Google Yourself, Calculate Your Online Identity

Solove (2009) identifies reputation as “a core component of our identity—it reflects who we are and shapes how we interact with others—yet it is not solely our own creation” (p. 33). I used Reach Online Identity Calculator to find out what my online identity is. I was surprised to find my Linked in after clicking the second result on the first Google page. The result showed that I was “digitally distinct”. Last November, a company at Bejing in China sent me an E-mail for the part-time job as an interpreter just through collecting the information on my Facebook. On the other side, being so easy to get my information on Internet reminds me being careful with the personal information I share. With the MIT’s Personas project, I only found one item associated with my name.

The use of web2.0 such as web sites, blogs and wikis develops educators and digital students’ personal online identity and provide more opportunities for enhanced learning. Shelly, Gunter, & Gunter(2010) stresses that some Web development programs are user-friendly and available to help teachers and students to create their own Web pages. While designing the web pages, we should to notice to make them easy to read, easy to navigate, well organized, easy to locate, and web pages should be quick to download. I’m so excited to create a new google profile and blog page for comment, reflection, and communication between teachers, students and parents. One important point worth mentioning is that we should convey our students the school and district Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) and the rules of permissible and appropriate behavior to follow before their own blogs are published. I was shocked by clicking wiki history and found how active a wiki is, it’s really a new discovery. But at the same time I also concerned the lack of accountability and credibility caused by the freedom of being written and edited. My group is going to teach Camtasia Studio software next month, preparing presentation, hands-on practice and tutorials these days deepens my understanding the powerful, effective and convenient software and strengthen my confidence of implement the multimedia educational software into class.

We should be aware of our online identities and consider the implications and consequence before we post. The reputation should be cherished and the views in others’ eyes can be only controlled in a limited range, any of us couldn’t avoid the existence of false opinions to us. “The global village not only revives features of the small village but also amplifies and alters them in profound ways.”(Solove, pg. 33) Friedman and Seidman’s video (2007) states that Internet effects our reputation permanently. A small indiscretion may tarnish our reputations and leave a lasting bad impression.

As the educators, we need to pay more attention with what our speech and behavior for gaining outstanding reputation and students’ respect, cause we are the models for our students. Last year, one teacher in my high school slapped his student in class just since the poor boy forgot to bring his textbook, one of the students took a video with his iphone and then uploaded it to his blog. This student’s blog got the highest clicks ratio during that month in my hometown, obviously the teacher lost his job due to his inappropriate behavior.
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References:

Friedman and Seidman’s video Transparency and Connectivity in the 21st Century (2007)

Shelly,G., Gunter, G., & Gunter, R. (2010). Integrating technology and classroom media in the classroom. Boston: Course Technology.

Solove, D. (2008). The future of reputation: gossip, rumor, and privacy on the internet. New Haven: Yale University Press.