What is a pinboard? How do I detect viruses? My password has been hacked, what can I do? This and much more is what the educational game Junait is all about. Here, students can move around in a fictitious social network and expand their media skills in a playful way.
The game Junait is a fictional social network where students interact with each other and try out features. With the help of small tasks, they learn how to deal with possible online dangers. Positive and negative aspects of social media are thus communicated to children and young people in a playful way. The game is designed to help them find their way in the digital world on their own responsibility.
Junait works like a real social network. It consists of several tasks and can be played through in 90 minutes. During the game, the children and young people encounter typical dangers: Fake friends, chatbots and data theft are simulated very realistically and they must be responded to directly. Junait takes place in a closed and protected space, so misbehavior and wrong clicks have no real consequences.
Games in the classroom are usually a cause for joy for children and young people. Junait is fascinating because it has a very action-oriented approach. Trial and error is encouraged here. All can go through the game at their own pace.
The game is not intended for private use, parents can bring the game to the attention of their children’s schools. Via the website junait.de, teachers can register and request game access for their own class. This will be sent to them by e-mail. To prepare for the game, there is a short rehearsal and further material for teachers.
By the end of the game, students should have learned to distinguish friends from strangers on social media, report spam and inappropriate messages, use personal information sparingly, and identify viruses.
