Reflecting on my personal use of technology and evaluating my personal digital citizenship this week! My introduction to technology use was a land line telephone, television, radio, cassette tapes and typewriters. Yes, I am a baby boomer! Fast forward to the digital age today where all my communication is by cell phone and laptop computer. I consider my digital identity to be clean, polished, safe and responsible because of my value system and how I project these values in society. Technology has not changed who I am. The practical use of tech as an Entrepreneur is important to run our family owned business, communication and managing finances. Professionally, I use tech daily and take a serious view of role modelling responsible use with my students and school staff. I am learning with tech alongside my students!
Everything seems new to me! My children were born into the tech driven, digital age as Gen Y and Gen Z. They talk about a “paperless” society and following “influencers”. Going online for me is communication, online learning and information sourcing. Technology is a learning tool and less for entertainment or sharing artefacts. My personal internet use is youtube videos, finding concerts or listening to audio books (to name a few).
Identity is shaped by many factors. Participation in society and community culture shape relationships by exposure to such things as team sports or attending events to interact physically with people. Internal influences can be self-expressions and media. This is where digital identity can be shaped. Our students/children are using the social network to express who they are by creating artefacts and posting/sharing. Being a citizen in the digital age and living with technology is challenging for children and I feel teaching responsible use is a partnership between the home, parents and the school. We can be the influencers and model safe skill and behaviors.
Mrs. Ramona Alexson 
I like that idea you closed out on. Even as kids follow social media influencers, as teachers we can still become influencers for how they interact online.
Also, I like how you talked about how participation in society is shaped by exposure to other people, and how now part of that exposure occurs online as well. That is why teachers need to be able to expose students to safe examples of online interaction so that they are prepared to talk with other people online. I just think about all of the time I have spent teaching kids the proper way to write a letter or an email. Now, we may have to teach kids the right ways to post a comment to make sure that they are able to appropriately communicate in that space as well. We need to try and give authentic representations of online spaces so students are ready to go out into those worlds on their own.
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I appreciate that you’ve aligned your digital identity with your core personal values. It is refreshing to hear someone striving to put authenticity and integrity into their online interactions. To be honest I have grown cynical about “influencer” culture as it is obvious that many of them are carefully curating what they put out into to the world for the purposes of marketing themselves (and the brands they partner with). I don’t think that you should sell yourself in terms of technological literacy – I imagine the greatest generation looked at the baby boomers and saw how easily they were adopting the technologies of their time (my grandpa for example preferred the radio to the television because it was what he grew up with and knew best) with envy as well. It is all about perspective. Our current students will probably look at their own kids the same way 20 years from now.
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Hi Ramona,
I appreciate your post this week because it is an exciting perspective on how complex digital identity is for ourselves and students. I also like that we shouldn’t be passive in helping students with their digital identities. As teachers and parents, we could be ‘influencers’ in students’ lives. Finally, I am excited by the prospects of how students use the digital world to express themselves. I think we are going to see more and more creative artifacts made by students, content creators, educators, and artists. Sometimes, I think we could be on the cusp of a cultural explosion due to how many young people have access to amazing and expressive technology.
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