Very little remains private in the digital age. Social media present us all with questions about privacy and safe practices online. In our New Media Literacies curriculum for ESL instructors we address the implications of the new media landscape as it impacts students’ lives, looking at what is known about them through their online social media presence as well as what students can know to be true, important or trivial as they wade through the constant stream of information.
In our first lesson What Does the Public Know About You? –Does it Matter?, one of the questions we ask is: what are the risks of creating an online social presence? To explore this we suggest students work in pairs to conduct an online search of each other (or their instructor) assuming the role of an employer – a social networking company that wants to hire someone who is passionate about social networking. Reviewing examples of what they find – that they are willing to share! – we discuss their overall impression of their partner’s web presence?
For lesson plans, activities and online resources check out KQED Education New Media Literacies web page.