1. PART III: INVESTIGATING DIGITAL
IDENTITIES
EDUC W200 Week 11

2. THE WEB MEANS THE END OF FORGETTING
Your Online Identity
Wayback Machine
EDUC W200 Week 11

3. THINK ABOUT YOUR PARTICIPATION ONLINE AS
A DIGITAL TATTOO (ALSO REFERRED TO AS A DIGITAL FOOTPRINT)
The vast array of data points that make up “personal
information” in the age of online media are nearly
impossible to quantify or neatly define.
Name, address, and phone number are just the basics in
a world where voluntarily posting self-authored content
such as text, photos, and video has become a
cornerstone of engagement in the era of the
participatory web.
Digital Footprints, Pew Research Center Report
EDUC W200 Week 11

4. WHO CYBER-STALKS YOU? EVERYONE. THINK
PAPARAZZI.
• Common practice for administrators and hiring committees to
search for information on candidates online before
interviewing and/or hiring them.
• Students, parents, and other teachers may also go online to
find out more about you.
What’s your
• Check your online Footprint? • Blog
personal info • Wiki
• Specify who you are • Is your footprint
conveying what you • Facebook
• Monitor what others want to say about • Twitter
are saying about you yourself? • Domain name
Controlling your
Taking Control
Digital Identity
EDUC W200 Week 11

5. HANDS-ON ACTIVITY
• Do you know what your digital footprint says about
you?
o Reppler
• ULA demonstration
o What is your status?
EDUC W200 Week 11

6. REAL STORIES OF TEACHERS ONLINE
• Special education teacher displays poster that depicts talking
sperm and invokes a slang term for oral sex.
• Kindergarten teacher posted satiric shampoo commercial with
a half-naked man having an orgasm in the shower.
• Special education teacher has page with bumper sticker:
“You’re a retard, but I love you”
• A D.C. public schools educator offered this tip on her page:
"Teaching in DCPS -- Lesson #1: Don't smoke crack while
pregnant.
• And many more stories at Facebook Fired
EDUC W200 Week 11

7. SHOULD YOU BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT YOU
DO ON YOUR OWN TIME – OR ONLINE?
EDUC W200 Week 11

8. TEACHERS ACTING INAPPROPRIATELY
EDUC W200 Week 11

9. OBVIOUSLY, THIS ISN’T ILLEGAL, BUT IS IT
UNETHICAL?
• Obviously, this isn’t illegal, but is it unethical?
o Obscene pictures
o “I hate my students”
o Drinking
o School-bashing
o Racial slurs
• Washington Post Article
• GCPS Handbook
EDUC W200 Week 11

10. YOUR ONLINE IDENTITY AND THE JOB SEARCH
• One day you will have to find a teaching job. What
would happen if the principals and administrators
saw your Twitter account? Facebook account?
o You can’t just delete it. You can be found.
• Employers asking to see applicant FB accounts
EDUC W200 Week 11

11. ETHICAL ISSUES FOR EDUCATORS IN A TECH ERA
• What About Teachers?
o Teacher doesn’t set privacy settings correctly and loses job over rants.
o Teacher pictured with alcohol from vacation pictures loses job.
o Cohasset Supervisor Resigns Over Remarks About School, Students
• And there are others…, but what about students?
o Student Facebook tirade against teacher is protected speech.
o Student Facebook status update/death threat results in suspension.
(Warning: graphic/violent description)
o Student sue over school punishment for “racy” MySpace photos.
o A superstar teen loses chance to be featured by the Seattle Times
because of distateful tweets
EDUC W200 Week 11

12. THE “FACEBOOK LAW”
• Ban on teacher-student online talk is blocked, will be revised
• Teachers asked to 'unfriend' students on Facebook
• Cyberbullying law protects teachers from students
• When do students and teachers cross the line through social
media?
EDUC W200 Week 11

13. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON TEACHERS’ ONLINE
BEHAVIOR AND CHOICES?
• Should a teacher's online personal life be allowed to
impact his/her professional life?
o Why or why not?
EDUC W200 Week 11

14. THESE ARE ‘RULES’ THAT I (OR TEACHERS I
KNOW) HAVE BEEN TOLD WHILE TEACHING…
• If you eat at a restaurant in town, don’t drink
• Don’t go to the pool in the neighborhood where you teach
• Don’t attend bars, strip clubs, etc… ever
• Don’t buy anything at any store in town that parents might consider risky
• Don’t attend movies in town that any parent wouldn’t want to see you
attending
• For women, if you are a female single teacher and get pregnant, you may
be advised to quit or pretend to wear a ring.
• Dress like an adult. No cleavage. No belly-shirts. No peek-a-boo thongs.
• Talk like an adult (preferably G rated) anywhere.
• Compose yourself like an adult and with restraint
EDUC W200 Week 11

15. BASICALLY, IT BOILS DOWN TO…
• Anything that interferes with your ability to
professionally engage with students or parents…
• Is it enough, to get enough people, mad enough...
EDUC W200 Week 11

16. WHAT ARE SOME METHODS FOR IMPROVING
YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT AND GET HIRED?
The Privacy Policy of Facebook Tips for Online Profiles
• Profile Choices
o Don’t list profile for searching
(check on your options)
o Think about your network
o Do I really need to post this?
o What does it say about me
• Facebook Privacy Job-Aid
EDUC W200 Week 11

17. FACEBOOK ISN’T THE ENEMY…
• Facebook Doesn’t Get Teachers Fired - Inappropriate
Behavior Does
• http://cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2010/09/08/dnt.fac
ebook.in.class.ketv
• It’s our job to teach students about their digital
footprint and how to appropriately act online.
EDUC W200 Week 11