A decade and a half ago I stepped in the digital world and it was not until 2009 that I achieved my digital citizenship. Although I was a digital citizen whether a resident or a visitor, it dawned upon me after joining ONL.  From time to time and depending on the circumstances I slide from visitor to resident and from resident to visitor mode.

Almost 2 decades ago I stepped in the digital world and it was not until 2009 that I achieved my digital citizenship as a resident when almost all my day was spent staying online. Although I was a digital citizen whether a resident or a visitor, it dawned upon me after joining ONL.  From time to time and depending on the circumstances I slide from visitor to resident and from resident to visitor mode as a majority of the individuals are, considering White and Le Cornu 2011, that it depends upon individual’s motivation to choose their roles as visitors or residents online.
     The first week of the course I assume was a very important week to get to know each other, having ideas on how to get along as peers and searching around the new website. The most interesting thing that I was forced to reflect on was what kind of digital citizen am I. How can I become a useful digital citizen? We came across nine elements of digital citizenship. I kept on wondering how much I am aware of “Netiquettes” and digital security, rights and responsibilities, and of course the most interesting was digital health and wellness.
Well at times I am forced to think if being a resident is a good thing or not. I wonder being a resident you are available in a digital world to everybody out there. This does affect one’s physical presence in a place. Sometimes I consider it an addiction to the digital world in which people around one might suffer if one is not balancing online and offline life. The quality of physical life is quite affected by this whole new world in palms.
After the first webinar, I realized how commonly I used google images and commonly infringed copyrights. Now I am more aware while I am using any source, especially for pictures. One thing that I realized from my first PBL work was that while collaborating online its better to use such tools which are common to androids, IOS, Windows or Mac. Sticking to a tool specific for one software is quite troublesome for others.
Another interesting part of the course is keeping personal and professional life separate. I wonder it’s
not possible to separate one life from another. But still it can be managed to some extent but not all. Although I try to keep my professional and personal life separate but at some places it overlaps.

References:
White, D. & Le Cornu, A. (2011) Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9)