This
is my first online course. In the beginning, it was rather daunting, learning
how to navigate through the course materials and learning new tools, having to
deal with internet connection dropping, and so forth. Nonetheless, I gained insight
to a new learning experience as well as an opportunity to connect with fellow participants
from a variety of backgrounds and locations., interacting with participants
from Nordic countries and South Africa. The result: an
engaging and vibrant exchange of ideas, opinions, perspectives, experiences and
learning. Through these interactions, I have gathered and learned new ways of
practice that I can use for my own courses.

Interacting
on an online platform stirred some initial reservations: about sharing your thoughts
and ideas with people who are unknown to you. However, this thought dissipated
very quickly. I believe it is because of the group. While there were members
who were entirely at ease within the digital environment, they remained patient
and supportive when ideas were shared. I began to sense the camaraderie, which
kept me engaged and active in the discussions.

The
first topic that group worked on was on Digital literacy. I stated with trying
to gain a better understanding of how to define “Digital literacy”.  My initial understanding of digital literacy
was rather myopic- having the ability to use technology, the skills required.
But, when we started our discussions, I found myself caught in the midst of a
very provocative conversation. I began researching on the topic. The article by
Dr Bali articulated difference between digital skills and digital literacy. I will
now conclude that digital literacy is not only the what and how, it is also why, when, who,
and for whom.

For our assignment, the group decided to focus on digital identity. This then led to my next challenge: identifying my own identity. Using the David White’s V&R framework, as I began to plot in my digital activities on the axes, I see myself landing in different places within the continuum both as a visitor and a resident (David & Cornu, 2011). I can now understand why my friends and colleagues have often commented that my entries on Facebook are very random, dead. I certainly don’t leave a social identity on Facebook. On the other hand, a significant portion of my professional life is ‘living online’.  I most certainly am adopting a visitor approach for my personal life, and assuming the resident approach in my professional role. According to David & Cornu (2011), this pattern of visitor-resident approach is quite usual for someone in a leadership role. As I did the exercise, I became acquainted with my digital identity.

References

Maha Bali (2016). Knowing the difference between digital skills and digital literacies and teaching both. Accessed

https://literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2016/02/03/knowing-the-difference-between-digital-skills-and-digital-literacies-and-teaching-both

White, D.S., & Cornu, A.L. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9), https://firstmonday.org/article/view/3171/3049