As the Internet plays and increasingly important role in our daily lives, it is crucial that children from an early age “[u]nderstand basic safety and security concepts and [develop a] basic understanding of safe information sharing. [We have to teach them] what is means to be a good digital citizen” (MDESE 21).

In order to enforce safe online activities we will create the game DigiSafe, which is supposed to teach children in second and third grade how to navigate the internet and digital media safely. To have the same understanding what kind of gameplay DigiSafe provides we have to define some terms and give some definitions.

• An avatar is the main character of a game who finds themselves in different situations that require action.
• A Storyline is a simplified exemplary situation that could happen in the real world.
• A PSG (pictorial scenario in the game’s storyline) is a text passage of 8 - 10 sentences and a picture that altogether form a storyline to give information on a certain topic.
• Short Answer fields provide an interactive surface that exclusively checks syntax, not semantics.
• Multiple Choice options provide up to four different choices of which only one is correct.
• A Question can be answered by choosing a Multiple Choice option or typing in a short answer.
• Feedback means a written notification that pops up after an input by the user.
• A Lesson consists of 10 quizzes; in total there are 8 lessons to be completed.

DigiSafe will walk children through different scenarios that tackle certain topics in digital safety and end with a short question.

The storyline will be depicted to the user by the avatar. The avatar’s animation and movement will not depend on the user’s input, it will only be dictated by the storyline.

The user will not be punished for wrong answers to avoid discouraging them, the game should rather give constructive feedback that includes an explanation as to why the answer was acceptable or not. Also, possible outcomes of the situation are discussed. The feedback is the only implication that the user’s input has, neither the storyline nor the scenarios will be affected by that.

The storyline depicted stays on the screen until the user gets an acceptable answer. Once the answer was accepted the user has to manually click on a button to get to the next scenario. This guarantees that they have enough time to understand and internalize the answer.

After finishing the 8 lessons, children should have a basic understanding of “Digital Downtime, Etiquette, Health, Integrity, Responsibility, Literacy, Privacy and Security [...]” (Stuckwisch). They should be able to apply the new knowledge to their daily interaction with the internet and be able to navigate freely and safely. The game is designed to advocate internet and digital security for all children so it should be accessible for everyone. Therefore the game can be operated on any web browser on the HTML website for free. JavaScript will be the core of the game and CSS will be used for the design.

Since teaching children about cyber security has become a priority for the whole society, there already are similar concepts to our game on the market.

For instance, “The Case of the Cyber Criminal” (Federal Trade Commission) is a game that asks the user questions in order to take down a cyber criminal. When answered correctly, the user can remove an item from the criminal's briefcase. The purpose of this game is to teach the user how to protect themselves against online theft by using strong passwords or keeping anti virus software up to date. The general approach in teaching by using a pictorial storyline is similar to our approach with DigiSafe, but DigiSafe focuses on giving essential knowledge in a rather educational and rational way by explaining possible consequences and giving best-practice advice.

“Cybersmart Challenge” is another educational game that consists of “Teacher-led activities using animated videos to introduce primary school students to key online safety issues including cyberbullying, protecting personal information and sharing images.” (eSafety Commissioner). A major characteristic for this game is that students learn through videos with the teacher’s guidance including lesson plans or discussion. In contrast to that, DigiSafe can be played independently because the information to be learned is included in the game’s progress.

The game “Digizen” (Childnet International), similarly to “Cybersmart Challenge”, tackles the topic of cyberbullying. The game uses a personalized avatar to create a bond with the child, which then has to make a series of decisions on how to be a responsible digital citizen. Even though this game provides information for the user, this information is given at the very end.

A better learning curve is provided by DigiSafe, which also uses avatars to increase user investment. Opposed to DigiZen the avatars in DigiSafe aren’t personalized, but will still help the child to empathize and relate to the storyline. By giving necessary knowledge beforehand, our game officiates as a tool to prove what the user has learned rather than using trial and error as a learning method.

n conclusion, most of the comparable games only tackle one or two issues, whereas DigiSafe is designed to teach children a whole variety of topics. Also, many similar games focus on the security aspect, assuming that children already have a broad knowledge about using the internet.

DigiSafe is designed to teach children how to navigate the internet and how to be responsible with the general use of digital media so it can be seen as an introductory course.