ICT at key stage 3    (Year 8)

• Introduce to the class the scenario of 'going to the supermarket'. The scenario must include the use of loyalty cards and credit/debit cards. Pupils should listen to arguments, note the main points and consider their relevance.
• Discuss with the pupils the benefits of loyalty cards to customers, eg points, money off, special sale prices, etc. Once several benefits are identified give out examples of loyalty card application forms.
• Discuss with the class what information the supermarket gets from the application form. Expand the discussion, eg How will they store the data? What links this information to the card?
• Once the idea that the card and its use is linked to a name and address in a database move onto the next discussion: the benefit of loyalty cards to supermarkets. The discussion should lead to the understanding that supermarkets can gain in-depth knowledge of our personal shopping habits without having to ask us. Extended discussion could emphasise possible dangers to the consumer.

• Now discuss with the pupils the goods on the shelf, eg Are the goods priced? Where is the price? Lead on to: How does the supermarket know the price at the checkout?
• Explain the link between bar codes and the products. If possible, either use the internet to apply bar codes to database queries or an automated library (see Points to note on ISBN).
• Discuss with the pupils the benefit of bar codes to the supermarket; main points should include easy control of pricing, accuracy at the till and stock control.
• Discuss future developments, eg personal bar code readers and internet shopping. Relate this discussion to loyalty cards and how the use of bar codes enables supermarkets to collate data on individual shopping habits. Discuss the implications this might have for advertising, special offers.

• Now discuss with the pupils the goods on the shelf, eg Are the goods priced? Where is the price? Lead on to: How does the supermarket know the price at the checkout?
• Explain the link between bar codes and the products. If possible, either use the internet to apply bar codes to database queries or an automated library (see Points to note on ISBN).
• Discuss with the pupils the benefit of bar codes to the supermarket; main points should include easy control of pricing, accuracy at the till and stock control.
• Discuss future developments, eg personal bar code readers and internet shopping. Relate this discussion to loyalty cards and how the use of bar codes enables supermarkets to collate data on individual shopping habits. Discuss the implications this might have for advertising, special offers.

• Explain and discuss the process of scanning the bar code and the till's output in response to the code. Demonstrate the effect of bar codes using information from supermarket receipts. Discuss this information in the light of previous discussions.
• Introduce the term EPOS, and refer back to the link between the product bar code, and the information received by the till from the store's computer during scanning. Extend the discussion to include the term EFTPOS to discuss paying by credit/debit card transfer.

• Explain the basics of stock control and the related benefits of using EPOS.
• Discuss with the pupils what information shops can find out when customers use loyalty cards in EPOS terminals, in light of the knowledge that supermarkets can monitor the sales of their products very closely with every item being registered by a computer.

• Discuss with the pupils ways in which supermarkets can use the information that they obtain, eg offer suitable discounts, stock more of a product, sell the information, send special promotional mail (junk mail).

• Hold a discussion on what pupils would want as laws to stop information about them being used or misused. This should be compared to the main points of the 1984 and 1998 Data Protection Acts.

• Use some real news stories relating to the risks associated with data collection to guide pupils towards the identification of the main areas of physical loss, hacking and viruses.
• Provide an outline of methods for the protection of data within the context of a supermarket.

• Provide a selection of different situations where data is collected and stored about individuals on computers, eg doctors' surgeries, hospitals, banks, schools. Ask pupils to choose one example and identify the benefits and drawbacks of storing the data on computers for both the client/customer and the organisation.