Was George Orwell right?

Vicki Mannion

Introduction:

In the world George Orwell created in his novel 1984, there was no expectation of privacy. His characters were watched at home, at work, in the street, even in their sleep. His world is dark, frightening, and oppressive. But how accurate a prediction was it? We surf the internet, text our friends, put our pictures up on Facebook, Tweet our lives, and walk through security in malls and airports without batting an eyelash. Are we giving up too much privacy? Do we even know how much, or how little privacy we really have? What can we do to control how much of personal information is sent out into the world?

Task:

You and your classmates have been asked to prepare a presentation for your classmates and a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that can be shared with the student body. You will have 3 days in the computer lab to work on this project. All presentations are due on the date announced in class. Your group may break the work up as you wish, although you will be graded on observed work during class time. Here are the details:

1. You will prepare and present to your classmates a Power Point or Prezi presentation that:

a. Defines the problem of privacy in at least 1 area of your lives

b. Explains the causes of each aspect

c. Evaluates what is done now to control how much personal information is disseminated and to whom

d. Develops and proposes 3 new potential solutions to the problem and then picks the best one for implementation

2. You will create a 60 second Public Service Announcement (PSA) that could be shared with CBA’s student body about your privacy problem. This must be created in a format that can be shown in the classroom, and you must hand in a typed copy of the PSA script.

3. You will create a properly formatted Works Cited page that covers both the Power Point and the PSA. You can use Easybib.com to do this, just make sure you follow correct MLA style for citation of each source. Go to the CBA Library website for links to MLA style information.

Process:

Use these steps to examine your problem and prepare your presentation and PSA. You are expected to complete and hand in one copy of the worksheets available for each step. You’ll notice that these are the required parts of your PowerPoint presentation.

· Define the problem

· Gather the Evidence

· Identify the Causes

· Evaluate the Existing Policy

· Develop Solutions

· Select the Best Solution

Resources:

In addition to the Databases you can find on the CBA Library website, you may find the following websites of help in your research:

For general information about privacy:

The American Civil Liberties Union has many links for information on privacy rights, workers rights and more.

www.aclu.org

Try this one- www.privacyrights.org

Privacy Law in the USA @ http://www.rbs2.com/privacy.htm

If you’re looking specifically at Facebook: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2011/08/08/facebooks-privacy-issues-are-even-deeper-than-we-knew/

And this is really scary, or is it?: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/25/tech/social-media/facebook-find-friends-nearby/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5

If you’re interested in government spying:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/4-high-tech-ways-federal-government-spying-private-153556125.html

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/2518

If you’re interested in news stories related to privacy: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/15/eveningnews/main509140.shtml

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2002/02/13/bookstores/?x

Evaluation:

Your group will be evaluated on your PowerPoint and your PSA. You will receive one 100 point grade for this project, with each part counting for half of the grade.

PowerPoint Presentation

CATEGORY	Excellent-4	Good-3	Satisfactory-2	Needs Improvement-1
Content - Accuracy	All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.	Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that seems inaccurate.	The content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly inaccurate.	Content confusing or contains more than one factual error.
Sequencing of Information	Information is organized in a clear, logical way. It is easy to anticipate the next slide.	Most information is organized in a clear, logical way. One slide or piece of information seems out of place.	Some information is logically sequenced. An occasional slide or piece of information seems out of place.	There is no clear plan for the organization of information.
Effectiveness	Project includes all material needed to give a good understanding of the topic. The project is consistent with the driving question.	Project is lacking one or two key elements. Project is consistent with driving question most of the time.	Project is missing more than two key elements. It is rarely consistent with the driving question.	Project is lacking several key elements and has inaccuracies. .Project is completely inconsistent with driving question.
Use of Graphics	All graphics are attractive (size and colors) and support the topic of the presentation.	A few graphics are not attractive but all support the topic of the presentation.	All graphics are attractive but a few do not support the topic of the presentation.	Several graphics are unattractive AND detract from the content of the presentation.
Text - Font Choice & Formatting	Font formats (color, bold, italic) have been carefully planned to enhance readability and content.	Font formats have been carefully planned to enhance readability.	Font formatting has been carefully planned to complement the content. It may be a little hard to read.	Font formatting makes it very difficult to read the material.
Spelling and Grammar	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.	Presentation has 1-2 misspellings, but no grammatical errors.	Presentation has 1-2 grammatical errors but no misspellings.	Presentation has more than 2 grammatical and/or spelling errors.
Cooperation	Group shares tasks and all performed responsibly all of the time.	Group shares tasks and performed responsibly most of the time.	Group shares tasks and performs responsibly some of the time.	Group often is not effective in sharing tasks and/or sharing responsibility.

Delivery		Members spoke at a good rate, volume and with good grammar.  They maintained eye-contact while using, but not reading their notes.	Members spoke a little faster or slower than necessary, or too quietly or loudly.  They used acceptable grammar.  They maintained eye-contact, but relied too much on their notes.	Members spoke at a good rate and volume, but used poor grammar.  They  relied heavily on their notes.	Members demonstrated having paid little attention to rate, volume or grammar.  They read nearly word for word from notes.
	Multimedia Project : Public Service Announcement

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Content	Covers topic in-depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is excellent.	Includes essential knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to be good.	Includes essential information about the topic but there are 1-2 factual errors.	Content is minimal OR there are several factual errors.
Delivery	Interesting, well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.	Relatively interesting, rehearsed with a fairly smooth delivery that usually holds audience attention.	Delivery not smooth, but able to hold audience attention most of the time.	Delivery not smooth and audience attention lost.
Originality	Product shows a large amount of original thought. Ideas are creative and inventive.	Product shows some original thought. Work shows new ideas and insights.	Uses other people's ideas (giving them credit), but there is little evidence of original thinking.	Uses other people's ideas, but does not give them credit.
Time length	55-65 seconds long; pre-produced	55-65 seconds; performed in class	30-55 seconds; performed in class or pre-produced.	Under 30 seconds; performed in class

Standards:

This webquest fulfills NYS Standards in:

ELA Core Grades 9-12, Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding

ELA Core Grades 9-12, Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation

Social Studies: Standard 1, Key Idea 4: The skills of historical analysis include the ability to: explain the significance of historical evidence; weigh the importance, reliability, and validity of evidence; understand the concept of multiple causation; understand the importance of changing and competing interpretations of different historical developments.

Science, Math, and Technology Standard 2: Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning

Conclusion:

Your research has shown you that perhaps George Orwell was right to be afraid. We may not live in the world he created, but we do run the risk of giving up too much of our privacy as technology advances in the 21^st century.