For each scenario, discuss the analysis questions with your group.
On a video of someone showing their new puppy:
Commenter A: "omg so cute!!!!"
Commenter B: "Actually, you shouldn't get that breed. They have lots of health problems."
On a group chat for a school project:
Student 1: "I've finished my part of the slideshow."
Student 2: "k."
On a photo someone posts of a cake they baked:
Commenter: "Wow, that looks... interesting. My one turned out way better lol."
In a YouTube comment section under a science video:
Commenter: "You're completely wrong about the physics here. You clearly didn't do any research. Go back to school."
Someone posts a drawing they are proud of.
Commenter: "Is this AI?"
In a private chat, a friend shares some exciting news.
You: (You see the message, but you're busy and forget to reply for a few hours).
Students will engage with this resource to explore digital kaitiakitanga — applying tikanga Māori principles of guardianship, manaakitanga, and whanaungatanga to their digital lives, spaces, and technologies.
Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters and visual frameworks to scaffold access at the entry level. Offer extension tasks that deepen ethical analysis — for example, comparing digital tikanga principles to international AI ethics frameworks.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key kupu (kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, tikanga) with bilingual glossaries. Allow students to express ideas in their home language first before translating to English.
Inclusion: Chunk tasks and provide clear visual instructions. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured choice in how they demonstrate understanding (e.g., verbal, written, or visual). Affirm diverse digital experiences as valid starting points.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Digital kaitiakitanga frames technology through Te Ao Māori — our digital spaces are extensions of our marae, our data is part of our whakapapa, and our online behaviour reflects our mana. Tikanga Māori provides a powerful ethical compass for navigating the digital world.
Prior knowledge: No specialist digital technology knowledge required for entry-level engagement. Best used after introductory lessons on tikanga Māori or as part of a digital technologies unit.