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How Kids Can Play Their Way Through Interland to Learn Digital Citizenship

October 31, 2018 By Leticia

This post is sponsored by Be Internet Awesome

When I was a technology magnet coordinator, one of my beginning of the year tasks was to acquaint kids with our school system’s User Responsibilities for Computer Systems, Electronic Information, and Network Security during their first visit to the computer lab. This nine page PDF was filled with legalese that wasn’t age appropriate for my 3rd – 5th graders. I’d extract the most important points for a discussion about digital citizenship but it was the driest, yet most necessary, lesson I taught all year. As interactive as I tried to make this first required computer lab lesson, I failed miserably every year and only wish I could have used Interland with my students.

About Interland’s 4 Games that Teach Digital Citizenship

We know learning through play is one of the most effective ways for kids of any age to demonstrate their knowledge in a fun way and Interland does just that. Interland is a free, web-based game by Google that makes learning about digital citizenship a fun, engaging and hands-on experience.

This online adventure puts key lessons of digital safety into hands-on practice with four challenging games where kids are asked various questions about real world scenarios that they could encounter. Here’s a look at each of the four games, how to play, and the questions that are asked in each game that helps reinforce important lessons about digital citizenship.  

Kind Kingdom: It’s Cool to be Kind

Vibes of all kinds are contagious, for better or for worse. In the sunniest corner of town, troublemakers are spreading negativity everywhere. Block and report troublemakers to stop their takeover and be kind to other Internauts to restore the peaceful nature of this land. Get to the top of the kingdom by spreading good vibes and nixing the bad.

How to play Kind Kingdom:

Using the right, left, and up arrows to command your Internaut, navigate through Kind Kingdom to pick up hearts to give to sad Internauts throughout the land. By giving them hearts, thumbs up, or high fives, you’ll spread kindness and make them happy.

Be sure to avoid the large yellow Troublemakers who attempt to bring you down with negativity. They’re best left behind fences as you avoid them or look for the bullhorns to report them and they’ll be magically whisked away as you continue your climb to the top of the kingdom.

This is a great game for the youngest ages to start with because there is a high satisfaction factor through this easy to play game. Early elementary ages will enjoy spreading kindness as they make their Internaut jump to different levels while spreading kindness throughout the Kingdom.  

Reality River: Don’t Fall for Fake

The river that runs through Interland flows with fact and fiction. But things aren’t always what they seem. Cross the rapids by using your best judgement. Watch out for phishers lurking in the water. They’ll try to trick you. To get to the other side of the river, correctly answer questions on each platform.

How to play Reality River:

In Reality River, players use their mouse to click on the lit hexagonal pads to see the answers to the questions. Once they’ve read the options, they can select what they think is the right answer by double clicking it with their mouse. Most questions have three answers to choose from, but some have only 2.

Kids can try answering the question as many times as they can and if they get stuck, windows pop up to provide assistance.

Here are some of the questions that test kids’ knowledge through Reality River:

  • Your pal shows you a weird email he got from you with a link to open some kind of document- but you never sent it.
  • Someone asks you a personal question that makes you feel uncomfortable.
  • A fellow gamer offers to make a trade that would be amazing for your score. They ask for your private account info to make it happen.

Mindful Mountain: Share with Care

The mountainous town center of Interland is a place where everyone mingles and crosses paths. But you must be very intentional about what you share and with whom…Information travels at the speed of light and there’s an oversharer among the Internauts you know. Bounce each post off the mirrors to get it to the right Internaut.

How to play Mindful Mountain:

Mindful Mountain is all about who it’s ok to share content with and lets kids direct information to various individuals or the trash by moving laser beams and mirrors.

The laser beam unit is moved using the arrow keys on the keyboard and activated by clicking on it with the mouse so the character can jump on it to turn it on. Kids will have to use their knowledge of angles to place the laser in the right row but they also get as many tries as needed to direct the laser beam to its intended target.

