Who's Looking at Your Digital Footprint?

What are the ripple effects of what we post online?

We’re going to discuss what a “digital footprint” is and then watch a news story that gives an example of the potential consequences of your digital footprint.

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Learning Goal: Considerate Conduct

Grades: 9-12 | Activity Type: Extension | Status: X Original | Remix

Be Good People Curriculum © St. Croix River Education District

Digital footprint

All the information online about a person either posted by that person or others, intentionally or unintentionally

Know Your Digital Footprint

• It's growing. Your footprint expands as your information is copied and passed on, making it more searchable and viewable to a large invisible audience.
• It's not just up to you. When other people—like your friends, companies, or groups you belong to—track, post, or share information about you, it becomes part of your footprint.
• It's permanent. Because it's archived in a variety of ways and passed on by others, it doesn't ever go away.

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VIDEO HERE

Why did Harvard revoke the students' admission? What was their reasoning?

In the real world, we can adjust

our voice volume, proximity to others, etc. to make communication more private or more public.

What are some examples of how people make that adjustment online? Do you think the nature of how the students’ posts were shared online was relevant to Harvard’s decision?

On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you agree with Harvard’s decision? Why?

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VIDEO HERE

When the legal expert was asked

about free speech, she noted that the students are legally free to say what they did but that Harvard (and employers) have the right to impose consequences.

How does this align (or not align) with your understanding of free speech? What are the implications/ripple effects of what she said?

When they reported that 35% of college admissions staff used social media to screen applicants, on a scale from 1 to 10, how much did that surprise you? Why?

With this video and our

discussion in mind, what wisdom would you offer to a middle school student about their digital footprint?

Nice work! To recap, we learned more about: