5. The community on YouTube represents our community of users. The content on YouTube is created by the community, for the community. We have developed an innovative community-based model to notify us of potential violations of our Community Guidelines. For us, there is no better or more comprehensive group.
  6. You have to be 13 to have a YouTube account.

Additional information

  • YouTube is the largest online video sharing platform in the world and the second most popular search engine in the U.S. after Google. Google acquired YouTube in 2006.
  • Over 72 hours of content are uploaded onto YouTube every MINUTE. YouTube has over 4 billion views every day! This is an updated number from May 2012, the previous number was 60 hours per minute.
  • 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside of the U.S.
  • More than half the videos on YouTube have been rated or commented on.
  • Our statistics continue to grow and change so please see our public statistics page for more background.

Instruction- 3 minutes

Explain that while there are a world of resources on YouTube, there is also content that is not appropriate or is negative.

Now ask students the following:

  • Who has had discussions with family or friends or teachers about what to do when confronted with negative content?
  • What measures do you and your family take to manage your time online?

Activity- 5 minutes

On page 5 there are a series of questions for students to answer. They should give themselves a point for every one they answer ‘yes’ to. Once they are finished, the teacher can read out the following results.

Scoring

  • 10 - 12 = You’re already a superstar when it comes to safe online behaviour. Keep it up, continue to learn and share your knowledge!
  • 5 - 9 = You’re halfway there but you can still do better. Being a responsible digital citizen should apply to all of your online activity. Make sure to familiarise yourself with the tools and information provided by sites and platforms to help you along.
  • 1 - 4 =  Lots more work to do! It’s important to have fun online but it is possible to do this and be safe. Talk to your friends, family, teacher about developing some essential skills for managing your online activities. It’s easy!

Closing- 5 minutes

In the coming lessons we will ensure we all understand the ways to use YouTube responsibly, the many things it can help you do.

Let’s look at one more video now. You might agree this video fits multiple purposes we discussed in the beginning: entertaining, inspiring, & educating.

To end this session, look at the ‘YouTube Rewind 2011’ video together. Reminisce some of the YouTube memories of 2011.

Lesson 2 - Detecting Lies & Harmful Links

Time

35 minutes

Lesson objective

Develop skills of critical analysis when encountering online content

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Internet access for the whole class to view a website together or on devices for students in small groups or individually

Starter- 5 minutes

Watch these videos which show lie detectors:

  • XXX which shows someone taking a lie detector test
  • XXX which shows someone lying and then someone else probing with questions

Instruction- 5 minutes

This section addresses how you can know what you can trust online, and what might be potentially harmful for you or your computer. Students can be bombarded with information online and it’s important that they begin to understand what information is reliable and what is not. Students should also learn to be wary when they get pop-up windows, quizzes asking for personal information or suspicious emails.  

On page 6 watch the video titled ‘Steering Clear of Cyber Tricks’. (3 minutes). The main lessons they should learn from this video are;

  1. Stay away from pop-up contests
  2. Don’t give companies your personal information and if you do really need to (for older students) search companies before you give them any information
  3. Read the fine print on all web pages
  4. Don't click on suspicious links

Discussion- 5 minutes

Have a brief class discussion as a follow-up, asking the following questions:

  • What types of questionable pop up games or contests have you ever encountered?
  • What course of action did you take?
  • Why is it a bad idea to give information about yourself to unverified sites?
  • What is meant by phishing?
  • When a website pretends to be someone you trust so that they can steal your private information and use it for themselves

Most legitimate businesses will never ask for personal information like your account number, password or social security number

Instruction- 3 minutes

Watch the video on page 7, titled ‘Detecting Lies and Staying True’. (2 minutes).

After watching this video, review top level domain extensions on the next slide. Highlight the fact that just because information shows up online it doesn’t mean it’s true.  Note: A domain extension is the end of a domain. For example, in the domain [youtube.com], "com" is the extension.

Recap the main lessons they should take away are:

  1. Be a Skeptic
  2. Investigate the Source
  3. Follow the Rule of Three

Ask students what are the top three sites that they trust for information and why?

Activity- 15 minutes

Ask the question: “Is there life on other planets?”. After taking initial ideas ask students to compare the three sources of information below. Reach a conclusion about what’s true/trustworthy. List the websites on the board for each group to review and report back or look at them together as a group.

