I have personally grown up in the age of technology. I was a late 90s baby and never experienced not having a computer. We had dial-up as a kid, and the family cell phone wasn’t allowed to connect to the internet without paying an arm and a leg first. By the time I was allowed to have my own social media accounts, smartphones were on the rise. My formative years were spent online and that is a scary thought. As you learn about digital footprints, you learn that content sharing and account creation is not the only trace that will be left. Every page you look at, and video you view, are all traceable through IP addresses and other online markers.
I always think of the geeky master hackers found on crime dramas as the ones to find all the dirty laundry but with the rate of tech development and emphasis on learning about how the internet works, it could be a future student. Thinking about this, I have to ask how I can keep myself safe on the internet as well as how I can set my students up to be safe in the future.
Some of the tips I found talked about creating safe passwords, not posting about strong emotions at the moment but rather thinking about them for a while, and considering how the content will reflect your overall brand image.
Digital Citizenship focuses more on the active strategies used to keep you safe online and being aware of the impacts of your presence. I feel like these are all concepts that will become common knowledge over time and require discussion and implementation in the early school years only. I would be interested in seeing if students start tracking accounts and setting up google alerts prior to their professional lives. I would love to know the reach of my footprint.
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