Home › Blogs › PatParslow's blog

Digital Identity Workshop

2009, March 27 - 08:59 — PatParslow

Trackback URL for this post:

http://brains.parslow.net/trackback/1512

Comments

2009, April 5 - 13:27 — Tracy Rosen (not verified)

digital identity

The subject is a hot one for me. I'm a high school teacher (grade 11) and many of my students are facebook friends as well. I am struck with how invisible they feel they are online and am always trying to remind them they aren't, that their digital identity IS a representation of themselves.

At the beginning of the year we had a blog conversation around the idea of culture and a few of my students made comments that ranged from the silly to the inappropriate, thinking that no one would know who made them. When I made the announcement that I could, indeed, track who had made which comment I saw a few faces turn white.

I challenge their online presences often - when they make iffy comments or status updates on facebook I add a comment to remind them they are in a public forum, when they send me an email with their work from pimp_king@wherever or sexy_hotty@wherever I tell them they may want to get a new email address for things like college applications and job interviews...and while they are at it they can use it to send me work in the future.

I like this presentation and may create a similar one to use with them. It's probably time for me to be more explicit in my treatment of the topic with them.
Thanks.
Tracy

2009, April 5 - 13:38 — PatParslow

Glad you like it

Thank you Tracy,
  You might like to have a look at some of the resources we are producing over at the This Is me project.  The Attention Game might be quite appropiate for your classes, as may some of the worksheets I am in the process of writing (at the moment they are focussed on HE students, but it would be good to aim some at high school).
  I hope it is OK if I link to your comment - I think your experience is one which we can use to help highlight some of the DI issues.  And if you would like to contribute further, you are more than welcome to.  It would be really great if some of you students could write reflective pieces on the issues you have raised with them, and how they have changed their online behaviour, or how they think they should!
 

2009, April 5 - 14:11 — Tracy Rosen (not verified)

Sharing resources

Thanks for pointing me towards those resources. I'm looking forward to taking a look around and I will definitely share anything we create in this area.
Have a great Sunday,
Tracy

ps - Here is that online conversation about culture. I just read through it again and realize that there are comments that seem to reply to comments that are no longer there. I allow the writer of comments on my blogs to edit their comments for an indefinite period of time after they are written and some students did return to edit any inappropriate comments they wrote after I mentioned that I could find out who they were. It was a real lesson in digital identity - in particular visibility - for at least 2 of my students.

http://grade11.tracyrosen.com/?p=22

Unfortunately that blog has fallen to the wayside since the beginning of the year. Our school is slightly...jurassic... when it comes to technology, so many of our conversations either happen in class or on facebook after class is over.