Do the right(s) thing!

Education Course 2016/2017

I / ACCESS TO THE DIGITAL ERA:

A] A TOOL TO PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY AND ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP

1)Introduction : “Draw the web”

Objectives: The activity is an introduction to the digital era and aims at

- Sharing information about the events of the day;

- illustrating the Web and the links that digital tools create among citizens (using a ball of wool);

-Introducing different media which citizens can use in order to communicate and share information.

Time: 20-30 minutes

Materials: ball of string

Target group: suitable both for Lower and Upper Secondary

Activity :

  • Teacher/educator asks sts to form a circle and explain to them that this circle represents the Earth. This activity starts with a short brainstorming on the media that exists:

-The teacher/educator asks sts to say which media and digital tools exist/they know in the digital era (Facebook, Twitter, online newspapers, blogs, Deezer, Wikipedia, Google+, outlook, etc.)

-Follow up question: why do citizens use these media? (share pictures, forward information, talk to their friends from all over the world, find information, etc)

  • Teacher/educator explains to the sts that the aim of the activity is to share information/ news/ a thought/ a message with someone else in the group, using a digital tool of their choice. A ball of wall will be used.
  • The first st is invited to throw the ball of wool to the participant of his/her choice. While throwing the ball, he/she will tell his/her sentence and the digital tool she/he is using. Everyone will have his turn to send the ball of wool to someone in the circle.

Examples:

“Here is a private message on Facebook : Today at 5, there is a student meeting”

“Here is a tweet: I am glad to hear that the music festival in Berlin has not been canceled.”

“Here is a new song I heard on YouTube! I love it!”

When everyone has sent the ball, all the sts are linked by the wool, illustrating the Web and the links among them.

Debriefing and evaluation:

The teacher/educator carries out a debriefing to conclude this first activity, asking the class the following questions:

-Did you like this activity?

-Was it difficult to share information? Was it difficult to choose the digital tool? Was it difficult to choose only one person?

-Do you know any other media on the net/in the digital space?

-Did you learn something new from the other’s messages?

-What does the wool represent according to you?

-Would it be difficult to be out of the web you created together during the activity? Why/why not?

2)Online “Human Rights Fighters”

Objectives:

-To get familiar with “human rights’ fighters” in the digital era;

-To make students understand that they themselves can be human rights’ fighters;

-To facilitate team building.

Time: 30 minutes

Materials:Handout Annex 1. There is a Lower and Upper Secondary Version

Target: suitable both for Lower and Upper Secondary

Activity:

  • The teacher/educator explains that the activity will explore how the Digital era can offer tools to promote human rights. The teacher/educator begins by asking sts if they have ever heard of human rights fighters (Mandela? Rosa Parks?) and human rights fighters in the digital era? (bloggers? journalists? citizens during the Arabic spring?).
  • The teacher/educator asks sts to form small groups of 3 or 4. Each group receives a set of cards. The cards describe events in the life of six online human rights activists. The aim for each group is to match the events with the correct character and thereby to build up a brief description of each person. Each of the characters is made up of a “set of five” (i.e. one “A”, one “B”, one “C”, one “D” and one “E” card) and that the goal is to gather a card of each letter.

Characters:

-Wikileaks

-Edward Snowden

-Malala Youssafzai

-Wikipedia

-No hate speech movement

Debriefing:

The teacher/educator carries out a debriefing to conclude this activity, asking the class the following questions:

-How easy was the matching activity and which strategies did you use?

-Which of the characters have you already heard of? Were you surprised by any of the information?

-Which human rights are the different people “fighting” for?

-How do the people use digital tools in their “fight”?

-Do you consider yourself as a “human rights fighter” considering the way you use digital tools?

Extra activity:“virtual action”

Activity from Manual Bookmarks (Council of Europe - No hate speech movement)

Objectives:

-To understand the role of the Internet as a space for young people to act for respect and freedom;

-To be aware of the limits of the Internet and its link with offline spaces in the mobilisation of young people for human rights values and principles.

Time: 60 minutes

Materials:Handout Annex 2, pens and paper, Internet (optional)

Target: Upper Secondary

Activity:

  • The teacher/educator asks sts if they know of any initiatives or actions where people have taken action against racism and other forms of discrimination. Brief group discussion of their examples.
  • Teacher/educator explains to sts that what they will be looking at some examples of anti-racist actions and will think about how these actions could be translated into online activities.
  • The sts are divided into small groups (up to 5 participants per group) and each group is given one of the case studies on the handouts in Annex 2. Sts are asked to read their case study and discuss the following questions:

What is the problem the project is tackling?

