Online Safety & Digital Citizenship
Personal information, digital footprints, T.H.I.N.K., strong passphrases and spotting phishing.
⌨️ Start with your 10-minute typing warm-upBy the end, you will be able to:
- Identify Personally Identifiable Information (P.I.I.) and remove it from a fictional profile.
- Explain why a digital footprint is like wet cement, and apply the T.H.I.N.K. test before posting.
- Explain why a long passphrase beats a short password, and use S.T.O.P. to spot a phishing message.
What you need
No computer at home? Print the PDF and practise on paper.
Follow these steps in order
Tick each step when you finish it. Your ticks are saved on this device, so you can stop and come back later.
Learn the ideas ⏱️ 35 min
Read pages 1–4 of the workbook and try every small task. Type your answers straight into the boxes: they save by themselves.
Explore the 3D lab ⏱️ 15 min
Play with the 3D model below. The 🎯 missions tell you exactly what to do next (this session has two labs). When you finish every mission, this step ticks itself.
Do the Lab Mission ⏱️ 25 min
Page 5 is the hands-on task. Do it on a real computer, step by step. You need: a web browser (no real passwords needed).
Check yourself ⏱️ 10 min
Answer the questions on page 6 without looking back, then check your answers below.
Finished? Check your answers
Lab Mission 1, Profile Sanitizer (Page 5): strike out the full name (Kofi Boateng), the home address (House Number B42, Dansoman, near the round-about), the school (JHS 1 student at Bozoma Model JHS), the mother's MTN number (024-555-1234) and the routine (6:30 AM walking alone along High Street). Strike out the age (13) too: age is personal information. Safe information left over: loves science, plays football, dreams of becoming a software engineer. Praise pupils who suggest a made-up username instead of the full name.
Lab Mission 2: open task. Look for: five random, unrelated objects from the classroom plus a symbol and number, with no names, birthdays or school, and not copied from the example. It must be a practice phrase, never a real password.
Scenario Decisions (Page 6)
- Gaming site asking for home address and school name: Risky.
- Photo of partner's drawing after asking permission: Safe.
- Unknown WhatsApp number offering free 50GB data: Risky (too good to be true, and a link from an unknown sender).
- Best friend asks for your school portal password: Risky.
Written Review Questions
- Like footprints in wet cement that set hard, what you post online stays permanently and you lose control of it, and someone may screenshot it even if you delete it.
- S: Suspicious sender. T: Too good to be true. O: Over-urgent tone. P: Password/PIN request.
Rate yourself and save your work ⏱️ 5 min
Tick how confident you feel on the last page, then press 🖨 Print / Save as PDF in the workbook to keep a copy. On a shared computer, press Clear my answers when you have saved it.
🎉 Session 33 complete!
Brilliant work. Next up: Session 34: Social Media & Misinformation.
Go to Session 34 →🛡️ Password Fortress
Build a wall of bricks with a practice passphrase, then send the guessing robot to see whether it can break in. Follow the 🎯 missions on the right: they tell you what to do next.
🎣 Spot the Phish
Emails land on your desk one by one. Check the sender, the subject and where the link really goes, then keep it or shred it. Follow the 🎯 missions on the right: they tell you what to do next.
Stuck? Try this
Most problems are one missed word. Look for the Panic Button or Help box in the workbook.
Refresh the page. On a very old computer it may not show 3D. The workbook still has everything you need.
Answers save on the computer you typed them on. Open the workbook on that same computer and browser.
Ask your mentor, a teacher or a friend. Show them the step number you are on.