Closing- 2 minutes

Follow the rule of three:

  • Explore the sites for a few minutes and ask:
  • What is the point of view of the site?
  • What are they trying to get you to believe?
  • What opinions or ideas are missing?
  • Investigate the sources
  • Click on the about us or similar links to see who publishes the information
  • Based on this assessment, determine which sources are most credible. Rate them 1-3, 1 being the most credible, 3 being the least.

Lesson 3 - Safety Mode

Time

5 Minutes

Lesson objective 

Become familiar with what safety mode is, why you should use it and how to enable it for you and your family.

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Individual computers for each student or small groups of students

Instruction

Many people are not aware of YouTube Safety Mode. Safety Mode gives users the option to choose not to see mature content that they may find find offensive, even though it's not against our Community Guidelines. When you opt in to Safety Mode mode, videos with mature content or that have been age restricted will not show up in video search, related videos, playlists, shows and movies.

Review the information on slide 5 with the group.

Key points to highlight are;

  1. Safety Mode is easy to enable and filters out potentially objectionable content.
  2. It doesn’t remove the content from the site but rather, keeps them hidden for the user.
  3. It is an ‘opt-in’ setting so must be enabled by the user.

Teacher note

At this point, you or a class volunteer should enable safety mode for the remainder of the lessons, if it is not yet enabled on your account. Remember, safety mode is browser-specific so if you switch browser, you may need to enable safety mode again.

Instruction

Watch the video tutorial on Safety Mode.  Here is a script to accompany the video which the teacher may wish to read aloud to the class;

“Start by scrolling to the bottom of a YouTube page. The page in the video displays some search results. In the new YouTube interface, on the third line it should say ‘Safety: Off’, click on this to find the option to turn on Safety Mode. Once you select ‘on’, you must then hit ‘lock safety mode on this browser’, before you ‘save’.”

At the end of the page you can see a screen-shot that shows the current safety mode interface on YouTube. On the last line and far-right you can see the option for Safety Mode and whether it is ‘off’ or ‘on.’

Everyone should now be able to identify the YouTube Safety Mode setting. It might be a good idea to suggest that students tell their parents and siblings about Safety Mode so that they can explore YouTube together.

Lesson 4. Online Reputation and Cyber-bullying

Time

45 minutes

Lesson objective

Appreciate potential short-term and long-term consequences of irresponsible social networking. Understand what cyber-bullying is and its effects.

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Starter- 8 minutes

Next, watch the video ‘Kate’s Reputation Problem’. (2 minutes).

Then read some of the scenarios on page 10. While it’s great to share things online with friends, we want students to think about some scenarios where content could be posted about them or where they may post content of themselves. Although it may initially seem like a good idea, in reality there could be a number of potential consequences.

Ask students to volunteer some additional scenarios that could arise.

Activity- 10 minutes

Give students a few minutes to list what they believe are potential short-term and long-term consequences of irresponsible online behaviour. Then write up the answers on the class board. Discuss the answers.

Short-term consequences -

  • Expose you to ridicule, harassment or bullying
  • Discipline at home or at school
  • Trouble with law enforcement/police
  • Contacted by strangers
  • Fired from a part-time job

Long-term consequences -

  • Future employment prospects
  • Criminal activity - police record
  • Expulsion from school
  • Future relationships
  • Acceptance into some institutions
  • Mis-trust of the internet and disengagement

Instruction- 8 minutes

Introduce the concepts below:

  • Digital Footprint - Is basically everything on the internet that is about you! Sometimes content about you may be viewed by people you don’t know. Your digital footprint may include photos, audio, videos, blog posts, posts you write on friends’ walls. Like all information on the internet, it can be permanent. Remember - internet information has a global audience.
  • The Grandma Rule is one way for younger internet users to stay mindful of their digital footprint. If you are not comfortable having a teacher or parent check your photos, videos, posts, then ask a trusted friend or other authority figure like an older cousin or sibling.
  • Next, you will discuss cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a big concern for parents, teachers and students alike. One of the main problems with cyberbullying is that it is persistent and invasive and people feel in less control. Each group should be aware of the signs of cyberbullying and should seek out tools and resources at their disposal to help combat cyberbullying.

Give age appropriate examples of the results of cyber bullying and the impact (e.g. some students have bullied so much that they have gone on to harm themselves).

