I believe that having a prominent digital footprint can be very beneficial in today's society, as many professionals use online platforms such as LinkedIn for recruiting. However, we must be very careful with the ways in which we use our online presence if we want to advance our professional network. It has been said time and time again that once you post something about yourself online it can never truly be erased, therefore we must be extremely careful when it comes to our online actions because they can have lasting effects on our careers. I have become very cautious of my online image since starting my co-op because I want to brand myself as a business professional. Before I post anything online I always think to myself - what if my employer saw this?
It seems that the digital literacy age is becoming younger and younger with every passing year. It amazes me how advanced my eight year old sister's computer skills are, but it also scares me because it means that she has the ability to access so many different thing on the internet. For this reason I believe that it is important for youth to learn about netiquette and the possible dangers of the internet. When it comes to netiquette, today's youth should be taught that the online world is not any different than our existing society. We have to apply the same standards and values to our online actions as we would in our everyday life. Just because we don't feel the immediate repercussions of our actions online as we do in the real world does not mean that anything goes.
We must also be respectful of other people's privacy online and learn how to monitor our own privacy. It is important to take the necessary steps in protecting your online privacy while still acknowledging that nothing is truly private once posted on the internet. For example, it is good practice to make your social media accounts private so that only your friends and family who you invite to view your page can access its content. However, as mentioned above, before posting anything on social media ask yourself if you really want this content made public.
My first impression of the Digital Driver's License Test was 'why haven't I already taken this in school?'. I believe that this test could be an extremely helpful tool used in elementary schools for educating young people in appropriate uses of the internet. Based on my results of the test I believe that I am already a good digital citizen but am looking to improve upon my ability to properly use the internet for educational purposes. More specifically, I would like to improve upon identifying legitimate sources of information and knowing when and how to properly cite information retrieved online.
The question on the test that stood out to me the most was number three, which mentioned students with disabilities and their appropriate uses of the internet. This topic appears to be overlooked or people just assume that individuals with disabilities have no reason for using the internet. However, today's society uses the internet so heavily that it would be unfair to keep these individuals outside of the network. I believe that the educational system should put more focus on integrating technology into the lives of students with disabilities and teaching them how they can use the internet to properly support their needs.
