Kyler+Albert

=The following is a brief narrative of my experience at this year’s ISTE conference.=

Kyler Albert Gust Elementary, 5th Grade 2010 ISTE Reflection

"Digital footprint." It seems that every technology conference has its share of catchphrases. This year's International Society of Technology in Education conference hosted in Denver was no different. While this phrase lost luster with each utterance (I swear I heard this phrase in virtually every session I attended), the phrase should not be dismissed simply due to overuse. Initially I assumed that digital footprint meant exactly what the phrase implies – my digital trace, or footprints, that I leave behind as I venture out and navigate through various sites, activities, and web-based applications. What I hadn’t expected was an additional meaning for the term. My digital footprint can also be measured in terms of the size of my individual footprint. I actually began to consider my own digital footprint and began to ask myself some questions. Not only do I need to consider my students’ and my own exposure, but I also need to think about the size of the digital footprint in my classroom. For example, are my wikis meaningful? Do I actually need more than one wiki? Do these sites help students learn? Is having Windows, OS X, and Linux represented in my classroom beneficial to students - or detrimental? Do I rely too heavily on computer-based software to deliver content? Several of the ISTE conference sessions offered answers to some of these questions.

To begin with, "Goomoodleikiog" was a presentation that outlined how educators can better integrate Google, Moodle, Wikis, and Blogs into instruction. The presenters shared several real-world examples of how their students worked a project from beginning to end using each tool. The presenters stressed how each tool had its own purpose within the overall project. For example, Google Docs was used to help students collaborate on writing. Moodle was used to keep track of assignments and provide the base from which each student received grades and feedback. Wikis were used to display and share student work. Finally, Blogs were used for reflection and conversations between students. Google, Moodle, Wikis, and Blogs can seem to be nothing more than isolated tools to be used individually. Goomoodleikiog helped me to see that each tool can and should be integrated into an entire process.

Another session that helped me evaluate my digital foot print was Copyright Clarity: Yes You Can Use Copyrighted Materials for Digital Learning." Presenter Renee Hobbs cut through the daunting legalese of copyright law by providing concrete examples of what the law actually states - not a rehashing of the various perceptions that abound. I have always struggled with copyright and have never fully understood what these laws mean in terms my own creations, my own instruction, and the work I expect my students to produce. Hobbs's key questions to ask when considering issues of copyright (Did you add value? Did you repurpose? Did you use just what you need? ) are questions that I feel could be easily and effectively transferred to my students. Her Center for Social Media Literacy has created a document (Code of Best Practices in Fair Use) that is an exceptional guide to the murky waters of copyright law.

A third session made me question whether or not adding yet another digital tool to my classroom repertoire would simply extend my digital footprint to an unacceptable size. “Teach Writing Effectively with Digital-Age Technology” was nothing more than an infomercial for Pearson’s WritetoLearn software. While the presenter did a commendable job of providing first-hand experience using the software in his own instruction, the transition from presenter to Pearson representative was a little too slick for my taste (“Why I’m glad you asked that question…”). When the question of cost arose – the audience became demonstrably more attentive as the Pearson representative danced around the question of price and never gave a firm answer. My distaste for the commercial aspects of the presentation notwithstanding, the presentation made me ask myself some critical questions. To begin with, if I accept the premise that this software is indeed beneficial in increasing my student’s abilities to write more effectively (which is actually a matter for debate), am I prepared to add yet another digital tool? My students already use Gaggle email, Accelerated Reader to keep track of independent reading, Read Naturally to work on fluency and vocabulary, as well as various other programs provided by their math/science teacher. Am I willing to ask them to submit to yet another computer-based application? To me, this is the key question when considering my digital footprint and how the size of my footprint relates to the success of my students. What is the correct balance of computer-based applications and actual paper and pencil work?

A final session that made me address the size of my digital footprint was my own participation in “ How to Leverage Social Networking for Education. A s a member of a panel, the purpose of our discussion was to address issues that surround using social networking in the classroom. Gaggle student email is a good application in which an educator can minimize the size of a student’s digital footprint. Students can go to one source for, word-processing, submitting assignments, teacher-directed links, and communication. Additionally, Gaggle now has a portal feature that eventually will allow the user to access other password-protected applications – thus reducing the user’s time-consuming task of managing multiple passwords and user names (a chore that can be difficult to manage within the elementary school environment).

Gaggle email not only address my concern over the size of digital footprints, it also speaks to the leaving-a-trace aspects of digital footprints. The number one worry when discussing social networking within the classroom with educators is a concern over safety. Educators wonder how they are to manage safety and privacy while allowing students the freedom to create via social networking. Gaggle email assists with these concerns in that it uses a variety of filtering systems that block inappropriate content. Attachments, domains and addresses, and words and pictures can all be managed and controlled by the educator.

While initially being put off by the overuse of the term “digital footprint” during this year’s ISTE conference, my realization that a digital footprint is more than a path leading back to the user will ultimately benefit my students. Because I now also understand that I must consider the size of the digital footprint in my classroom, I now realize that I must constantly and consistently evaluate each piece of technology that I add to my classroom to ensure that the digital footprint of each is appropriate – both in terms of both size and trace.