To blog or not to blog, that has been my ongoing dilemma. Don't get me wrong, I love reading other people's blogs and have learned so much that it has changed the way I teach. Perhaps the best example of this was the challenge from the blog "TeachPaperless" (although it is now closed, it still has great information in the archives). Anyway, having retired from education and then returning again, I vowed to make some changes in my teaching methods and because of that blog, teaching in a paperless environment was the first change I made. All assignments were assigned and submitted digitally and it turned out, it was not as hard as I was anticipating. In the beginning, I was a bit apprehensive, because I was a former printing fanatic. I mean "before retirement", I printed EVERYTHING and I always had a difficult time keeping up with paper jungle I had created. But once I took the plunge, the benefits were abundant! I could easily keep track of assignments, see when they were submitted, review and comment on them online and quickly refer back to them if I needed to. I even learned how to make a website, so I could post all my assignments online and now I can easily access and tweak my curriculum each year. I can't ever imagine going back to my old wayward ways!

I'm getting off track...talking about whether to blog or not to blog has been something I have wrestled with for awhile. I mean what could I possibly have to offer that isn't already out there? But I have just enrolled in a MOOC (Massive, Open, Online, Class) called DigiFoot12 and our first challenge is to create a PLN (Personal Learning Network), so with that incentive and challenge I will make an attempt to put myself out there, offering my Visions and Viewpoints regarding using technology in the classroom but at the same time welcoming other individuals Vision and Viewpoints as well.
The first topic I will be addressing is the Digital Footprint, what does it mean, who does it affect, and do we have any control of what our personal footprint contains?
This introductory video from Common Sense Media does an excellent job of introducing the topic.

Student Intro Video: The Digital Footprint

Animated intro video from the middle school Privacy unit that asks students to think about how whatever you do or say online is permanent and can be found by other people.