REFLECTION ON TOPIC 1: ONLINE PARTICIPATION AND DIGITAL LITERACIES

After having watched the videos and participating in the webinar

I have enjoyed both videos and the webinar from David White. I was familiar with the Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives metaphor put forward by Mark Prensky but I have always believed its application is limited and that age is not the only or not even predominant factor to be taken into consideration in the context of digital literacy skills. The notion of visitors and residents resonates way better with me due to its continuum aspect and the potential for its easy practical application.

It was also an interesting voice in the discussion on the legitimacy of online resources. On the one hand, their agility and convenience are obviously an asset, but the other hand, the role of clickability in their dissemination might question their credibility. “Likes” do seem to be a new type of currency. In the academia online resources continue to be frowned upon but are still commonly used, which leads to the creation of some sort of learning “black market”. That is why all the attempts to close the gap between actual learning practices versus perceived legitimate learning practices should be highly encouraged. Taking a more resident approach to education seems to be the right path to follow. I myself have just embarked on this journey, hereby writing my first blog post ever in my professional career. J

What it means to be digitally literate

I share the view expressed by Doug Belshaw in his TED Talk “The essential elements of digital literacies” that digital literacies are plural, context dependent, socially negotiatable, and in constant flux, and that digital literacy affects our identity because every time we are given a new tool, it gives us a different way of impacting upon the world.

I really liked the reference to the famous quote “medium is part of the message” from the Marshall McLuhan’s book Understanding Media (1964). The new media only “amplify or accelerate existing processes.” McLuhan discussed the social changes brought about by printing press and broadcast media. But the same is true for the Internet, which has changed everything and nothing at the same time. We send emails where once we sent letters, we look things up on Wikipedia where once we went to the library, etc. The only difference seems to be the Internet’s collaborative and democratic nature. We are now free to use the Internet in resident mode in not only in the personal but also in the institutional quadrant, while in the past this type of activity was way less democratic, restricted to the few privileged ones.