My Digital Footprint and Digital Citizenship

There have been several times in my life where I have realized the impact of our digital world, in particular my digital dossier.

• When I went to get my first credit card, I was denied.  Not because of lack of income but because of too much debt.  Upon investigation, I discovered that I had credit cards from when I was 2.  
• I don't go to doctors often but about 10 years ago I went to an urgent care office.  Then I needed to go to a different doctor, maybe 2 years ago.  When I was giving the receptionist my information, she pulled up my records from my visit some 8 years prior.  These doctor's offices were unrelated but share a medical database.
• I purchased a copier from Best Buy in SC and had owned it for approximately 3 years.  I went to a scrapbook conference in NC and left my plug at home.  I went to Best Buy to buy a plug.  The associate told me they didn't sell just the cord, to buy another printer, use the cord, then when I was done return the new printer when I got home to SC.  OK.  I did that.  When the associate in SC pulled up my history, she told me I couldn't return it because the only printer they had on record was the one purchased 3 years ago - they still had record of this purchase!  After a few minutes, she found the purchase made in NC and returned the printer, no problem.
• Now with Facebook, I get friended by people I haven't spoken with in many, many years.

I know my digital dossier started long before the craze of our current technology and I know the implications it can have, even more so with social media sites now.  I homeschool my 5 children.  All except my youngest has a Facebook account.  They use if for game play mostly, except for my 2nd daughter who posts and reads other's posts.  The games are the original reason my children got accounts.  My children play many online games, chat with their friends over Steam and Skype.  We got "ddosed" the other day.  I had never heard of this.  According to Webopedia , "A DoS attack (Denial of Service) typically uses one computer and one internet connection to flood a targeted resource or system" (Beal, n.d.).  In other words, someone sends tons of data through to your IP address and it blocks you from the internet.  My 2nd son was trading items with this person on a video game and they were Skyping.  This person threatened my son, if my son didn't give him all his items he would ddos him.  My son didn't give the items.  This person sent a warning shot of 5 minutes and we were without internet.  He came back on and again demanded all his items, my son refused.  He ddosed us again, saying it would be 3 months before we would be able to get our internet.  I didn't know anything about ddosing and questioned the ability of a person to do this but he did.  I contacted ATT and they sent us a new router with a new IP address to get around this ddosing.  We have reported this player to the video game and Skype.  This incident led to yet another conversation about digital citizenship.

Our family is online often.  My kids have played several online games including Webkinz, Magic 101, Team Fortress, Lord of the Rings, Poptropica, Club Penguin and others.  We've talked about the importance of not sharing private information and what is considered private information.  If your family is online, it's important for families - parents and children alike - to know about digital citizenship, what information is okay to share, what pictures are okay, etc.  A friend of mine shared a picture of her toddler's passport the other day, she had blocked most of his information but I still advised her to remove the post, which she did.  As teachers we need to reinforce the concept of digital citizenship.  The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) teacher standard states:

• Advocate, model and teach safe legal and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property and the appropriate documentation of sources
• Address the diverse needs of all students by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
• Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
• Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools (ISTE, 2008).

The question is when?  Is your child on the internet?  If yes, then it's time to discuss digital citizenship.  Are they about to be introduced to the internet, then it's time.  "Digital citizenship covers nine themes and is broken down into three main areas called REPs: Respect, Educate and Protect

• Respect yourself/respect others consists of etiquette, access and law
• Educate yourself/connect with others consists of communication, literacy, and commerce.
• Protect yourself/protect others consists of rights and responsibilities, safety (security), and health and welfare (SNHU, 2016).

Essentially it's taking good citizenship guidelines and applying them to online and technology use.  If you wouldn't tell someone at the park or the mall information about yourself or your family, then don't tell someone online.  If you wouldn't do or say something to someone in person, don't do it online.  RESPECT others.  Digital citizenship is about being respectful and should be discussed whenever a person is online.  There are many adults who need lessons in digital citizenship and I'd like to think it's because they haven't grown up understanding their digital dossier.  Hopefully, we can educate our students on digital citizenship and the impact of their digital dossier.

