The first topic has almost ended and I thought it had
just began.

The course started with much excitement, the topic
with much apprehension.

It was interesting getting to know group members,
juggling time zones and trying to figure out what we are supposed to do. All’s
well that ends well or should we say begins well in this case.

It has been a privilege having two dedicated task masters a.k.a facilitators. The discussions were sedate yet full of zeal, pensive and philosophical.

We discussed a range of things from ethics to privacy to data protection to elements which make up digital literacies.

To me  the most important
question was the definition of digital literacy. Cornell University defines
digital literacy as ““the ability to
find, evaluate, utilize, share, and create content using information
technologies and the Internet.”. 
Thus is comprises of a lot of now essential skills which are becoming
increasingly necessary to succeed in a digital world. It is beyond merely
searching for data ; it is also the ability to weed out false information and
find reliable sources.

This
makes it imperative that I as an educator equip myself with the skills
necessary to teach this new skill. I have never really reflected before this on
the importance of updating my knowledge and skills of the future.

This
takes me back to the Datta quote that, “ Who dares to teach must never cease to
learn”.

As Yuval Noah Harari states, “ People are usually afraid of change because they fear the unknown. But the single greatest constant of history is that everything changes.” … “This is the best reason to learn  : not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies”  It is a fact that digital memories are shaping our future and we need to be ready to embrace the future.

The
ONL191 course is an opportunity to reflect, assimilate and learn skills which I
have taken for granted.

Reflecting
on David White’s Visitors and resident’s video, I think the separation is quite
indistinct as the tools get more and more familiar.

Educator
and researcher Doug Belshaw states that the eight essential elements of digital literacies are the
cognitive, the constructive, the communicative, the civic, the critical, the
creative, the confident and the cultural.

Digital literacy practices change over time and we need a very flexible and ready mind to be able to adapt to changes.  It is with this perception that i look forward to the news few weeks when “residents” become “visitors” and vice-versa.