1. Supporting Teachers &
Students in the Curation of
their Digital Footprint
Sandy Kendell
Instructional Technology Specialist
Georgetown ISD
Twitter: www.twitter.com/edtechsandyk
Blog: edtechsandyk.blogspot.com
TCEA 2012 Campus Leadership Academy Breakout Session

2. Who is your presenter?

3. What is a Digital Footprint?
Electronic evidence of individuals that is created, transmitted,
and posted through various tools such as:
• social networking sites - Facebook, Twitter, etc
• blogs – writing them & commenting on them
• texting, online chat, & email
• digital images, photos, & videos
• virtual worlds & games
Your digital footprint is primarily created by you, but it can be
contributed to by others who post information about you.

4. Your digital footprint is most accessible
online…

5. …virtually forever…
Did you know all Twitter posts
(Tweets) are now archived by the
Library of Congress?

6. What got me to thinking about Digital
Footprints a couple of years ago…
Digital Footprint Video

7. With our teachers and students, we often
emphasize what NOT to do online. This is
important, of course!
• What are you posting online?
• Where are you posting it?
• Who can see it? Copy it?
• What might they do with it?
• How would others react to it?
o
o
Online viewers don’t know the real you
Funny to you may = offensive to someone else

8. We should help keep them informed through:
• Sharing big changes to social media sites
like Facebook.
o
Have your stakeholders scrubbed their timelines yet?
How are their privacy settings? Could this be a
learning opportunity for your teachers and students?
• Sharing stories of digital footprint mistakes.
o
o
A teacher fired for a photo on Facebook
A high school student Tweet heard ‘round Kansas

9. • Sharing statistics on how
their digital footprint can
impact their futures.
• Reminding them anyone can
copy information from their
profiles at any time. (Do they
personally know everyone
they’ve friended online?)

10. Your Turn! What are some ways you can
keep your faculty and students regularly
informed on digital footprint/online
reputation topics?

11. Don’t forget....
There is a positive side
to digital footprint, too!
We need to balance the
warnings with
opportunities…

12. We can help our
teachers and students
increase their digital
literacy and build a
solid digital footprint…
• Showcase their talents
• Demonstrate passion
about their interests
• Leave tracks that will
increase future learning &
earning opportunities
or college!

13. It begins with you! As a leader, do you
have an online professional presence?
• Online interaction can increase your understanding
•
•
of digital footprint
Do you read professional blogs or magazines
online and comment on them?
If you are professionally active online, do you
share your learnings (& how you learned them)
with your teachers & students?
• You can serve as a role model & have “street cred”
•
•
when you encourage others
You have important things to share
Twitter is an easy place to start

14. Check out these teacher leaders
crafting a digital footprint…
•
Eric Sheninger, principal, New Milford High School,
New Milford, NJ (Don’t miss his post on Twitter in education…)
•
Chris Kennedy, Superintendent of Schools, West Vancouver, BC (He has a neat
post on superintendents as blog leaders…)
•
Jessica Johnson, elementary principal in rural Wisconsin (In addition to
reflecting on educational practice, she likes to spread the word about Twitter…)
•
George Couros, Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning for
Parkland School Division (He has a page on his site detailing the many facets of
his digital footprint…)

15. Don’t be intimidated by the extent of others’
online presence…
Pick one thing – reading & commenting
on others’ blogs, Twitter, or posting to a
simple blog – and give it a try…
Everyone has to start
somewhere!

16. Help teachers and students establish
positive digital footprints…
Encourage teachers to blog & use blogs in
the classroom – they can reflectively write
about education practice and/or communicate
with parents and others about what is going on
in their classroom.
•
Resources: See the next slide
for links to resources which
will help teachers get into
blogging!
Cool Cat Teacher
•
A GeekyMomma’s Blog
•
I Want to Teach Forever
•
Mrs. Yollis’ Classroom Blog
•
There are way too many examples to list!

17. Ideas for getting teachers & students
started with blogging…
• Learning About Blogs FOR Your Students – This series of blog
posts takes teachers through a series of experiences designed
to help them understand blogging in educational settings.
• Three Purposes for Classroom Blogs
• Blogging Unit for Download – A series of lessons for teaching
students about blogging. Aimed at elementary, but the
concepts are easily adaptable to older students.
Image credit
• Learning to Blog Using Paper – Another approach which
teaches students about blogging before they ever touch a
computer.
• 10 Steps to Get Teachers into Blogs – Some of these ideas
might inspire your own ideas!

18. Help teachers and students establish
positive digital footprints…
Encourage collaborative online projects in your
schools. This will also help meet the new
Technology Applications TEKS.
o
o
Students are required to “use
communication tools that allow for anytime,
anywhere access to interact, collaborate, or
publish with peers locally and globally” as
early as grades K-2!
Adds to the online footprint of both teachers
and students

19. Collaborative online project ideas…
• Flat Classroom Projects Flat Classroom
Projects are teacher-led, award-winning
opportunities for students to collaborate globally.
Teachers can apply to become Flat Classroom
Certified.
• Find a cause and turn it into a project (these are
often best spontaneously generated, but you
can be on the lookout & nudge people!)
o Cards for Kenya – from students in
Eldorado, Texas
o 25 Days to Make A Difference
o Many Voices for Darfur

20. Individual student (and teacher) footprints…
Colleges and employers are looking for evidence of character and learning through
digital resumes and ePortfolios. Find ways to work these into your curriculum and
teach students tools for curating their online presence.
• ePortfolio Examples:
o
High School Senior Internship Portfolios – uses Google sites
o
Anthony Chivetta – individually created website
o
Senior Portfolio Emily Rempel – uses LiveBinders
o
ePortfolio Examples – using Google Apps; further links on this site provide
ePortfolio background info and how-tos
• Project Share Epsilen provides a tool for students and teachers to create an
online portfolio.
• Students can create 21st Century Resumes
• Article: The Power of a Positive Digital Footprint for Students.

21. Summing it All Up
Whether we're comfortable with it or not, digital footprints—which
Richardson defines as "online portfolios of who we are, what we do, and
by association, what we know"—are an inevitable by-product of life in a
connected world. Instead of teaching students [and teachers] to be afraid
of what others can learn about them online, let's teach them how digital
footprints can quickly connect them to the individuals, ideas, and
opportunities that they care most about. – William Ferriter
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr11/vol68/num07/Positive-Digital-Footprints.aspx
[Words in brackets added by presenter]

22. Supporting Teachers &
Students in the Curation of
their Digital Footprint
Sandy Kendell
Instructional Technology Specialist
Georgetown ISD
Twitter: www.twitter.com/edtechsandyk
Blog: edtechsandyk.blogspot.com
TCEA 2012 Campus Leadership Academy Breakout Session