Lesson plan 2: Mobile phone ownership
Mobile phones — the fine print
Year level: Year 9 and 10
Duration: 60 minutes (lesson 2 of 2 connecting lessons)
Key learning area: English, *Economics and business
Lesson description
Students will continue to explore and further investigate the previously identified range of mobile
phone ownership rookie errors by revising their learnings from the previous lesson on mobile
phones.
In groups, students go on to complete an inquiry-based task where they delve more deeply into
the underlying complexities of common rookie errors and financial pitfalls of mobile phone
ownership. Students share their findings with the rest of the class. The lesson concludes with the
students applying their richer knowledge of mobile phone rookie errors through the related
'Mobile phone' convo, in which they search for a suitable mobile phone deal.
Enduring understanding/deep learnings:
1. Informed responsible choices around mobile plans and use AND/OR pre-paid mobile plans can
save you money.
2. You can save money and avoid common issues or 'rookie errors' if you research mobile phone
options.
* Please note that this lesson plan has been aligned with the draft Economics and business curriculum.
This mapping will be confirmed when the curriculum is endorsed.
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Lesson plan 2: Mobile phone ownership
Activity 1: Know your mobile plan (50 minutes)
Task 1: Case studies (15 minutes)
Ask students to access the following two case studies available in the Under 25s section of the
MoneySmart website which demonstrate what can happen if people select a mobile phone plan without
researching the options
'Peter decides on the wrong mobile phone' (46 seconds) at: https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/life-eventsand-you/under-25s/mobile-phone-deals-and-plans/before-you-sign-a-contract .
'Julie's quick purchase' https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/life-events-and-you/under-25s/mobile-phonedeals-and-plans/choosing-a-plan
Ask the students What things should Peter and Julie have considered before they choose their plans? List
the student responses up on the board and students suggest them. They should include:
what networks their friends are on
data allowance
costs of different activities such as social networking
network coverage
contract length
cost of getting out of contract
getting a pre-paid plan instead of a post paid plan.
Emphasise Peter's comment that he should have considered a pre-paid plan. Ask students Why does
Peter comment that he should have considered a pre-paid plan? What is the benefit of having a pre-paid
plan? Are there any drawbacks to pre-paid?
Make sure the following points are covered:
a pre-paid plan means that you can't get a large bill
pre-paid helps to spread out mobile phone costs
with pre-paid you can run out of credit which means you can't use the phone
call rates can be higher for post-paid plans
it can be cheaper to access 'cooler' mobile phones with a post paid plan.
Task 2: Identify your mobile phone needs (30 minutes)
In this task students ask students to use Work Sheet 1: Identify your mobile phone needs, to record how
they are currently using their mobile phone.
*Teacher tip: An alternative way to approach this activity is to use ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching suite of
digital mobile phone digital activities. 'Choosing a plan' or 'Mobile credit' can be used by students to think
about how they use their mobile phone. The activities can be found at:
http://teaching.moneysmart.gov.au/resource-centre/teaching-resources.
Activity 2: Complete the Mobile Phone Convo (10 mins)
Using computers (or sharing a computer), students complete the 'Mobile phone' convo which can be
accessed at: http://teaching.moneysmart.gov.au/resource-centre/moneysmart-rookie-for-educators.
Students work through the convo which gives them the opportunity to practise what they need to do and
the questions to ask when buying a mobile phone.
*Teacher tip: ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching has a number of digital mobile phone activities available to
explore additional topics to help with the responsible use of mobile phones including minimising the cost of
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Lesson plan 2: Mobile phone ownership
use. Check if your students have done any of these activities in previous year levels See the list of
activities in the Additional resources section below.
Extension or homework activity
Ask students to access the Phone Choice website at www.phonechoice.com.au and research a plan to
meet their usage and needs.
They need to use the table completed in Worksheet 1 to work out how much the plan will cost based on
their estimated usage for a month. The costs of their selected plan should be recorded in the third column.
