This content is located in CAPS under Network Technologies: Networks for Grade 11.

Government internet services and information platforms like e-filing, TV licensing, and the Department of Home Affairs’ online systems offer a perfect real-world context to introduce students to the practical applications of networks. These services highlight how wide area networks (WANs), like the internet, enable efficient delivery of essential services.

To make this topic engaging and relatable, you can use practical, interactive activities that align with everyday scenarios students or their families might encounter.

Start the lesson by asking your students a thought-provoking question: “How many of you have seen someone in your family file taxes online, renew a TV licence, or apply for an ID at the Department of Home Affairs website?” This opening creates immediate relevance by connecting the topic to real-world activities they may have witnessed.

Ideas for Classroom Activities

1. Simulation of Online Government Services

• Objective: Show students how e-government services work and why networks are essential.
• Execution: Set up a simulation where students role-play scenarios like filing taxes online or renewing TV licenses. You can create mock websites using free tools like Google Sites or Canva with clickable menus to simulate navigating these services.
• Outcome: Students learn the importance of user-friendly interfaces and secure networks.

2. Compare Network Types and Their Roles

• Objective: Help students distinguish between different networks like LANs, WANs, and the internet.
• Execution: Use the school’s Wi-Fi (LAN) as an example to show local access, and contrast it with the internet, which connects them to e-government services.
• Activity: Assign students to research and present how these services depend on WANs to operate efficiently.

3. Identify Advantages and Limitations

• Objective: Teach critical thinking about the benefits and challenges of online government platforms.
• Execution: Split the class into teams and ask them to list the advantages (e.g., accessibility, reduced paperwork) and disadvantages (e.g., cybersecurity risks, bandwidth requirements). Encourage students to suggest improvements for these platforms.

4. Explore Internet Bandwidth and Data Costs

• Objective: Make students aware of how data plans and internet speed influence the user experience.
• Execution: Use advertisements for ISPs to compare broadband options. Discuss how factors like bandwidth, CAPs, and fair use policies affect government service access.

5. Evaluate Website Usability and Security

• Objective: Introduce the concepts of accessibility and cybersecurity.
• Execution: Have students evaluate the usability of mock e-government websites. Include tasks such as finding information or submitting a form. Discuss the importance of secure connections (e.g., HTTPS, digital certificates).

Relating Bloom’s Taxonomy to Activities

• Remembering: Define network types and their roles.
• Understanding: Explain how government services use networks to function.
• Applying: Demonstrate navigating a government service online.
• Analyzing: Compare advantages and disadvantages of online platforms.
• Evaluating: Assess the usability and security of a simulated government website.
• Creating: Design their own mock online service and discuss its requirements.

To bring inclusivity to the classroom, consider how students in under-resourced schools might experience limited internet access. Highlight offline solutions these government platforms often provide (e.g., downloadable forms). Reinforce the importance of accessible technology and equitable digital literacy.

Encourage students to discuss the services their families use and brainstorm ways these platforms could better serve communities with limited connectivity. This real-world connection ensures the lesson remains relevant and meaningful.