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
May 1, 2019
According to Boyd, “physical structures are a collection of atoms while digital structures are built out of Bits” (Boyd, 2011, para. 12), if you think of it that way the internet is not unlike your untidy garden shed! When you go into your shed, you have a goal in mind and are looking for the right tool to move to the next stage. You might walk in saying “ok, I need a rake, where are you rake?”, if your replace the word rake to a human topic, then you are on your way to a building your online presence!
The Watters quote you used resonated with me too. If students are going to learn about online environments, it is best to make them play in them and get dirty. Students will not learn by sitting in lecture hearing about online environment, they need to explore and see what works and what does not.
One can learn new skill; drive comes from within. The face that you are here says that you are willing to learn the skills and increase your digital footprint.
Reference
Boyd, D. (2011). Social network sites as networked publics: Affordances, dynamics, and implications. In Z. Papacharissi (Ed.), A Networked Self (pp. 39–58). New York, NY: Rutledge.
Watters, A. (2015, July 15). The Web we need to give students. Bright
May 1, 2019
Love the analogies Kathy, well said. Thanks
May 1, 2019
Your opening sentence made me laugh, and I empathize with your views! It certainly does seem, that due to the overwhelming amount of persuasive information being thrown at us, that this is an inevitability.
It took me several hours of reading before I was finally ‘;hooked’ on the idea of developing a digital presence – especially when the information presented to us seems to indicate it’s career suicide not to.
May 4, 2019
Hi Mark,
It’s great that you will take the responsibility to build and develop even further your online presence. As Campbell states, “To get there, students must be effective architects, narrators, curators, and inhabitants of their own digital lives” (2009). Although you mentioned that your “skills in technology are not superior,” I strongly believe that you are more advanced than you think. For a start, your blog looks amazing and you were one of the first MALAT student to customize and post on your blog. This is a great journey for all of us and I look forward to watching you evolve and improve your talents as we make our way through the program.
May 8, 2019
Thanks for the kind comments. You are allowed to post on my blog anytime 😉 Cheers Mark