DRIVING QUESTION 1: 'Does your digital footprint actually last a lifetime'
Explores the following topics/questions?:
- The influence of current and emerging technologies on our lives (personal and professional).
- What would you need to be mindful of in each case in yourself and your students and others?
- Are there particular concerns or opportunities you would envisage?
- Digital footprints impact the teaching and learning of children in schools and everyday?
- Do our digital footprints last a lifetime?
- How does this impact planning for our social, family and professional futures?
- What would you need to be mindful of in each case in yourself and your students and others?
- Are there particular concerns or opportunities you would envisage?
- Digital footprints impact the teaching and learning of children in schools and everyday?
- How does this impact planning for our social, family and professional futures?
Generally, your digital footprint refers to the impression or mark you leave for yourself online that is perceived by everyone else around you.I do believe that at a young age people can destroy their digital footprint quite easily by making seriously silly mistakes on the internet. This can include, inappropriate and offensive language used online, sharing private and personal information, cyber bullying someone, sending or posting nudes or inappropriate images (pictures of you performing illegal behaviours), grammar mistakes or stalking. Some of these behaviours are minor, many are quite major, but overall, they can all lead to leaving a digital footprint for your future. In some instances, your digital footprint can be uncontrollable or out of your hands in a way, for example, if someone was to post a comment about you or tag you in a photo, that contributes to your digital footprint without you even having to do anything, and depending whether it is a negative or positive comment or photo, can therefore reflect back on you. Another way it can be uncontrollable is if pictures of you are edited, photoshopped or used in an inappropriate way, which is out of your hands, but again, therefore reflects back on you and also contributes to your digital footprint.
In the article written in the University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh Research Explorer) by Nicola Osboune and Louise Conelly, many of the research explores state that many young people are “tech savvy” but ‘it is clear that students do need to understand how to work social media for their own professional and competitive advantage” (THES 2014)’. The team at the University of Edinburgh are working on a campaign and a research project to raise awareness and focus on the “Management of Digital Footprint” among students. It is shown that students who are typically studying medicine or veterinary medicine are seen as a professional or near to from the minute they start University therefore their digital footprint or their self image online is crucial and is closely looked upon (Chelster 2013). Through the General Medical Council’s (2012) advice there is a clear line that medical students must not cross when it comes to the guidance of inappropriate, appropriate and acceptable online activity that the students can participate in. The University of Edinburgh’s project has an understanding of what contributes to a digital footprint; which states; “It’s the data you leave behind when you go online. It’s what you've said, what others have said about you, where you’ve been, images you’re tagged in, personal information, social media profiles and much more” (University of Edinburgh, 2014). A key theme of the project is the idea of ‘Self Presentation and Online Identity’. “Self presentation involves strategically disclosing and/or concealing information to portray oneself in a desirable manner” (Wang, 2013, p870). Goffman (1969) argues that individuals are conscious of how they present themselves.
In saying this a digital footprint isn't all negative and seen as a bad thing. In fact, a person who develops a “strong authentic online presence” for themselves can help showcase their true self and identity. Having a positive and strong digital footprint can be beneficial in terms of employment and increased opportunities by employers being interested in you by your digital footprint therefore you are more likely to be approached, another pro for a positive and strong digital footprint is it an amazing opportunity to connect with friends or to meet other people online. In saying this, Barbour and Marshall (2012) describes digital footprints as the ‘uncontainable self’ as it seems to be a presentation on an individual but with that said its beyond their control.
The article affirms my views that being, some little, silly online activity mistake in your younger years, that being either, inappropriate language, inappropriate photographs of yourself, cyber bullying another, posting and sharing illegal activity or even sharing private/personal information can have a detrimental impact on an individual's future. This can include, an impact on their personal life (relationships or family), difficulty obtaining and maintaining a stable career of their choice and their perception/image which is seen and heavily criticised by others.
If your digital footprint stays around, then as an educator, parents, students and other staff who give you a thorough background check, will find this information, and if the footprint you have left behind is something to be embarrassed or ashamed about, could seriously affect your reputation to sustain a job and can ruin your name as a teacher (who is supposed to be someone young children look up to).
Osborne, N., & Connelly, L. (2015). Managing your digital footprint: possible implications for teaching and learning. Paper presented at European Conference on Social Media, Porto, Portugal.
Barbour, K. and Marshall, D., (2012). View of The academic online: Constructing persona through the World Wide Web | First Monday. [online] Firstmonday.org.
The driving question has been answered sufficiently, whereby there is a consistent link back to the idea surrounding the topic accompanied by evidence and examples to enhance the credibility of the blog post. It was helpful to see you appreciate both sides of a digital footprint's impact on ones life. Acknowledging that there can be both positive and negative appearances online showcases the flip side of each coin, demonstrating that the presence you have online can be filtered through your own actions. It was helpful to remain interested and motivated to learn about digital footprints with your multi-modal approach. Having the video present as well as the relevant images made the blog post more engaging aesthetically, appealing to not just education audiences, but younger audiences as well. Your opinion was relevant and really emphasised the importance of maintaining a professional and well-mannered appearance when you enter a career within an expert field. Good job :)
Hello Neena! Your article was very well constructed and researched. Throughout the post, your viewpoint was effectively communicated as you outlined the pros and cons of a digital footprint. After reading your piece, I have put together a couple of points that will hopefully help you to further strengthen your writing. - Perhaps try re-wording a few of your sentences to make it clear to the audience what your intention was, sometimes the same point was repeated within the same sentence :) - There were a couple of small grammatical errors within the post, so perhaps reading over your piece thoroughly before uploading :) Overall, your post was very well structured and expressed your beliefs very well, your use of visual images supported your arguments very well. Great job Neena!
In saying this a digital footprint isn't all negative and seen as a bad thing. In fact, a person who develops a “strong authentic online presence” for themselves can help showcase their true self and identity. Having a positive and strong digital footprint can be beneficial in terms of employment and increased opportunities by employers being interested in you by your digital footprint therefore you are more likely to be approached, another pro for a positive and strong digital footprint is it an amazing opportunity to connect with friends or to meet other people online. In saying this, Barbour and Marshall (2012) describes digital footprints as the ‘uncontainable self’ as it seems to be a presentation on an individual but with that said its beyond their control.
The driving question has been answered sufficiently, whereby there is a consistent link back to the idea surrounding the topic accompanied by evidence and examples to enhance the credibility of the blog post. It was helpful to see you appreciate both sides of a digital footprint's impact on ones life. Acknowledging that there can be both positive and negative appearances online showcases the flip side of each coin, demonstrating that the presence you have online can be filtered through your own actions. It was helpful to remain interested and motivated to learn about digital footprints with your multi-modal approach. Having the video present as well as the relevant images made the blog post more engaging aesthetically, appealing to not just education audiences, but younger audiences as well. Your opinion was relevant and really emphasised the importance of maintaining a professional and well-mannered appearance when you enter a career within an expert field. Good job :)
ReplyDeleteChelsea Davis
DeleteHello Neena!
ReplyDeleteYour article was very well constructed and researched. Throughout the post, your viewpoint was effectively communicated as you outlined the pros and cons of a digital footprint. After reading your piece, I have put together a couple of points that will hopefully help you to further strengthen your writing.
- Perhaps try re-wording a few of your sentences to make it clear to the audience what your intention was, sometimes the same point was repeated within the same sentence :)
- There were a couple of small grammatical errors within the post, so perhaps reading over your piece thoroughly before uploading :)
Overall, your post was very well structured and expressed your beliefs very well, your use of visual images supported your arguments very well. Great job Neena!
Anabelle Gaskell