Monday, June 17, 2013

Digital footprints

I read a book a few weeks ago that has changed my thinking.
It's called Cry Blue Murder and it's by Kim Kane and Marion Roberts.
The book is written in email form, interspersed with occasional police reports, witness statements and newspaper articles.  The story follows the disappearance and murder of two young Melbourne girls and whilst reading the book one becomes increasingly uncomfortable about the safety of one of the girls who is sending emails to another person whom she met via a Facebook group.  

The issues that are raised are so relevant to society today; the impact of one's digital footprint can be both positive and negative, bordering on dangerous, if too much private information is shared.  After reading the book I felt motivated to do something and subsequently prepared and taught a lesson to all Year 6-10 students.  The presentation covered digital footprints, sharing online, keeping private details private and ensuring protection with strong passwords.  By following other teacher librarians on Twitter I had access to a blog post by Jenny Luca and the e-smart website had terrific information, as well as my never fail; youtube.

I used the following clips to illustrate the need for young people to be aware of what they share online, take control of their digital footprint,  ensure they have an excellent online reputation and protect it all with a strong password.

Dave the mind reader:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7pYHN9iC9I

TED talk - electronic tattoos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu1C-oBdsMM

Protecting reputations online in Plain English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n-AdP6PBT8

Secure passwords in Plain English
http://www.commoncraft.com/video/secure-passwords

Jenny Luca's blog is always interesting and worth a look:
http://jennyluca.com/

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