Digital Technologies Phase 3 — Digital Citizenship and Cyber Safety. Every statement below is quoted verbatim from the live Te Mātaiaho curriculum and anchors specific lessons.

"Identifying examples of mis-, dis-, and malinformation in digital content, explaining why they are misleading or harmful and describing strategies (e.g. cross-checking sources, using fact-checking tools) to reduce their impact"

"Designing and developing an outcome through spatial and product design, materials, foods, biotechnology, systems, or digital tools"

How the statements map to the arc:

• Mis-, dis-, and malinformation (Lessons 7–9): Analysing misleading online content and practising fact-checking and upstander strategies — anchored to the verified Technology statement above.
• Designing a digital outcome (Lessons 15–18): The Digital Rangatiratanga capstone — designing and presenting a digital product or charter — anchored to the verified Technology statement above.
• Digital kaitiakitanga & hauora spine (Lessons 1–14): Connecting digital space to whenua, auditing digital hauora with Te Whare Tapa Whā, and treating data as taonga. This kaupapa Māori framing carries the unit's values and citizenship focus set out in the Learning Intentions below — it is the unit's own pedagogy, not a quoted curriculum statement.

📑 Full verified curriculum alignment for this unit → — Phase 3 · Years 9–10.

Across this 18-lesson unit, students engage in deep inquiry to become ethical and responsible digital kaitiaki:

• Lessons 1–3: Digital Land & Four Walls — Connect digital citizenship to place and apply Te Whare Tapa Whā to evaluate personal digital wellbeing.
• Lessons 4–6: Body, Science, & Design — Audit screen time habits, understand physiological impacts, and design interfaces for healthy balance.
• Lessons 7–9: Words, Upstander, & Misinformation — Recognise the impact of online language, practice upstander interventions, and analyse misinformation patterns.
• Lessons 10–14: Data, Ripple, Tikanga, & Mauri — Treat data as taonga under Māori Data Sovereignty principles, and establish community-wide digital tikanga guidelines.
• Lessons 15–18: Project & Showcase — Code, design, and showcase a community action project implementing digital rangatiratanga.

Students demonstrate progression and mastery through the following indicators:

• Hauora & Balance (Lessons 1-6)
  ✓ I can explain how screen time affects my taha tinana (physical) and taha hinengaro (mental) wellbeing.
  ✓ I can map my personal screen usage and set a realistic boundaries plan.
• Ethical Action & Safety (Lessons 7-12)
  ✓ I can use manaakitanga values to defuse online conflict as an upstander.
  ✓ I can explain how data privacy operates and identify rights under Māori Data Sovereignty.
• Digital Rangatiratanga (Lessons 13-18)
  ✓ I can collaborate to design and present a digital solution or charter promoting positive online citizenship in my kura.

Scaffold support: Pre-populate case study summaries with graphic organisers. Use visual scenario cards rather than text-heavy legal/cybersecurity terms.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key vocabulary (algorithms, digital footprint, upstander, data sovereignty) using bilingual Māori/English glossaries.

Accelerated learners: Challenge students to research local and international cases of Māori Data Sovereignty or analyse commercial algorithm design patterns.

Inclusion: Support multiple project presentation formats (videos, websites, posters, oral presentations) and establish structured discussion circles.

Three pathways of genuine depth — each extends real unit substance rather than adding busy work, and each ends in a tangible deliverable.

• Entry-level — App Audit. Audit one application you use daily, tracing all the data permissions it requests and describing how each permission connects to your digital footprint.
• Developing — Digital Tikanga Charter. Design a visual and written Digital Tikanga Charter for your classroom, outlining how students will respect mana, practice manaakitanga, and protect privacy online.
• Mastery — Sovereignty Analysis. Research a real-world project involving Māori Data Sovereignty (e.g. traditional geographical place naming databases) and write a report explaining how tikanga guides its data collection.

This unit moves students from self-awareness to critical analysis to collective action. It begins by grounding digital spaces as our contemporary digital whenua, applying the bicultural wellbeing model of Te Whare Tapa Whā to personal screen habits (Lessons 1-6). Students then expand their perspective to the wider digital community, evaluating how online words, misinformation, and algorithms affect relationships (Lessons 7-12).

The final phase shifts to empowerment (digital rangatiratanga), where students apply ethical reasoning and tikanga principles to design a collective showcase project or charter that implements positive digital guardianship in their kura (Lessons 13-18).

Where it leads: This unit builds foundational digital literacy and critical citizenship skills. It directly prepares students for senior digital technologies studies (NCEA Level 1 digital citizenship) and develops active, ethical leadership in digital spaces.