There appears to be no way around it. I must cultivate my inner ‘resident technology user’ within me. I must “see the Web as a place, perhaps like a park or a building in which there are clusters of friends and colleagues whom they can approach and with whom they can share information about their life and work” (White & Le Cornu, 2011). I have been a ‘visitor’ my whole life to the world wide web, as White and Le Cornu (2011) would describe: I use the internet like a series of tools or as “an untidy garden shed” full of tools. My goal and purpose to support the cultivation of my digital presence in this course is to meaningfully utilize the current technology I have in order to make them more than just tools, but agents of change. My approach to doing this is to take greater responsibility in the tools I already use, so as to increase my digital presence. Watters (2015) states “the importance of giving students responsibility for their own domain cannot be overstated.” Watters is speaking about students having their own domain, or arguably, their own digital presence, within their learning institutions. White (2015) argues, “this can be a way to track growth and demonstrate new learning over the course…something they themselves can reflect upon.” If my goal is to meaningfully use my current technology, then I need to cultivate my digital presence by using my course blog effectively and with purpose, and not just because the course states I need one. Campbell (2008) simply states “any technology gradually creates a totally new human environment.” By using my blog effectively, according to Campbell, I can create my own human environment. Campbell (2008) goes on to propose that “students with this kind of digital fluency will be well-prepared for creative and responsible leadership in the post-Gutenberg age.” My skills in technology are not superior; however, my drive to learn and achieve my goals overshadows any technological deficiencies I may encounter throughout my digital cultivation process. In the end, I know I will have accomplished my goal and purpose through the reflective comments and replies of the technology I will be using. I look forward to creating my own human environment for people to experience and learn from.
Reference
Campbell, G. (2009). A personal cyberinfrastructure. Educause Review, 44(5), 58-59. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure
Watters, A. (2015, July 15). The Web we need to give students. Bright. Retrieved from https://brightthemag.com/the-web-we-need-to-give-students-311d97713713
White, D. S., & LeCornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9). Retrieved from https://firstmonday.org/article/view/3171/3049
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