Topic 1 in the ONL course was about online participation and digital literacy. Digital literacy could be seen as the needed skills for managing life in a world, increasingly digital (Belshaw, 2012). I have always been curious about new digital technology and appreciated the tools it gives us in our personal and professional life. I have most of my relatives in Finland, but I live in Sweden, so social media and other online platforms have helped me keep in touch with them. This is also something I have been grateful for during this pandemic, because these tools have made me able to connect with so many dear ones and the threshold was never that big for me to start full-time online teaching.  

David White of the University of Oxford held a webinar at the ONL course, explaining how a model of Visitors and Residents could provide a framework to understand individuals’ engagement with internet based on context and motivation. In this clip on YouTube, you can get a taste of what we heard about the subject:

Visitors and Residents – YouTube

After Whites’ seminar our PBL group started to draw a map of our own digital activities, first our personal map and later a combined map where we could discuss how different digital spaces affected different aspects of our lives. This is my map and my thoughts before the discussion:

After the discussions I came to the conclusion, using White and Cornu’s (2011) model of Visitors and Residents, that I consider myself being a resident when it comes to using digital technology, but somewhere in between visitor and resident when it comes to using digital technology in my professional life. One of my reflections during this week has been that I need to reflect on not only my own digital literacy, but also the students. All though many may be fully skilled to manage the digital world, digital tools should not make learning more difficult, but to really give tools to enhance and deepen their understanding in the subject they have chosen.  

Belshaw, D. (2012). What is ‘digital literacy’ ? A Pragmatic investigation., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3446/

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

Recommended reading:

Wright, F., White, D., Hirst, T. & Cann, A., 2014. Visitors and Residents: mapping student attitudes to academic use of social networks. Journal Learning, Media and Technology, 39(1), pp. 126-141.

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