This week, we had the privilege of hearing from Jesse Miller about various topics concerning teachers. One that stuck out to me was the Digital Footprints of teachers. The concept of a Digital Footprint is not something that is new to me, it has been drilled into my head since middle school. I have always been a very cautious person when it comes to my online presence, especially since I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher. However, I have been very curious about if Digital Footprints truly are as important as people have stressed to me.
In high school, I had a substitute teacher who stressed the importance of Digital Footprints to my entire class by sharing her own story. She mentioned that she had a Facebook account in high school that she no longer has the password for. Unfortunately, she was not careful about what she posted and her digital footprint consists of photos of her partying. She warned our class that this Facebook account has raised questions during job interviews and potentially prevented her from getting jobs. She prompted us to be cautious about our own digital footprint as we enter job searches.
I am very curious to see how Digital Footprint continues to impact teacher candidates. Will many future teachers face backlash for their Digital Footprints or will the current teaching job shortage overshadow Digital Footprints?
