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FOR EDUCATORS

Spoofy is meant for use in class with younger school aged children and in kindergartens. The game develops different competencies laid out in the national curriculum. The main elements of the game are sensing the sangers and asking for help. The game is downloadable to phones and tablets, or playable here on this website.

This page has lesson plans and more important topics. All this information and an overview of the worlds is also included in the downloadable instruction manual.

Spoofy is a cybersecurity game with the goal to teach children about cybersecurity threats, behaving online and other issues related to smart devices. The game presents different scenarios, the player can collect cyberpets and do other fun things. The player can play five different worlds and move between the spaceship and each of the worlds. Each world has its own individual assignments: solving cyber problems or collecting items.

Lesson plans

Spaceship
School
Park
At Grandma’s
Birthday
STREET

The goal of the space ship section is to introduce the game, it will take around 5-7 minutes for everyone to learn how to move about and collect items.

The space ship should be introduced right before playing or before assigning it as a home assignment. It is important that all the pupils understand the logic of the game and can navigate between worlds.

Children play the world either at home or in class. It will take around 10-15 minutes. It is important to direct them to find the principal and help him as well.

Some additional example assignments in class:
The main topic of the school world is communicating on the internet so there is room for multiple discussions that focus on kids’ own experience and polite communication. For example, questions:
  1. What is the different between communicating online and face to face?
  2. Can children put up a photo of a teacher?
    1. It is important to stress here that the person taking the photo is also the owner of the rights but they should still not upload it without the photo subject’s permission
  3. What to do when people get bullied online?
  4. What could happen if you accept a friend request from someone you don’t know?
    1. The stranger could bully or harass, could share your personal information, or turn out to be a criminal.
As communication is also part of some of the other worlds, one can also focus on one of the two other topics: bullying and fake profiles.
  1. Idea for an assignment: children cooperate to write down a plan as to what to do if they see someone get bullied online. Could be a group or pair assignment. This is followed by a discussion with the teacher as to how they themselves should behave online and who to ask for help.
  2. Assignment: what could be the ways to determine if the friend request is from a real friend?
    1. Is the photo familiar? Name familiar?
    2. Is there a possibility to see mutual friends? Ask them if they really know this person.
    3. Ask an adult for help!

Children play through the world in class or as homework. This will take around 15-20 minutes as there are quite a few activities and several assignments need talking to multiple people.

Some additional example assignments in class:
The main topic of the Park is safety, so the topics for discussion are a slightly more grown up.
  1. What kind of pictures are suitable for the internet?
    1. The author of the photo and the people on it have to consent to the upload
    2. All parties should like the photo
  2. Why do we need passwords for our devices? What is a good password like?
    1. The longer the better. A good password is at least 12 characters long.
    2. Being complicated is also good: letters, numbers, different characters
    3. Do not share your passwords with others
    4. Different devices and different accounts have to have different passwords. Why?
  3. Shopping online – who is paying?
    1. Buying things
    2. Spending money in online games
  4. What is privacy?
  5. What is hacking? Is it good or bad?
Additional things to do
  1. An idea for an assignment: children list all their accounts and change them into different passwords. Individual assignment.

Playing through this world takes 15-20 minutes and it is recommended to do that in class as some of the topics are more complicated. It is also important to note that buying the ladder has two different paths, one of which opens to a new assignment.

Some additional example assignments in class:
The focus of this world is very grown up but several topics are important to children as well. As there are some topics here that are not covered elsewhere in the game, it is important to cover the most important things during discussions.
  1. What possible bad things could happen on the internet?
    1. Scams, criminals, viruses
  2. What to do so that you would be safe online?
    1. Virus protection, not accepting strangers’ friend requests, no pictures with personal info, be careful
    2. It is important to stress to the kids that bad things could happen to everyone online but one has to be careful.
  3. What to do when something happens?
    1. Tell an adult: parent, teacher.
    2. Introduce the web police
  4. Shopping online
    1. What and when to buy?
    2. It should be stressed that adults should be consulted but they should also be critical themselves
Additional assignments to embed the topics
  1. Assignment in a computer class: how do I know this computer is safe? Look for virus protection etc.
  2. Assignment about online shopping: make a list of things to keep in mind when buying something. Working in groups, pairs
    1. What page is this? How much does it cost? What is seen on the photos etc.

Children play the world in class or as homework. This will take around 10-15 minutes, there are no excessive activities and many assignments are similar to other worlds.