Remind students the following:
When researching plans keep in mind 'included value' and 'excluded value'. You will need to check
how much of your usage will fall into the included value (everything you get in a mobile phone plan
for the monthly payment) and how will be part of 'excluded value (how much you will have to pay
extra for).
Before starting this task explain to the students that a good starting point for researching a specific
mobile phone plan is to check the Critical Information Summary. This document information to helps
with comparison of different plans. Suggest that they try and locate a Critical information summary
for the plan they are interested in.
Also explain that mobile phone plan comparison can be complicated and this task is to designed to
highlight some key things to think about rather than an activity which will fully inform plan selection.
*Teacher tip: When debriefing this activity with students discuss the plans students have identified and
their cost per month. Emphasise that pre-paid is a safer option for managing mobile phone expenditure.
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Lesson plan 2: Mobile phone ownership
Resources
1. Computers with internet access
2. Community educator guide Topic 3 Mobile phone ownership
3. Activity worksheet/s
4. 'Mobile phone' convo
5. ASIC's MoneySmart and MoneySmart Teaching websites
Additional resources
This lesson plan is part of the MoneySmart Rookie suite of resources for educators which can be
accessed at: http://teaching.moneysmart.gov.au/resource-centre/moneysmart-rookie-for-educators.
Other topics include:
Credit and debt
First job
First car
Moving out of home
Online financial transactions
In the mobile phone activities on the MoneySmart Teaching website there are nine digital activities for
secondary and primary students available on a range of topics: Advertising, Entertainment, Premium
services, Security, Social media, Calls, messaging and browsing, Choosing a plan, Mobile credit, Mobile
phone advertising, Security. These can be found at: http://teaching.moneysmart.gov.au/resource-centre
The Under 25s section of the MoneySmart website has additional MoneySmart Rookie materials for
young people including case studies, videos, tips and tools and calculators. These can be accessed at:
https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/life-events-and-you/under-25s
The MoneySmart Teaching secondary package has a number of units of work for Year 9 and 10
students. The package can be downloaded for free at: http://teaching.moneysmart.gov.au/professionallearning/moneysmart-teaching-packages
English Year 9 Could I live smaller?
Online transactions, consumerism, shopping online
English Year 10 Teens talk money.
Financial planning, online payments, budgeting
Mathematics Year 9 How can we obtain more money?
Earning, managing and growing money, achieving goals, data analysis, statistics and samples.
Mathematics Year 10 Reaching goals: What's involved?
Setting goals and planning, compound interest in a range of financial contexts, risks and rewards of
borrowing money
National Youth Law Centre (NCYLC) provides free, independent legal advice and legal information to
children and young people in Australia advice on issues that affect children, including advice and
information on mobile phone contracts, debt, mobile phone plans and consumer rights. Free legal advice
is provided by email at www.lawstuff.org.au/lawmail and free legal information can be accessed at
www.lawstuff.org.au.
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Lesson plan 2: Mobile phone ownership
Work Sheet 1: Identify your mobile phone needs
NAME: ___________________________________________
Work through the following instructions to identify your mobile phone usage.
Instructions
1. In the middle column list the amount per month you would do against a particular activity. It is hard to
think about a whole month at once! To make it easier, think about how much you use your phone on a
typical day. Remember to allow for weekends versus week days. Calculate on a 28 day month.
Example: 10 texts per day x 28 days = 280 texts per month
2.
Data use can be difficult to work out so the left hand column provides you with an estimate of MB used per
activity.
3. Identify any 'other needs' in the table such as network coverage. Write a brief description of your
need.
Usage per month
Activity
Estimated amount per month
Calls – off network (a different one to
yours)
No calls:
Calls – on network (same as yours)
No calls:
SMS
No SMS:
Voice mail Pickups
No voicemail pickups:
Data - Downloads (songs, video,
apps)
5 MB per download
No downloads:
Total MB:
Data - Minutes on social media sites
2MB per min on social media
Mins of social media:
Total MB
Websites visited
1 MB per website
No of websites:
Total MB:
Other needs
Comments
Extension/homework activity
Rural user/city user?
