To be honest, when I began getting involved in social media and networking sites, I was naïve to what my digital footprint was or if I even cared about it. As time has gone on, I have become more mature and more educated about digital footprints and how my "actions" on the internet can have an impact on my life. I never posted anything that was too risky or anything that would get me in trouble, but I wasn't overly cautious as to what I was putting on the internet either. With that said, I was always diligent with my privacy settings. Now that I know what a digital footprint is, I put a great deal of thought into what I post online.
I think that the impact of a person's digital footprint will be increasingly important in society (and the job market) as time goes on. This is a new implication for young people to consider when their every move is monitored through their IP address on the internet. They also have to be incredibly conscious of what they are posting on social networking sites. This so called digital footprint can ultimately be positive or negative for their reputation.
Alberta Education has developed a Digital Citizenship Policy Development Guide, that can be useful for educators to get a starting point on teaching their students about digital citizenship and their digital footprint. Alberta Education also aligns the goals of this document with the Inspiring Education goals that they have created. The document describes nine elements of digital citizenship and the policy that can be created with these in mind. We have to be conscious of the hidden curriculum when teaching our students. A lot of the digital citizenship can be taught simply through modelling. If we are modelling appropriate digital citizenship, then our students will likely pick up on some good habits. With that said, I do think that modelling is a small piece of the puzzle. With technology growing exponentially in our society, I think that we need to bring this concept of digital citizenship to the forefront of education. It is important that students are made aware of the consequences that their actions (on the internet) can bring.
There are several resources that can be used in the classroom across many grade levels to educate students on digital citizenship. I have spent quite a bit of time browsing through the 2Learn website which is full of resources for teaching digital footprint and citizenship. I also really like the Cable in the Classroom article on Digital Footprint: Leaving a Mark. I think that this is an all encompassing lesson that can be used in a middle school or high school classroom. One of my favourite resources that I discovered was a blog on Edutopia:Five Minute Film Festival- Teaching Digital Citizenship. This blog included short video clips (all under 5 min) that can be used to teach about the impact we have in the digital world.
I think that if we can help students create a positive digital footprint in their early years, that the will become more responsible global citizens.