Sunday, September 25, 2016

Digital Footprint


Being an online teacher, I would have thought that I had a better grasp on my digital footprint (since I am online every day.)  Looking into this topic however, I have found that managing my digital footprint is more than just making my Facebook page private.  These are the ten steps that I am taking to make sure that I don’t get “Facebook fired.”

1.      Google yourself
There are so many pages out there that have your name attached to them for better or for worse. “Sign OUT of Google and run a search for your name. Go three to five pages deep. Grab the URL of every result listed and classify each as positive, negative, or neutral.”(McGinnis)

2.      Facebook is Not Private
“You have many conversations on Facebook that you think that only your Friends can see. But your Facebook conversations are more public than you might realize, because it's quite natural to lose track of all the Friends you have allowed to have access to your conversations. Also, remember that anyone can copy and paste anything you say into an email that they send to others - or publish on Facebook.”( Digital Citizenship Adventures)

3.      Leverage Social Networks
“Like it or not, social media is a great way to increase your search engine ranking and share your work with others. Whether Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn, consider how you can leverage these sites to share your work with others.” (Lowenthal)

4.      Complete all profiles
“When appropriate, complete the profile and include such things as keywords to your research, specifics on your research, and — at minimum — a link to your professional website” (Lowenthal)

5.      Get a Twitter Account and Make it Legitimate.
“Be active! Tweet daily news articles that you find interesting. Reply to people who share interesting things. Be part of the conversation!”(Taub)

6.      Acquire Domain Names.
“This will help control what people see when they search your name.” (Taub)

7.      Create a Positive Online Reputation
 “It should be carefully managed before you get to that point, but it’s fairly typical people don’t pay attention to it until it becomes a necessity.”(McGinnis)

8.      Your Students Will Google You.
Be careful of what you post on any of the media sites.  If you don’t want your students to see it then it should not be in the internet.

9.      Be Proactive
Use sites like about.me to set up a base of information that you control and link your other accounts to that.   “This “service as a “digital splash screen,” designed to introduce people to you quickly, before they decide whether and in what manner to engage with your content.” (Jones)

10.  Be Active
Don’t be afraid of the social media sites, use them. They can be a great way to connect with friends, family, coworkers, and even students. Just remember that what is put out can never be brought back.

The internet has opened so many doors for me in my personal and my professional life.  If I keep working to make sure that I have a positive digital footprint, I will be able to continue to utilize it in my personal and professional life in the future.  


Digital Citizenship Adventures. (Managing your digital footprint.) (n.d). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/digcitizenshipadventures/managing-your-digital-footprint

Jones, Jason. (November, 17, 2010). The Chronicle of Higher Education Your Digital Calling Card: About.me. Retrieved from http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/your-digital-calling-card-about-me/28755

Lowenthal, Partick and Dunlap, Joanna. (June 5, 2012). Intentional Web Presence: 10 SEO Strategies Every Academic Needs to Know. Retrieved from

McGinnis, Sean. (August 23, 2012 ), Online Reputation Management: A How-to Guide. Retrieved from http://spinsucks.com/communication/online-reputation-management-a-how-to-guide/

Taub, Alexander. (n.d). 5 Key Things Needed To Improve Your Digital Identity. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/alextaub/2012/06/07/5-key-things-needed-to-improve-your-digital-identity/#1b205b3c14ef

Monday, September 12, 2016

CoP, PLN, and Connectivity











Reptiles 1934 Lithograph   
 I have had the pleasure of teaching Math for the last 11 years and have found some interesting connection between Math and Art.  One of these connection is the artist M C Escher.   Escher’s drawing Reptiles yells PLN to me.   Which is defined as n. – the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online.
These reptiles are jumping into their PLN group to get information and then out again and repeating this action.  How many times a day do we reach out to our PLN via email, Facebook, or Twitter?





Swans 1965 wood engraving
These swans flocking together is what a CoP looks like to me.  Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. (Wenger circa 2007)  What could be more of a community than a flock of birds working together and learning from each other.


Bond of union 1965 lithograph.
Thanks to the internet we are now more connected to each other than ever. George Siemens said “Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking.”  Our thoughts and actions are now on the internet for everyone to see.  This allows us to use each other’s knowledge.


Siemens, George Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age


Wenger, Etienne (c 2007) ‘Communities of practice. A brief introduction’.Communities of practice