Discussion- 7 minutes

On page 12, there is a video for the class to watch called ‘Cyberbullying: Solutions for Parents’ and some tips on what to do if you are being bullied or you see bullying taking place online.

Activity- 10 minutes

Following a class discussion using the points on page 11. Develop a Class Charter and select a name like  ‘We are Model Netizens’. (10 minutes).  Have students articulate what they expect of themselves and each other online.

Closing- 2 minutes

Have the students sign or initial charter. Depending on the age of the students, discuss how your class can revisit how they are doing against the charter.

 

Lesson 5. Policy - The Community Guidelines

Time

30 minutes

Lesson Objective

Understand the dos and don’ts of posting content on YouTube.

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Students will need some large sheets of paper and markers/colours.

Starter – 2 minutes

Watch a video showing what happens when there are no rules or guidelines in a community. Set up the clip.

Instruction- 3 minutes

YouTube’s Community Guidelines are the ‘rules of the road’ for our users when posting content and engaging on the platform. They outline the level of responsibility, which is expected of all users. The Community Guidelines are linked to from the bottom of every YouTube page under ‘Terms’ and are written in clear, easy to understand, jargon-free language so that all users can be clear on what the YouTube rules are.

Activity- 20 minutes

In this exercise the students are put in power and have to answer the question - ‘If you were in charge of writing YouTube’s Community Guidelines, what would you include?’.

Students break into groups of 4-6 and each group should be given a large sheet of paper and marker so they can lay out their Community Guidelines in order of importance.

Ask each group present their results. Record the top 5 points to come from across the groups should be written on the class board. Then you can visit the link provided to the Community Guidelines on page 13 and talk through the points from page 7 in more detail. You can do this as a class group by projecting the Guidelines to the class and see how they compare to the students’ version. (10 minutes).

http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines

Finally, read, as a group, the ‘myths’ blog post. This outlines some common points of confusion among users. Ones to highlight to the class in particular are numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 9. (5 minutes).

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2011/09/clearing-up-some-policy-myths.html

Activity – 5 minutes

On the next page you will see some screenshots of sample content. Each image has a tick/check or an ‘X’ to indicate whether or not it would be appropriate in light of our Community Guidelines. The class should discuss for each image why it might/might not be allowed.

Ask the question: What factors outside of the video itself, do you think we might consider when making a decision?

Here we are looking for the class to identify points such as uploader intention, overall context, newsworthiness, video title, video tags and description.

Notes for the teacher (In a clockwise direction from the XXX)

  • Image 1. Where it is not clear that someone is uploading a video featuring an assault to expose the event, but is rather filming it for fun or to bully someone, this would be considered to be a violation of our Community Guidelines.
  • Image 2. Showing dangerous items like explosives or weapons is not ok, particularly if it shows you playing/experimenting with said items. It would be different say, if this was a documentary or a legitimate science experiment in a controlled/supervised environment.
  • Image 3. Most nudity is not allowed on YouTube, particularly if it is of a sexual nature. Likewise, uploading an image of someone partially clothed or without clothes, to embarrass or humiliate them, would be considered a violation of YouTube’s Terms.
  • Image 4. While showing someone naked or in their underwear might be considered inappropriate, that doesn’t mean that all instances of partial nudity cannot be shown! It’s ok to upload images from a trip to the beach or an art exhibition for example, as long as the focus is not on the nudity and there is no sexual angle to the upload. This image is from Carnivale in Rio!
  • Image 5. Showing footage that features violent content can be acceptable where it is done to educate, document, inform the community. It should not be posted for shock purposes! Think about the London riots or the violence in Syria.

Closing

On page 15 you’ll find some basic additional information which students may find useful on account creation and uploading. Please review the information and links provided as a class. (5 minutes).

http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=16546

http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/static.py?hl=en&guide=1719823&page=guide.cs

Lesson 6. Reporting  - Flagging

Time

20 minutes

Lesson objective

Understand the flagging process, when to flag content on YouTube and how YouTube enforces policy.

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Instruction

In addition to having guidelines for the community (yesterday’s topic) there are also processes in place for reporting inappropriate content.

The next three lessons are specific to reporting content on YouTube. We realize that not everyone knows how to report content in the most effective way, so we want to review the reporting flows and hopefully answer some common questions along the way.

First up is flagging. Page 16 is designed to give an explanation of what flagging is and to give a visual representation of what it looks like when you try to flag a video on YouTube.  

