Skip to main content

Beat The Rush; A Web Domain For Every Learner





...tomorrow's adults will need an online home that they control. They need an online home, a place where they tell the world who they are and what they've done, where they post their own work, or, at least, some of it. Dan Gillmor


The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when James Marshall struck gold at Sutter's Mill. A mix of good and bad, the "Forty-Niners" accelerated development of the western United States. 

 At noon on April 22nd,1889, fifty thousand settlers charged into Oklahoma to each stake their claim of 160 acres of unassigned free land. The lack of civil authority invited thousands of immigrants, "Sooners," to stake out prime parcels in advance of the official Oklahoma Land Rush. Once again, a mixture of good and bad policy but the event forever impacted westward expansion in the United States.

 Today, there is another rush to acquiring space and value, and it is occurring on the Internet. Those people not staking their claim could find themselves out in the cold wishing they would have registered an Internet domain name while they are inexpensive and readily available.

George Couros, in a recent post, says there are three things students should have before they leave high school; a personal learning network, a digital portfolio, and an About.me page. Although a bit incomplete, I am enthusiastically supportive of George's list. However, Audrey Watters stretched my thinking by recommending each student "own their own registered domain instead of relying on a third-party provider." It was her suggestion in the comments section of George's post that prompted me to register domain names for my sons using the recently introduced, Google Domains.

 Will Richardson, during his ISTE 2012 Ignite presentation, "20 Bold Ideas For Change", recommended every student become well Googled by high school graduation. For approximately one dollar per month, a registered domain name will provide the opportunity for each student to pursue this worthy goal of creating a positive digital footprint.
Deep Thinking Opportunity:  At what point does the value of a positive digital footprint exceed the value of a high school or college diploma?

 Here are several additional reasons why purchasing a domain name for every student provides substantially more, and longer lasting, value than purchasing iPads, Chromebooks, or Surface Tablets.

  1. As the world, and school, becomes increasingly more digital, where will students archive the mementos of their learning? Where will they share their stories?  A domain name, FirstnameLastname.com, can be their cloud-based, three-ring binder for displaying their learning and educational growth.
  2. Registering a domain name helps students establish and protect their online identities. Students are more likely to make sound decisions when they have invested thoughtfully, and shared transparently with an authentic audience.
  3. Whether providing residence for a blog, website, or digital portfolio, a domain name helps students display their competencies in an easy-to-find, personal way.
  4. Registering a domain name allows students to take ownership, and more importantly, responsibility for their name. The age of the paper resume has passed. A registered domain name allows recruiters to quickly find and evaluate what has been shared. For the learner, this raises the performance and accountability stakes in ways standardized tests can't.
"Don't leave it to Google to decide what people see when they search for you." - Harry Guinness
It's reasonably clear to see the social and economic value of owning a domain name. The traditional concepts of school and education need to be stretched, hammered, and shaped to allow a clearer vision of the educational value of every student building a digital presence grounded in their domain name. With the justification (why) spelled out, purchasing and establishing a personal domain name is fairly intuitive, particularly with a simple, one-click does it all product like Google Domains. The resources below will help explain how students can get started in establishing their digital presence.
I think schools and districts would find great educational value in purchasing domain names for all of their students. Do you agree? Does your school or district purchase domain names for your students? If so, I would enjoy hearing how it's working out. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome in the comments section.

Related Resources



photo credit: coin foliage via photopin (license)
Labels:
Location: Libertyville, IL, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Teachers Can Learn From Effective Coaches

In my educational world teaching and coaching involve the same processes. The people that impacted my own learning most significantly were coaches. Could it be that great coaches were ahead of their time with respects to instructional best practices? Let's take a look at ten coaching practices that thankfully have found their way into the classroom. http://www.coachwooden.com/files/PyramidThinkingSuccess.jpg Standards-based Grading - coaches aren't concerned with arbitrary measures of success such as letter grades. Great coaches identify a requisite set of skills that are necessary for advancement and success. Promotion and achievement are based upon clearly identified levels of skill mastery.  Authentic assessment - coaches are looking for their athletes to demonstrate their skill mastery under game-like situations. The best coaches incorporate game simulations and competitive, game-like drills into their practices. Winning coaches will use the contests as assess
Post a Comment
Read more

Board Games in the School Library: 3 Reasons Why It's a Winning Play

"Play is the highest form of research."  - Albert Einstein “Play is the work of the child.”  – Maria Montessori In our recently remodeled school media center, we have a space dedicated to active engagement in fun learning activities. Part maker space, part literacy lounge, board games are being incorporated to promote a culture of joyful learning. Whether it's a game of Rummy , Yahtzee , or Scrabble , family game night serves as a communication elixir and solidifies our domestic climate of togetherness. Shouldn't similar opportunities for interaction, challenge, and fun exist somewhere in our schools? Broken families, cultural fragmentation, and poverty are impacting opportunities for children to play. As we unpacked and tagged our new media center games, I was more disappointed than shocked by the number of students who had never played Monopoly , Boggle , or Sorry . One skeptical teacher commented, "Oh great, now we're letting students pl
2 comments
Read more

Self-Directed vs. Self-Determined Learning; What's the Difference?

"We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us, and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves." - Stephen Downes In this age of abundance of information, shifting classroom pedagogy isn't nearly enough to make learning in school more relevant and authentic for the learner. Self-directed learning ( andragogy ), and self-determined learning ( heutagogy ) are the ideals necessary in making students " future ready " to live and learn in a web-connected world. While original research applied these concepts to mature learners, it has become apparent that even young children have an abundant capacity for recognizing and directing their learning. Anyone who has observed toddlers learning how to walk and talk understand the motivation and skill development that quickly develops during these processes. Considered by some to be on a learning continuum, self-directed learning, and self-determined
Post a Comment
Read more