Digital Footprints and Digital Citizenship

Source: (Zheng, 2014)

 

Your digital footprint is the trail you leave every time you go online. Its every phone call, text, tweet, website you visit. It includes the cookies on your computer, the links you click on Facebook or photos you like on Instagram.  It also includes Apps you use, Skype calls, and emails you send. It's part of your online history and can potentially be seen by other people, or tracked in a database. When thinking about digital footprints, I often find myself thinking about episodes of NCIS when McGee with just few keystrokes can access anyone’s digital footprint.  I also think about how police departments are now using Facebook to solve crimes.  Your digital footprint paints a picture of who you are. It is not possible to have no digital footprint; you always leave a trace.

Source: (Internet Society Video, 2016)

When thinking about my personal digital footprint, I used an activity from one of my Digital Forensics lesson plans, I “Googled” my name, and I looked at my web browser activity and Windows cache files. When I Googled my name I was able to easily link to my Linked In profile but had to scroll through several pages before I found another profile or link directly related to myself.  In general, I feel I am more concerned about internet security than the average adult my age. I have setup my computer to delete my temporary internet files daily, delete cookies and never ask to save cookies for each site. I have location services shut off on my phone to reduce geo-referencing. The additional work for me to type in my information each time is worth it in my mind. I can not, however, control the ads that Facebook posts that I “may be interested in” based on my internet viewing or the geo-referencing that sites do based on my home internet connection. So while I can mitigate some of my digital footprint, I cannot erase all of it.

PEW Internet research indicates 38% of children have used a tablet or smartphone before the age of 2, and that in 2015 92% of teen reported they went online daily (Lenhart, 2015). Based on these staggering statistics digital citizenship needs to be introduced when students enter school. Common Sense Media has lesson plans for digital citizenship activities for students in grades K-12 (Common Sense Media, n.d.).

The ease at which data is obtained via the internet, ease of manipulating images and information as well as ever changing rules on fair use policies make plagiarism, copyright and trademark infringement rampant and difficult to detect. However, with proper instruction and modeling, our students will understand the repercussions of their online activities and infringements on copyrights, etc and will become global digital citizens who ethically and efficiently monitor and manage their digital footprints.

References

Common Sense Media. (n.d.). Digital Citizenship. Retrieved from Common Sense Media: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence

Internet Society Video. (2016, January 12). Four Reasons to Care About Your Digital Footprint. Retrieved from You Tube : https://youtu.be/Ro_LlRg8rGg

Lenhart, A. (2015, April 9). Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015. Retrieved from PEW Research Center : http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Technology Integration Specialist

"21st century learning is about the experience, not about the tools you are using.” (Warlick, 2010)

          In summarizing what a technologist specialist is, I found myself listing different characteristics and traits such as creative, flexible, trainer, mediator, mentor, multifaceted and more. While a list of characteristics is good, I wanted to take my ideas on step further just like I have my students do, and create a visual depiction of my thoughts through a concept map or Mind Map.

 

Today's, students and teachers alike seemed to be born with electronic devices attached to their hands. I know that I personally rely on my smartphone far too often. There are times I wish for simpler times or poor Wi-Fi so I can unplug. However, school should not be the location where students need to unplug or power down.  “73% of Advanced Placement (AP) and National Writing Project (NWP) teachers say cell phones have become part of their classroom teaching and assignments” (Purcell, Heaps, Buchannan, &Friedrich, 2013). If we as teachers are to prepare our students for future post secondary education and computers we need to be utilizing the technology that they use in their personal lives and providing them the skills necessary to be successful citizens in the future. Some of our students only have access to these digital technologies in school. Not providing them with this access reduces the likelihood of successful careers as well as limits them in their career opportunities.

Internet use and adoptions of digital technology in the classroom varies by generation. “The youngest teachers in this group (those under age 35) are the most likely to have students develop or share work on a website, wiki or blog (45% v. 34% of teachers age 55 and older).  They are also more likely than the oldest teachers to have students participate in online discussions (45% v. 32% of teachers age 55 and older) and use collaborative web-based tools such as GoogleDocs to edit work (41% v. 34% of teachers age 55 and older). “ (Purcell, Heaps, Buchannan, & Friedrich, 2013). Socioeconomics, society, culture and geographic locations all additionally affect how we access and utilize technology in our personal lives and in our classrooms.  

Teachers often are concerned over student’s overreliance on electronic devices. Online information gathering (in the form of search engine use) tops the list of the most popular online activities, along with email communications (Purcell, Heaps, Buchannan, & Friedrich, 2013). In fact, teachers in the PEW Research Survey indicated that students equated research with “googling”. So the challenge becomes teaching students to utilize search engine results more effectively and identifying appropriate sources. Research is essential in science and the science classroom. Incorporating lessons and activities in which students are developing research skills becomes an essential task for the science teacher in order to prepare students for future post-secondary education and careers.

References

 Purcell, K., Heaps, A., Buchannan, J., & Friedrich, L. (2013, February 28). Part III: Bringing Technology into the Classroom. Retrieved from PEW Internet Research: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/02/28/part-iii-bringing-technology-into-the-classroom/
Warlick, D. (2010, August 16). Technology for 21st Century Learning: Part 1. Retrieved from 2 Cents Worth of Seeking the Shakabuku: http://2cents.onlearning.us/?p=2712