English in Primary Educa on I

Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 1

Digital competence: What’s on your mind?

At the end of these lessons you should be able to:
- Infer the meaning of specific words (reading skills; focus on language)
- Understand and discuss the main idea and the details of a short film on the topic
(listening and speaking skills)
- Cri cally analyse an audiovisual text and summarise its content (comprehension
and wri ng skills)
- Interact about your own experience and your views on the specific topic
(Facebook) in connec on with a relevant general topic (Digital competence) (oral
interac on skills)

LISTENING: The Internet: good or bad (from BBC six minute English)

Pre-listening: Answer the following ques ons individually and then share with one or two of your
classmates.

1. Do you know what “www” stands for?

2. Write down the three words that you

immediately connect with the internet.

3. Can you think of any problems with the

internet?

4. Which are the main advantages of the

internet. List three of them

Task: Listen to a conversa on between Rob and Neil about the internet and answer the following
ques ons
1. Answer these ques ons about Neil
a. What did Neil first look up on the internet?
b. What does he mean with “and nothing really changes, does it”?

c. What can you infer about Neil’s age?

2. Who is Tim Berners-Lee’s child?

3. Who are the giants of the internet? What’s the main problem with them?

4. What was Tim Berners-Lee’s first idea of the Internet?

 English in Primary Educa on I
Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 2

5. What’s one of the most important mo va ons for being on the net?

6. Listen again and join the following expressions:

a. Concerns very unpleasant
b. Changes his mind origins
c. Sources problem
d. Nas est ask yourself
e. An issue worries
f. Driven triggered
g. Wonder modify one’s ideas

Post-task: Get in small groups and answer the following ques ons

1. Can you remember a day in your life without using the internet? Try and imagine one.
Would there be any advantages?

2. Have you ever had a nega ve experience on the net? What was your reac on?

3. Do you agree with Berners-Lee’s idea for improving social networks?

READING: YOU AND YOUR DATA

Pre-task: Before you read, answer the following ques ons

1. Do you know when Safer Internet 3. Which are the five top safety
Day is? measures to surf the internet?

2. Do you consider your use of the

Internet safe? Why?

Task: Read the text and find the words that have this meaning:

a. directed at a par cular person or group: ………………………….. (par. 4)

b. permission to do something: ………………………….. (par. 5)
c. to risk having a harmful effect on something: ………………………….. (par. 1)
d. to control an ac vity or process, especially with rules: ………………………….. (par. 6)
e. informa on, especially facts or numbers, that is collected for a future purpose: …………… (par. 7)
f. to study or record someone’s behaviour over me: ………………………….. (par. 2&3)
g. to have no ced or know about something: ………………………….. (par. 6)
h. a public feeling of shock and disapproval: ………………………….. (par. 5)
 English in Primary Educa on I
Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 3

You and your data

As the internet and digital technology become a bigger part of our lives, more of our data becomes
publicly accessible, leading to ques ons about privacy. So, how do we interact with the growing
digital world without compromising the security of our informa on and our right to privacy?
Imagine that you want to learn a new language. You search ‘Is German a difficult
language?’ on your phone. You click on a link and read an ar cle with advice for learning German.
There’s a search func on to find German courses, so you enter your city name. It asks you to
ac vate loca on services to find courses near you. You click ‘accept’. You then message a German
friend to ask for her advice. When you look her up on social media, an adver sement for a book
and an app called German for Beginners instantly pops up. Later the same day, while you’re
sending an email, you see an advert offering you a discount at a local language school. How did
they know? The simple answer is online data. At all stages of your search, your devices, websites
and applica ons were collec ng data on your preferences and tracking your behaviour online.
‘They’ have been following you.

Who uses our data and why?

