Owning Your Digital Identity

... a journey through digital personas and reputations

I'm starting with some basic assumptions...
• you are online
• you have an email account
• you may use online conveniences [banking, income tax, savings bonds, pension plan, OCT, benefit inquiries, passport]
• you may use online services [paypal, ebay, iTunes]
• you may engage socially [twitter, facebook, skype, chat, wiki, blog]
• someone you associate with owns a digital camera [you've been tagged - did you know?]
• someone you know uses twitter, facebook, skype ... and mentions you.
So... even if you *think* you are not known virtually... you are.

Let's talk about your digital identity...
I used to try to avoid a digital trail, to lurk and go unnoticed... so a lot of my accounts used aliases and avatars. I did not even post any pictures. But eventually I realized I had no control over others (and cameras are everywhere now) - so now I select the kinds of images I hope will represent me... (though a small .PNG file of my windsordi avatar is still most likely how you'll see me as it's known and is a tiny reusable file).
I previously lurked and read the works of others, but never posted comments and shared little of my own. But over the years I've changed ... I've embraced the concept of open learning and sharing thanks to solid teaching and modeling by fine folk like @courosa, @shareski, @dougpete , @suewaters and a host of others in my PLN. Instead of trying to *hide my assets*, I have learned to *share - but be digitally aware*.
I live online, I track my digital footprint, I take care with passwords and I regularly review my digital reputation and identity.

First stop on the journey... Can you avoid all this digital identity stuff?
The short answer is NO. ... no more than you can avoid using the internet. Services and business are now online, your government expects to serve you online. Indeed it is almost impossible to not be offered virtual contact as the primary point of contact, with some secondary grudging possible options for a *real life* person.
How fast is this moving? An excellent brief review of the current Forrester research in this area is provided by Jeremiah Owyang in his business blog. It's coming if it's not already here in your life - interacting in a social network across connected services will be the norm.

So.. you have to function here... can you be private about it?
MAYBE... but remember - others won't be
• anyone can see who you talk to (check out Twitter Friends)
• and, of course, who they talk with... and "share" you with (Twitter Friends)
• and the reputations of company you keep (TwitterSheep)
and I'm not even going to start on photo sharing and Facebook - that's another entirely separate discussion!

Remember - the social tools expect that you have this "connectedness". You need it for many of the tools to function.
Just like you carefully built and nurtured your financial and credit rating during your teen and early adult years;
Just like you built your professional accreditation and reputation;
Now it's time to build your online reputation and social credibility.
Nothing to be afraid of - just some practical steps.

Tools that know who you are (HINT: use them yourself!)
Let's talk tech for a moment... how do these tools work? How do sites know about you... the key words to know are microformats, RDF and FOAF.
Microformats are the unseen bits and pieces that any site provides to enrich the content being presented. RDF and RDFa are ways of repurposing the visible content on screen... and FOAF - which stands for friend of a friend, is the way your connections get tracked and linked. All this information may not even be visible to you on the site... but it is there, it can be scraped, and there are tools to view it and collect it. Don't be afraid of it - be aware of it. Use it yourself.

Want to see these tools in action? ... then download a couple of the popular Firefox browser plugins and check out a Twitter profile.
OPERATOR
IDENTIFY
These browser add-ons or toolbars allow you to easily see the microformat data on the page - and to see how quickly the information can be collected and shared.

Google makes good use of the microformat data and is very efficient at aggregating it into a user profile. Here's my google identity.
And there are browser tools that let you tap into this information live from any web page you are on... Identify: Google People With Two Keystrokes

Why it matters - your Online Reputation and Credibility
You should be aware of the need to track and manage your online identity - not as a horror story approach, but rather as an awareness that digital hijacking is possible... your reputation can be pwn'd. Some reading for you...
Why, When & How to Protect Your Brand Online
A Guide to Protecting Your Online Identity

So - know your digital footprint - know where you live online. Use some of the online services to track your identity:
• See who *else* is presenting as *you* - try UserName Check. This tool is intended to allow you to test a possible user name across many social sites at once... but it's great at reporting where your current user name is in use. Spot any that you don't think you have an account at?
• Once you've claimed your Google ID, plug it into the next link then scroll down to see Site Connectivity - who's claiming to be connected you?
• ..and the most basic option of all, of course, is to Google yourself! You may be surprised at the pages of information about you... and see some things you had not expected.


