On Tuesday 31st May I was invited to give a seminar at the University of Leicester’s Leicester Learning Institute. I talked about research that I had done with colleagues at the University of Newcastle on the Digital Footprint awareness of university students being an emerging equity issue for higher education. The overview of this research led to a very interesting discussion with those there about equity, digital technologies and cyber ethics. Dr Kerry Dobbins posted a summary of the seminar:

Students who attend private schools may have more opportunities to start curating a positive digital footprint than students at state schools.

The management of your digital footprint is a skill and this skill might need to be taught to some students. For example, research quoted by Rachel indicates that 25% of Australians aged 18-40 admit to posting material of a sexual nature. This poses a risk to the digital footprint that they are creating for themselves.

Students are more aware of the dangers concerning negative digital footprints than the possibilities of actively curating a positive digital footprint for university and career success.

There is a need for universities to provide students with guidance about the management of their digital footprints.

The seminar was recorded and can be accessed via this link.