Network – what do family/friends
use?
International calls
Other?
4. Describe briefly how you use your mobile phone. Do you mainly call, text, access content, use social
media? Do you have any specific needs such as a network that can be accessed from a rural
location?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Class debrief. Your teacher will debrief the class by asking students to volunteer to share descriptions of
their mobile phone use.
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Lesson plan 2: Mobile phone ownership
Extension activity – Researching plans
Access the Phone Choice website at www.phonechoice.com.au and research a plan to meet your usage
and needs.
Use the table completed in Worksheet 1 to work out how much the plan will cost based on your estimated
usage for a month. Draw up a third column to record the costs of the selected plan.
Remember the following:
When researching plans keep in mind 'included value' and 'excluded value'. You will need to check how
much of your usage will fall into the included value (everything you get in a mobile phone plan for the
monthly payment) and how will be part of 'excluded value (how much you will have to pay extra for).
Before starting this task a good starting point for researching a specific mobile phone plan is to check the
Critical Information Summary. This document information to helps with comparison of different plans.
Suggest that they try and locate a Critical information summary for the plan you are interested in. You
should be able to locate the Critical Information Summary on the mobile providers website.
Optional handout
Issue
First point of contact
Still need help?
Cyberbullying
Parents/school
Kids Helpline
www.kidshelp.com.au
1800 55 1800
Mobile handset problem
Mobile service provider
Where the handset is supplied as part
of a contract go to
Telecommunications Industry
Ombudsman (TIO)
1800 062 058 or through their website
at www.tio.com.au.
Where the handset is bought outright
by the consumer go to Fair Trading or
Consumer Affairs in the consumer’s
state.
Phone plan issue
Mobile service provider
Telecommunications Industry
Ombudsman (TIO)
Post-paid account billing or
pre-paid account issues
Mobile service provider
Telecommunications Industry
Ombudsman (TIO)
Premium services
Premium service provider
Telecommunications Industry
Ombudsman (TIO)
Theft – bank account
Banking provider
Mobile service provider
Theft – mobile hand set
Mobile service provider
Local Police
Service problem
Mobile service provider
Telecommunications Industry
Ombudsman (TIO)
Scams
ACCC via the ScamWatch website at www.scamwatch.gov.au
or 1300 795 995.
Spam
ACMA Spam SMS service 0429 999 888
(standard rates charged by your mobile provider will apply)
Note: State and territory consumer protection agencies can provide you with information and advice about
your rights and options.
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Lesson plan 2: Mobile phone ownership
Links to the Australian Curriculum and National Consumer and Financial Literacy Framework
Australian Curriculum content
English
Understand how language use can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and can empower
or disempower people (ACELA1564) (Language/Language for interaction).
Analyse and explain how text structures, language features and visual features of texts and the
context in which texts are experienced may influence audience response (ACELT1641)
(Literature/ Responding to literature).
Economics and business
Year 9
Ways of managing consumer and financial risks to individuals and the community.
Year 10
The range of factors influencing consumer choice including marketing by financial institutions.
National Consumer and Financial Literacy student learnings
Discuss and compare different sources of consumer and financial advice.
Analyse relevant information to make informed choices when purchasing goods and services and/
or to resolve consumer choices.
Explain the procedures for resolving consumer disputes relating to a range of goods and services.
ASIC’s MoneySmart Teaching initiative builds the consumer and financial literacy capabilities of Australian school
students by developing students’ knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to enable them to make confident,
informed consumer choices and responsible financial decisions that are essential to their future financial wellbeing.
To view the MoneySmart Teaching Primary and Secondary packages and all the online and digital resources visit
www.teaching.moneysmart.gov.au
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