An Instructional Module for Protecting Privacy on Social Networking Sites

Abstract

Many college students are misled into making uninformed choices about what to disclose online and avoid taking the necessary precautions to protect their privacy on social networking sites. This study was aimed at developing and evaluating a multimedia, Web-based, instructional module to educate college students about protecting privacy on social networking sites. The module covered privacy, threats to one’s privacy, and ways to protect oneself on social networking sites. It was hoped that students would also gain awareness for protecting their privacy in all online activities. A formative evaluation was conducted with a small group of 19 college students. Improvements in participants’ pre- and post-test scores indicated that the instructional module was successful in educating the students about protecting privacy on social networking sites. Additionally, survey results showed that the participants felt that they increased their knowledge about protecting privacy on social networking sites and took a positive liking to the module. While the module proved to be successful in educating college students about protecting privacy, the researcher concluded that a different instructional approach may be even more effective in teaching how to protect privacy.