Open Networked Learning (ONL) just started and the first topic is about online participation and digital literacies and we already got an excellent introduction to new concepts about digital citizens and the levels of engagements and exposure of someone in an online environment, thus the distinguish between resident and visitor (http://daveowhite.com/vandr/). Prensky, distinguishing individuals that are born during the digital age and individuals that were immerged in the digital world later on in their lives, proposed the term of digital natives and digital immigrants several years ago (Prensky, 2001). Independently on whether someone is a resident or visitor, a native or immigrant, digital world is becoming a significant part of our lives that could offer significant opportunities. This has led to the definition of ‘digital citizenship’ which is defines as ‘the norms of appropriate responsible behavior with regard to technology use’ (Ribble and Bailey, 2007; Isma and Canan Gungoren, 2013).
Education can also significantly benefit by using the appropriate tools. In this context, the ONL201 course aims to provide the participants with knowledge on these tools and potentials to apply them to teaching. Let’s not forget here that the current global situation with the virus that forced many countries to decide to shut-down universities and schools around the globe has pointed out the vulnerability of our society to events such as the current pandemic. That also gave us the opportunity to incorporate on-line teaching tools in a much wider scale and highlighted their potentials and benefits. Although humanity will find a way to combat and overcome the virus, this switch to on-line and distance teaching will remain for the years to come. A similar situation occurs with meetings, which now moved from physical meetings to distance on-line meetings, demonstrating that they can be as efficient as physical meetings and at the same time save time of travelling, energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Switching towards being a digital citizen is a new necessity nowadays.
I could classify myself as more towards a digital visitor and probably something between digital native and immigrant, probably more towards ‘native’. The digital world has been part of my life for the past years, but applying on-line tools during teaching is a relative new experience to me. I tend to use online platforms in my professional life such as LinkedIn and Research Gate, but mainly as a visitor. The same comes with using social media in my personal life, such as Facebook. I generally also avoid posting on-line personal things and for personally communication with friends or family, I normally use digital tools such as messenger and WhatsApp.
Using on-line tools requires a level of digital literacy, which according to the American Library Association is defined as ‘the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills’. That being said, someone needs to have the skills to use such tools and be comfortable with this environment. Generally we believe that students nowadays, being younger and born during the digital revolution, have such skills making it easier for them to adopt to digital teaching. However, this blunt assumption often does not take into consideration that some students did not had the opportunity to accustom themselves with the digital worlds, lack the technical or system requirements, or simple do not feel totally comfortable. One of the reasons why people tend to not feel comfortable in the digital world is on-line safety. Such fear can be reduced if someone follows simple rules that experts suggest (click here). By reducing our fear or discomfort, we can embrace the opportunities that the digital worlds can bring.
Despite our engagement in the digital world, majority of people have rather limited experience in on-line teaching. I am one among them.. Online teaching will keep gaining attention and will be more widely used compared to previous years. The ONL201 course is aiming to introduce us to this world and give us the tools that we can incorporate in our teaching. Although we are still in the beginning of this journey, we have already learnt a lot and most significantly had hands-on practice with some available tools. The experience has been unique and we all looking forward for the next weeks to come…
References:
Isma A, Canan Gungoren O: Being digital citizen. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2013, 106:551-6.
Prensky, M: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon 2001, 9(5): 1–6.
Ribble M, Bailey G: Digital citizenship in Schools. Washington DC: ISTE. ISBN: 978-1-56484-232-9
https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/preemptive-safety/top-10-internet-safety-rules-and-what-not-to-do-online
Visitors & Residents
Digital Literacy
