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 Rethinking Students' Digital Footprints:                  The Digital STOMP-print

8/10/2013

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PictureImage courtesy of Pixabay
Over the past week I’ve been thinking a lot about digital footprints.  As a middle school computer teacher, a big part of my job is teaching students about digital citizenship and their online presence.  For those unfamiliar with the concept, think of a digital footprint as the trail you leave behind online.  Comments, posts, tweets, emails, and digital actions of all sorts make up your digital footprint.

When teaching students about their digital footprint, the majority of advice on education websites focuses on recognizing and minimizing a student’s print.  The less of a mark you leave online, the safer you are from online predators, the better it looks for future employers who are searching for information on you, and your private data has a better chance of staying private. 

Obviously, teaching students how to be safe, secure, appropriate, and positive digital citizens is paramount in any computer technology class.  But I began thinking, what if, instead of trying to minimize our students’ footprints, we tried to maximize them? 

What if, when a university or business searched the internet for information on a student, they found page after page of exceptional material?  Not a footprint they were trying to minimize or hide, but a STOMP-print, their own personal mark on the internet.  A collection of work that they were proud to display in the public arena for all to see.  Something that says, this is who I am, this is what I’ve accomplished, and I’m ready for more!

Now, at the younger ages, this might not work as well.  Online safety is a big concern, and it’s not a great idea to have elementary and middle school students posting that much personal information online.  That doesn’t mean students that young can’t start creating content, but it’s probably best to leave that content private until the student reaches high school and is well-versed in online safety and digital citizenship.

But for high school students, creating a digital stomp-print could be an excellent way to showcase a student’s achievements.  Students could write blogs about community service projects, create webpage portfolios to share the major assignments they have completed, use sites like Degreed to create digital resumes and keep track of online learning, and use social networks like Facebook and Twitter to connect to professionals in the fields they are interested in. 

Then, when that student is applying for work or school, they have an entire library of digital achievements which they can easily share and send off.  Plus, when those organizations are searching for information on our students, they will find a myriad of positive websites, full of projects and accomplishments. 

This is not to say that everything a student does over the course of their schooling should be made public and posted on the internet, far from it.  But, rather than focusing on hiding our student’s digital footprints, maybe it’s time we start rethinking our kids’ online presences.  Maybe it’s time to start helping them create pages, profiles, blogs, wikis, and sites that they can be proud of, that they can share with the world.  Maybe it’s time we teach students how to make a unique and positive digital STOMP-print that reverberates throughout the internet. 



Suggested Resources:
  • Wix - Website Creation
  • Weebly - Blog Creation
  • Blogger - Blog Creation
  • Degreed - Digital Resume
  • Linked In - Digital Resume
  • Issuu - Online Publishing
  • Twitter - Social Network
  • Facebook - Social Network
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The Daily Roundup - August 8th

8/8/2013

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Alas!  Due to technical difficulties and an annoyingly unstable internet connection here in Colombia, the Roundup will be taking the day off.  But, we'll be back on Saturday or Sunday with the weekend edition! (fingers crossed...)
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The Daily Roundup - August 7th, 2013

8/7/2013

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Welcome back!  As you may have seen, today was the annual EdmodoCon, a professional development conference that Edmodo puts on every year.  In case you missed, they'll have a rebroadcast before too long (more details to come) On that note, Free Tech for Teachers has a new post covering the recent addition of Educlipper (the pinterest for education) to the Edmodo family.  If you're not familiar with Edmodo, it's a great site for connecting teachers, students and parents.  You can find out more on their site.


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Organizing field trips can be challenging, time-consuming, and downright annoying.  But, they can also be an incredibly rewarding learning experience.  Unfortunately, there are tons of schools in the world that lack the resources to experience field trips.  That's where Edudemic's new post on "10 Digital Field Trips for the Modern Classroom" comes in to play. Technology has made it possible for students to take virtual field trips, and this list covers some of the best options.


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Another day, another new feature from Google!  Today, Educational Technology has a post on the new "In-Depth Articles Feature" from Google.  The goal of the search is to "provide searchers with richer and more challenging content than just the quick answers usually displayed."  The search will happen automatically, depending on the topic you're looking for, and you can read more in this PC world post.


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Rob Waldron at Getting Smart has a great new list of the "Top Ten Ways to Save Money on Ed Tech."  As the article points out, tech is changing at an ever-increasing rate and it can be incredibly difficult for schools to keep up financially (and professionally).  In the post, Waldron outlines ten excellent steps that schools can follow to help manage their technology purchases and budgets.

And, for you math educators out there, Getting Smart also has a post on a new Math Education Blog from the MIND Research Institute.  Their new blog will "feature discussions on a variety of topics from common core to blended learning."  


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Josh Corbat at Teach Thought has a great post about how we can "Make The Most of Limited Access to Learning Technology."  More and more, teachers are expected to integrate technology into their curriculum and yet the resources we are provided are often incredibly limited.  Corbat's post addresses this issues and offers some suggestions on how to succeed with limited access.