The Wrong Way - The Right Way
- too many logons and passwords to remember?
- letting the browser or computer *remember me*?
- use the same password EVERYWHERE?
- have stickie notes stuck to your monitor?... or under your keyboard?
- using obvious security questions?
- actually told the truth about your birthday?
- flagged or pinned your home location on a map?
If so, you may be guilty of being careless with your information. Time to tidy up.

Let's talk password management and levels of logon... I'd recommend using an OpenID tool rather than trying managing a string of passwords. The concept of having an online identity management system is not new...companies have been trying to own this space:
- 1999 - Microsoft "passport" (now Windows Live ID)
- 2008 - "Facebook Connect"
- 2009 - "Sign in with Twitter"
[Note: see a comparison of these last two.]
You need to understand how these services operate and then use something that fits your online style.

What is OpenID?
OpenID is a way of identifying yourself no matter which web site you visit - an account creation tool and a logon option where you choose how much web sites get to know about you. You do NOT have to provide all the personal detail some sites think they have the right to ask. Two great, easy-to-read sites explain the concept...
http://openidexplained.com/

http://openid.net/

How to get an OpenID? Surprise! You may already have one. If you use any of the listed services, you already have your own OpenID
I really like to use a PIP - a Personal Identity Portal format for my openID. Verisign - one of the trusted names on the net offers a personal certificated OpenID service.

Once you have one, where can you use your openID?
Many sites now offer this as a logon alternative. If your site doesn't, use their "contact us" link and ask why not!

Remember - have different levels of *you* - you can have different openIDs for different levels of risk. One for your open sharing social media sites... another one for serious interactions or purely professional logons. Remember that this virtual persona will accumulate all the microformats bits of data into a viewable ID.
I've been asked how to replace the current crop of sloppy passwords at existing sites, with the new, clean OpenID. There is no easy answer here - yet. Some sites will let you reset completely, but most just allow new passwords, not new user logons unless you are willing to lose all your accumulated data and start fresh. You'll have to decide for yourself where to cut loose. But trust me - you will be joining new sites and signing on for new online services... from now on, vow to stay clean with one OpenID.
Is this ID any safer than a strong password? No - if you are casual with the logon to the site you use as your OpenID and stick it to your monitor, then you are at as much risk as before. You still have to be responsible with your data. You still have to start with one STRONG password. There's just a lot less to have to remember.


Shaping the Public *You*
You do have the power to correct and shape the microformat data that accumulates in your online ID. You can selectively emphasis the friends you are proud to associate with! FOAF-a-matic is a simple online form approach which lets you describe yourself in RDF ( not all that difficult - honest!) and gives you a simple line of code to embed into your wiki, blog... etc.
And there are FOAF tools to let you see the result... try FOAF.Vix - a FOAF Visualizer and Relation Explorer.

If you just want to simply edit the information already collected, and not be bothered with embedding any code then follow these helpful hints - "Now You Can Change What Google Says About You" (even easier to do !)

If you create a valid ID for yourself, populate it well, and update it regularly - it becomes much harder for someone else to become you virtually. Real identity theft is always an ongoing problem, but reputational theft becomes much harder. Online sources and data accumulators rank the data they collect... if you shape the bulk of it and populate it with the "good stuff" about you, the bad and misleading will still appear... but much lower down the list.
Earlier we visited my google ID... now you can see why it is as rich as it is. It is shaped with the good stuff... and I can alter it at will.


