Nina Loback is Richmond Brazil’s Academic Coordinator for Language Schools. (You can read her complete biodata at the end of this post.)
Even though by now it is common knowledge to most web users that our online behaviour becomes data which is collected through online services and then used in advertising, the way it is done remains a kind of abstract idea in our minds. You sometimes see a friend or two complaining about having written a certain word inbox on Facebook, such as, let’s say, ‘microwave’ and all of a sudden lots of adverts showing microwaves on sale were shown everywhere they browsed. We might be tricked into believing that only the words we use are being stored.
Monitoring reveals our patterns of behaviour in a lot more detail than we are willing to believe. They can keep track of how many sites you visited before re-opening their site again or what your favourite screen is. I invite you to visit the website www.clickclickclick.click with your students and have a go at how strange and creepy having all our moves tracked can be!
Activity type: grammar practice.
Target language: Present Perfect.
Level: A2+ upwards (better for B1 on).
Age: 12+.
Classroom Time: from 15 minutes to as long as you and your students wish.
Preparation: there is a PPT you can use with a projector or IWB, but you can write all the activities on a board in case you don’t have a big screen. You will need an internet connection in class as the activity has to be done on a computer. You can have a taste of the game for a few minutes on the smartphone, but not really play the game.
Instructions
1
a. Tell students they are going to play a game, but that you won’t give any instructions or rules beforehand.
b. Show them the following image with the green button.
c. Ask them to guess the objective of the game and how to play it.
[alert_info]
1 Guess
What are the rules?
What is the objective?
How do you play the game?
[/alert_info]
2
Show the sentence “(The) subject has resized the window”. Ask students if the meaning of subject is a cognate or a false cognate to Portuguese. Explain that you use subject when you don’t say or know the name of the person.
[alert_info]
2
(The) subject has resized the window.
Is the word subject a cognate or a false cognate to Portuguese?
[Does it have a similar meaning to Portuguese or different?]
[/alert_info]
3
Write the following words on the board and ask them what they have in common: return, enter (re-enter), button, click, top, move, pixel, cursor.
Answer(s): they’re all cognates to Portuguese and they’re all internet/computer related.
[alert_info]
3 What do these words have in common?
return enter (re-enter) button click top move pixel cursor
[/alert_info]
4
Ask students to match the letters to the numbers.
[alert_info]
4
Match the letters to the numbers.
A hover above the button
B drag the cursor down
C resize, minimize
D double or triple click the button
E move the cursor to the top right area
[/alert_info]
[alert_info]
5
Ask students to go online and open the site: www.clickclickclick.click
[/alert_info]
You can use the following QR code:
6
There are now two different activities to cater for elementary students and intermediate students upwards.
With elementary students, ask them to complete some sentences.
[alert_info]
6E Complete the sentences with words from the game.
a. You have disconnected from the internet. (disconnect)
b. You _______________ here for 2 minutes. (be)
c. Subject ________________ on the top of the screen. (double click)
d. Subject _______________ over the button for 5 seconds. (hover)
e. You _______________ non-stop for 2 seconds. (move)
Add 3 sentences of your own based on the game.
[/alert_info]
Answer(s): b. have been; c. has double clicked; d. has hovered; e. have moved.
Ask them to add 3 sentences of what happened to them during the game.
With intermediate students upwards, you can give them more freedom and you ask them to write sentences from the game by making the following list.
[alert_info]
6I Write sentences with information from the game.
I have visited 9 other websites in half an hour.
- 5 things you have done
- 5 records you have broken
- 5 funny things that have happened
- 1 thing you thought was scary
[/alert_info]
7
Ask students to share their ideas and feelings about the site by answering these questions.
[alert_info]
7 Answer the questions in pairs.
- Did you know it was possible?
- How did you feel about it?
- Did it change your opinion about using the web? Why (not)?
[/alert_info]
Obs: beware that the voice you keep hearing while on the site might say something inappropriate for younger students at any time, so playing with no audio might be better with younger students. Activity 2, 3 and 4 can be skipped for more advanced levels. Activity 6 has two versions: elementary and intermediate upwards.
More about the site:
https://www.creativeapplications.net/js/clickclickclick-click/
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/11/a-website-that-awards-points-as-it-spies-on-you/508676/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3957716/The-creepy-website-tracks-ClickClickClick-reveals-browsers-know-you.html
Nina Loback is Richmond Brazil’s Academic Coordinator for Language Schools. She has a degree in Languages (UEPG/PR/BR), holds a CPE, TKT and is an ICELT holder. She has taught adults, teenagers and children for 10 years and is a frequent speaker at conferences. She is an advisory council member of BRAZ-TESOL Curitiba Regional Chapter and co-founder of Voices Sig for Women.