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Ed Reach has three new podcasts up from today:
  • The Ghosts of Summer Past, Present and Future
  • WeVideo: Collaborativie Video Creation
  • Back to School with Ed Tech Tips & Tricks


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Katrina Stevens at  Ed Surge has a new reflection posted which covers the2013 Education Technology Innovation Summit that happened a few weeks ago in NYC.  The post, "When Teahcers Unlock the Dungeon" discusses the role teachers play in ed tech creation, the development of new ed tech startups, and plenty more ed tech goodness.


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Mind/Shift has two excellent posts up from today.  The first, by Annie Murphy Paul, is a repost of her article on using student data to predict student outcomes (from yesterday's Roundup). The second post, by Katrina Schwartz, asks, "Does Blended Learning Boost Algebra Scores?" The article discusses a recent report from the RAND Corporation which "tries to provide an objective overview of blended learning."


The Lightning Round...

  • Educational Technology covers the 17 Best iPad Digital Storytelling Apps
  • They also have a new infographic on the 10 Reasons Why Teahcers Use Twitter as a PD Tool
  • The Ed Tech Review discusses 15 Ways Teachers and Collaborate with Students on Facebook
  • Teach Thought has 464 Digital Learning Tools to Sift Through on a Rainy Day (or 10 rainy days...)
  • Edudemic has a new infographic on 17 Tech Terms Connected Educators Must Know
  • And Lisa Nielsen has an upcoming podcast on iLiteracy: Distinguishing Face from Fiction Online

And that's all for the Roundup today!  We'll end with an infographic from Adobe and Edudemic on How to Promote Creativity in the Classroom.  Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

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Courtesy of: Edudemic
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The Daily Roundup - August 6th, 2013

8/6/2013

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Welcome back!  Today we begin at Hybrid Pedagogy with a new post on MOOCs (massive open online courses) in K-12 education, "MOOCifying K-12: Relationships, Collaboration, Risk-Taking."  The post follows Verena Roberts, an educator working to design hybrid online learning systems.  She writes about her experience in creating a system as well as the problems, challenges, feedback, and final reflections.


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If your school was lucky enough to get a set of iPads for this year, you'll probably want to check out this new article from Edudemic (after you beat Angry Birds, or course) "A Practical Guide For Teachers Who Just Got iPads."  The post opens with the most important tip (in my opinion) "Don't Start Collecting Apps!"  Find a few that you love and work with those!  Then slowly grow from there.  It's an excellent post with lots of advice.


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Blogger, speaker, and consultant, Annie Murphy Paul has a new post on her blog that asks "Can Data Predict the Future? And What Should We Do About It?"  Paul discusses the growing ethical dilemma of student data collection and analysis.  More and more, schools are collecting information (often without students and parents knowing) and using that information for all sorts of predictive purposes.  Check out Paul's excellent article for a more in-depth analysis of the issues at hand.


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Mind/Shift has a great article that I missed during the Roundup's break last week, "From Toy to Tool: How to Develop Smart Tablet Habits in Class."  The post raises an important issue: most students see iPads and tablets as toys or, at the very least, devices for entertainment.  How can teachers change that perception and get students to see tablets as a tool for learning? This post offers some great ideas on how to get started!


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Free Tech For Teachers has five new resources to check out:
  • 5 Places for Students to Find Public Domain Images
  • 3 Good Advanced Search Options for Students
  • What is Needed for 7 Billion People?
  • Class Dojo is Giving Away Free iPad Minis!
  • 3 Ways to Look at the World as a Village


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If you're like me, you're probably starting to write (or at least think about writing) some new lesson plans.  Emerging Ed Tech has a great post to help us out with that, "A Few Free Lesson Planning and Classroom Resources for Teachers."  The article discusses how tools like Planboard App and My Lesson Planner can help create lessons and even find new resources!


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Ed Reach has three new podcasts up to check out:
  • EduWin Weekly: Something to Write the World About
  • Marzano Weighs in on Teacher Evaluation
  • Would Curriculum Changes Improve the Dropout Rate?


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Finally, Monica Burns of Class Tech Tips has a guest post at Edutopia entitled, "The Simple Power of a Screenshot."  It always surprises me how many times teachers will attempt to teach something about computers or applications without ever once using a screenshot.  They're so simple and so useful!  To that end, Burns' article discusses the many, many practical uses for screenshots in education.  


The Lightning Round...