What is flagging?

If a user feels that a video contains inappropriate content and violates the Community Guidelines, they can ‘flag’ or report it and alert YouTube. Flagging empowers the YouTube community to bring potential violations of our Community Guidelines to our attention in the most efficient manner. Flagged videos are reviewed by the YouTube team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Demonstration

Explain to students how people can flag:

  1. You need to be signed in to flag
  2. The flag icon is displayed under the play bar of each video
  3. Once you select the ‘flag’ a drop down menu will appear to help guide users on reasons they may wish to select to flag the video e.g. ‘violent or repulsive content’.
  4. Under most of these categories, there are further sub-categories that the user can choose in order to be even more precise, or they can flag simply under the first drop down menu.
  5. Once you select your reason, a note appears saying thank-you and that your flag has been submitted for review. This means that you have submitted correctly.
  6. Just because something is flagged does not mean it will automatically be removed from the site. The YouTube team review flagged videos 24 hours a day 7 days a week and only once a video is reviewed will a decision be made as to whether it should be removed from the site or not.
  7. When a flagged video is reviewed by the YouTube team, they check the video for any violations of the Community Guidelines e.g. nudity, violence, hate speech.
  8. The uploader will not know if you flag their video. A common misconception!
  9. Note that the last option ‘infringes my rights’ is not a flag itself but instead redirects users to report issues like copyright and privacy via our additional reporting flows in the Help Centre.

Activity – 3 minutes

We recommend that you ask a class volunteer to flag a video in front of the class. (Don’t worry if the video you flag has no obvious violation, it simply won’t come down when it is reviewed!).

Try flagging this one as an example, it is linked to directly in the blue Activity box under ‘video’- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbqzgDnfMsE

Page 17 features some definitions for our flagging categories. You can use these as a reference point to answer the four questions in the Activity box. It helps to explain what we mean by our flagging terms.

Activity – 7 minutes

Four questions for the class to answer on analyzing content online.

Remember to emphasize that this information can be relevant to many other online interactions. Among the class group, we want the students to think within the realm of video content about what context might mean and to try come up with some examples.

We also think it’s important for them to think about the difference between hate speech and harassment, as people can get confused about this from time to time.

Lastly, what do they think the term ‘graphic’ means?

Notes

  1. It’s important to note that context is very important. YouTube takes into account issues such as whether content is of educational, documentary, scientific or artistic value. Just because a video may contain some violence, does not mean that it will automatically come down. Example - the conflicts in parts of Middle East and North Africa brought a lot of eye witness content straight from the streets. Citizens became journalists in their own right and were in a position to share with the rest of the world, the reality of the situation on the ground, even if some of this was violent and very graphic. We remain a platform for freedom of expression.
  2. Harassment refers to ridiculing or bullying another person e.g. calling them insulting or hurtful names, deliberately uploading images of them when it is clear that the intent is to embarrass or hurt them. Hate speech has a very specific meaning and refers to hateful content directed towards a protected group or a member of a protected group. YouTube respects people’s right to express unpopular or offensive opinions, but we draw the line at hate speech. It’s not OK for instance to demean or insult people because of their race or sexual orientation.
  3. When we refer to graphic content, we mean clear or explicit footage. For instance, focusing or zooming in on injuries or other content likely to disturb users.

Move on to the next page. Here, you will find a note about age-restricted content.

Begin by asking the class how many of them have ever seen the interstitial featured on the page?

An age-restriction can be applied where a video has been flagged by the Community and reviewed the the YouTube team and a decision has been made that even though the content does not violate our Community Guidelines, it may be inappropriate for younger users (under 18). As such, a restriction is placed on the video and only account holders over the age of 18 have access to watch it.

Page 19 shows two visual examples of the type of content that could fall within this category. Additionally the point on ‘context’ from the notes section on flagging is also relevant to consider here. Other examples of content that may be age-restricted are;

  • Nudity in an artistic context such as a theatre performance;
  • Violence that occurs as part of a global event;
  • Depicting potentially dangerous acts that could be mimicked.

Lesson 7. Reporting - Safety and Abuse Tool

Time

40 minutes

Lesson Objective

To explain another way to report content on YouTube.

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Instruction - 5 minutes

While flagging is the most popular and fastest way to report violations in videos on YouTube, it’s not the only way. In particular, YouTube realizes that for certain categories of content like hate speech, impersonation and harassment, users may wish to report content other than videos.

