Students should do this every 3-6 months. While many will Google their names, we need to teach them to dig deeper. Here are some general guidelines to follow:

• Log out of internet browsers before searching (staying logged in can affect the results).
• Search (using quotation marks) full legal names, nicknames and usernames.
• Search Google Images with names/usernames.
• Use multiple browsers, such as Chrome, Bing, Yahoo, Safari and Firefox.
• Look beyond the first page of the results. Go at least five pages deep until the name/username no longer appears. Take note of what kind of results appear (presentations/social media/images/etc.).

Stress the importance of digital maintenance.

This is the spelling list or cursive practice of the digital world. It’s not glamorous to teach but essential for students to know:

• Remind students to backup Drive files, important emails, smartphone photos/apps/etc. at least once a month.
  
  
• Reiterate the importance of logging out of accounts, not simply closing the browser window.