Last week we had Jesse Miller give a lecture in our class about privacy and safety online. It was a super interesting although, a little bit scary lecture because I had never really thought about the implications of using social media when it comes time to get a job. Sure, I knew not to post pictures of drunken nights out or what have you, or to just make my profile private (and to be honest, I don’t even trust Facebook when it tells me my profile IS private). But I had never gone so far as to Google myself and go into a deep dive of my digital footprint.
Thankfully, nothing weird came out from my Google dive. I rediscovered an old LinkedIn profile that I promptly deleted; and I also discovered that I have a YouTube account – the only thing on there being a video project I had to make for a beginner’s German language class I took at UVic. The main thing I noticed about this exercise was that I didn’t really have a digital presence. I’ve learned in this class that it is good to have some sort of a digital presence in terms of getting hired so that people know that you are out in the world and contributing to the community. This will be something that I would like to work on throughout this program so that hopefully I can stand out a bit as a candidate.
I think the thing that made the topic scary was that technology and the use of cellphones in classrooms is so prevalent currently that it is so easy to get filmed or get a photo taken of you and get it put up on the internet somewhere. When I was in high school, we had our phones taken away and locked up if the teacher caught us using them. In classrooms that I’ve been observing, teachers use phones as an educational tool so most students always have access. I am starting to really understand and sympathize with those teachers who couldn’t figure out how to use the DVD player in class because WOW technology in the classroom has sure changed in the 8 years since I left high school.
The wide use of cellphones is particularly hard for students I would say, in terms of privacy. Everything and anything can get filmed, photographed or screenshot and put up onto the internet. In my high school, there were countless girls who had their boyfriends share private photos with their friends and I couldn’t imagine how that would be in today’s classroom. It was also really interesting to me that Jesse had worked on the Amanda Todd case. I remember that case being a huge news story even in my middle-of-nowhere school. Bullying has always been around, but in this technological age it can be even more damaging and follow you around for years to come. I hope to be the type of teacher that students can come to with their struggles and to at least offer friendly words in times of hardship.
