As my son sits for what seems like hours; playing Roblox with his friends online. I realize kids today, are all using some form of digital technology. However, are they actually learning anything from sitting on the computer all day playing games? My first thought was no!   When I think about learning and technology, I think of classrooms, libraries, clinical labs. This past week I have gained so much insight into our new normal of digital technology.  It was not until; I read the chapter on Digital Learning Environments that I realized that the majority of our daily interactions, include some type of digital technology and learning and we don’t even realize it.  George Veletsianos said that “Video games, social networking sites, open courses, and a variety of social and networked technologies provide individuals with opportunities to learn content and competencies, and adopt new behaviour patterns” (Veletsianos, 2016)

His words resonated with me; and got me thinking; could my son actually be learning something while playing his online game? I decided it was time to conduct some research and find out what the hype is all about. Roblox; actually, has an education platform for instructors to learn how to use it for education purposes. The concept is actually pretty amazing, kids are learning and building cities in a virtual reality environment. When I asked my son to show me what he was doing, I was in awe that my eight-year-old had built a viurtual world; where his friends can create themselves in his game and play along.  This got me thinking, that I defiantly have to step up my game, if he can create his own digital identity and have followers; then I can too. However; now I realize that increasing my followers on social platforms will not necessarily increase my digital presence. I have to use my knowledge, personality and passion for education to reach out to people in a way they will remember me.  So, for now my own digital presence is still a work in progress, and I will continue to find my way thought my new norm of our digital world.

Veletsianos, G. (2016). Digital Learning Environments. The Wiley Handbook of Learning Technology, 242–260. doi: 10.1002/9781118736494.ch14