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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 6 of 12

Digital Smarts

Trust, privacy and credible sources

What your child practices

Telling misinformation from disinformation, checking sources before trusting them, managing passwords and privacy, spotting phishing, and citing and using other people's work respectfully.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 9.21; 9.R4 · credible sources, technology-made content and privacy

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Misinformation is false information shared by mistake. Disinformation is spread on purpose to mislead.
  2. A padlock means the connection is encrypted, not that the content is true. Check facts, including chatbot answers, with reliable sources.
  3. Use strong passwords, watch for phishing and ask permission before posting about others.

Example: A chatbot gives you a statistic for your report. What is the best next step? Chatbots can make mistakes or invent numbers. Confirm before using it. Answer: Check it against a reliable source before using it

Digital Smarts in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 6 of 12 in 9th grade English Language Arts, after Literary Devices and before Forms & Features.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Disinformation is…

    • false information spread on purpose to mislead
    • advertising for a product
    • a true story told with humor
    • a mistake someone made by accident

  2. Question 2

    A video shows a famous athlete saying something shocking. Which step is best before sharing?

    • Send it to everyone in your contacts
    • Assume it is real because it has views
    • Share it first
    • Check whether trusted news sources report the same thing

  3. Question 3

    A social media feed shows you posts based on what you liked before. This is an example of…

    • an unbiased news report
    • a printed encyclopedia
    • a random sample of all posts
    • curated information

  4. Question 4

    Which password is the strongest?

    • Jay2010
    • Blue!Canoe7Maple
    • 12345678
    • password123

  5. Question 5

    Which of these is an example of cyberbullying?

    • Repeatedly posting mean comments about someone online
    • Posting a vacation photo with permission
    • Sharing a recipe
    • Liking a friend's post

  6. Question 6

    Why is it helpful to look at the 'About' page of a website?

    • It can tell you who runs the site and why
    • It shows only photos
    • It lists the latest scores
    • It turns off ads

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