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. DIGITAL TATOO
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. CYBER-SLEUTHING
• It is now 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 SocioClean
• ULA demonstration – What is your score?
o SocioClean job aid on W200 website week 11 page
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. ETHICAL ISSUES FOR EDUCATORS IN A TECH ERA
• 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?
• 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”
• The "Facebook law" in Missouri (Proposed Effect Date: Aug.
28, 2011)
• Ban on teacher-student online talk is blocked, will be revised
• Teachers asked to 'unfriend' students on Facebook
EDUC W200 Week 11

13. DISCUSSION
• What is your opinion on teachers’ behavior online?
• Should a teacher's online personal life be allowed to
impact his/her professional life?
• Why or why not?
• What about student behaviors?
EDUC W200 Week 11

14. REALISTIC RULES FOR EDUCATORS?
• 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 a female single teacher gets pregnant, they may be advised
to quit or pretend to wear a ring.
• Dress like an adult
• Talk like an adult (preferably G rated)
• 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…
• But really – is it enough to get enough people mad
enough...
EDUC W200 Week 11

16. FACEBOOK
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. YOU CAN BE PROFESSIONAL ABOUT YOUR ONLINE
PRESENCE: EXAMPLES OF PROFESSIONAL GROUPS
EDUC W200 Week 11