The Safety and Abuse Tool is designed especially to help users report;

  1. Videos
  2. Comments
  3. Channels
  4. Block users

While you may only flag one video at a time, using the Safety and Abuse tool, you can report multiple content. We suggest that users utilise this tool for issues like hate speech and harassment that can sometimes be more complex or nuanced than other community guidelines violations and require additional explanation to help the YouTube team make a full analysis.

Examples of content to report via the Safety and Abuse Tool

  • User has a YouTube channel and they use this channel to leave multiple comments across YouTube that harass or bully another person.
  • User sets up a channel and chooses a name, image and channel description that are all racist
  • User makes inappropriate comments about minors or uploads/favourites a number of videos that feature minors
  • User channel is impersonating another channel e.g. similar name, profile information, background image and videos.

On page 21, you will see that the Safety and Abuse Tool is located in our Safety Centre. Our Safety Centre is accessible from the bottom of every YouTube page by clicking the ‘Safety’ link. The Safety Centre is YouTube’s centralised hub for multimedia resources, tips and external links on a host of online safety topics. It also includes specific materials dedicate to parents and educators. You can get to the Safety and Abuse Tool from selecting either ‘Hateful Content’ or ‘Harassment and Cyberbullying’ in the Safety Centre, as identified by the red arrows.

Demonstration & discussion – 7 minutes

As a class group you should navigate to the Safety and Abuse Tool and show students what it looks like and the reporting options which they can choose.  If you have time, you can ask a class volunteer to walk through the reporting flow for the options listed - comments, videos, channels - in front of the class.

Here is a Channel URL, you can use as a demonstration.

www.youtube.com/user/SafetyCenterVideos

Take some time to look more deeply at page 21, which features a screenshot from our Safety Centre. Read through the various categories and the four points which describe some of the content on the Safety Centre.

Play the video featured called ‘Playing and Staying Safe Online’. This is just one of the videos that can be found among our Safety Centre resources.

Activity – 23 minutes

Using the following categories from the Safety Centre, break the class into groups with each group to take on a category. Draw a line down the middle of the paper vertically. On one side ask students to write why the category is important to them, and on the other side write tips or advice for how these can be avoided.

Each group presents to the class as a whole to develop collective learning on these topics.

  1. Hateful Content
  2. Harassment and Cyberbullying
  3. Harmful and Dangerous Acts
  4. Suicide and Self-Injury

Closing- 5 minutes

Before you continue on with the remainder of the lessons, it might be a good idea to do a recap of what has been covered up to this point.

  • 72 hours of content uploaded a minute and 4 billion views a day
  • Remember the rule of three when researching material online
  • Safety Mode can be enabled to hide potentially objectionable content from view
  • YouTube’s Community Guidelines are the ‘rules of the road’
  • YouTube reviews flagged content 24/7
  • Flagging is easy and is broken down into categories that relate to our Community Guidelines
  • YouTube considers context when reviewing content that has been flagged
  • Sometimes content is age-restricted if it is deemed inappropriate for younger users
  • You can also report other types of content in the Safety and Abuse Tool in the Safety Centre
  • The Safety Centre contains multimedia resources and tips for users, parents and educator

Lesson 8  - Privacy

Time

50 Minutes

Lesson objective

Appreciate the meaning of privacy both conceptually and practically

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Large sheets of paper

Markers/marker pens

Starter – 2 minutes

Watch video on online reputation XXX.

Instruction – 2 minutes

The next 3 pages discuss privacy issues. Before diving straight into the specifics of privacy on YouTube, ensure students to have a more holistic grasp on what the notion of privacy is and why it is important to value privacy whether online or offline. In line with the lesson on Online Reputation, students start developing some foresight as to how today’s behavior can impact them not only now, but into the future.

Activity – 15 minutes

Do a class brainstorm. Get students to come up with their definitions of privacy and put keywords on the class board.

After around 10 minutes of brainstorming, there should be a lot of words up on the board. Next, and in groups, students should be given some time to develop a Privacy wordcloud. In wordclouds, the most important words are generally written the biggest and so on until the slightly less important words are done in smaller font. All the words should try and fit together almost like a jigsaw puzzle and make one large collection of inspiring words. Have a few groups present their word clouds.

