A close-up photograph of a security camera mounted on a shiny golden wall.
Photo by Atypeek Dgn

Discretion is Key for Educators in Online Spaces

This week, our class was honoured to have Jesse Miller of Mediated Reality come in as a guest speaker. He spoke on the importance of matters of privacy and safety online, and what this means for both educators and students alike.

Our digital footprint was, in particular, a key point of the conversation. As educators, our public image is often the subject of scrutiny by students, parents and our school administration alike —and digital spaces are no exception to this fact. I was grateful to already have some understanding of this fact, as well as a general understanding of the importance of discretion when sharing in online spaces; when we were asked to google ourselves on an incognito tab, I couldn’t find a single link about myself for several pages of google search results.

A moody, darkly lit photograph of a woman. She is looking to the side, and has a striking projection of red binary code projected across her face.
Photo by cottonbro studio

Looping Students into the Conversation

The importance of discretion and privacy in online spaces is something that took a lot of discussions with my parents and teachers growing up. I’m very grateful to have a host of adults who were fairly knowledgeable about the risks and concerns that came with the internet, even as intentionally spending time online was only growing in popularity. This understanding of how to appropriately navigate online spaces is not intuitive, after all, and as educators it is imperative that we do our best to instill a strong understanding of the rules of the internet, of polite discourse, discretion, privacy, and critical thinking.

While watching informative Youtube videos, like the informative TedTalk by Jesse Miller below, can serve as a strong jumping off point for an engaging discussion with your students on the subject, it is important to follow up such conversations with concrete practice of best practices online for privacy settings and communication.

What are your thoughts on how best to teach the importance of discretion and safe practices on online spaces? Shoot me a comment below to connect!