What is the aim of the project?

What methods does the project use to achieve their aim?

  • The teacher/educator gives the groups about 10 minutes to discuss the questions. After 10 minutes, they are given and a new task: to discuss how they could address a similar issue using the Internet rather than working offline. Ask them to think of the kind of actions, which could be taken online which would mirror the offlineactivities described in the case studies. They need to address the following questions:

Whatonlinemethodscouldtheyusetoachievetheir aim?

WhatarethelimitsofusingtheInternettoachievetheirresults?

  • Sts are given approx 20 minutes for the task and are then invited to share their ideas with other groups in plenary.

Debriefing

The teacher/educator discusses the results of the working groups with the sts to reflect on the advantages and the disadvantages of using the internet to address racism and discrimination.

You can use the following questions:

-Do you think the suggestions of the groups could be implemented successfully?

-Do you think they would help in achieving the aim?

-What are the advantages of using the Internet as a campaigning tool?

-What are the disadvantages or limits of online campaigning?

-Are you aware of other online tools or initiatives which could support campaigns like the ones in the case studies?

-Are you aware of any online campaigns against racism and discrimination?

-How could you use the Internet to campaign against racism and discrimination?

Tips:

-If participants have a very basic understanding of hate speech and Racism and Discrimination, you could begin the activity by brainstorming these concepts.

-If participants have difficulties in imagining these initiatives online, provide them with a few examples about how the Internet can be used for taking action, eg. Change.org, Avaaz, Oxfam’s Campaign #StandAsOne

B] INEQUALITIES IN THE DIGITAL ERA

3)What are inequalities and their risks?

Objectives:

-To understand what inequalities are, both generally and specifically in the digital era;

-To understand better the risks which digital inequalities pose.

Time: 90 minutes (this can be broken down into 2 45 min sessions)

Materials: interactive whiteboard, PC, tablet or smartphone with internet access; Annex 4; sufficient space to carry out the fishbowl methodology*

Target: suitable both for Lower and Upper Secondary

Activity:

  • Students are asked to define what the word “inequalities” means. The teacher/educator listens and notes down key words from sts answers. The teacher/educator then asks sts how they would look up the definition on the internet. Which search engine would they use and what would they write? Either the whole class, if an interactive whiteboard is available, or a couple of students are asked to use the internet (smartphone/tablet etc) to look up the definition of “inequalities”. The definitions and/or key words are added to the whiteboard.
  • The teacher/educator then shows the class a photo of a double decker bus (see Annex 3) and asks them what it has to do with inequality? The answer will be given later on. This bus should elicit some interesting ideas! The teacher/educator asks the sts to brainstorm different types of inequalities as a class. In pairs the sts are then asked to rank the top 3 inequalities before sharing (perhaps not all pairs) their inequalities in plenary. Debriefing questions: how did you decide which inequalities were the most important? Was it easy to rank the inequalities together? How did you feel having to choose which inequality was the most important?
  • The teacher/educator thenexplains to the class that they wil carry out a quiz about inequalities and asks the class to stand up if they think the following statement is true and to stay sitting down if they think the answer is false -see Annex 4. After reading each sentence, the teacher/educator pauses to give sts time to think and react and than asks a handful to explain why they think the statement is true or false. Before revealing the answer, sts are given the chance to change their minds and sit or stand accordingly.(This could be the end of the first 45 min session).
  • The teacher/educator then asks sts to give examples of how the digital age (Information and Communication Technology) has helped the world to progress, perhaps by suggesting different areas such as science, sports, computers, engineering, etc. Although the digital revolution has helped to improve the lives of many throughout the world, it can also create many inequalities amongst citizens. Sts are told that they will be asked to discuss some questions using the fishbowl technique*:
  • The students are placed in two concentric circles. The inner circle is smaller than the outer one. Students in the inner circle discuss the following questions, with sufficient time and stimulus being given. If the students in the outer circle would like to participate, they can put their hand on a student’s shoulder (in the inner circle) and when that sts ends his/her sentence, they move out into the outer circle, swapping places with the student who’d like to take part. The sts in the outer circle cannot comment. Here are the questions which the teacher/educator asks the sts:

- What inequalities are directly linked to the digital era? (in terms of access to and use of digital tools)?

