Getting students an online presence while protecting their identities

I truly believe that if my students leave school without at least a basic digital proficiency I am doing them a disservice. I do not know what they will grow to do in the future. And as they say, the jobs that many of them will have in 10 years' time probably don't even exist today. But I have NO doubt that the Internet is here to stay, and that it will continue to be a major part of their lives. So I want them online and doing stuff. 

But sometimes I want them to do things online with and online profile but without them exposing their pictures. (Most high school students are minors.) 

A really simple of doing this is by having them devise an avatar to represent them! And a fun tool that can get them there is Androidify. I came across it after seeing a cute avatar representing one of my Google-teacher colleagues. 

To set an example (since I am starting to use NEW Googlesites, which are REALLY COOL and easy! As well as venturing into Google Classroom) I made my own avatar. But I plan to have my students do so, after they write a 6 Word Memoir for themselves, and based upon that, they can make their own avatars.  So that they can "be together. Not the same."

Here is my avatar.

Her name is @dele, and I am really kind of getting attached to her. 

Can YOU think of other opportunities for using this tool? I would LOVE to hear them!

Digitally yours,

@dele



HT: Irit Merchav