Here are scenarios about sharing kids encounter in Mindful Mountain to get them thinking about when it’s ok to share and who it’s ok to share with:

  • A live video from your class field trip
  • Juicy rumor about someone from another class
  • Petition to help your school’s environmental club

Tower of Treasure: Secure Your Secrets

The Tower of Treasure is a fortress where you can store your valuables. Outrun the hackers or they will steal your messages and identity. Start by grabbing your messages and emails containing your private stuff and store them safely in the tower.

How to play Tower of Treasure:

Using the arrow keys on the keyboard, kids have to run and jump through the land. Hitting obstacles will cause the hackers to steal their messages and private information with a gleeful cackle.

Arrive at the Tower of Treasure and protect digital information from the hackers using strong passwords. There are 3 different levels for this game and is the easiest game for the youngest ages to play due to easy manipulation of the Interland character and limited reading throughout the game, especially compared to other games.

Why Interland Helps Reinforce Digital Citizenship Lessons

The four games that are part of Interland are designed to be played at any time and in any order.As kids navigate Kind Kingdom, Reality River, Mindful Mountain, and Tower of Treasure their quest to deny hackers, sink phishers, one-up cyberbullies and outsmart over sharers helps them learn what it takes to become Internet Awesome.

Games align beautifully with Google’s free Be Internet Awesome curriculum that’s great for classrooms, home schooling families, and also parents who want to create conversations with their kids about being nice on and offline. Interland and Be Internet Awesome reinforce key values that essential to being a responsible digital citizen that include:

  • SMART: Where we learn to share with care
  • ALERT: Where we learn not to fall for fake
  • STRONG: Where we learn how to secure our digital stuff
  • KIND: Where we learn that itʼs cool to be kind
  • BRAVE: Where we learn that, when in doubt, we talk it out

About Be Internet Awesome

The goal of Be Internet Awesome is to encourage communities to work together to stop bullying and cyberbullying by increasing awareness of the prevalence and impact of bullying on all children of all ages. It includes a classroom curriculum as well as resources for parents to use at home with their kids to extend these lessons beyond the school day and into year-round learning.

The It’s Cool to Be Kind curriculum is available for free through Google’s Be Internet Awesome. It consists of five areas and throughout this month, I’ve worked with Google to highlight themes that correspond to the above values.

Each week I’ve covered a different theme and here’s a look at past posts that I hope will help create a kinder world online and off!

  • How Google Be Internet Awesome Teaches Kids It’s Cool to Be Kind
  • 6 Questions Parents Need to Ask Kids to Reinforce Kindness in the Digital World as a way to teach them how to treat others how you’d like to be treated, both online and IRL
  • 3 Simple, Positive Actions to Teach Tweens to Combat Bullying
  • How I Taught My Tween to Be an Upstander
  • How to Talk to Kids When They See Adults Being Unkind 
  • How Kids Can Play Their Way Through Interland to Learn Digital Citizenship (TODAY!)

For more information, about Be Internet Awesome by Google:

  • Visit co/BeInternetAwesome.
  • Play Interland with your kids to put your kindness skills to the test at co/KindKingdom.
  • Share Be Internet Awesome’s online curriculum with your kids’ teachers so they can introduce these activities in the classroom to help disempower bullying behavior and encourage healthy, productive interactions.

Google Be Internet Awesome

This post is sponsored by Google and Be Internet Awesome but all opinions are my own.

