Positive Digital Identities

Things I never really thought about before #DCMOOC

I just finished watching the #DCMOOC Week 3 archive on Positive Digital Identities, and I must say it made by head hurt! The information was fantastic, but I think my head may explode…

Some things that really stuck out for me:

• I really should make sure I have a positive and strong online identity so I can model this to my students. It’s really amazing what shows up when I do a search on myself — but I had never considered that I could and should be an active participant in the creation of one.
• the difference between personal information versus personally identifiable information, and both need attending to — I never realized there was a difference before. Huh! Who knew?
• the difference between a digital identity and a digital footprint— how people perceive your character (identity) is based on all of the digital artifacts (footprints) which are online. Removing digital footprints is tough, but correcting a blemished digital identity is darn near impossible.
• ePortfolios are powerful tools for a number of reasons. As a classroom teacher I’ve dabbled in portolios (traditional and electronic) as learning showcases and artifacts of learning, but never have I considered the role ePortfolios could play in the future lives of my students. Interesting statement presented in today’s archive, ‘resumes don’t say it all. A person’s online identity is replacing resumes’. I need to discuss this with my students, and get their take on this…