Discussion- 15 minutes

Now, continue to develop the discussion by asking the group, the questions that feature on page 23.

  1. What does privacy mean when you're online?
  2. What information would you share/not share online?
  3. How can your privacy be invaded on YouTube?
  4. How would you feel if someone posted personal information or a video about you online?
  5. What can be done to protect online privacy?
  6. How is ‘online’ privacy different to 'offline' privacy?

Instruction- xx minutes

Once this is done and students have learned to think for themselves on the importance of privacy as a general concept, it is time to move to page 24 where we will look at privacy on YouTube. These guidelines are in place for people who wish to make privacy complaints on YouTube in order to get content removed. (5 minutes).

The images on the right reflect what may/may not be a privacy violation.

Image 1 - Public figures/celebrities at an official event, consent.

Image 2 - Private individual in their home, not newsworthy.

Instruction – 2 minutes

You may wish to file a privacy complaint in the following scenarios:

  • Someone has posted your personal information e.g. address, private phone number
  • Your photo or image has been posted without your consent
  • You were filmed and put it up on YouTube but now you want it gone

The key message is: Don’t post personal information about another person on YouTube, without first obtaining their permission!

It is important to understand the Guidelines and to read them before you make a complaint. YouTube takes privacy seriously and if your privacy has been unfairly invaded, we have a process in place for you to ask for removal of the content.

YouTube’s privacy guidelines are available from the Safety Centre.  

Activity – 15 minutes

On page 25, there is a group-based activity. The objective of this exercise is for students to become familiar with some useful privacy settings and tools on YouTube and to know where to locate them.

Before commencing, each group should pick their favorite YouTube video that will be played should their team win the challenge.

There are two alternatives to this game depending on IT resources available in class.

  1. 1 device per student/group: The class should break back into groups. There are 6 items to locate from the Help Centre. Each group should time themselves how long it takes them to find and read each of the 6 articles/
  2. 1 computer per class: If there is just one class computer, please visit each of the linked articles in turn.

Please ensure that the starting point for all of the searches is the following page - http://support.google.com/youtube/?hl=en 

The teacher should take note of the times logged on the class board.

Teacher’s discretion: Winners get to play a YouTube video of their choice (the teacher may wish to view/approve the video before playing.  

Closing

All of these articles can be found in our Help Centre. Show some of these and encourage students to become aware of privacy tools no matter what site they are using.

  1. I forgot my username/password
  2. Controlling video responses
  3. I want to moderate channel comments
  4. Controlling privacy settings on channel feed
  5. How do I unsubscribe from someone’s channel?
  6. Making videos and playlists private 

Lesson 9 - Copyright

Time

40 minutes

Lesson objective

Understand what content is and is not copyrighted.

Understand that the best way to avoid copyright infringement online is only by posting 100% original content you create.

Review the key takeaways from all the lessons.

Standards/competencies

xx

Materials/preparation

Videos loaded

Projector

Starter- 10 minutes

Navigate to the YouTube Copyright Workshop linked to on page 26.

As a class, complete level one and level two + quiz. The teacher can use the notes below to explain ‘authorisation’ and ‘fair use’.

Instruction- 3 minutes

Review the following with the class:

  1. Copyright infringement occurs when one of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner is violated.
  2. If you have permission from the copyright holder to use certain content on YouTube, you have been authorised to upload that content. If you upload copyrighted content without authorization, you may be infringing copyright.
  3. Fair use - In some countries and under certain limited circumstances it may be possible to use pieces of copyrighted content without first obtaining express written permission. Factors considered include;
  • The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  • The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.

Activity - 7 minutes

On the next page, students are asked to decide, in groups, whether each theme is copyrightable or not. They can either break into groups or the teacher can write up the guesses on the class board.

Answers

Copyrighted Protected:

  •   Portrait, CD Cover, TV/Shows Broadcasting, Scripts, Films, Theater Play

Not Copyright Infringements:

  •    Ideas, Facts, People, Names

Activity – 10 minutes

On page 28, you will end the lesson on copyright by watching the video ‘YouTube Copyright School’ and having the students answer some questions (true/false). When they are finished, the teacher can read out the correct answers.

