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What’s Your Digital Footprint?

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Lesson Plan

Understanding Digital Footprints

Students will identify how their online actions contribute to a lasting digital footprint and learn to manage personal data. They will analyze real‐world scenarios, complete a privacy audit, and reflect on responsible online choices.

Understanding digital footprints helps students make safer, more informed decisions online, protect their privacy, and become responsible digital citizens in a connected world.

Audience

6th Grade Students

Time

40 minutes

Approach

Interactive slides, hands-on audit, and personal journal reflection

Materials

Tracing Your Bytes Slide Deck, Privacy Audit Activity Worksheet, and My Digital Diary Journal Template

Prep

Review & Prepare Materials

10 minutes

Step 1

Hook & Engage

5 minutes

  • Ask: “What happens when you post a photo or comment online?”
  • Show Slide 2 of Tracing Your Bytes Slide Deck with a public profile scenario
  • Quick class brainstorm: list 2 examples of an online action leaving a trace

Step 2

Tracing Your Bytes Presentation

15 minutes

  • Navigate through Slides 3–8 of Tracing Your Bytes Slide Deck
  • Discuss how posts, searches, and shares build a footprint
  • Pause for Think-Pair-Share: have students turn to a neighbor and name one way to protect data
  • Collect 2–3 pairs’ responses with brief class discussion

Step 3

Privacy Audit Activity

10 minutes

  • Distribute the Privacy Audit Activity Worksheet to pairs
  • Instruct students to review a mock social-media profile and mark info they’d keep public vs private
  • Circulate and prompt reasoning: why hide birthdays, location, etc.
  • Reconvene and list top 3 privacy risks discovered

Step 4

My Digital Diary Reflection

10 minutes

  • Hand out the My Digital Diary Journal Template
  • Prompt: “Describe one online action you’ve taken and how you’ll manage your footprint next time.”
  • Students write individually, then optionally share a key insight with the class
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Slide Deck

Tracing Your Bytes: Understanding Your Digital Footprint

• What you post, search, and share online stays around
• Every click, like, and comment builds your digital story
• Let’s learn how to see this trail and keep it safe

Welcome everyone! Today we’ll explore how everything you do online leaves a trail—your digital footprint. Introduce yourself and briefly share a story about a time you searched something you later wished you hadn’t. Explain that by the end of this deck, students will understand what a digital footprint is and how to protect their personal data.

Your Actions Leave Traces

Scenario: A post with a photo, location tag, and birthday

• Who can see it?
• What info is revealed?
• Where might this data travel?

Show a mock social-media profile mockup with a smiling student photo, location tag, and public birthday. Ask: “What traces do you see here?” Point out that even a simple photo reveals time, place, and name.

What Is a Digital Footprint?

A digital footprint is the record of all the information you leave behind when you use the internet, including:

• Active data: Posts, comments, shared photos
• Passive data: Search history, cookies, device info

Define the core term. Emphasize that your footprint is both visible (active) and invisible (passive).

Active vs. Passive Data

Active Data:
• Status updates, photos, messages
Passive Data:
• Browsing history, search terms, location logs

Illustrate the difference. Ask students for examples of each type.

Who Sees Your Footprint?

• Friends, family, strangers, advertisers
• Schools or future employers
• How long does it last? (Often forever!)

Discuss audience and permanence. Ask: “Have you ever searched your own name? What did you find?”

Think-Pair-Share

Question: What’s one simple step you can take right now to protect your digital footprint?

• Think silently (30 seconds)
• Pair up and discuss (1 minute)
• Share with class (2 minutes)

Pause here to let students think-pair-share. Ask each pair to come up with one way they could protect their data and be ready to share.

Tips to Manage Your Digital Footprint

  1. Review and tighten privacy settings
  2. Think before you post: is it necessary?
  3. Use strong, unique passwords
  4. Delete or archive old posts/apps you no longer use
  5. Browse in private/incognito when needed

Review each tip quickly, inviting students to raise hands if they already do it.

Key Takeaways

• Your online actions leave lasting traces
• You control what data you share
• Small habits (settings + thinking) protect your privacy

Next up: Privacy Audit Activity!

Summarize the key points and transition to the Privacy Audit Activity. Explain that they’ll practice spotting what should stay private.

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Activity

Privacy Audit Activity Worksheet

Objective: Identify which pieces of personal information on a mock profile should be public, private, or removed, and explain the reasoning.

Materials Needed: Printed worksheet, colored pens or pencils

Instructions

  1. In pairs, review the mock social-media profile below.
  2. For each item, mark whether you would keep it Public, make it Private (visible only to friends), or Remove it entirely.
  3. In the “Reason” column, write why you chose that option and what risk it could pose.
  4. After completing the table, discuss as a class the top three privacy risks you discovered.

Part 1: Mock Profile Audit

Profile ItemPublic / Private / RemoveReason & Potential Risk
Profile Photo
Full Name
Birthdate
Current City
School Name
Email Address
Phone Number
Recent Post: “Hanging at the mall with friends!”
Favorite Hobby: Basketball
Location Tag on Latest Photo
Linked Friend List






Part 2: Reflect & Share

  1. Which three pieces of information from the profile posed the greatest privacy risk? Why?



















  2. What one change will you make to your own profile/settings after today’s discussion?



















When you’ve finished, we’ll list our top three privacy risks on the board and share strategies to stay safer online.

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Journal

My Digital Diary Journal Template

Use this journal after completing the Privacy Audit Activity Worksheet. Take your time to think and write in complete sentences.

1. Reflect on a Recent Post or Search

Describe a post you made or something you searched for online recently. What motivated you to share or search for it? How might others (friends, family, future schools) view this action?












2. Understanding Impact

Think about how that online action contributes to your digital footprint. What positive or negative effects could it have? How might it show up years from now?












3. Creative Scenario

Imagine you are a digital‐footprint superhero whose mission is to protect personal data. What is your superhero name? What powers do you have? Describe a scenario in which you use these powers to keep data safe.












4. Privacy Action Plan

List three concrete steps you will take this week to manage your digital footprint. For each step, write why it matters and how you will remember to do it.

  1. Step: ________________________
    Why it matters: ________________________







  2. Step: ________________________
    Why it matters: ________________________







  3. Step: ________________________
    Why it matters: ________________________







5. Final Reflection

After completing this journal, how do you feel about your online identity? What one word would you use to describe your digital footprint moving forward? Explain why.







When you’ve finished writing, be ready to share one key insight with the class.

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What’s Your Digital Footprint? • Lenny Learning