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Digital Empathy

Lesson Plan

Cultivating Compassion Online

Students will be able to define digital empathy and identify its importance in online interactions, analyze various online scenarios to understand the impact of digital communication, and practice empathetic responses to promote a positive online community.

In today's interconnected world, fostering digital empathy is crucial for students to navigate online spaces responsibly and kindly. This lesson will equip them with the skills to consider others' feelings, combat cyberbullying, and contribute to a safer, more respectful digital environment.

Audience

8th Grade Students

Time

40 minutes

Approach

Through interactive slides, scenario-based discussions, and reflective activities.

Materials

Digital Empathy Lesson Plan, Walk a Mile in Their Pixels Slide Deck, Empathy in Action Scenarios Discussion, and Digital Empathy Worksheet

Prep

Review Materials

10 minutes

Step 1

Warm-Up: Digital Check-In

5 minutes

  • Begin by asking students: "How do your words online affect others?" Allow a few students to share their initial thoughts.
    - Introduce the concept of digital empathy. (Refer to Walk a Mile in Their Pixels Slide Deck - Slide 1)

Step 2

Mini-Lesson: What is Digital Empathy?

15 minutes

  • Present the Walk a Mile in Their Pixels Slide Deck from Slide 2 to Slide 5.
    - Discuss key aspects of digital empathy, including considering perspective, understanding impact, and responding with kindness.
    - Engage students with examples and brief check-for-understanding questions throughout the slides.

Step 3

Activity: Empathy in Action Scenarios

15 minutes

  • Divide students into small groups.
    - Provide each group with the Empathy in Action Scenarios Discussion.
    - Instruct groups to discuss the scenarios and brainstorm empathetic responses and solutions.
    - Circulate among groups to facilitate discussion and provide guidance.
    - Bring the class back together for a brief whole-class share-out of key takeaways from their discussions.

Step 4

Wrap-Up: Reflect and Commit

5 minutes

  • Distribute the Digital Empathy Worksheet for students to complete as a cool-down or exit ticket.
    - Ask students to reflect on one way they can practice digital empathy in their own online interactions starting today.
    - Collect the worksheets as students leave.
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Slide Deck

Digital Empathy: What Is It?

Understanding Feelings Online

  • Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of another.
  • Digital Empathy: Applying empathy to our online interactions.
  • It's about thinking: "How would I feel if someone said/did this to me online?" or "How might this make someone else feel?"

Welcome students and introduce the day's topic. Emphasize that online actions have real-world impacts. Ask them to think about how their words make others feel, even when they can't see their faces.

The Screen Barrier

Why is Digital Empathy Important?

  • No Body Language: We can't see facial expressions or hear tone of voice.
  • Distance: It feels easier to say things we wouldn't say face-to-face.
  • Misinterpretation: Text can be easily misunderstood.
  • Anonymity (sometimes): Thinking you're anonymous can lead to bolder, sometimes harsher, comments.

Discuss how easy it is to forget there's a real person behind a screen. Ask students for examples of how misunderstandings can happen online due to lack of non-verbal cues.

Ripple Effect of Words

Your Words Have Power

  • Positive Impact: Encouragement, support, and kindness can brighten someone's day.
  • Negative Impact: Hurtful comments can cause real pain, anxiety, and sadness.
  • Cyberbullying: Repeated, intentional harm inflicted through electronic devices.
    • Digital empathy is a key tool to prevent cyberbullying.

Explain how a single comment can spread and affect many. Encourage students to think before they post or comment. Link this to cyberbullying prevention.

Walk a Mile in Their Pixels

Before you post, ask yourself:

  1. Is it True? Is the information accurate?
  2. Is it Helpful? Does it contribute positively?
  3. Is it Inspiring? Does it lift others up?
  4. Is it Necessary? Is it something that truly needs to be said?
  5. Is it Kind? Is it respectful and considerate of others' feelings?

The "THINK" acronym can help us practice digital empathy.

Introduce the idea of 'walking a mile in their pixels' – essentially, putting yourself in someone else's digital shoes. This sets up the next activity.

Empathy In Action!

Time to discuss!

  • Work with your group to analyze the scenarios.
  • Think about the impact of the online actions.
  • Brainstorm empathetic responses.
  • Remember to "Walk a Mile in Their Pixels"!

Transition to the group discussion activity. Explain that they will be applying the 'THINK' principles to real-world scenarios.

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Discussion

Empathy in Action Scenarios

Instructions: In your groups, read each scenario carefully. Discuss the questions that follow, focusing on how digital empathy can guide your responses and actions. Be prepared to share your group's insights with the class.

Scenario 1: The Misunderstood Post

Your friend, Alex, posts a picture of a school event with the caption, "This was the most boring event ever. I wish I stayed home." Another classmate, Sam, who helped organize the event, sees the post and feels hurt.

  • How might Sam feel after seeing Alex's post? Why?






  • If you were Alex, how could you have expressed your feelings more empathetically?






  • What could Sam do to address their feelings with Alex in a digitally empathetic way?






Scenario 2: The Group Chat Exclusion

You are part of a group chat for a class project. Another student, Jordan, is also in your project group but isn't included in the chat. You notice the group chat is often used to make decisions without Jordan's input.

  • How might Jordan feel being excluded from the main communication channel for the project?






  • What responsibilities do members of an online group have to ensure everyone is included and heard?






  • What could you do, as a member of the group chat, to demonstrate digital empathy towards Jordan?






Scenario 3: The Anonymous Comment

Someone posts an anonymous, slightly negative comment about a student's performance in the school talent show on a public forum. You know the student worked very hard and is sensitive to criticism.

  • What are the potential impacts of anonymous negative comments online?






  • How does the anonymity of online platforms sometimes make it harder to practice digital empathy?






  • What is an empathetic way to respond to or deal with an anonymous negative comment like this, either as the person who saw it or the person who was commented on?






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Worksheet

Digital Empathy Worksheet

Name: _____________________________

Instructions: Reflect on today's lesson about digital empathy. Answer the questions below thoughtfully.

Part 1: Quick Check

  1. In your own words, what is digital empathy?



  2. Why is it sometimes harder to be empathetic online than in person?



Part 2: Reflect and Apply

  1. Think about the "THINK" acronym we discussed (True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind). Choose one part of the acronym and explain why you think it's the most important for practicing digital empathy. Provide an example.






  2. Describe a situation you've seen or experienced online where more digital empathy could have made a positive difference. What happened, and what could have been done differently?











  3. What is one specific action you will commit to taking to practice digital empathy in your own online interactions starting today?





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