  • Edudemic shares a new infographic on Why Should You Try Game-Based Learning?
  • Educational Technology covers the 10 Most Used Smartphone Apps in 2013
  • Getting Smart has Fun New Apps for Learning from EdShelf
  • The Ed Tech Review discusses 7 Great EdTech Incubators Helping Startups to Succeed

And that's all for the Roundup today!  Thanks for reading!  We'll end with a new graphic from Busy Teacher (via Ed Tech Magazine) that I'm pretty sure every teacher will want to hang in their room and hand out to all of their crazy friends who think we only work 3/4ths of the year.  See you tomorrow!
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The Daily Roundup - August 5th, 2013

8/5/2013

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Welcome back to your regularly scheduled Roundup!  I've made it back to South America and our school year starts on Monday... yikes!  Before getting this thing started, I wanted to give two big "Thank Yous!"  First, to the Techlandia Podcast and Alison Anderson for the shout-out on Saturday night's episode.  If you haven't watched it yet, they cover some great tech tools and ideas (in their usual hilarious & rambly fashion).  Second, GettingSmart just posted their list of 50 Great Blogs & Blasts and the Roundup made the cut!  Woo!  So, thank you both very much, and to everyone reading the Roundup, I can't thank you enough for your support, feedback, ideas, shares, and encouragement!


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First up today, the always-awesome Dr. Jackie Gerstein and her blog User Generated Education.  Today, Dr. Gerstein continues her series on "The Other 21st Century Skills" with a post on Empathy and Global Stewardship.  In the post, she defines empathy and global stewardship and discusses what those skills look like in students and in the classroom.  As usual, it's a wonderful read.


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Jamie Forshey at EduTech for Teachers continues to show her love for Thinglink with her monthly special, "The Geeky Girl's Greatest Hits: Volume VII."  In the article she covers her favorite posts, tools and apps from the month including Jigsaw Planet (the free web-app to create online jigsaw puzzles) and Smoovie (an online tool that students can use to create stop motion animations).  Be sure to check out the post for more excellent resources.


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I'm not proud to admit this, but it took me a long time to get on board with Twitter (like only 4 months ago long).  I never really saw the use of it until I actually signed up and started exploring.  Now that I have signed up, I would never go back.  It can be an absolutely amazing educational resource and every single teacher should try it out.  To that end, Edudemic shares, "How Teachers Can Stop Being Scared of Twitter."

And Edudemic also shares a new infographic from Knowledge Works on the 12 Changes Coming to the Future of Learning.  It's definitely worth a look and you can click the image to enlarge it.  

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Free Tech for Teachers has five new resources to share:
  • Science 360 - A Good Collection of Science Videos
  • Widgets to Add to your Classroom Blog
  • Why Historical Thinking Matters
  • iPads Apps to Learn About a New School
  • Smart Kit - School-Safe Games and Puzzles


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Kelly Tenkely at iLearn Technology has a new review of the "Kids Picture Dictionary App."  It's the perfect dictionary app for young students and it includes a self record feature that lets kids record their own sentence examples.  It's an excellent tool for preschoolers and ESL students and you can check out the post for more tips and the full review!


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The Ed Tech Review has a new post covering the "Best Technological Ways to Increase Engagement in the Classroom."  One of the major benefits of classroom technology is that it can increase student engagement like few other tools can.  The ETR's new article discusses some great specific examples on tools and ideas for utilizing all the new technology options that are available to schools.


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Teach Thought has a great post over a new graphic they made about the "7 Most Powerful Idea Shifts in Learning Today."  The post (and graphic) discuss how teaching and learning (and schools in general) are making the shift into the 21st century.  The post covers gamification, blended-learning, self-directed learning, and all the usual suspects.  It's a good read and you can click on the image below for the full size.

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We've talked about Minecraft a lot here at the Roundup, and I'm a big fan of its educational possibility.  If you're not familiar with Minecraft (or you're still not sure it can be used for educational purposes) Wes Fryer at The Speed of Creativity has an outstanding student example in his new post 4th Grade Virtual Tour of a California Mission.  The video example comes courtesy of Holly Clark and it is wonderful!


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Ed Reach has four new podcasts to check out:
  • Google Chromecast - It's Only $35
  • Summer Acronym Summary - ADE, DEN and GTA
  • The EdAdmin Minute: Touch and Effect
  • Gamers & Learning with Heather Robertson


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And, for our grand finale, Pearson shares their vision of the future of education with a collection of videos entitled, "School for Thought."  The collection includes an introduction, an overview of the research that went into the videos, and three different "student stories" that represent the direction Pearson believes education is heading.  Here's Rey's story:


The Lightning Round...

  • Edudemic shares How to Use Your iPad in Music Class
  • They also cover 5 Educational Websites to Keep Kids Learning
  • And Edudemic has a new infographic on The Biggest Online Learning Trends of the Year
  • Educational Technology discusses 9 Great Back to School Resources for Teachers
  • Teach Thought gives us 21 Common Core-Aligned Math Apps
  • Mind/Shift talks about 10 Ways to Boost Your Game for Back-to School
  • Lisa Nielsen has 8 Easy Tips for Starting a Personal Education Blog
  • And of course, don't forget to check out GettingSmart's list of 50 Great Blogs & Blasts

That's it for the Roundup today and again, thank you for reading!  Based on the success of yesterday's     8 Apps To Try This Fall post, I'll try to start writing more articles like that to include in the Roundup as well! See you tomorrow!

-Mike
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