Preparation

Exercise: Build a Model of the Internet

Can you explain how the Internet works? This exercise makes the internet technology graspable even for non-technicians. You can set-up your model either with the printed images we provide in the Downloads section (we printed and laminated them and put magnets on the backs) or use real objects to represent them:

1. Start by drawing a cloud to the board and name it "The Internet"

2. Gather all the devices participants know that can connect to the internet:

• PCs and Laptops
• Smartphones
• Tablets
• Smart watches and fitness trackers
• Gaming Consoles
• TVs
• Music players
• Household devices like washing machines, refrigerators
• Smart home devices like alarm systems, smoke detectors
• Home assistants 
• Car

3. Sort devices into two groups: devices that you only use at home and mobile devices 

4. Ask participants how these devices connect to the internet. A lot of people think that their mobile phones connect to the internet via satellite but in most cases this is not true. The main connections we use today are:

• Mobile radio: Connection is established via cell towers (try to find some when you look outside the classroom window). 
• Wired connections: e.g. landline connection by a telephone provider or internet provided by cable TV provider or electricity suppliers. Note: As mobile tariffs have become cheaper, some people use a mobile tariff even at home but normally we use wired connections at home. Depending on your local system the internet connection socket might look different than the one shown in the printables. This is the sockets used in Germany. 
• Satellite connection is also possible but not very frequent.

Note that all the devices that allow connection to the internet have some kind of wired connection to the internet. Cell towers have a wired connection and even satellite connection often needs an additional wired connection. So although it seems that everything is connected wireless, running the internet infrastructure involves a lot of cable. In the following video you will get an impression of how the technology of the Interent works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNQsmPf24go. 

5. One last thing we need for connection is the transmission of signals: Mobile devices transmit data via mobile radio, your devices at home either via LAN cable or wireless WLAN connection.

6. Now let's take a look at what happens inside our Internet cloud: The Internet is nothing more than networked computers. Computers designed to provide data and services on the Internet are called servers. For example, they store web pages, distribute emails, and provide services to us, such as messengers or social media channels. These servers are housed in large buildings called "data centers." Incidentally, the term "cloud" or "cloud computing" means nothing more than the Internet. The cloud is merely a marketing term to sell Internet-based services.

7. Now we add the services we use on the Internet: The Internet provides us with services like websites, emails, and all the apps we use on our mobile devices. Whatever company provides us with these types of services needs its own servers on the Internet. Most large companies even run their own data centers.

Of course, the Internet consists of many more components and technologies, but to understand the basic concept of the Internet, this presentation is sufficient. Further details are explained in Cumilas Module 5 "Technology".

Exercise: Explore Your Smartphone

We have our smartphones with us every day and often use it for hours. But what do we actually know about this device? We want to explore some of the basic characteristic and functions of our smartphones in order to be prepared for the lessons in chapter 2 of this Module.

Divide the class into groups of 2-3 people. Participants receive the worksheet "The Smartphone - Your Strange Friend? Depending on how familiar your class is with technological issues, this can be an easy or more difficult exercise. You will see that there is an infinite number of different devices, but the settings and functions always work in a similar way. Because of this, we can't give you exact instructions for all devices. You will have to work out the details together with the participants.

Here are some hints in case your participants struggle to find out the information:

• Manufacturer: Usually this information is printed on the phone either on the front or the backside.
• Model: This is the specific version of the phone, e.g. an iphone 6s or a Samsung Galaxy A52. This is sometimes printed on the phone but can also be found in the device settings. Go to the section that is called something like "General" or "System". There you should also find the model.   
• Operating system: There are only two out there: iOS (on Apple devices) and Android (on all other devices). There used to be phones with Microsoft operating system but they are not that frequent any more.  
• Version of Operating System: You either find this in the system information or under "Update"  

Participants will now perform some steps to check out some basic functions of their smartphones:

• Updates available? In the settings, we check whether the smartphones are up to date. To benefit from the latest security updates, it is very important to install updates regularly.
• Access protection active? Check with your class whether functions to prevent other people from accessing your smartphones are active, e.g. a PIN code, fingerprint, face recognition, access pattern. If there are people who have not activated this feature help them to set it up. Smartphones should always be protected by one of the measures.
• Is bluetooth active? Bluetooth connections can be used by attackers to get access to your smartphone. So in case you are not using bluetooth connection you should turn it off. 
• Unnecessary apps? From time to time you should clean up your smartphone apps. Uninstall apps that you don't need anymore as any app can be a potential security risk.

Participants should now have a basic understanding of their phone and be able to find functions on other peoples' phones.

Method / Process description

• Input: Introduce the importance of understanding digital technology basics (Module 6 > 6.1. Introducing Children to Digital Skills > Basics of Digital Technologies). As we are constantly talking about the digital transformation you can also talk about what "digital" means (explained with good examples e.g. here: https://www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/how-computers-store-information/)
• Exercise "Build a Model of the Internet" - Setup the model together with your participants step-by-step and try to illustrate individual components with real objects in case you use the paper model.
• Group discussion: Ask participants how much of the way the internet works they knew before setting up the model and if there is open topics they are still interested in. In case participants ask for detailed topics refer them to the material in the References section.
• Exercise "Explore Your Smartphone"
• Group discussion: Ask participants how they feel with all the new information. Was it too much information? Do they feel like knowing a bit better now what they are doing with all the devices? 
• Reflection: Let participants to do the smartphone exercise at home with their family members' smartphones and write down all the phones' information. This ensure a basic level of security and gives participants information they will need for exercises in chapter 2 of this module.

Download material

• Printable "Internet Connected Devices"
• Printable "Internet Connection Devices"
• Printable "The Internet"
• Printable "Internet Services"
• Worksheet "The Smartphone - Your Strange Friend"

References

• How the Internet Works - Booklet by European Digital Rights (EDRi)
  • English: https://edri.org/files/2012EDRiPapers/how_the_internet_works.pdf
  • German: https://digitalegesellschaft.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/digiges_wie_das_internet_funktioniert.pdf
  • Spanish: https://www.edri.org/files/paper03_20120725_02_esp.pdf

• How Does the Internet Work? - Glad You Asked S1 (VOX): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNQsmPf24go