A digital tattoo, much like a real tattoo, is very hard to remove. Trish Rosseel, from the UBC Library, began the panel discussion at the 2009 Canadian e-Learning Conference by referring delegates to a few examples of very public issues which were brought to the forefront with social networking tools. BC NDP candidate Ray Lam’s withdrawal from an election after inappropriate photos were leaked and a Canadian Border Services fiasco were shown as examples of how students need to be aware of the potential consequences of posting information online. There are nearly 25,000 Facebook users at UBC, and social networking tools are used by a high number of young adults (55% of 18-34 year olds have placed a personal profile on at least one online social network or community). The Digital Tattoo project was designed with the clear goal “to help students become aware of their rights and responsibilities as creators and consumers of digital information in their personal, academic, and professional lives”. Trish indicated that the Digital Tattoo project was meant to increase student awareness of issues when posting information online, and to give suggestions to students on how to protect themselves and stay safe online.
Cindy Underhill from the Office of Learning Technology (OLT) noted that the learning design they chose was a non-linear one, so that students can use the website as they see fit. Students do not have to view all of the information in a particular order, but instead, they are encouraged to seek the information that they desire. The site is interactive, with polls, self assessment checklists, and a comments section that users can contribute to. Relevant news stories are also brought onto the site and commented on. One of the purposes of the site was to bring awareness of issues relating to online use, and to not identify participation in online social networks as a problem.
Elizabeth Walker, a grad student who has been working on the Digital Tattoo project since its beginnings in the summer of 2008, noted that the website was designed as much to inform students about privacy settings and the permeability of posting information online, as it was to help students promote themselves online in a positive light. For example, by making use of the privacy settings on social networking sites, students can keep a professional online presence and avoid having their foibles made public, as was the case in the examples brought forth by Trish. The Digital Tattoo is designed to guide students to resources so that they can find out more information about what they are getting into, such as the social network Facebook.
Elizabeth went through the website, and noted how pictures, videos, and screencasts have been effectively used to inform students. One of the popular screencasts has been on how to set cookies and privacy settings. Elizabeth seems to think that this is because students know about these settings, but are not really sure how these settings are supposed to be properly set.
Novak Rogic, also from OLT, talked about how the website was developed and walked delegates through the design of the website. The Digital Tattoo was built on UBC’s installation of the WordPress Multiuser blogging software, and uses UBC’s single sign-on process to login (CWL). Novak noted that one of the big characteristics they wanted with the website was the ability to republish information and repurpose it very easily.
So what does the future hold for the Digital Tattoo? There are plans to seek out more partnerships, add more screencasts, and have more people contribute to the blog posts on the site in an effort to give students different perspectives. Trish said that the team is eager to extend the reach of the digital tattoo beyond UBC to perhaps K-12 or other post-secondary institutions, and that they want to develop a plan to access student learning on the website. It looks like the Digital Tattoo is here to stay.