Literacy+(3+Week+Identity+Unit)

Social Communities in the Digital Age, Identity Creation and Cyber Bullying
 * LITERACY: Approximately 3 Week Unit: IDENTITY

Outline:** Looking at social networking sites, hyper-communication such as texting, twittering, online gaming, avatar style 3D world immersion platforms and instant messaging, we will explore the nature of identity creation in 13 to 16 year olds: how does an online identity help create or clash against the real-world identity? What are the positive influences of online identity formation and how has 24/7 communication and pervasive ICT changed the nature of bullying? How do we use ICT safely and how do we ensure that the online actualisation of self that we promote now will not hinder us in the future?

__**1. Acquiring Prior Knowledge**__: (what do the students bring to this topic? How can you text prior knowledge?) General discussions of what types of technology people use, how they use it and how often. General discussions of stories of cyber-bullying. Talk about online identity, do people often say or do things they would not say or do in real life? How this is made possible. Discuss contributions to sites/participation in forums - has anyone ever said or uploaded materials they've later regretted? How does one go about retracting/deleting/modifying online content?

__**2. Clarify Expectations:**__ (What will the students be able to do at the end of the unit? What are the essential teaching aims?) English: //Reading:// They infer meanings and messages in texts, analyse how social values or attitudes are conveyed, compare the presentation of information and ideas in different texts, and identify cause and effect in informative texts. //Writing:// They write arguments that state and justify a personal viewpoint; reports incorporating challenging themes and issues; personal reflections on, or evaluations of, texts presenting challenging themes and issues. Communication: Students use the communication conventions, forms and language appropriate to the subject to convey a clear message across a range of presentation forms to meet the needs of the context, purpose and audience. ICT: //Visual Thinking:// students select and apply ICT tools and editing functions that support the filtering, classifying, representing, describing and organising of concepts, issues and ideas. They use rule-using software to assist with problem solving and decision making. //Creating:// When creating information products, students prepare designs that identify the structure and layout of the products, the evaluation criteria, and the plans for managing collaborative projects. Students independently apply a range of processing skills, functions and equipment to solve problems and create products which contain minimal functional, typographical, formatting and readability errors. //ICT for Communicating:// Students share their ideas through their blog, website or other public forums, which are correctly formatted, comply with ICT conventions and demonstrate an awareness of the characteristics that contribute to products meeting their purpose.

Analyse texts for the major issue and evidence that they can synthesise into their own persuasive text Writing a persuasive text - persuasive essay structural conventions and rhetorical patterns, omission of agency in presenting a point of view Writing a blog - accessing, editing and maintaining and online journal (blog) - mastering past-tense verb tenses, recount and personal reflection in a cohesive, logically sequenced discussion. Selecting appropriate excerpts for presentation
 * Core Skills:**

__**3. Tuning In**__: (How can you hook the kids in and get their interest? What rich materials could be used to introduce this topic?) Read excerpts from 'Where is Raed?' Present informative short texts on the effects on cyber-bullying Survey results of cyber-bullying http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/index/id/132#watchonline

__**4. Information Producing:**__ (What resources are necessary for modeling end products and assist learning?)
 * Published or online version of 'Where is Raed?' by Salem Pax
 * 'Insight' clip on gaming addiction
 * Newspaper articles regarding cyber-bullying
 * Blogs written by those being cyber-bullied
 * Psychological research data on how cyber-bullying effects identity
 * Demonstrate a questionnaire that might be used as a model for surveying a range of classes on cyber-bullying experiences
 * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIgtD6hgwMI&feature=related
 * http://www.kidshelp.com.au/teens/get-info/hot-topics/cyber-bullying.php

__**5. Information Processing:**__ (How can you assist students understanding your resources? ALSO, what parts of the content must be explicitly taught?)
 * Explore our impression of Salem Pax - how is this created through his works?
 * Provide a range of articles on identity and online communities - identity theft/fraud/the potential risks from unscrupulous or even dangerous individuals
 * Discuss the potential dangers of cyber-bullying, how it differs from regular bullying, explore personal stories and connect them to the readings
 * Focused questions and comprehension of psychological research on a) identity creation during adolescence b) the negative effects of exclusion and bullying

Model the persuasive text Model an appropriate journal response the the types of reflections required in the journal Make explicit the textual requirements of both forms. Accessing, creating, editing and maintaining an online blog using www.21classes.com Using iMovie or other Microsoft equivalents to edit footage Doing surveys in other classes - asking politely Collating results and drawing conclusions
 * Explicit Teaching:**

__**6. Applications/Doing:**__ (What will students do in terms of authentic tasks to demonstrate the skills they are to learn?) Students will:
 * participate in class discussions
 * complete focus questions on informative materials
 * complete a 500 word persuasive essay
 * complete a survey in groups that will be administered to different year level cohorts - survey results will inform their persuasive texts
 * complete a blog using 21classes: a minimum of 5 entries over 3 weeks documenting the individual's use of ICT and a personal reflection on how personal identity and community is maintained or created.
 * Create a persuasive text - this is where students may elect to present their point of view on the same topic of the essay in another way: like the Youtube clips we will watch, students may produce their own 3-5 minute documentary on 'How to Prevent Cyber-Bullying' or 'How to Recognise Cyber-Bullying: A Guide for Friends and Parents'.

__**7. Reflection:**__ (Have the students reached the learning goal? How can they assess their own work? How do you assess your own planning?) Students are to use their online blog and the reflections on their own use of ICT to help write their persuasive essay on identity creation in the digital age. Teachers will evaluate the effectiveness of the resources used and how effective the online journal is in promoting personal reflection.