Category: Digital Literacy

Consider your digital ‘brand’

I’ve recently come across this article which has potential impact for students in this course in terms of their digital persona and professional ‘brand’, but also in shaping their understanding of the responsibilities we have as educators, to support students to use the internet as a place for good.

Digital Citizenship Among Students: It Takes a Village shares insights from the experiences of the author from the perspective of a parent and teacher. It emphasizes the need to be proactive in teaching students about social media, what to post, what to write, and how to conduct themselves in online spaces. This could be an important message for teachers who are venturing into the profession, but also those currently working with children in a variety of educational settings.

You can find more about media and digital teaching resources on the MediaSmarts Canada teacher section, where lesson plans and unit guides are available.

Domain of your own

So I’m thinking out loud here – so you can hear it, think about it, consider creating a domain of your own. It’s of course your decision, at this point in your academic journey, whether you think it’s worth the effort. Creating a domain of your own is a badge of recognition, a way others in this big wide world can find you. As a soon to be educator, is it worth the time and effort?

I’ve got two domains to my name. I didn’t have these domains when I started teaching. One is fairly new, created this year. The other is older, but also created to build my ‘brand’ as an educator. You’ll find me at hjdewaard.ca and hjdewaard.com. I’ve also acquired the FiveFlames4Learning.com domain where I keep my blog.

But, that’s not the point of this post. What I’m really thinking about is YOU, as students in this course, about getting your own domain. It costs – there’s an annual fee to be paid. Like a subscription to Netflix, but better because this will directly impact your digital web presence as an educator, not just become a distraction from the ‘real world’.

Here’s a blog post that may get you thinking about this topic – Why a Domain of One’s Own?  There will be lots to consider if you read through the blog post and the comments. The people behind this post and comments are deep thinkers and active creators in digital spaces, recognizable names in the ed-tech spaces and networks. It’s worth a read. Some great conversations may result.

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