Related

Filed Under: Education, Technology Tagged With: #ItsCoolToBeKind, Be Internet Awesome, cyberbullying, digital citizenship, digital safety, free game, free resources, google, Interland, kids, tweens

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DC area blogger & middle school computer science teacher focused on edu, family tech & teens. ❤s= 🚀 #STEM 🏃 #StJudeHeroes #legacyteamnuun 🏝 #Haiti

Leticia Barr
Still on that half marathon high! 🎉Mondays are Still on that half marathon high! 🎉Mondays are always better when you have new race bling to start your week! 🏅 I hope the start of your week goes well too! 💕
#medalmonday #stjudeheroes #runwithstjude #memphis #stjudememphismarathon
✅ = Half marathon #6 🎉 Yesterday was a gorgeo ✅ = Half marathon #6 🎉
Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Memphis for a race! The weather was absolutely perfect and my favorite part was running through the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital campus to soak it all in at mile 10. 🏃🏻‍♀️ Along the route were patients, former patients, and their families who are so incredibly grateful for the support of Heroes like me who fundraise, train, and run to ensure that no child dies in the dawn of life. 💕 I never go into any race with expectations. All I want to do is start the race having met my fundraising goal, have fun on the course, and cross the finish line.🏅So thank you for helping me accomplish those 3 goals. 🎉 This weekend St. Jude Heroes raised $14 million dollars to help St. Jude end childhood cancer. The $5,100 you helped me raise this year is part of that and I could not be more grateful! Thank you for allowing me to do what I do and run to support St. Jude. ❤️ I'm already looking forward to running in Memphis again next year! Who wants to join me? I’ll fundraise if you want to run with me! I’d be thrilled to be your race buddy if you want to run a 5K or 10K and promise to be the best cheerleader ever! 🙂 #stjudeheroes #runwithstjude #stjude #stjuderun #memphis
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to run If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to run St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend, here’s a look at the experience! 🏃🏻‍♀️My favorite part is always running through the campus of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital! ❤️Today I saw patients and their families lining the race course through campus cheering their hearts out for us Heroes. It was such a good reminder of why I choose to run this weekend year after year! 🥰 #stjudeheroes #runwithstjude #stjudechildrensresearchhospital #memphis #halfmarathon
✅= $5,000 fundraising goal met! 🎉🎉🎉WE 👏🏼 DID 👏🏼IT! 🎉🎉🎉 
It is the best feeling in the world going into tomorrow’s race having bypassed my original fundraising goal by an additional $1,000 and knowing how many of you are cheering for me! ❤️Half marathon #6, I’m coming for you! 🏃🏻‍♀️💪🏼🏅And yes, I had to go back for another photo just like yesterday’s but with my updated fundraising total! 😍 #stjudeheroes #runwithstjude #stjude #memphis #stjudememphismarathon
🎉$4,875 🎉During my flight, my seat mate aske 🎉$4,875 🎉During my flight, my seat mate asked me if I worked for St. Jude after noticing St. Jude Heroes embroidered on my jacket. When I told her I was in town for St. Jude Memphis Marathon and I ran to raise money, she opened her purse and dug around for the cash she had. 💵 She was very familiar with St. Jude’s mission from her involvement in her college sorority and is a regular donor. Even though she had just donated, she handed me a bunch of bills and wished me luck with my race 🏃🏻‍♀️I’ll be adding her gift to the total I had when I picked up my race bib. It was such a thrill to pick up my bib to see you’ve helped me surpass my original goal of $4,000 and to be so close to my new $5,000 goal! ❤️ #stjudeheroes #stjuderun #runforstjude #halfmarathoner #nuunambassador
Put on my running shoes And I boarded the plane To Put on my running shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain 🎶  It is SO good to be back in Memphis! ❤️ Every year I think this might be my last race but the minute I get off the plane and start walking through the airport, I remember my why. My why becomes more apparent as I drive into downtown and past the @stjude campus where children and their families stay during their treatment for life threatening childhood illnesses which is free thanks to donors like you who ensure they never have to pay for treatment, housing, food, or travel. ✈️ At St. Jude kids get the best care, care that I could only hope for if my kids were to ever get sick. And that is my why. 🩺 On the St. Jude campus there are moms just like me who face the unimaginable every single day. I run for them so they can focus on helping their child live. ❤️‍🩹 I know if I was a mom of a patient, there would be an army of Heroes who would fundraise, train, and run for me and my sick child. I also run to give them hope which is something so many families have thanks to donors like you. St. Jude leads the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. When this is your why, it’s hard to stop which is why I just keep going. ❤️#stjudeheroes #runforstjude #memphis #whyirun #nuunambassador
