I send emails, I blog, I tweet, and I leave comments on other people’s blogs. As I conduct my online activities, I am conscious of my digital footprint, and endeavour to promote a consistent, positive image of myself online.
I have generally been reluctant to share my own image online, a key reason why I found this challenge difficult to undertake.
The Teacher Challenge #4 encouraged us to consider our online avatar, a critical component of our online identity which represents us to the world.
For some months now, I have used one of my all-time favourite photographs, entitled Sunset over the WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle Harbour, as my avatar. It reflects my love of photography and Fremantle Ports, which is one of my favourite photographic destinations.
Now, after reflecting on the implications of Challenge #4 and @brittgow’s advice, I have decided to use a more personal avatar, reflecting my efforts to build professional online relationships with teachers around the world.
I had a play with the various avatar creation tools suggested by Sue Waters on the Edublogger™; however, while I thought they were excellent for use by students in school blogging projects, I didn’t find anything that I liked. So earlier today, I came across the latest Teacher Challenge Post (in my Google™ RSS reader), and had a look through what other participants were doing.
In the course of my browsing, I came across a reference to BeFunky™ (http://www.befunky.com), an online photo editing tool. I was soon hooked!
Here some of my experiments …
In the end, I decided to adapt the photograph on the right (featured on my revised About Page). I’ve uploaded my new avatar to my Twitter™ and Blogger™ profiles, and created a Gravatar™ account, ensuring its consistent appearance next to my tweets and blog comments across the Internet.
So what does my new avatar say about me?
Well, I hope my new avatar says two things about me:
1) I love photography! and 2) No, its an Australian akubra bush hat, NOT a cowboy hat!
Yes, my avatar features THE HAT which has made me famous (or should I say infamous?) amongst my hundreds of students!
Well, that’s it for this week. Once again, thankyou for all the feedback and informal mentoring that has been going on behind the scenes at A Relief Teacher’s Journey. As promised in yesterday’s post, my revised About Me page is now live. Why not check it out?
Yes Michael, your Akubra avatar will be a well recognized online presence which reveals a little of your personality and interests. I am glad you have customized the comments function on your blog to allow comments on each of your posts - it will allow the conversations to flow and allow a greater number of connections with your audience. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks Britt. That problem has now (thankfully) been resolved.
ReplyDeleteI like your avatar. The akubra hat says a lot about us as Australians as well -the layback, outdoors type, mateship, support etc. You are recognisable, identifiable and will be able to build a great network. Glad you were able to work through the issues and that Britt could help you - that does show the power of networking.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about your journey to an avatar that does not hide your identity. What prompted the change of heart? I ask because I think this is an issue that many teachers, in particular, go through when creating online presences: how much of the true me do I show to the world?
ReplyDeleteKevin
I love the new avatar. I really like being able to connect a real face, and it also reflects the theme of your blog. You look like you are on a journeying adventure! Great job.
ReplyDeleteMurcha, Kevin, and Janelle ... Thankyou for your comments and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteDesigning my new avatar was a very challenging experience for me; for as Kevin points out, deciding 'how much of the true me do I show to the world" was not an easy decision to make.
After discussing the issue with Britt via email and Twitter, I came to the realisation that if I want my blogging and Twitter interactions to assist my efforts to build a personal learning network, I need to present a human face.
As I've engaged in Twitter #edchat discussions, and responded to blog comments, I've found most teachers do display a personal image (sometimes edited, sometimes not); and I was forced to agree with Britt that a face is more easy to identify with than an abstract image.
So, my avatar certainly reflects a shift in my thinking about my digital footprint. I've received some positive feedback from my Twitter colleagues, and I must admit the 'infamous' hat has sparked some entertaining online conversations.
Thankyou for all the feedback. My learning journey continues!