Open Learning plug...
Now that you know... teach your students... don't *assume* they get it!
As students join social media sites or build class wikis, they should start with one secure OpenID.
As they start out into the co-op and work world, they should learn to shape the public persona they present.

I offered this dialogue as an online PD session recently for the Ontario Educators' Meetup . You can listen and follow along with the chat in the recording of that Connect session .
Take a moment to check out the results of the online polls. How do you rate yourself?
• How many of these online identity bad habits are you guilty of?
• What do you know about openID?
• How many of there pro-active steps have you done for your online ID and reputation?

Any questions?
________________________

UPDATE: Saw this related interesting article... a nice follow-up and further food for thought... Opinion: I got yer privacy right here, pal

Gaming on education

The game of school: game theory has something to say about education
There's a think-tank session coming up in mid-May on this topic (more on this later), and in advance I'm really digging into current theory and controversy in this area - and there's a lot!

Let's start:

Getting your head around a more expansive understanding of serious gaming and its implications for the future of learning and education? Here are some thought-provoking background resources as an initial jump off -

The concepts and ideas on Clark Aldrich’s blog provide lots of food for thought - samples include:

1) Aldrich's time line for how he envisions the next five years will play out in terms of gaming and simulations and learning/education;

2) A venn diagram outlining the convergence:

3) An interesting interview transcript:

easily way of summarizing this approach is, "the world has changed - what schools need to teach should also change." But that simple statement will be hard, perhaps impossible, to achieve because schools have a dark secret. They rely on media. Schools can only teach in a way that is predictable and scalable if they rely on mass media. And again, because media today is linear, it forces a focus on passive "learning to know" skills rather than active "learning to do" skills. Schools today can't teach big skills like leadership, innovation, stewardship, and relationship management because they are not supported by today's linear media. Thus learning how "to do" is unscalable.

A different take on gaming and online life

South Korea has heavily gone down the road of integrating internet into education.
Watch the excerpts from "Digital Nation" recent PBS special on S Korean kids:

PBS: Last October we traveled to South Korea, one of the most advanced digital societies in the world. We wondered if Korea has any lessons to teach the rest of us as we move forward in the digital age. Much of the footage we shot on our trip aired as an episode of FRONTLINE/World on April 13, 2009.

.. I found both the segment with the kindergarten class being rotely taught netiquette (in isolation from actual use) as a standard part of the curriculum, and the "detox" center for gaming addicted children to be fascinating clips of what can go wrong.

My thought process...

Over the next bit, in the lead up to the Knowledge Ontario Ideas Forum (to be held in Toronto on May 21st at Oakham House, RyersonU) I intend to update and post what matters to me in this discussion space, and well as over on the main NING space set up for the forum...

Please add to the debate and share some ideas with me...

... in passing.

Dave Payne (1945 - 2009)
Dave Inverarity (1977 - 2009)

Lost two friends this weekend - both named David... both an integral part of my personal community.

Complete opposites to each other, and so representational of the yin & yang of my life.

Both highly skilled with their hands and their minds...
one in the ages-old craft of woodworking;
the other in the bleeding-edge design of the web 2.0 world.

Very different to work with...
one with a very laid-back, reflective manner;
the other with a hyper, "center-of-attention and loving it" attitude.

Very different to talk to...
one who listened, having retired with the years of wisdom earned from seeing it all;
the other who debated with youthful vibrance and was ready to "show the world".

Both living a life of giving back to their community and helping others.

One black, one white... both with hearts of gold.

They will be missed.

Free Images Online? - yes... and maybe. What the fine print means & sources to consider

A simply explained piece touching on what "free" really is, and what the nuances of using Creative Commons images are - very useful as an introductory article for K-12 classes (and for the rest of us too!).

Links are provided for more detail on the finer points, and for a number of sources of free images.

read the full article

A Year-Long Challenge for 2009 (with global support!)

I've always loved to shoot photos - won't say that I'm that great... but I like to catch the details and the quirky things that catch my attention. (Like a clever squirrel who defeated my "squirrel proof" bird feeder, then boldly stared me in the eyes to have the last laugh!)

