A digital footprint is a trail left by your interactions in the digital environment; including usage of mobile phone, Internet and mobile web and other devices and sensors. How much of your information from your daily life gets recorded by big business and Big Brother? Play Discovery Channel’s simple scenario game to determine the digital footprint you are imprinting and leaving behind.
How do we help our students to have a positive digital footprint - to think about behaviors, expectations and skills needed when interacting with others in digital spaces? The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted a research project entitled Teens, kindness and cruelty on social network sites, aimed at understanding teenagers’ behaviour online. The report examined teens’ pro-social and anti-social behaviours, ranging from the creation of support groups to cyber bullying and cyber harassment in online spaces.
As the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that fully 95% of all teens ages 12-17 are now online and 80% of those online teens are users of social media sites, maintaining a positive digital footprint is imperative. The post, 12 Most Critical Reasons Students Need a Clean Online Presence, examines the tools students use to communicate, and then places the use of those tools in the broader context of how these tools creating an impression of themselves.
As many employers search potential employee’s digital footprint, ensure that you and your students always put the best foot forward.