Beal, V.  (n.d.).  DDos attack - distributed denial of service.  Retrieved from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/DDoS_attack.html

International Society of Technology in Education.  (2008).  Standards for teachers.  Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-teachers

Southern New Hampshire University.  (2016).  Module two:  Digital citizenship.  Retrieved from https://bb.snhu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-10652031-dt-content-rid-28211351_1/courses/EDU-642NC-16TW3-MASTER/EDU-642-14TW2-MASTER_ImportedContent_20131105031557/edu_642nc_m2_overview.pdf

Reflection on Technology Integration Specialist

The use of technology receives different reception, some positive and some negative.  Most people use some form of technology in their everyday lives - smartphones, computers, navigators, communication, collaboration, social media, email, reading, entertainment, money transfers, surveillance, medical care, transportation, calendars and numerous other reasons.  However, when it comes to our children there are articles, blogs, books, and discussions about the dangers of technology and the need to limit the use of technology.  This seems to be another instance of "do as I say, not as I do."  Adults can use technology but let's limit what our children use.  This limiting of technology includes limiting the educational value of technology.  The technology integration specialist has to work with parents, teachers, administrators, and school boards some of which support technology in the classroom, some who don't, some who don't understand, some who are excited to learn and some who are unwilling to learn.  In order to meet all the concerns and needs of the variety of people a technology integration specialist works with, they need to be helpful, understanding, creative, innovative, autodidactic, a communicator, a collaborator, a teacher, and a leader - the role of technology integration specialist certainly wears many hats.

An important aspect towards getting more integration and acceptance in education is education. "There are teachers who fully embrace technology integration and work diligently to incorporate and integrate technology into each and every lesson" and "There are also those teachers who began teaching before the technology wave and the advent of the twenty-first-century learner.  They often feel as though their lessons stand on their own, have proven successful, and do not need the addition of any technological aids" (SNHU, 2015).  Each of these teachers needs a technology specialist who can meet their needs.  The teacher who wants to incorporate technology needs a specialist who can direct them to sites, tools, apps or programs which will facilitate their needs.  Those who are reluctant need a specialist who can show them the benefits of technology to them and their students, to help them achieve to their fullest potential.  Technology specialist need to know their population, to anticipate their needs and to be a liaison between the administration and teachers to direct professional development seminars and in-services.  A major barrier towards integrating technology is "the issue of preparedness of teachers to respond to the influx of technology resources, and of schools to keep up with the mechanical functioning and maintenance of equipment . . . Further, many teachers had not prepared to utilize technology in their teacher preparation programs" (Staples, Pugach & Himes, 2005).  I have talked with other teachers about technology use in their classrooms and the profession development available.  One theme is re-occurring about the professional development:  it's not linked to their teaching.  Accurate, directed professional development is crucial in the schools towards integration of technology.

"As teachers explore the process of technology integration and search for ways that it can be effectively accomplished, they will develop the rationale to examine the appropriateness of the technologies they are using and whether such technologies are compatible with their lesson plans and learning outcome.  The process of exploring the relationship between technology induction and pedagogy will encourage critical thinking on the other part of teacher as they practice technology integration" (Okojie, Olinzock, & Okojie-Boulder, 2015).  Technology used for teaching and learning should be considered an integral part of instruction and not just as an object of technology exclusive of learning.  Teachers need to see technology as part of a necessary foundation and fluid part of the classroom environment in order to implement technology more effectively and successfully in the classroom.

SNHU.  (2015).  Module one:  The role of the technology integrator.  Retrieved from https://bb.snhu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-9585145-dt-content-rid-24306458_1/courses/EDU-641NC-16TW2-MASTER/EDU-641-14TW4-MASTER/edu_641_module1_overview.pdf

Staples, A., Pugach, M, & Himes, D.  (2005).  Rethinking the technology integration challenge:  Cases from three urban elementary schools.  Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ690973.pdf

Okojie, M., Olinzock., & Okojie-Boulder, T. (2015).  The pedagogy of technology integration.  Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JOTS/v32/v32n2/okojie.html