Internet Literacy Curriculum for Yeshivish HS (long)

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amother

Thu, May 31 2012, 11:17 am

In the Yeshivish/ BY world that I'm familiar with, HS girls have a Computer curriculum for at least 3 out 4 years of HS. They start with typing and proceed to learn how to use Word, Excel, and Access. In school, they are not allowed to go online at all (what percentage obey is a separate issue, but there are plenty of girls who don't have computers/ Internet at home), but within the next year, a majority of them will either be working in offices spending a lot of their day working online, or are enrolled in an online college program. My current mishegas is that I want to design a short curriculum for 12th graders to learn the basics of how to use the Internet, instead of being thrust into it and learning as they go along. I see this as a 5 period or so course at the end of the year, not a full-fledged class on its own.

Honestly, learning as they go along, should be simple for the vast majority of them but a) there are those who struggle with any new task, and b)you can learn Word as you go along and they teach that at excruciating length, so why not Internet skills also?

I'm trying to come up with an outline of what should be taught and will then have to figure out who to discuss this with.
I'd like input on my outline so far (came up with this off the top of my head, likely has big holes / emphasizing wrong things):
(Remember that this is meant for a very sheltered demographic who may be starting from scratch. Apologies if it is too technical, I come from an IT background)
(Is this whole idea worth anything? Is it doable?)

explanation of what internet is, technical details (very basic and high level)

Internet vs. Intranet
Networked computers, client/server
IP addresses / DNS lookup
Connection types – Dialup, DSL, Cable, WiFi

What is a browser

HTML served from the server, browser translates into meaningful page
Different browsers: IE, Firefox, Chrome
Javascript programming, Flash, Silverlight etc

How to navigate basic browsers

URL bar, back, forward, stop, refresh, homepage
Bookmarks
Tabbed browsing
Download/upload files
History

Internet Security

SSL, look for SSL icon before making purchases, https
Password strength, not reusing passwords all over
Browser password manager, maybe LastPass/KeyPass?
Phishing
Show an online banking site, online shopping site
Be judicious with giving out personal information

(my pet peeve – no such thing as email w/o internet, it goes over Internet)
How to use Outlook
How to sign up and use Gmail (bec. It’s simple, and least intrusive ads)
File attachments
Address book
Spam
Folders/ labels / filters

Google, Bing, what else?
Advanced search tips, filetype, date etc.
Explain what are ads (sponsored search results) vs. regular search results
Reputability of search results – on the internet no one knows that you are a dog, make sure info is coming from a reliable source (ex: mayoclinic is written by drs, other sites may not be).
- Wikipedia – edited by anyone (though point out study that found it similar to encyclopedia brittanica)
- .gov, .org vs. com domains
Citing information / plagiarism

Filters

Adblock plus for firefox!
SafeSearch
Brief explanation of other filters – computer based vs. router based vs. ISP based, very brief overview

TranquilityAndPeace

Thu, May 31 2012, 11:21 am

GREAT IDEA!

I would buy this curriculum and teach it to my teenage kids at home.

spring13

Thu, May 31 2012, 12:41 pm

This is an excellent idea. For what it's worth, I wouldn't spend much time on the technical stuff in the first two sections, and I'd really emphasize the search, plagiarism, and judging the quality of the info sections. Show them how to do academic research (databases) as well as regular googling. Explain about Boolean search terms, for example. I'd also think about explaining social networking in general. You don't have to show them Facebook or imamother, but things like LinkedIn can be very valuable professionally, and they should understand about how creating a profile means that other people can see what you're posting. Security settings are something for them to be aware of.

I'm a librarian with a big interest in this area, if you would like someone to consult on a fuller document, or give ideas for sources/lessons on the topics I mentioned. If you can really create complete lesson plans on this, it would be EXCELLENT as a resource for Jewish schools and I would totally recommend marketing it all over the place!

shoeboxgirly

Thu, May 31 2012, 1:17 pm

I know your curriculum is pretty packed already, but at 12th grade they are probably ready to start discussing some of the philosophical issues of the internet. And, the history of the internet, that is actually quite interesting to geeks like me.

