The idea of creating, cultivating, and having to critically reflect upon my digital presence is quite an overwhelming undertaking. In Kelly Schryver’s article “Who Are You Online? Considering Issues of Web Identity”, raised questions that supported my decision to limit my digital footprint. Differentiating what’s public and what’s private, how well I would be Googled, and the idea of how I am online affects how I can feel offline were all contributing factors to limiting my presence in the digital realm
(Schryver, 2013).
However, I am entering into new era where I am part of the MALAT program, which is giving me a purpose and a reason to develop a cyberinfrastructure using a platform like WordPress to be able to express myself in a positive and purposeful way. My purpose for cultivating my digital presence is to be able to find my voice, and develop a level of confidence to share and unpack my learnings. My goal is to apply the readings, teachings and shared experiences that we have as a cohort to help develop my voice and confidence. Building my own cyberinfrastructure can help shape my own “cognition, learning, expression, and reflection in this digital age” (Campbell, 2009).
The way I am going to approach my goal is to reframe my preconceived notions of what it means to have a presence online (Schryver, 2013). I will look at this experience as part of my academic journey and learning how to “exercise mindful deployment of my attention online” as I grow into becoming a consumer of digital media and learn how to critically analyze and apply media literacy fundamentals foster the development of my public (Rheingold, 2010).
My big gap that I currently have is being able write at the Master’s level. Academic writing requires application of the research to support my analysis/arguments and being able to provide proper citation. It has been a really long time since I have written at that standard or used proper APA referencing. My knowledge gap is part of the growing pains of cultivating my digital presence, which can be rectified by being applying constructive feedback/suggestions from instructors and fellow classmates. I will continue to support my learning by reviewing help guides and other resources that are available, and apply the readings and knowledge gained to my academic practices.
As we get further into the MALAT program, I hope that I will be able to transfer my knowledge and skills to build upon my digital presence. The way that I would measure my success is to redo the visitor and residence technology mapping exercise at the end of the program, then compare it to the original version I had done. I will then reflect upon my journey and identify the the areas of growth. In the meantime, I hope that I can apply my learning to my personal and professional life as well.
References
Campbell, Gardner (2009). A Personal Cyberinfrastructure, EDUCAUSE. Retrieved from, https://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure
Rheingold, H. (2010). Attention, and Other 21st-Century Social Media Literacies, EDUCAUSE.
Retrieve from, https://er.educause.edu/articles/2010/10/attention-and-other-21stcentury-social-media-literacies
Schryver, Kelly (2013). Who Are You Online? Considering Issues of Web Identity, The New York Times. Retrieved from https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/guest-post-who-are-you-online-considering-issues-of-web-identity/?_r=0
May 1, 2019 at 11:01 am
Hi Eunice,
I just love your use of images, it is awesome to see and super relatable ☺
I really appreciate and respect your reasoning behind the purpose for cultivating your digital presence: “to be able to find my voice, and develop a level of confidence to share and unpack my learnings” – Amazing and so beautifully worded. I feel I share the same “gap” as you in regards to being able to write at a Master’s level. It is something that I find quite intimidating, but with the use of our resources (library/fellow classmates/instructors), we can only go up from here.
May 4, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Hi Eunice,
I can relate to your worry about being able to write at a masters level. I have never been much of a writer, so to embark on regular blogging, as well as supporting my views/arguments with others research and citing them correctly, is going to take alot of effort in getting comfortable and confident. I struggle with working their ideas/words in with mine, so that my paper still flows . Do you find the same difficult?
Thanks for sharing.
Tracey
May 5, 2019 at 8:37 am
Hi Eunice,
I like your goal of attempting to reframe your preconceived notions of what it means to have a presence online. It will be interesting to see how your mindset shifts over the course of this assignment, and the course of the MALAT program.
Kymberleigh
May 10, 2019 at 2:26 pm
Hi Everyone,
Thanks Eunice for sharing your thinking, ideas and concerns about heading into this uncharted territory of being a MA student and developing your digital identity and digital presence. I really like how you are pushing yourself into what Vygotsky (1978) in social development theory referred to as the “zone of proximal development” – its that area where we aren’t quite comfortable but by working through it we grow deeply. You can read more about this and lots of other great work here https://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/social-development/.
Looking forward to hearing more about how you are synthesizing your learnings as you move through the program.
Ciao,
Elizabeth
May 15, 2019 at 6:51 am
Hi Eunice,
I like your approach to building your social presence through “transfer of knowledge and skills”. I also like the idea of measuring your success by redoing the visitor-resident map at the end of the program. I am sure the next two years will be very productive and transformative for our online presence!
– Marta