In the past, it was easy for people to keep track of their personal informa on. Like their
possessions, people’s informa on existed mostly in physical form: on paper, kept in a folder, locked
in a cupboard or an office. Today, our personal informa on can be collected and stored online, and
it’s accessible to more people than ever before. Many of us share our physical loca on, our travel
plans, our poli cal opinions, our shopping interests and our family photos online – as key services
like ordering a takeaway meal, booking a plane, taking part in a poll or buying new clothes now
take place online and require us to give out our data.
Every search you make, service you use, message you send and item you buy is part of
your ‘digital footprint’. Companies and online pla orms use this ‘footprint’ to track exactly what we
are doing, from what links we click on to how much me we spend on a website. Based on your
online ac vity, they can guess what you are interested in and what things you might want to buy.
Knowing so much about you gives online pla orms and companies a lot of power and a lot of
money. By selling your data or providing targeted content, companies can turn your online ac vity
into profit. This is the founda on of the growing industry of digital marke ng.

Can you protect your data?

Yes … and no!
Some of the me our personal data is shared online with our consent. We post our
birthday, our photographs and even our opinions online on social media. We know that this
informa on is publicly accessible. However, our data o en travels further than we realise, and can
be used in ways that we did not intend. Certain news scandals about data breaches, where
personal data has been lost, leaked or shared without consent, have recently made people much
more aware of the poten al dangers of sharing informa on online.
So, can we do anything to protect our data? Or should we just accept that in fact nothing is
‘free’ and sharing our data is the price we have to pay for using many online services? As people
are increasingly aware of and worried about data protec on, governments and organisa ons are
taking a more ac ve role in protec ng privacy. For example, the European Union passed the
General Data Protec on Law, which regulates how personal informa on is collected online.
However, there is s ll much work to be done.
As internet users, we should all have a say in how our data is used. It is important that we
pay more a en on to how data is acquired, where it is stored and how it is used. As the ways in
 English in Primary Educa on I
Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 4

which we use the internet con nue to grow and change, we will need to stay informed and keep
demanding new laws and regula ons, and be er informa on about how to protect ourselves.
Safer Internet Day is an ideal me to find out more about this topic.
h ps://www.saferinternetday.org/

Reading comprehension. Are the sentences true or false?

1. Informa on about you is collected when you look at websites. T/F

2. Using different devices (for example, your phone and your laptop) makes it impossible
for companies to track you. T/F
3. The train of informa on you leave online is called your ‘digital footprint’. T/F
4. Companies use your digital footprint to make money. T/F
5. This issue has not been in the news, so most people are completely unaware of it. T/F
6. European law on the protec on of online data has changed. T/F
7. The writer thinks the new law has solved the problem. T/F
8. The ar cle concludes by saying individuals should stay up to date and know how
their informa on is used. T/F

Complete the following sentences

1. Our devices, websites and applica ons collect ……………………………… about our online behaviour.
2. Un l recently, many people were not ……………………………… of how much of their personal
informa on was collected and shared.
3. Informa on about products you are interested in is used to create ………………………… adver sing.
4. The news of how certain applica ons used people’s private informa on caused a
………………………… .
5. People felt their informa on had been used for purposes that they had not agreed to, without
their ……………………………… .
6. The General Data Protec on Law ……………………………… how personal data is collected online.
7. When private informa on was stored physically, on paper, it was easier to keep
……………………………… of where your data went.
8. If you want to use many online apps and services, you s ll have to ……………………………… your
right to privacy.
 English in Primary Educa on I
Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 5

Pronuncia on

1. Review: Stress in two-syllable words. Underline two-syllable verbs and nouns in the
texts and check if their pronuncia on follows the rule we learnt in Unit 3:

Most two-syllable nouns and adjec ves have stress on the 1st syllable: Oo

Most two-syllable verbs have stress on the 2nd syllable: oO

2. What happens when we drop the magic e from the word “ me”?

When you say the le ers of the alphabet, “I” has the long vowel sound or diphthong (that is a
double vowel sound) /aɪ/. But the le er “I” is also pronounced as the short vowel sound /ɪ/. Say
aloud the following words that contain the target sounds:

/aɪ/ why wide wife buy bike fly flight high

/ɪ/ king kid pink pig fish will gym pick

As you can see, spellings (that is, how you write words containing these sounds) may vary.