OOTforlife

Thu, May 31 2012, 2:42 pm

I think it's a great idea. I would also emphasize that things done on the internet leave far more traces (and often permanent traces) than one is aware of. Google cache, the wayback machine, ISP records and so on. Plus the ability to screen cap, burn live webcam feed onto video, etc. Just because you deleted your history, removed something from your blog/twitter/facebook, etc doesn't mean it's not out there. And just because you sent something to a friend, doesn't mean it won't be forwarded to half the internet by next week.

Bring real-life examples from Gawker, Above the Law and other sites where people's online identities were outed, personal emails published, etc (with names blacked out of course). Even non-famous people's tweets and/or facebook posts can get them in trouble, like all the ones who tweeted racist things after Hunger Games came out and were publicly exposed for it.

amother

Thu, May 31 2012, 2:44 pm

OP here - thanks for the feedback!

spring13- what resources would you recommend for academic research? Do you have any resources for how to judge information quality?
re. social networking, I was thinking of gearing this more to the very charedi population where that is assur muchlat. If I ever flesh this out, it would probably be a worthwhile addition for the rest of the spectrum. I'm not on Facebook though, so I don't even know a lot of the issues that well. It's a good point to include the permanency of whatever is online. I might include a definition of the word blog, and how you have to know who the author is, though that might be a treif word also. <sigh> It might be too late for the demographic I'm thinking of, and more for the slightly less RW or the rest of the spectrum.

shoeboxgirly - what philosophical issues of the Internet? I was thinking of adding something about history but it might be a bit much. It would probably be meaningful to mention that it was created for decentralization of information purposes, and noone owns/ controls it though.

I'd love to include an appendix of useful sites to know about (especially if whitelists are being pushed, to know what's out there to whitelist) Any ideas?

bigsis144

Thu, May 31 2012, 2:56 pm

Your curriculum looks great!

Interesting note about the accuracy of Wikipedia vs. Encyclopedia Brittanica -- they had a similar error percentage rate, but in EB, those were more errors of omission, while in Wikipedia, they were errors of commission.

Oh, and never confuse Wikipedia with Encyclopedia Dramatica. Wink

They look alike at first glance, you know.

spring13

Thu, May 31 2012, 2:58 pm

amother wrote:

If you flesh it out, you can always have "units" on things like social networking and blogs that teachers can utilize at their will. I think it's smart to at least explain what those terms mean, because chances are if they have web access somewhere, and especially if they work in a non-Jewish (or non-super-Yeshivish environment), they'll come across them, even just in conversation. There are plenty of women right here on this website from yeshivish and chasidish homes, so clearly they're finding their way online in spite of social taboos.

In terms of academic research...I mean things like how to search an article database, and otherwise use info from the internet for schoolwork. Public libraries often provide access to JSTOR and the like, which could help you show them how it works: searching through academic journals and publications for factual info. Boolean searching (and other ways to narrow down search results) are worth explaining properly; you can use Google Scholar to demostrate that as well, although the search results won't be as helpful as those taken from a proper database. Citation format is something you can go over, or at least point them to the Purdue OWL website or similar so that they'll be able to do works citeds in the correct way. If they take any kind of academic classes, either online or in a physical college, that info is useful - at least for them to be aware that it's something to pay attention to.

OOTforlife

Thu, May 31 2012, 3:12 pm

Maybe VPN too. Spring's post made me think of it, since it's often required to access databases to which one's workplace or school has an institutional subscription.

shoeboxgirly

Thu, May 31 2012, 3:13 pm

amother wrote:

shoeboxgirly - what philosophical issues of the Internet?

Who owns the internet
what happens when someone puts something online which isn't true
dealing with piracy
the impact of social media on actual socialising
cyber crime and legal interception

I'm sure there are more, if I can think of them I will put them up later.

egam

Thu, May 31 2012, 3:24 pm

I wouldn't be so technical under the first 2 bullets. It might confuse them a lot. Saw it happened many times as an IT person myself.
I would add e-mail etiquette: caps vs. low case, reply vs. reply all, cc vs. bcc. These are mine pet peeves. Keeping e-mail password for e-mail only (but you have passwords covered).
The rest is very good.

spring13

Thu, May 31 2012, 3:26 pm

egam wrote:

Ooooooh, yes to the bolded! Too many people who grew up around the internet are stupid about that, and if these girls are mostly going to use the web for school and work, it's davka important that they know to write properly and professionally.

Maya

Thu, May 31 2012, 3:34 pm

I don't have much to add but I want to say it's a wonderful idea.

