Australians conduct affairs largely through electronic mediums now, with our sense of belonging to a local, institutional, national and increasingly virtual community tied in with this options. Students, however, have varying levels of digital experience - that is, access to technology at home, with indicators including socioeconomic circumstances (Howell 2013, p. 57). While students may be ‘digital natives’, born into a world that fosters digital expectancy, Digital use is still a skill that requires fostering - One isn't born with the ability use a computer.
The curriculum notes that students must “adapting to new ways of doing things as technologies evolve and limiting the risks to themselves and others in a digital environment.” (Scsa, 2017). However, Estee (2015, p. 126) notes that teachers must be concerned with not just the visible, but the invisible digital identity representation as a critical aspect of helping students cultivate a healthy online presence. This is composed of understanding how data collection of students is cultivating the news and information that they in turn consume - and again in turn, produce. The digital identity that is cultivated is one that, Estee argues, is defined by three aspects - first, it’s regulated, with web companies possessing the ability to regulate the behaviour of people through the flows of information. Secondly, digital identity is made up of non-human cultural ecologies, which exist in a complex matrix of ‘temporal, spatial, physical, emotional, political, social, financial and legal dimensions’ (P. 128). When individuals choose to engage, they become part of a larger matrix in which they are not benign factors, but active shapers who are also being shaped. This opens up the final notion, which is that digital identity ‘refracts’ the internet - each user will impact information in different ways, through their method of harvesting and utilisation. The potential to shape what users see online, and use in their lives, is profound, and an area of intense politicisation.
"What happens if Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, cell phones, GPS< Foursquare, Yelp, Travel Advisor, all these things you deal with every day turn out to be electronic tattoos? And what if they provide as much information about who and what you are as any tattoo ever would?" - Juan Enriquez
In his TED talk, Juan Enriquez discusses how the digital content that we post is the equivalent of a digital tattoo - one that is long lasting, and difficult to retract. It is from this vantage that Digital Identity, and security, should be taught to students, as self-awareness and scrutiny must be utilised above all when caring for ones personal privacy and information. Data breaches, when they occur, will frequently affect individuals on a private level - and so ensuring there is no incriminating information or important identifiers available is critical in maintaining healthy autonomy and privacy.
This week, there was a breach at Equifax, an American Credit card rating Giant, who found itself compromised in a hack over May and June 2017 that found 143 million people's personal details stolen. The breach was a signifier of the age we live in - one where despite our reliance on digital information, a single break in the system can leave our personal lives in danger. Within a teaching context, students are learning at the same speed as teachers that they must be aware of the personal dangers of using the internet - That while they are actively producing content as a biproduct of their identity, that content can be used against them. That identity becomes information itself that needs to be protected, or potentially abused. In educating students of these risks, teachers should consider resources to provide, to help students begin protecting their online selves.
Useful resources for Students and teachers to consider:
StaySmartOnline
Learning about the threats helps prevention, rather than recovery. Teachers and students should sign up to the government operated alert list for updates on ongoing online issues.
AdBlocker
A form of open software, AdBlocker (and affiliates) offer a simple service that prevents third parties from easily downloading their content into your browser and device. Requiring no extra information, this is a safe way of skimming the surface of potential threats away.
Lastpass
One of the first rules of the internet is that a single password isn't enough, no matter how many strange digits it may have.
Have I been pwned?
This handy site offers a very simple service - on the data of publicly leached breaches, the site informs users of whether their email address which was used to verify an account on many of those services has been compromised. This builds off the common problem which was just noted, in that people often don't have passwords for different accounts.
Malwarebytes
Keeping ones device clean of malware is not a simple task, but one that at minimum requires a virus scanner, if a large assortment of websites are visited on a regular basis. Not all virus scanners are authentic, so users should do research before choosing one suitable for their device - This example, Malwarebytes, is one that has a history of being reliable.
References (APA 6th Edition)
Boyd, D., Lyman, P., Ito, M., Davis, M., & Hayden, C. (2005). Why Youth. Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life. Youth, Identity and Digital Media, 119–42.
Estee, B. (2015). The Invisible Digital Identity: Assemblages in Digital Networks. Computers and Composition, 35, 125–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2015.01.005
Howell, J. (2013). Teaching with ICT: Digital Pedagogies for Collaboration and Creativity. Oxford University press.
School curriculum and standards authority (SCSA). (2017).Information and communication technology (ICT) Capabilities. Retrieved 28 August, 2017, from https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/5157/ICT.pdf