CyberSmart! : Lesson Plans : Smart E-mailing and IMing too!

Smart E-mailing and IMing too!

Overview
Students consider the challenges of using E-mail and IM, discussing ways of handling them safely and responsibly.

Objectives

		Describe the challenges of using E-mail and IM
		Describe how to handle E-mails and IMs received
		Describe how to protect E-mail addresses

ISTE^® National Technology Standards

Site Preview

No Internet site is used in this lesson.

Online Resources

Materials

Activity sheets (3)

Introduce

		Discuss some possible ways to manage incoming postal mail. For example, someone may review, sort, and distribute the mail, and may throw away junk mail without opening it.
		Point out that E-mail and IM should be handled in similar ways.

Teach 1

		Distribute Activity Sheet 1.
		Have students complete the page individually or in small groups and then share their responses with the rest of the class. NOTE: Postpone discussion until students have read and applied the information presented on Activity Sheets 2 and 3.
		Make sure students understand that some commercial Web sites are intentionally designed to be difficult for the user to exit.

Teach 2

Distribute Activity Sheets 2 and 3 for students to read and discuss.

Teach 3

Allow students to revisit Activity Sheet 1 and explain how their answers might be changed or enhanced.

		Ask: What are some challenges of E-mail and IM? (Recognizing who the message is from and knowing how to handle spam, messages from strangers, and any message that makes me uncomfortable.)
		Ask: What is the safe way to handle messages you get? Responses should reflect the safety rules on Activity Sheets 2 and 3.
		Ask: How can you protect your E-mail address and those of your friends and family? Responses should reflect the safety tips described on Activity Sheets 2 and 3.

Extend
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson in a previous grade.

		Remind students that they were once less adept at handling themselves online. Invite them to share some past experiences or problems related to E-mail. Allow them to explain how they would handle the problem, now that they are older and more knowledgeable about safety issues.
		Extend discussion on E-Mail and IM to include risk of worms and viruses. Explain to students that introducing a worm or virus in their computer is most usually done through clicking on unknown links in E-mail and IM messages; and that they could lose all their stuff on their computer.