It’s almost St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend! ❤️ This will be my 6th half marathon & 9th race benefiting @stjude kids and families. 🏃🏻‍♀️As a race veteran, you’d think my goal would be to improve my time but honestly, my goals are to raise money as much money as possible and to run for those who can’t. If you haven’t already donated but would like to, see the St. Jude link in my bio to make a tax deductible donation of any amount. 🙏🏻 I’m so so close to $5,000 and with your help, I know I’ll get there! Thanks in advance for any amount you can give and get ready for lots of race related posts and stories over the next few days! Sorry not sorry! 🏃‍♀️❤️🏃‍♀️
#stjudeheroes #stjudemarathon #runforstjude #stjudememphismarathon #stjuderun #stjude
How do you teach computer science concepts like th How do you teach computer science concepts like the cloud? 💻Through hands-on, interactive learning experiences like the ones offered for free at @AmazonWebServices Skills Center in Arlington, Virginia. 🏢 AWS Skills Centers provides free, fun ways to learn more about the cloud and job opportunities. Visit the link in my bio for more information and to plan your visit to the Skills Center! 🚘AD #computerscience #cloudcomputing #STEM #amazonwebservices #awsskillscenter
Thankful for a week filled with family, food, outd Thankful for a week filled with family, food, outdoor fun & being photobombed by my favorite girl. 💕 #thanksgiving #family #optoutside
Find a friend who will join you at OrangeTheory in Find a friend who will join you at OrangeTheory in the morning, celebrate the workout with lunch, and take ridiculous selfies with you and @theholdernessfamily after more bubbles and bites. Thank you @lisatasch for being that friend! I adore you! 🧡💪🏼🥂And huge thanks to @westfieldmontgomery for inviting use to meet Kim and Penn! They’re just as wonderful as you’d imagine them to be! 🎄#friends #holidays #westfieldmontgomery #moco #mocomd
Every day when their boy leaves for school, these Every day when their boy leaves for school, these two follow me upstairs and jump on his bed. 🛏️ One watches the driveway from the window and the other stares out the door, ready to alert the other if he comes returns. It’s the sweetest thing! 🐾 I reassure them he’ll be back later but I’m not quite sure what this pair is going to do next year when he heads off to college. I guess we’ll pass the days until the kiddos come home with long dog walks and console ourselves with treats. 💔  #chocolatelab #yellowlab #labrador #puppylove #rescuedog #labrescue #momlife
I’ve visited historic Old Town Alexandria many t I’ve visited historic Old Town Alexandria many times but today I got to know a different side of the city by hearing little-known stories of Africans and African-Americans, both enslaved and freemen, and visiting historic sites. ⛪️ According to @j_chapman99 (founder of @manumissiontour, 4th generation Alexandrian, and Alexandria City Council Member!!) Alexandria, Virginia was one of early America’s main centers for the international and domestic slave trade. As we drove through different historic neighborhoods, the contributions by Black Americans were apparent throughout. 🏡 It was a powerful day and an excellent reminder that Black history IS Virginia history which makes it a huge part of American history! 🇺🇸 If you’re in the DC area or happen to be planning a visit to Alexandria, I highly recommend booking a tour with Manumission Tour Company to educate yourself about important historical events and individuals whose contributions to local history are just as significant as those usually mentioned in history books. 📚Huge thanks to John for making me aware of a very important part of Old Town Alexandria’s history and also to @toyotausa for inviting me to join be a part of their Steeped in History initiative. 🚘 #ToyotaPartner #ToyotaSteepedinHistory #alexandriava #blackhistory
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