I get nervous about students sharing information online, both in connection to classroom activities and their personal lives. In my Entrepreneurship class student created businesses need to have an online presence, therefore we discuss how that looks and I monitor their project. This has worked out favourably as students have sometimes done a good job of marketing their products online. This has worked unfavourably as students have misused their business accounts and it impacts them, their businesses and the school. As this is specific to marketing and business, I feel that this can be taught as we have many examples of local businesses who have excellent online social media marketing.
As far as personal student use I have a few experiences of misuse. A student posted a picture of me on their twitter without my knowledge, making a joke about my stealing a bag I was moving. Another time a student tweeted that our school was in Lockdown mode when in fact we were in a Lockdown drill. In both instances students failed to see the greater impact outside of their circle of peers. The one about me was a violation of my privacy and was implying through a poor choice of words that I was stealing from students. The Lockdown tweet could have had media, parents and law enforcement concerned.
In the general sense it seems that students fail to see how their online sharing is not one big joke and the extension beyond them, also how it will be around FOREVER. I have voiced my relief to students about how when we did something stupid as teenagers “back in the day” people talked about it for a week or so and then they moved on. Now things are recorded, posted, shared and permanent. The second someone is doing something that stands out people are recording it, that goes for adults too.
How can we teach students to really be cognizant and respectful of themselves and others about online sharing? I know there is a lot of education out there about digital citizenship, but is it really getting through to them?
Amy B 
Hey Amy! I completely agree with you. Students do not know the impact they can have outside of their little bubble and a lot of them are not mature enough to deal with the consequences that come with and online presence. At my high school, we struggled with cellphones and lockdowns too. As a staff, we’ve discussed if we take the phones or leave them (take them because it’s a hazard and potentially dangerous or leave them because they are quieter and occupied with them)? It’s a debate.
I would be interested to hear more about your business project though and how you integrate the setup of an online profile? We too have a business course but I’m not sure if we use online marketing. Do you model it for them? Show examples? Have you ever tried using something like LinkedIn for your students to create professional profiles? Could be a good resource if you haven’t used it before!
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