OldYoung

Thu, May 31 2012, 4:36 pm

Great idea! There are a lot of different kinds of information that you listed. You may want to think about breaking it down into an overview, and then personal and professional segments. (Html and Javascript may be a bit over their heads??)
P.S. Give them a heads-up that their potential employers will probably monitor their internet usage without notice! LOL

Last edited by OldYoung on Thu, May 31 2012, 4:50 pm; edited 1 time in total

Tova

Thu, May 31 2012, 4:49 pm

Wow, OP, you put a lot of thought into this. It looks great.
I am curious if the schools you are targeting would be on board to you teaching the curriculum, though. Please keep us posted!

amother

Fri, Jun 01 2012, 10:36 am

Tova wrote:

Wow, OP, you put a lot of thought into this. It looks great.
I am curious if the schools you are targeting would be on board to you teaching the curriculum, though. Please keep us posted!

Probably not Sad

I spoke to a computer teacher I know, and she said she would be scared of risking her job by going to the principal to suggest such a thing.

I think it's doing a tremendous disservice. We hear abt how the Internet is like a car and you need seatbelts and kids don't drive etc. but we also don't just tell our kids - "You turned 18, here are the keys!" We teach them first!

spring13

Fri, Jun 01 2012, 12:13 pm

amother wrote:

Tova wrote:

Wow, OP, you put a lot of thought into this. It looks great.
I am curious if the schools you are targeting would be on board to you teaching the curriculum, though. Please keep us posted!

Probably not Sad

Don't let that stop you from trying. Do you have any rebbeim you can go to who might look it over and give a stamp of approval? Even if high schools don't take it on, maybe seminaries and post-high school programs would be interested - and I bet there are SOME high schools who'd try it. If it can get beta tested in a couple of places with positive results, it'll be much easier to get the attention of a wider group of schools. Parents might consider using it at home as well.

You're doing a huge service to the frum community, if you can find a way to make this work. Please let us help you!

Hashem_Yaazor

Fri, Jun 01 2012, 12:40 pm

In an introductory class to web design, all this was addressed in my yeshivish post-sem program. History of the internet, netiquette, how http/ftp works, secure sites, effective searching, etc.

amother

Fri, Jun 01 2012, 12:54 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

In an introductory class to web design, all this was addressed in my yeshivish post-sem program. History of the internet, netiquette, how http/ftp works, secure sites, effective searching, etc.

Right, it's taught when applicable at the college level, I know that, I've been through, and am part of the same system, if not more so. And you're smart enough and have enough critical thinking skills to pick it up by yourself also.

But many girls who don't go to college just get an office job the summer after seminary - they don't learn anything first. And many girls just do Reizel Reit for special ed - are they taught anything or just told do a research paper?

My anecdotal evidence and impetuses (among others):
1) S/o came to my house to use my connection to apply online for some government program. After filling something out, she started getting tons of awful text messages. I went to look what she did, and it turned out that she googled, clicked on a sponsored result (ad) w/ a .com address, instead of the first result at newjersey.gov and filled out that form without reading. The site did not look remotely professional - with one look I could tell that it was not a gov't agency. Does this == Internet is bad or be careful what you do?
2) Story in one of the anti-internet propoganda booklets abt a rebbi who went to look something up, and as soon as he "turned on the Internet," he saw Yahoo w/ entertainment news & pictures of actresses, ergo Internet is awful. Um, could he have changed his home page??
3) People who think that by deleting / hiding / disabling Internet Explorer they are getting rid of Internet from their computer. a)Internet does not exist on your computer! b)I'd be happy to get rid of IE also (I need for testing how sites look) and just use FF anyway. And Firefox can be downloaded on a thumb drive and accessed from there, you don't even have to install it.

amother

Fri, Jun 01 2012, 1:11 pm

spring13 wrote:

amother wrote:

Tova wrote:

Wow, OP, you put a lot of thought into this. It looks great.
I am curious if the schools you are targeting would be on board to you teaching the curriculum, though. Please keep us posted!

Probably not Sad

Well, I have to actually do something about it first. As well as a million other things.
But I can't exactly see R' Mattisyahu endorsing it, and as she pointed out, even if he would, there's likely to be a backlash from parents. Would have to find a slightly more open-minded niche I suppose. Anyone here w/ contacts who would be interested?

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