Today is safer internet day and we had guest speaker Jesse Miller join us to discuss online privacy and safety. As we know, technology is changing incredibly fast and consistently shifting which is why it is important to understand the internet and know how to become internet conscious. Looking back at my childhood, I remember having presentations on internet safety and being aware of online bullying and potential predators, however, I don’t think I ever had anyone discuss digital identity and digital footprints. To have someone sit down with me and have a conversation about how what I put on the internet may not always remain private but will most likely stay on the internet for a long time would have been very valuable to me. I think it very important for children and adults to realize that they leave a digital footprint whenever they choose to say or doing something online. Jesse brought up so many interesting, yet slightly scary, facts about applications like Snapchat, Facebook and TikTok and how they collect the data everything we do on their apps. This is information I might have been able to find if I had read their extremely long terms and conditions but, let’s be honest I was 13 when I signed up and had no intention of reading it. Jesse’s presentation was a real eye-opener for me and really made me think about my digital identity and footprint and how important it is to keep personal and professional separate. As well as, he promoted me to look at all the people that I allow to follow me and my life and start making decisions about what I want to be public and what I want to be private. I plan on having conversations with my future students about internet and what it means to lead a positive digital identity. I want them to make sure that in 15 years if they look back, they will see material that they are proud of and not ashamed of.
There is always something new to learn about technology and here is something new I learned in class… video editing!!