Some additional example assignments in class:
The focus of the world is suitable for all children, discussions can match their level.
  1. Why do we need passwords for our devices? What is a good password like?
    1. The longer the better. A good password is at least 12 characters long.
    2. Being complicated is also good: letters, numbers, different characters
    3. Do not share your passwords with others
    4. Different devices and different accounts have to have different passwords. Why?
  2. Shopping online – free or not free?
    1. Why free things are often not good?
    2. What to keep in mind when shopping?
  3. Caring for one’s devices
    1. How to take care of computers, tablets and phones?
Additional assignments to embed the topics
  1. Assignment for myself: what should I do to make sure my devices don’t break? A group assignment, an individual assignment.
  2. Assignment about online shopping: make a list of things to keep in mind when buying something. Working in groups, pairs
    1. What page is this? How much does it cost?

The street world opens up once all the other worlds have been played. This is not a compulsory part of the game, because it requires the player to be able to read. The main themes of the world are online scams and false information: bad apps, protecting one’s accounts with WiFi and passwords, and copying from the internet.

Some additional example assignments in class:
This world deals with multiple topics already discussed, but there are some new questions that can be elaborated on in class.
  1. What to look for when downloading an app from the internet?
    1. Make sure you have the exact name of the app you are looking for.
    2. The apps should be highly rated, with many reviews and regular updates.
  2. Which Wi-Fi network to use?
    1. A secured network is better than an unsecured one.
    2. It is important to know whose network you are using.
    3. Is it correct behaviour to go to a café and just ask for the WiFi password? This could be a longer conversation.
  3. How to recognise a phishing email?
    1. Who is writing to me? How do I find out? Does it match with the sender’s address/phone number I had before?
    2. Does it tell me that I need to act quickly? If so, these kinds of emails are suspicious.
    3. What information does the seller want/give? Is anything suspicious?
    4. How can I check the information that has been sent?
  4. How can I get my homework done faster?
    1. Copying from the internet is fraud.
    2. Even a little bit is wrong.
    3. Information found online could be fake. You always need to check it yourself.
    4. Using artificial intelligence is not allowed unless so stated.
Additional assignments to embed the topics
  1. Assignment: Fix all of your passwords and, if possible, add multifactor authentication.
  2. Research assignment: What is multifactor authentication and where can I use it?

Themes in the game

  1. Friend requests
  2. Things for free
  3. Passwords and multifactor authentication
  4. Hacking
  5. Scams on the internet

Friend requests

People get many friend requests, children are no different. Therefore it is important that they can critically evaluate, which are good requests to accept. Adding the wrong people can give them additional information and access. Therefore, it is important to stress that they should know the person in real life or at least in a game or similar. If the photo and name are familiar but the profile seems strange, they should also be careful and ask for additional information because there are many fake accounts going around. When they meet an internet friend in real life, they should always consult an adult first, especially if the “friend” asks them not to.

Scams on the internet

There are many free things, ads and good offers on the web. Many of them are scams.

  1. Free things often come with viruses or other malware. If it should not be free (like a movie, for example) and someone else is charging for it, the free one is suspicious.
  2. „Share this and you might win“ is usually a scam. Even if you get the reward right away, the sharing is still not a good idea.
  3. If something seems like too good to be true, it usually is.

Passwords and multifactor authentication

All devices and accounts should be password protected. You have to remember three things:

  1. All passwords must be unique, each account has to have a different password;
  2. Passwords must be long and complicated
    1. At least 12 characters
    2. Letters, numbers and other symbols
    3. Don’t use easily recognisable things like your name, name of a family member etc.
  3. Do not share your passwords with anyone, maybe only your parents.
  4. One way to protect one’s account is using multifactor authentication. This means that you need something else in addition to a password. For example, a message is sent to your phone, or you need something physical (such as your ID card or Smart ID) or something biological (like your fingerprint). With this additional layer, it is much more difficult to hack into your account.

Hacking

Hacking is any misuse of computer to get access to someone’s computer or system. Hackers can have ethical goals but often they are malicious. Hacking usually requires computer skills and knowledge but there are also those who purchase readymade assets on the internet and use them for their goals. Hacking is usually illegal so hackers are often greeted by police at their doors, and hackers are considered criminals.

Scams on the internet

The number-one internet threat right now is scams. This often means phishing emails and messages or the spreading of false information. It is important to be vigilant at any age and to keep in mind the main rules of cyber hygiene.

  1. Always be careful when selecting a WiFi network, downloading apps or reacting to messages.
  2. Fake messages can come via email or SMS, through instant messengers or even as phone calls.
  3. It is important to always double-check the information through a different channel before reacting.
  4. Some common signs of scams are:
    1. a surprising sender;
    2. the phone number or address is different from the sender’s usual one;
    3. being prompted to react quickly;
    4. vagueness in details.
  5. Never send money based on just one email or message.
  6. Children should always discuss any suspicious messages with their parents, especially when money or data are involved.
GET the Guide

The instructions include all the necessary information, all in one place

Useful materials

Download Cyber Hero Diploma