Social networking with our students: digital identity, privacy and authenticity

Social media and social networking provide new opportunities for connecting – for students and educators alike. Tools like Twitter and Google+ enable physical classrooms to become virtual, global classrooms, where our students can connect with other students, educators, authors, organisations and events around the world. We must be cognisant, however, of students’ competences, confidence levels and comfort in moving academic discourses to online spaces. Development of one’s digital identity is a process, which often involves elements of identity “play”. In online spaces, encouraging authentic expression of ideas and opinions, while meeting academic requirements, can be a challenging balancing act. This presentation will describe what was learned when one group of 2nd year IT students engaged and participated in, and then evaluated, a collaborative online activity using both Google+ and Twitter – focusing on digital identity, authenticity and privacy Student voices will comprise a significant portion of the presentation.