NED ENG

FOR EDUCATORS

Spoofy is meant for use in class with younger school aged children and in kindergartens. The game develops different competencies laid out in the national curriculum. The main elements of the game are sensing the sangers and asking for help. The game is downloadable to phones and tablets, or playable here on this website.

This page has lesson plans and more important topics. All this information and an overview of the worlds is also included in the downloadable instruction manual.

The game is divided into four worlds. Each world has a different focus that develops digital competencies but also communication, self-determination, social and citizen competencies.

The worlds are all playable separately and do not need a specific order. The school and birthday worlds are shorter and simpler, and will suit individual playing, the park world is a bit more complicated and the grandma’s world is more suitable for slightly older kids. But all are playable with an adult.

Lesson plans

Spaceship
School
Park
At Grandma’s
Birthday

The goal of the space ship section is to introduce the game, it will take around 5-7 minutes for everyone to learn how to move about and collect items.

The space ship should be introduced right before playing or before assigning it as a home assignment. It is important that all the pupils understand the logic of the game and can navigate between worlds.

Children play the world either at home or in class. It will take around 10-15 minutes. It is important to direct them to find the principal and help him as well.

Some additional example assignments in class:
The main topic of the school world is communicating on the internet so there is room for multiple discussions that focus on kids’ own experience and polite communication. For example, questions:
  1. What is the different between communicating online and face to face?
  2. Can children put up a photo of a teacher?
    1. It is important to stress here that the person taking the photo is also the owner of the rights but they should still not upload it without the photo subject’s permission
  3. What to do when people get bullied online?
  4. What could happen if you accept a friend request from someone you don’t know?
    1. The stranger could bully or harass, could share your personal information, or turn out to be a criminal.
As communication is also part of some of the other worlds, one can also focus on one of the two other topics: bullying and fake profiles.
  1. Idea for an assignment: children cooperate to write down a plan as to what to do if they see someone get bullied online. Could be a group or pair assignment. This is followed by a discussion with the teacher as to how they themselves should behave online and who to ask for help.
  2. Assignment: what could be the ways to determine if the friend request is from a real friend?
    1. Is the photo familiar? Name familiar?
    2. Is there a possibility to see mutual friends? Ask them if they really know this person.
    3. Ask an adult for help!

Children play through the world in class or as homework. This will take around 15-20 minutes as there are quite a few activities and several assignments need talking to multiple people.

Some additional example assignments in class:
The main topic of the Park is safety, so the topics for discussion are a slightly more grown up.
  1. What kind of pictures are suitable for the internet?
    1. The author of the photo and the people on it have to consent to the upload
    2. All parties should like the photo
  2. Why do we need passwords for our devices? What is a good password like?
    1. The longer the better. A good password is at least 12 characters long.
    2. Being complicated is also good: letters, numbers, different characters
    3. Do not share your passwords with others
    4. Different devices and different accounts have to have different passwords. Why?
  3. Shopping online – who is paying?
    1. Buying things
    2. Spending money in online games
  4. What is privacy?
  5. What is hacking? Is it good or bad?
Additional things to do
  1. An idea for an assignment: children list all their accounts and change them into different passwords. Individual assignment.

Playing through this world takes 15-20 minutes and it is recommended to do that in class as some of the topics are more complicated. It is also important to note that buying the ladder has two different paths, one of which opens to a new assignment.

Some additional example assignments in class:
The focus of this world is very grown up but several topics are important to children as well. As there are some topics here that are not covered elsewhere in the game, it is important to cover the most important things during discussions.
  1. What possible bad things could happen on the internet?
    1. Scams, criminals, viruses
  2. What to do so that you would be safe online?
    1. Virus protection, not accepting strangers’ friend requests, no pictures with personal info, be careful
    2. It is important to stress to the kids that bad things could happen to everyone online but one has to be careful.
  3. What to do when something happens?
    1. Tell an adult: parent, teacher.
    2. Introduce the web police
  4. Shopping online
    1. What and when to buy?
    2. It should be stressed that adults should be consulted but they should also be critical themselves
Additional assignments to embed the topics
  1. Assignment in a computer class: how do I know this computer is safe? Look for virus protection etc.
  2. Assignment about online shopping: make a list of things to keep in mind when buying something. Working in groups, pairs
    1. What page is this? How much does it cost? What is seen on the photos etc.

Children play the world in class or as homework. This will take around 10-15 minutes, there are no excessive activities and many assignments are similar to other worlds.

Some additional example assignments in class:
The focus of the world is suitable for all children, discussions can match their level.
  1. Why do we need passwords for our devices? What is a good password like?
    1. The longer the better. A good password is at least 12 characters long.
    2. Being complicated is also good: letters, numbers, different characters
    3. Do not share your passwords with others
    4. Different devices and different accounts have to have different passwords. Why?
  2. Shopping online – free or not free?
    1. Why free things are often not good?
    2. What to keep in mind when shopping?
  3. Caring for one’s devices
    1. How to take care of computers, tablets and phones?
Additional assignments to embed the topics
  1. Assignment for myself: what should I do to make sure my devices don’t break? A group assignment, an individual assignment.
  2. Assignment about online shopping: make a list of things to keep in mind when buying something. Working in groups, pairs
    1. What page is this? How much does it cost?

Themes in the game

  1. Friend requests
  2. Scams on the internet
  3. Passwords
  4. Hacking

Friend requests

People get many friend requests, children are no different. Therefore it is important that they can critically evaluate, which are good requests to accept. Adding the wrong people can give them additional information and access. Therefore, it is important to stress that they should know the person in real life or at least in a game or similar. If the photo and name are familiar but the profile seems strange, they should also be careful and ask for additional information because there are many fake accounts going around. When they meet an internet friend in real life, they should always consult an adult first, especially if the “friend” asks them not to.

Scams on the internet

There are many free things, ads and good offers on the web. Many of them are scams.

  1. Free things often come with viruses or other malware. If it should not be free (like a movie, for example) and someone else is charging for it, the free one is suspicious.
  2. „Share this and you might win“ is usually a scam. Even if you get the reward right away, the sharing is still not a good idea.
  3. If something seems like too good to be true, it usually is.

Passwords

All devices and accounts should be password protected. You have to remember three things:

  1. All passwords must be unique, each account has to have a different password;
  2. Passwords must be long and complicated
    1. At least 12 characters
    2. Letters, numbers and other symbols
    3. Don’t use easily recognisable things like your name, name of a family member etc.
  3. Do not share your passwords with anyone, maybe only your parents.

Hacking

Hacking is any misuse of computer to get access to someone’s computer or system. Hackers can have ethical goals but often they are malicious. Hacking usually requires computer skills and knowledge but there are also those who purchase readymade assets on the internet and use them for their goals. Hacking is usually illegal so hackers are often greeted by police at their doors, and hackers are considered criminals.

GET the Guide

The instructions include all the necessary information, all in one place

Useful materials

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