There's been a healthy round of discussion during this past week in my Personal Learning Network (PLN) group on Twitter as members have shared their personal satisfaction and the success they felt at the completion of the 2008/366 Flick'r photostream challenge. It was a simple enough sounding activity... to commit to taking a photo each and every day of 2008, and to upload those photos daily to Flick'r, in either a personal photostream, or to the group stream (tagged 2008/366).

Some found it got to be onerous and dropped or skipped days; others found that they had actually loaded over 2000 images and produced end-of-year movies! All had comments to make - the sense of completion, the personal growth, and of their increased awareness with the world immediately around them... and it was suggested the group reform for 2009 - new members welcome, of course!

So - it's on again - to take a photo each and every day of 2009, and to upload those photos daily as well to Flick'r - with a set name of 2009/365. The group is posting a common photostream, or you can just do this as a personal/private challenge.

I'm going to try to be a part of the 2009/365 photostream group at Flick'r, as well as posting my own stream... we'll see... you can see the start of my stream and follow along as my 2009/365 set grows (hopefully!) Not setting any lofty goals here - just to try to stick through to completion, and to hopefully grow a bit as a photographer, or at least have fun trying!

Why start something like this?
Well - because my fellow tweeters said they'd had fun and learned from it, and were willing to be a support group for this coming year.
If you are a Twitter user, you know that the Personal Learning Network of colleagues you build there can span the globe. You select the voices and conversation streams you want to follow, based on their willingness to share expertise in areas of common interest. (In my case those areas would be elearning, social media, virtualization, web 2.0, 21st Century literacies for learners, libraries, web design, technology advances, etc. - as well as anything mac-related and some personal friends and family)

My PLN group spans 7 of the Canadian provinces, as well as 5 other countries! We converse 140 characters at a time, we share blog posts for broader debates, and even gather in occasional virtual Connect meetings to have indepth sharing and group discussions... but I've never *actually* met most of them. I'd not likely recognize most of them if we passed on the street. Some I only know as nicknames and avatar images, so I might not even make the connection if formally introduced somewhere!
But I've grown to know their "twitter voice" and the way they are willing to share ideas and answer questions... I've picked and dropped those I choose to follow as my interests have changed, but the current core group is a solid bunch and I think they'll be a good support group!

Wish us luck!

PS: a widget over on the left margin always reflects my most current tweets on Twitter and offers the link to follow me if you also Twitter)

2D Coding (cont'd)

2D Coding - it's the new format of condensed information, and you'll start to see these patterned tiles everywhere... Think of them as condensed barcodes, with the ability to embed up to 160 characters of text, web links, phone numbers, skype contact names... any key information snippet that you want to share. Anyone with the decoder (which runs on any camera-equipped cell phone or mobile device) can quickly "snap" the image and instantly decode your message.

Check the back of the new Ontario driver licences and OHIP cards, and you'll see the denser smart card version of the same technology in use.

I blogged about this earlier ( Nov23rd, 2008) but finally had time to go back and play some more. So... here are my messages for you... Check out my favourite web site:

...or connect with me here ~

Expect to see these 2D codes appearing on business cards, posters, t-shirts, coffee mugs... anywhere you can think of posting a key bit of information that "those in the know" can read!

Build your wild self

Okay... so when every web 2.0 site you engage in wants an image of you, you may as well have some fun! Build yourself a simple fun avatar.. if you feel really creative, pull it over into your fav online image editor and add a few personal details... and away you go... http://www.buildyourwildself.com/

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Converged Devices - Snappr & 2D Codes (Tame The Web Blog)

Converged Devices, Barcodes & the Future"2D Codes identify an object uniquely... big difference is that 2D Codes can be used to virtually identify anything! Just create a 2D Code and put it on something - Like a shirt, a flyer or a business card." Michael Stephens gives a clear summary of possibilities using 2D codes with converged devices.

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