Digital Threshold Doorway
Description
A threshold is the little space at the edge of a door, where you step from one place into another. This picture turns that idea into a picture of the digital threshold: the moment right before you tap, click, share, or post something online.
The student in the picture is standing in a doorway. The cozy room is behind. The digital world is ahead. The thumb is hovering above the phone, but it has not tapped yet. That one second is the digital threshold.
How to Use
- Explore mode (default): Click any numbered marker on the picture, or any label in the panel, to read what that part of the picture means.
- Quiz mode: Click the Quiz button. You'll be given a name and asked to find it on the picture.
Parts of the Picture
- The everyday world — the room behind you, where nothing has been sent yet
- The hovering thumb — the finger that has not pressed yet
- The digital world — where taps, clicks, shares, and posts go
- The digital threshold — the moment right before you tap
- Pause — stop your finger and take one slow breath
- Think — is this safe? Is this kind? Is this true?
- Act — make your choice on purpose
Learning Objective
Students will be able to identify the digital threshold as the moment right before they tap, click, share, or post, and recall the three steps of pause, think, act.
- Bloom Level: Remember (L1)
- Bloom Verb: Identify
- Library: Interactive infographic overlay (diagram.js)
Lesson Plan
Time: 10 minutes
Before the MicroSim (2 minutes)
Ask students to stand in the classroom doorway, or to picture their front door at home. Ask: "What is the name for the spot where you step from outside to inside?" Introduce the word threshold.
During the MicroSim (5 minutes)
- Click markers 1 through 4 in order and read each description aloud.
- Click Pause, Think, and Act. Have students say the three questions from the Think step together.
- Switch to Quiz mode and let pairs take turns.
After the MicroSim (3 minutes)
Ask: "Why is the threshold the most powerful spot in the whole digital world?" Guide students to the idea that it is the one second when they can still change their mind.
Assessment
Students draw their own doorway and label the threshold. Below the drawing they write the three steps and one question they will ask themselves during the Think step.
Image Credit
The illustration was generated with an AI image generator from the prompt in Chapter 2, where the same picture appears.