This week we have discussed what digital literacy is and where we position us as digital users.

I have looked at videos and read some articles online. I especially enjoyed one video, “The essential elements of digital literacies”, an inspiring speech by Doug Belshaw (If I could ever be as inspiring as him… ). According to him we should talk about digital literacies in plural. He suggested that in developing digital literacies the process should be progressive (not sequential). Digital literacies are highly dependent on the context and they need to be socially negotiated. He had an interesting discussion about memes, that is ideas or behaviours that spread from person to person within a culture and that make ideas “stick in your imagination”. Remixing images is in the heart of digital literacy. Well, I have to find out more about this.

I realized, that I am a quite private digital user, my mode of digital engagement is as a “visitor”, not a resident. I keep personal and work separate. Even in my personal accounts (FB, Instagram…) I am quite private. I do not share photos of my family or myself. I do not take part in discussions about politics, climate change or other current issues. I read discussions with interest though. Maybe it is because it seems that discussion online never keep a reasonable tone, but so often leads to strong negative personal attacks. This really makes me very sad. The only media where I use a more professional tone is LinkedIn, where the discussions are mainly professional. But I am not an active participant in any professional network or platform. A need for change, absolutely!

An interesting question that has been discussed is what source is legitimate. Traditional forms of knowledge or the web? David White use a quote of philosopher John Locke as an example. What if he had published his thoughts online? How many likes would he have got? How many followers would he have had? Would he prefer twitter beyond something else?

My students use the web in search for information. It’s convenient and quick in comparison with traditional academic sources. A logical, simple reason. The problem is naturally that the reliability of the data can not be verified and the students find it very convenient to copy texts from the web. Why bother to write in own words.  There is a real tension between how students actually learn and how the formal requirements are. I admit that I often use internet as source for inspiration for my lectures, even if I naturally use academic references when teaching, according to academic standards….I do not think that the way students use the web in search of information can be changed. So one solution must be found in online networked learning?

When writing the previous blog I was still confused about what Online Networked Learning is about. Now it seems I have now got some idea about what digital literacy(-ies) is (it is not the same as IT skills, it is a much wider concept, it is dependent on the context and it is supported by changing technologies). I also have some understanding about the process of the course. What I still cannot see is what the outcome will be. What will I learn and will I be able to apply the learning in my teaching? What I really would like to do, is to develop my digital literacies in practice. Let’s see will I ONL212 be the kick off to this.