Answers

  1. True. If you are found liable for copyright infringement, you can face serious legal consequences, including significant financial penalties and Termination of YT Acct.
  2. False. You must have the appropriate rights to upload content to YouTube, regardless of who you share it with.
  3. False. You may need authorization from the copyright holder in order to post third-party content.  Mentioning or giving credit does not absolve you of this responsibility.
  4. False.  Just because you paid for a DVD, CD or MP3, it doesn't necessarily mean that you own all of the necessary rights to upload it to YouTube. Even if you give the copyright owner credit, posting these videos on YouTube may violate copyright law.
  5. False. Just because something is available on the Internet does not mean that it is in the public domain.  
  6. True.  If you aren’t copying anyone else’s work, you have nothing to worry about!

Closing – 10 minutes

That completes all of the lessons in the YouTube Curriculum on Digital Citizenship. Ask students to think for two minutes about their top 3 takeaways. Write each takeaway on a post it note.  Once you have written them have a few students collect the post it notes and put them into groups by theme. Ask the students who grouped the takeaways to explain the main themese to the class and to give some examples/

Extra Activities

Activity 1 : YouTube Quiz - True or False

Answers

  1. F - privacy process
  2. F - you should report the user
  3. T
  4. F - you can make videos private
  5. T
  6. F
  7. T - keep your password to yourself. Even YouTube won’t contact you asking you this.
  8. F - get your friend or their legal guardian/parent to report it
  9. F - You have to be 13 to have an account on YouTube. Accounts suspected of being under 13 will be suspended
  10. T
  11. F - you can moderate or delete comments
  12. F - Bullying online is just as serious as offline
  13. T - 3 strikes within 6 months, can see your account suspended
  14. F - You should never write hurtful comments. Remember the digital footprint!

Activity 2 - Theory in Practice

Once the class has read the scenario. In groups, get them to answer the following questions

  1. If Gemma wanted to flag the video that shows Sarah falling and hurting herself. What flagging category could she use?
  2. Could the comments be seen to violate YouTube’s community guidelines? If so, what policy do they violate?
  3. Who can report the channel ‘SarahSucks’ and how should it be reported?
  4. If Gemma tells Ms. Perry about the video, should Ms. Perry file a privacy complaint?
  5. Would the channel ‘SarahSucks’ be considered a privacy or a harassment violation?
  6. Could Sarah file a privacy complaint to get the video removed?
  7. If you were Sarah, how would you feel about this content?
  8. How do we show Elizabeth and Jack that what they did was wrong?
  9. Sarah wants her dog's video removed from the site, should she file a privacy notice?

Answers for the teacher -

  1. She could use ‘hateful or abusive content’ to flag the video for bullying. No matter what category Gemma uses, the YouTube team will still review the video.
  2. Yes, the comments that they write could be seen as hate speech against a protected group - persons with disabilities.
  3. Sarah should report this channel herself using the Abuse and Safety Tool which is found in the Safety Centre.
  4. Ms. Perry can’t file a privacy complaint on behalf of Sarah. But she could tell Sarah’s parents/guardians about the issue and they may file on her behalf or Sarah can file herself.
  5. The channel would be a harassment violation as it is singling out Sarah and is abusive of her e.g. ‘SarahSucks’.
  6. Sarah could file a privacy complaint herself, yes. This is a first-party complaint and the video uses her image without her consent.
  7. Feelings that may arise are - embarrassment, upset, loneliness, anger, humiliation, helplessness.
  8. The class might have some novel ideas here on how to educate Elizabeth and Jack on the wrongfulness of their acts!
  9. The video can be reported as copyright infringement, as it contains a copy of the picture she took/originally created of her dog. However, Sarah does not appear therefore the video doesn't infringe on her privacy.

Extra Activity 3 - YouTube WordSearch

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1. Upload                                5. Baby Monkey                        9. Safety

2. Privacy                                6. Flag                                        10. Resource

3. Subs                                7. Trends                                11. Flashmob

4. Friday                                8. Online                                12. Rick-roll

Extra Activity 4 - Bullying Solutions - Dramatisation

In groups, ask students to come up with a script to last about 5 minutes of a potential online bullying scenario.

Four issues must be addressed in the dramatisation

  1. Problem - the facts (it could be pictures, nasty comments, a video, a channel or page)
  2. Feelings - humiliation, hurt, lonely, scared
  3. Options - who do you tell, can it be reported, resources and helplines, what not to do e.g. fighting back, keeping it to yourself
  4. Outcome - lessons learned, who can be trusted, will the content be removed.