{"id":6875,"date":"2015-09-02T10:14:06","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T14:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/?p=6875"},"modified":"2025-05-21T06:29:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T10:29:39","slug":"tech-rich-ways-students-can-explore-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/tech-rich-ways-students-can-explore-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"I is for Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

3 tech-rich strategies for exploring identity with students<\/h2>\n

\"identity<\/a><\/h2>\n

\u201cWho am I?\u201d is the question at the heart of the adolescent mind. Almost all challenges, tests, and dilemmas relate to the central theme of identity.<\/p>\n

Young adolescents seek to find answers to questions like, \u201cWhere do I fit in?\u201d, \u201cWhat makes me different or special?\u201d and \u201cWhat do I believe?\u201d<\/p>\n

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German developmental psychologist Erik Erikson claimed that the quest for identity is the central psychosocial crisis of adolescence. At this stage of life, humans have the first opportunity to cognitively question their identity.<\/p>\n

As educators and parents, we should support this \u201ccrisis\u201d and give young adolescents ample\u00a0opportunities and tools\u00a0to explore and define their world.<\/p>\n

1. Find safe online spaces for students to share their work<\/h2>\n

The Young Writers Project<\/a> is a long-running online space\u00a0that showcases the amazing writing and imedia production students do as they explore what it means to tell their own stories. The site is populated solely by work written and made by students, with adult mentors and artists providing feedback, and features daily and weekly prompts to help focus the creative process.<\/p>\n

When students post a piece, others on the site can love it and leave comments.<\/p>\n

\"identity<\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the ideaboard<\/a>, where students can jot down and share fragments of ideas, building off of and bouncing off each others’ thoughts.<\/p>\n

What might an ideaboard or a collaborative online writing space look like for your students? Is it a team Google Site? A shared WordPress forum? A privately shared Flipboard magazine<\/a>? What kinds of norms will you set to keep the space safe and supportive?<\/p>\n

2. Use identity as an exploration exercise to\u00a0launch\u00a0the year<\/h2>\n

Tarrant Institute professional development coordinator Susan Hennessey<\/a>\u00a0put together the following identity exploration exercise for teams\u00a0at the beginning of the school year.<\/p>\n

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  1. Explore the Digital Footprint resources from Ask a Tech Teacher <\/span><\/a>to help you define online\u00a0identity. \u00a0In addition, you might want to view the Ted Talks Your Online Life: Permanent as a Tattoo<\/i><\/span><\/a> and Digital Footprints<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Review the Self-Image & Identity lessons in Common Sense Media\u2019s\u00a0Scope and Sequence<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Explore the Digital Footprint & Reputation lessons from the Scope and Sequence.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    3.\u00a0Provide digital portfolios for students<\/h2>\n

    The move toward digital portfolios is gaining momentum as the tools become more widely used and available.\u00a0When students choose which learning artifacts showcase who they are as learners, they’re engaged in the\u00a0important\u00a0meta-work of constructing identity. Choosing how you represent yourself as a learner is a key concrete and manageable step towards understanding who you are as a person.<\/p>\n

    In Randolph, Vermont, 8th graders assemble Google Sites as portfolios\u00a0which they explain to a panel of faculty at the beginning and end of the school year. The\u00a0conversations are really a chance for students to explain who they are as learners.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here, a student at Harwood Union Middle School explains her process for choosing what to store in her Evernote<\/a> portfolio (starts at the 1:00 mark):<\/p>\n

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    \"Mirror