Who am I…online?
(Photo credit to Pixabay user geralt. Creative Commons 0: No attribution required. )

We have been asked to develop a plan for LRNT521 that will outline how I will create, cultivate and curate my digital presence. Entering into a graduate studies program with a focus on Learning and Technology may have been the nudge into inevitable increased digital presence whether I had the intention for that to occur or not. Costa and Torres (2011) state that as an individual increases their interaction and congregation on the web it becomes more difficult to discern what is personal vs. what is private. This author believes that an increased presence will be necessary to increase her digital ‘vocabulary’ of user platforms, software, virtual teamwork tools and eLearning management systems and thus, lines of privacy may be crossed or blurred. In the effort to increase my own eLiteracy, it may be challenging, as Costa and Torres suggest, to deal with privacy management as “…it is no longer only an issue difficult to deal with by public figures.” once one engages in digital environments (2011, p. 48).

My overall goals for my digital presence development plan are to:

1.  Assess my current digital presence under a more critical lens now that I have entered the MALAT program and reviewed resources on the pros and cons of open vs. closed presence. The benefits of being open online may include being more accessible to my audience and creating increased community involvement and the cons can include increased vulnerability. (Costa and Torres, 2011)
2. Increase my use of digital tools and platforms to improve my own eLiteracy. According to Veletsianos (2016) “Digital learning environments are central to endeavors to design, develop, and deliver digital learning opportunities.” (p. 242).  In order to move forward as an educator and innovator in online education strategies, I will need to become comfortable with multiple digital learning environments.
3. Continuously reassess my digital engagement and its’ impact on my time, including whether the nature of the use, as defined by White and LaCornu (2011), is either of a visitor or resident type. After drawing the map of my digital use (Digital Visitor-Resident Mapping) I discovered that I was already a heavy resident with certain platforms and I do not intend to increase the weight of use in this area of my map.
4. Continue to explore learning and technology concepts and critically examine them on my academic blog in order to pursue further understanding of digital presence, open learning, and digital identity.
5. Assess how managing multiple online personas can affect my online engagement and social network. According to Costa and Torres (2011), “… the more we use the web as a space for congregation, the harder it becomes to keep a clear distinct between what is personal and private and what is linked to our professional profile…” (p. 51) Costa and Torres elude further that credibility can be affected by multiple online personas (2011) and this author is at a time in her professional and academic career when credibility holds great importance.
6. Measure success as; a lack of increased concern for user privacy and confidentiality, a stasis in feelings of vulnerability while online, an increased comfort with more online learning platforms and tools and comfort with a final decision to use either a single persona or multiple personae for my online digital presence.

References

Costa, C., & Torres, R. (2011). To be or not to be, the importance of Digital Identity in the networked society. Educação, Formação & Tecnologias, n.º extra, April 2011, 47-53.

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