- Who do you think is excluded from accessing the internet?

- For what reason would they be excluded?

- What consequences could this exclusion have?

Some ideas to help stimulate the sts: difficulties of online banking, paying bills, checking weather or news, staying in touch with families who live far away, filling tax forms or any compulsory documents online, subscribing to social or health care online, online complaints, the E-administration can also be source of exclusion.

- Would you answer differently to the questions if you were living in America? In Bangladesh? If so, how would the answers be different?

  • As the sts discuss, the teacher/educator takes notes on the board of the most significant comments which emerge regarding digital inequalities. A photo could be taken of the board at the end of the session and shared on the platform in the activity: Who does the internet exclude?
  • The teacher/educator continues with the following questions, which the students discuss in small groups:

-What could happen if certain groups could have access to and use of digital tools? The teacher/educator helps the sts to separate each target group, perhaps distributing the target groups between the sts (eg. very young children, poor families, students who live in remote areas such as islands and mountains, elderly people). Sts are invited to think about concrete changes that could affect their lives. In plenary, the teacher/educator asks the groups to report back what they have shared.

Debriefing:

The teacher/educator carries out a debriefing, asking the class the following questions:

-What happened during the fishbowl discussion and was it difficult to take take part in it?

-How did you feel in the inner circle and in the outer circle?

-What did you learn about digital inequalities?

-According to you, which group of people should be helped the most to overcome digital inequalities and why?

-Do you feel that you can do something to change these inequalities?

*Fishbowlmethodologydescription

The fishbowl methodology is used in group discussions and during debriefing.It’s very useful when monitoring participants’ ideas and opinions and to air their doubts and questions. To start with each student can write a question/s)/doubt(s)/opinion(s) on 1 or more post-its. An alternative is that the question/doubt/opinion is given by the facilitator. All the post-its are then put in the fish bowl (a hat, shoe boc, etc can be used). Two concentric circles are then made with chairs, the inner circle has three chairs, whereas the out circle the remaining number of students. Three students volunteer to sit in the middle and pick a question from the container. The students in the inner circle only can start discussing their ideas, answers etc regards what has been chosen on the post it. If a student from the outer circle would like to participate then they must stand up and put a hand on the shoulder of one of the students sitting in the middle. As soon as that student finishes their sentence, they must move to the outer circle allowing the other student to sit in the inner circle and speak. This continues for as long as is necessary and is monitored by the facilitator, who indicates when it’s time to choose another post it or to stop. The facilitator can also decide whether to change the students from the inner circle when they start a new discussion, giving more students the opportunity to participate. The time necessary for this methodology depends on the number of participants, but usually varies between 40 min and an hour and a half. Debriefing is needed at the end.

4)Look how I have challenged digital inequalities!Online activity

Objectives:

-To encourage students to think of solutions for overcoming these risks and to stimulate positive actions for change.

Time:20 minutes

Materials:internet access

Target: suitable both for Lower and Upper Secondary

Activity:

  • The teacher/educator asks students how digital technologies could solve some of the problems, which they have created? What could be done to improve this situation 1) by the government? 2) by local schools? 3) by you? For example: could digital natives assist those who are in need? Such as their grandparents or neighbours? Should youth be given the chance to teach adults, including their teachers on how to use and harness the potential of digital technologies?

Students are encouraged to brainstorm ideas in plenary, bouncing ideas off each other.

  • Online activity: Once students have discussed their ideas in plenary , they are then invited to write a text no longer than a tweet where they pledge what action they will do to help overcome inequalities in a digital era. This tweet text is shared with the rest of the class. Once they have carried out their pledge the students then take a photo of themselves carrying out their pledge and post the photo plus a modified version of their tweet explaining what they did. For example: Look at me helping my grandparents to learn how to use a smartphone. All students from all three countries, need to find an action which they like from another country and comment it. The action with the most comments will be shown during the event held in each country.

Extra activity: The Digital Access Index

The Digital Access Index is a list of countries, which have digital access. It is divided between High Access, Upper Access, Medium Access, Low Access and countries, which are not in the index. Teachers/educators can ask sts in which category would they place their country? If there is time, they could try to name a list of countries and in which category they are. Source: