Have you ever ‘Googled’ yourself online? What comes up? What you see is your digital identity.
Video 1: What is a digital identity? (Teaching & Learning Innovations CSUCI, 2015)
A digital identity is a collection of information about a person’s online activity. Any time something is searched, posted, uploaded, logged into, purchased, registered, read or viewed online our digital identity gets larger and easier to track (Rouse, n.d.). Teaching our students to be safe while they are using the internet is necessary to keep their own work, social life and identities theirs. Videos, photos and comments can stay with you long after your education is complete (see video 2). Introducing a cyber security topic into the ICT classroom can give our students the knowledge and skills needed to remain protected online (Ayers, 2017).
Video 2: How I Met Your Mother Season 7- Beercules (TheSvinja, 2011)
Online resources provided by the Australian Government such as The YeS Project can assist educators across all schools convey the importance of digital security and participation to their students through complete lesson plans (Australian Government, 2018). This program encourages students to engage positively with other people online, know their online world by determining which sites are good or bad and choose consciously about when and where to participate online. Using these skills effectively will result in a positive online presence.
Image 1: Digital Footprint (West, 2018)
Protecting your information and digital contributions is important in school and after your education is complete. Addressing digital security and digital footprints in the classroom will prepare our students for later life but also teachers will increase their digital knowledge and participation. The digital expectancy of educators becomes increasingly essential as our students become more digitally native with their learning and home life (Howell, 2012). As educators, having a positive online presence is important to effectively separate our home lives to our professional lives.
References
Australian Government. (2018). YeS Project. Retrieved from https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/yes-project
Ayers, R. (2017). The importance of teaching students about cyber security. Retrieved from https://www.emergingedtech.com/2017/05/teaching-students-about-cyber-security/
Howell, J. (2012). Teaching with ICT: Digital Pedagogies for Collaboration and Creativity. Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
Rouse, M. (n.d.). What is digital identity? Retrieved from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digital-identity
Teaching & Learning Innovations CSUCI. (2015). What is a digital identity? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJzuDcyR0WM
TheSvinja. (2011). How I met your mother season 7- Beercules [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkO2mHwNSn4
West, S. (2018). What is my digital footprint poster [Image 1]. Retrieved from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-is-my-digital-footprint-poster-3005468
EDC101 Teaching and Learning in a Digital World 