1. Can you spot examples of Rule number 2 (CVC+E, the Magic “e”) in the table above (“A
single vowel followed by a consonant + E in a final stressed syllable will have a long
pronuncia on”)?

2. Are there any other examples of Rule number 1 and 2 in the text?

Suggested viewing: Short vowel sound /ɪ/ - Long vowel sound or diphthong /aɪ/

SHORT FILM: WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

Pre-task

1. Read the sentences and try to work out the meaning of the words and expressions in bold
(Adapted from www.film-english.com by Kieran Donaghy )

1. “Have you seen Mary’s status update on Facebook?”

2. “You can’t see the video because you haven’t scrolled down the page enough.”
3. “Can you believe that Pete defriended me because I’m going out with his ex?”
4. “I’m following Tom Hanks on Twi er; he’s my favourite actor.”
 English in Primary Educa on I
Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 6

5. “This video’s so cool! I’m going to share it on Facebook.”

6. “The photo of my new car got 300 likes on Facebook yesterday.”
7. “I was so sick and red of reading all the details of Anne’s day on Twi er, I just
unfollowed her.”
8. “Oh my God! Tony’s oversharing again. He’s just posted 5 status updates and uploaded
25 photos of his new girlfriend!”
Task: Reading Film (h p://film-english.com/2014/06/30/whats-on-your-mind/)

2. Watch the following short film and answer: Why is it en tled What’s on your mind?

3. Watch the film again. What status updates does the man make? Try to copy THE EXACT WORDS
he uses in the table below.

Place What he posts on Facebook What really happens

 English in Primary Educa on I
Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 7

4. Now, in pairs, complete the third column, write down what really happens to him and
compare it with the posts on Facebook.
● How is the man feeling at each stage of the film?

● Why?

5. Focus on social media language. Watch the short film again and focus on the following features.
Write them down and find out what they mean:
- Non-standard spellings

- Hashtags

- Expressions

6. What is the message of the short film? Discuss in pairs/threes and agree on a sentence to
summarise your views.

Post-task: Facebook: Friend or Foe?

7. What view of Facebook do the images below give? Is it posi ve or nega ve? What is the
message?
 English in Primary Educa on I
Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 8

SPEAKING: CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO USE THE INTERNET UNTIL 16 YEARS
OLD

Divide students into groups of four and ask them to do some research about the effects of the
internet on teenagers (two in favour and two against).

Pros Cons

EXAM PRACTICE:

Describe the following picture using the See - Think- Wonder rou ne.
 English in Primary Educa on I
Unit 7: Digital Competence - p. 9

BONUS TASK

Get together in small groups (two to three students) and record a video of the group answering the
following ques ons.

Digital competence “requires a cri cal and reflec ve a tude towards available informa on and
a responsible use of the interac ve media” (Official Journal of the European Union 2006, on Key
Competences for Lifelong learning). https://goo.gl/qXzVMo

1. Have you got a Facebook account? If so, how o en do you check it? If not, why don’t
you have one?
2. What are the best and worst things about Facebook?
3. Have you ever contacted or would you contact an old friend through Facebook?
4. Do you share anything on the Internet? If so, what do you share?
5. Do you know anyone who overshares on Facebook?
6. Have you ever defriended anyone on Facebook? If so, why?
7. What’s the difference between a friend and a Facebook friend?
8. Do you know anyone who’s regre ng pos ng or sharing something on Facebook? What did
they post or share?
9. If you were the headmaster of a private school recrui ng new teachers, would you check
their Facebook accounts?
10. Do you think Facebook is only for people who aren’t good at mee ng people face to
face?

FURTHER PRACTICE:

Would you like to know a li le more about your rela onship with the internet and
technological developments?
1. Suggested listening: smartphone addic on
h ps://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/6-minute-english/ep-180712
2. Suggested reading: FOMO
h ps://learnenglishteens.bri shcouncil.org/skills/reading/upper-intermediate-b2-rea
ding/fomo

Suggested homework (just for fun):

Take a quiz to test your social media knowledge: