Wow this past month flew by!
Our cohort was very lucky this week to have guest speaker, Jesse Miller, join our Zoom class. He spoke on bringing awareness to an important topic that arises as our society evolves. This could be argued as one of the most controversial topics among youth and education in our present society. The topic includes the importance of youth recognizing their digital identity, digital rights, safety, and security when using networked spaces.
“An on-off switch isn’t realistic for a connected society.” – Jesse Miller
If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that our society truly does rely on technology. This “need for tech” reflects down to our students as well. They recognize the large value our small devices hold in our lives. As educators, we must change our ways by preparing students for the future, which they are growing up in. We must do so by helping student’s secure online safety and openly addressing past and present social media issues.
Technology plays an important role in education as well. By introducing electronic media to the classroom student’s will gain more experience with the possibilities of the internet. Similarly, they will learn how to navigate and create an online identity safely. This can be beneficial later on, in their personal or professional life. Ultimately, if our students know how to be presently online and do so safely, we are building a more knowledgeable online society.
We also talked about the importance of researching our own digital footprint. I was delighted to find little information/pictures of myself online; besides a few professional images of myself revolving around my Hairdressing career. I must say though, the one website that popped up multiple images was Twitter – something I was not aware of, as I made an account many many years ago. It is unfortunate to say that it was quite difficult to remove the images. I wish, not just for my own sake, but for others, that it should be easier to add/remove pictures of yourself that are being unveiled to the world. This was a great, eye-opening activity and I encourage everyone to take a look at their own digital footprint.
Check out Jesse Miller’s Twitter page or website for more excellent content!
Talk soon,
xoxo missrose