Teachers - Register by visiting the Teacher Sign-Up page. Then click the Teachers link, read the instructions, and download the step-by-step guide.
Students - Click the Students link and read the instructions. Then visit the island for your grade level, complete all of the games, and click the surfboard to take the test.
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Note for returning teachers: The FBI-SOS website has been redesigned for the 2017-2018 school year with updated content, modern graphics, and new games. The exams also include revised questions. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the new activities and features so you can explain the changes to your students. The backend system for managing classes and the national competition remain the same, and there is no need to register again.
Once your account has been verified, you will receive an e-mail with a unique URL to manage your class, along with further instructions. It is important that you save the URL for future management of your class or classes. The link never expires, so you do not need to register for FBI-SOS every year. Once you are registered, you can create classes and an access test key for each student. The FBI does not store any information on students, so it is your responsibility to create the test keys and keep track of which test key you assigned to each student.
Students will then navigate through the various games and activities in their grade-appropriate island. When students complete the last activity, they can click the Take the Test surfboard to take the exam. At this point, students should be certain they are ready to complete the exam, as it may only be taken once. To take the exam, students will enter the access key that you assigned to them. The exams are automatically graded once all students in a class have finished the test and teachers have clicked the Grade Exam button. Immediately after the test is taken, a temporary webpage shows each student his or her score and a list of any questions answered incorrectly. Teachers can ask students to print and save this webpage, and/or they can request the exam results of each class through the class management system. The class results show the individual scores by test key.
The overall scores for each school are compared with the results of other schools nationwide with similar classroom sizes as part of a national monthly competition. Categories are determined by the number of students participating from each school: Starfish is 1-50 participants; Stingray is 51-100 participants; and Shark is 100+ participants. The 10 highest scores in each of these categories during the month can be viewed on the leaderboard. Other than what is displayed on the leaderboard, the FBI does not keep or distribute the rankings of schools nationwide. The leaderboard resets at the end of each month.
The top-scoring school in each participation category nationwide every month from September through May is awarded an FBI-SOS certificate. Teachers from winning schools are also provided certificates that they can fill out and distribute to each student. There are no participation certificates for non-winning schools or students. When possible, the winning school in each category every month will receive a visit from a local FBI special agent. Schools can only participate in the competition once per school year.
SOS can be visited at any time in the classroom or at home, and students can work at their own pace in completing the island activities and exam. However, bear in mind that finishing the exam more quickly produces a higher score. The activities do not need to be completed in one sitting.
While the FBI-SOS website is accessible all year, the testing and competition only operate from September 1 through May 31. There is no testing during the summer months.
The goal of FBI-SOS is to promote cyber citizenship and help students learn about online safety while engaging in fun, interactive games. The program was designed to address current Internet safety threats while keeping each grade level’s online usage and knowledge in mind. We hope that you find the program beneficial and that your students use the information to make themselves safer digital citizens.
