Ep 112 // Digital Citizenship: Teaching Students About the Digital Footprint They Leave Behind
Inside This Week’s Episode: Our students are digital natives, leaving behind digital footprints that track their online activity. As 21st century teachers, we can help our students learn the impact of their digital actions and help them learn to be positive, responsible digital citizens.
Links & Resources Mentioned in the Episode
EPISODE 102: Digital Citizenship: Making Healthy Media Choices and Finding Balance
EPISODE 106: Digital Citizenship (Helping Elementary Students Understand Privacy & Security Online)
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Digital Footprints last forever.
And that’s not an exaggeration.
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that one action online can impact you for a long time. One comment on social media (good or bad) can go viral and become impossible to stop.
Once the internet gets a hold of something, we can quickly lose control. We’ve seen this in both positive and negative situations. We’ve seen the hilarious cat videos go viral or a feel-good story spread from coast to coast.
But - we’ve also seen situations where something gets out of hand, or something is taken out of context and then spreads far and wide online. Maybe you’ve experienced this first-hand. It can be heartbreaking and devastating to the people involved.
What we say and do online can have a lasting impact. Once it’s out there in the world, it essentially lasts forever.
However, our students don’t always think beyond the moment (Heck - many adults don’t think beyond the moment). They don’t always consider that what they say and do online can leave behind a digital footprint. And - this digital footprint can shape their identity and impact their online AND offline reputation.
That’s why it’s so important to start young, teaching students the responsibilities they have as digital citizens. The sooner we start to train kids to think about their actions online and the digital footprints that they leave behind, the better.
Starting the Conversation about Our Digital Footprints
So, how do we do this?
Well - it starts with conversation. When we hear students talk about their activities online, engage in discussions about the impact that their online activities have.
When they mention things that they’ve read, or even written themselves online - or even when just discussing what other people have done or said online- discuss the potential impact.
Introduce the term “digital footprint” to your students. This might be a new concept to them, so start with what they know.
For example, talk about the different footprints that animals leave behind. You can even show them pictures of several examples of animal footprints. Have students guess which animal has left which footprint — it’s often pretty obvious.
When you see these animal footprints in real life, you can trace where that animal has been and where its going by following its tracks.
In the same way, our digital footprint will point directly to us. We form our identities - and how others view us, by the footprints - and in this cause, the digital footprints that we leave behind. And - unlike animal tracks that can be washed away by rain or other natural changes - our digital tracks stay with us.
Commonsense.org defines a digital footprint as:
a record of what you do online, including the sites you visit and the things you post. It can also include things that others post that involve you, such as pictures or comments
The things we say and do online can be tied back to us - indefinitely. These are the digital tracks we leave behind.
And - these digital tracks aren’t always about us. When we engage in online conversations about other people (in both positive and negative ways), we are contributing to how far other people’s digital footprints go. It’s that whole idea of something going viral.
Something goes viral when people share it over and over (even if it's not about them). And when something goes viral - it is out of our control.
You can also help students to understand the concept of a lasting impression, by comparing our online activity to a fossil. The animal’s footprint shows recent action, but a fossil is the impression saved and preserved for millions of years. Our digital footprints are similar in that, even after the immediate affect of our online action may appear to have faded, it’s still preserved and saved, and can resurface at any moment.
Not only do we have that fresh footprint of recent action, we also have that preserved impression that, like a fossil, tells others about us long after the action.
Illustrating Digital Footprints with Concrete Examples
Once students understand that digital footprints tell a story about who we are and where we’ve been active online, give students some concrete examples of some of these online activities.
Discuss possible scenarios of online activities and the lasting impact that they may have.
Activities like:
sharing a video of yourself online
posting a picture
commenting on a social media post
when OTHERS share pictures or videos of you
shopping online
visiting certain websites
Our Responsibility to Others
Another really crucial thing that students need to realize is that not only do we have an obligation to ourselves to protect our own digital footprint - but we also have a responsibility to others.
Being a responsible digital citizen means that you don’t participate in negative activity online that might affect others. We don’t post pictures of other people without their permission. We treat others with respect online.
And PS - this is a good reminder to adults, too. We must be the model of a good digital citizen.
I love the THINK acronym that I’ve seen a lot of teachers post in their classroom. It encourages students to THINK before speaking, and in this case, before they engage in online activity.
T: is it true?
H: is it helpful?
I: is it inspiring?
N: is it necessary?
K: is it kind.
This would be a great reminder to put up in your classroom and refer to as you have these discussions about leaving a digital footprint. The THINK acronym is a great baseline that students can use to take a pulse on what they say and do online.
Being a 21st century teacher with students who are digital natives required that we have these types of conversations in our classrooms. We need to weave them into our instruction as our students engage in online activities both in and out of the classroom.
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