When I saw this blog entry, for the week, I thought what a perfect opportunity to do some research to support a problem some of the teachers were facing in our school. Something I am sure we all have experienced throughout teaching in this digital age is supporting our students to learn and understand how to create a positive digital identity. It is one of those teaching moments, that is not outlined in our “formal” curriculum, however, is crucial to supporting our students in creating an overall positive sense of self. With cyber bullying being on a rise, it is crucial our students know how to navigate and use the online world in a practical way. That is why for this week’s assignment I started looking for an online tool to support teaching students about digital literacy. It didn’t take long until I came across a Google created platform called “Interland” an online game that teaches individuals how to safely navigate the online world.
Interland was created by Google to help “kids be safe, confident explorers of the online world.” Watch the introduction video here to see the possibilities this resource has to offer!
Components of Interland:
Interland is made up of four different “islands.” On each island, students are able to explore certain topics related to digital literacy. The islands are:
- Share with Care: This teaches students how to share online, specifically looking at how to share with those they know, and to stay clear of people they do not know!
- Don’t Fall for Fake: This island has students explore the reality that lots of what we find on the internet is fake and it is our jobs as digital users to navigate through what is fake and what is true. The different questions, provide students with tips to know what is true or false!
- Secure your secrets: On this island, students work through the game questions and learn how to secure their personal information. For example, how to create strong passwords and switching up passwords every so often.
- It’s Cool to Be Kind: This island has students go through different questions and activities to teach them about kindness online. How we can spread kindness or not through our online presence.
How to use Interland:
Interland has a couple of different ways that the learning can happen. First, the students have the opportunity to explore the world at their own pace and navigate through the questions on their own. Or teachers can decide to download the “Be Internet Awesome Curriculum” that provides teachers with lesson plans and whole class activities to teach about these different topics. After looking over the resource, I would say it depends on the age an awareness of your students to decide what path to take. If you have the students go right to Interland they will go through the islands and take facts to hopefully apply to their own lives. I would say this independent learning would be for older grades (9-12). If you are bringing awareness to digital safety with younger grades (4-9) I would suggest using the lessons that have been outlined. The teacher would go through the series of lessons for each topic, and then it is not until the end that the students would then go and work through the island! By using the lessons, students would gain a more thorough understanding around digital literacy. It would all depend on the time and relevance this would have in your classroom.
Teacher Curriculum and Resource:
In my opinion Google has done an amazing job in creating this platform to support teachers and students. In the teacher resource, they have created lesson plans with activities to do with the class for each lesson and they have created Google slides for each lesson to support your teaching.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Interland:
I will be honest; I am a huge fan of Google platforms. I used Google all throughout my undergrad, my certificate studies, and now in my classroom teaching. I find their platforms are very easy to navigate and are user friendly to the students I teach and their families. With that, when I saw another Google platform, of course I needed to take a look into it.
Advantages:
- No prep for teachers – whether you have students work on it at their own pace, or teach from the lessons everything is ready to go for you
- User friendly – Students could simply scan a QR code or type in the Interland and it would take them right in the world.
- Interactive – Students have the opportunity to learn about digital literacy in an interactive game mode.
- Free – Both the game platform and teacher resources are free to use for everyone.
- Easy read – This platform has been created for students. With that, the language suites their understanding.
- Relative: The examples and scenarios the game provides are very relative to what the students are probably facing with their own online identity.
- You continue answering the questions until you get them right.
- You can the different islands as a class on the smartboard or individually using a tablet or Chromebook.
Disadvantages:
- The questions are not all read to you and I was unable to figure how to get them to read to you. This could be difficult for students who are slower readers.
- While playing the game sometimes it was difficult for me to figure out what they wanted me to do. With that, some younger learners may require more support.
- You do have the option to skip through the learning descriptions at the beginning of each island, this has meaningful information that you wouldn’t want the students to miss.
- Time: The lessons can be lengthy and getting through the different islands might take the students some time, with a full schedule already this unit may have to be spread out through the year adding lessons here and there!
Overall, I am really excited to see this interactive resource to support digital literacy as it is a prevalent issue that many students will face in their lives. I hope to start using this in some of my classes to support students in creating a positive digital literacy!
Check out Interland and let me know what you think, I look forward to hearing from some of you.
And so the Adventure Begins 
Wow, this seems really cool! I have never heard of this before. I teach grade 4/5 so it sounds like I would likely need to use the lessons. Thanks for sharing.
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Very cool program that I’ve never heard of before. I agree that cyber bullying is something we need to continue educate our students on. I’d like to know if anyone has experience with the program and what they thought of it.
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I have shared it with my teachers who are in middle years at my school and some of them are trying it out! I will keep you posted!
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What an amazing tool for learning. It is a fun way to learn about the cyber bullying and digital safety, as it is difficult to tell children about the online privacy. The graphics are also amazing as per the students’ interests.
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ooo This looks awesome!! Such a fun way for students to learn. I find that kids are often exposed to technology/the internet before they really are old enough to realize that there are dangers to be aware of as well. This looks like an engaging way for students to learn about being safe online!
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This looks really cool! I love any time we can “gamify” course content, as Bates explained in chapter 8. Interland could lead to some great classroom discussions or role playing or a number of other activities to express understanding of the game. I hope it works well in your classroom! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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