Digital Identity & Literacy – what it means to me
Looking back, the birth of my digital identity must have been way back to two decades ago, when we bought our very first desktop computer(operating on Window 98) and created my first personal email too.
Fast forward to 10 years later, work email was introduced and this has advanced our inter-communication process and skills to another level. Email became increasingly popular over the next few years to the point we would get flooded trying to catch up with the deadlines. Then came along social media which introduced a paradigm shift all together in the way we deal with the digital arena characterised by it’s fascinating connectivity and interactivity. This emerging virtual space brought along further advancement which enhances collaborations and networking activities that present opportunities for individuals to cultivate identity as part of their socio-professional activity.
In the current network society, a digital presence would be organically developed as part of our digital footprint as we join and participate in spaces that augment our opportunities to learn, foster new skills and raise our profile. However, the freedom to establish one self to be visible online also present with a set challenges due to the lost in anonymity.
Managing Digital Identity : Visitor vs Resident
Having digital identity is inevitable in this era as almost all projects and activities that are based on using web tools and applications will actually result in ways of creating our digital identities. Hence it is important that we pay attention in developing our owned digital which philosophically centers in two main areas : presentation and reputation.
Presentation deals with the way we showcase our practice online, how we participate and interact in shared spaces. It is the image(s) of ourselves that we created for the online world.
Reputation focuses on what others think of us. This translates to the impact of our behaviour on how people see us online. To be more specific, our digital identity is partly co-created with others.
That leads to the concept of being a visitor and/or resident when going online.
Over the years I have probably switched gear progressively from predominantly being a visitor initially towards resident mode within a professional environment capacity. Practically, it is not impossible to co-exist in both, switching or overlapping between the two modes depending on the context and which tools, space and place we select when we go online. Hence it is important for us to continue learning in building the competency needed and gain more confidence before being able to guide the others as well in particular our learners,
In essence, our digital identity is never static and should be well managed as it grows and develops. It is important to monitor our digital identity/ies to ensure that they remain positive and have the intended impact.
More important online activities leave behind digital footprints described as tracks and traces which includes information and data created by ourselves as we engage with resources and people online.
My ONL journey….
It has been a rewarding few weeks since I join this course.
From setting up blog and joining in the tweetchat to collaborative work (offline and online) with my PBL group within that limited time frame has provided me with multiple oppurtunities to explore the various digital tools and concepts.
The whole exercise has been exceptionally engaging and allow exchange of ideas in an open communication through asynchronous and synchronous style.
Truly appreciate our co-leads Giuilia and Topi who champion the group discussions with excellent guidance provided by our facilitators Diane and Erik:)
Resources :
Commonwealth Digital Education Leadership Training in Action(CDELTA)
Cristina Costa, Ricardo Torres. To be or not to be, the importance of Digital Identity in the networked society, Revista Educação, Formação & Tecnologias, n.º extra (Abril, 2011): 47‐53.
White, D. & Le Cornu, A. (2011) Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9)