Students & Their Digital Footprint
Over the next few weeks I'm in classrooms teaching students about being safe online and their digital footprint.
The goal is to get them thinking about what they put online and the consequences those posts can have.
I borrowed material for this lesson from Tiffany Whitehead, a teacher / librarian in Louisiana.
I started the lesson by asking the students if they've ever posted something to Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / etc.
Without fail, 99% of the class always raise their hands to say that they do. I then start asking them if they ever ask permission from their friends if they tag them in photos. The conversations usually indicate that they don't ask permission from their close friends but that they do for people that they don't know.
I then show the students a series of videos, the first one describes how everything on the internet is permanent, even if you think it isn't.
We talk about what a digital footprint is, usually the students are really on top of the concept, that it represents the mark that they leave online, a mark that can be easily traced by almost anyone if they aren't careful.
I show them another clip, this one of older students in Canada describing what kind of information they are comfortable putting online.
The goal is to get them thinking about what they put online and the consequences those posts can have.
I borrowed material for this lesson from Tiffany Whitehead, a teacher / librarian in Louisiana.
I started the lesson by asking the students if they've ever posted something to Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / etc.
Without fail, 99% of the class always raise their hands to say that they do. I then start asking them if they ever ask permission from their friends if they tag them in photos. The conversations usually indicate that they don't ask permission from their close friends but that they do for people that they don't know.
I then show the students a series of videos, the first one describes how everything on the internet is permanent, even if you think it isn't.
We talk about what a digital footprint is, usually the students are really on top of the concept, that it represents the mark that they leave online, a mark that can be easily traced by almost anyone if they aren't careful.
I show them another clip, this one of older students in Canada describing what kind of information they are comfortable putting online.
After this we talk about the things they are comfortable putting online, I was pleasantly surprised to see that a lot of students knew about their privacy settings and how the rules around privacy are constantly changing, especially with Facebook & Instagram.
I show one final video, this one describes how, even before you are born, information about you is being collected and stored and what that means for you in the future.
The purpose isn't to scare the students, it's to make them aware that whether they like it or not, it is their responsibility to protect their online identities.
When the videos were finished I split the class into 5 groups. Each group is given a real-life scenario in which someone was fired, expelled from school or publically humiliated because of something they posted online.
The stories must be tailored to the age group you are speaking to.
I asked the groups to read these stories and then discuss them. I gave them each a large sheet of flip chart paper and asked them to considering the following:
What Questions Should I Ask Myself Before Posting Something Online?
When they finished, we discussed each story and reviewed the questions that each group came up with. Students were surprised to find out that all of the news stories provided them were true.
See below for a sample of some of the questions the students came up with. I'm excited to bring this lesson to more students over the next few weeks!
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