Month: April 2021

Considering my digital presence, I reflect on a specific question raised. “Schryver (2013), Will you be ‘Googled’ well?” (para 18). I often ask myself questions that impact the posts I make, or the precautions I take. I am very new to the various Social Media platforms, in comparison to the online friends or acquaintances I am linked with. I view others posts, see what I like, and what I don’t like. I try to determine how I want to present myself and what I want to take away from the information. Recently, I’m asking myself, what is the value of this page, this friend or contact, or the purpose? There is so much information and conversation on the Internet and if I do not consciously make an effort to choose what I do, time can easily be wasted on what I describe as dead content.

Time is precious. I try to choose what I engage in and groups to follow, based on my interests and places that provide value, education, and opportunity. I quickly disengage with groups that push to sell cosmetic products, rant and rave chaos, and through trial and error, find what works for me. Unless I am passionate or have an intrinsic urge to illustrate a perspective I feel needs to be told, I try to avoid negative online interactions, knowing the audience may perceive my thoughts through another lens.

I agree with Schryver that misunderstandings occur most often due to the lack of visual cues like body language, timeframe, or changes in a person’s tone (Schryver, 2013, para 36.). A post can be interpreted in many different ways, based on the readers mood, the context, or what captions are used within. Examples are the use of capital letters and exclamation marks, or a specific emoji or choice of punctuation, like a question mark instead of an actual question written out.

With the above in mind, I try to make a conscience effort in where I spend my time, what I spend my time doing, continually questioning where I want to go, and what I want to share. I relate to Jenkins’s description of Participatory Culture, engaging and growing where enjoyment is present, while sharing together experiences and stories (Jenkins, 2013, 2:00).

Just as those interviewed around the world by Jenkin’s Master students, I too have a richer intellectual creative life outside of work where I may spend most of my time, and in their case school. (Jenkin, 2013, 0:01). Creativity is powerful and I need non-digital creativity too, which I believe allows digital creativity to blossom. This is the vision I have in using experiences mixed with digital technology to help me achieve my goals.

Not too long ago, reaching an audience or educators, required a plane ticket and a rich pocket to get there. When it comes to an audience, “Hargittai and Walejko (2008) said, while eyeballs for viewership are not guaranteed, the prospect of reaching large audiences is more within the realm of possibilities than in earlier times.” [para. 1]. My interest is to learn through others experiences, and share stories, projects, and new developments to increase opportunities.

The MALAT program offers a unique experience in allowing self discovery and embarking on a personal cyberinfrastructure journey (Campbell, 2009, para 13), opportunity at our fingertips. My digital pathway can be imagined as navigating a river to reach an ocean with wide open possibilities. My goal is to build upon my current digital presence to uniquely promote opportunity for businesses I own with 2021 Technologies, and share Indigenous knowledge to a wider audience. Along the way it is inevitable that there will be struggles and teachable moments, time to evaluate, re-evaluate and modify my path, always reflecting on how far I have come to push me further.

Plan Towards a Digital Presence

I plan to work towards my goal by determining the digital presence that suits me, works for me, makes me more efficient, and provides the most benefits. Following are four steps I know I need to take and room for more as my path takes shape.

LinkedIn

Increase my connections on my LinkedIn Page, as a business owner, this is a useful tool for the purpose of making connections in business

Approach

• Determine other businesses that I could provide a service to and send out requests to connect those who own or manage the business
• Once a month during the first year post a story or a business achievement to share with the audience
• Follow connections who are positive contributors to the communities and region I live in
• Find opportunities through the LinkedIn community to participate in at least once a month to gain insight to a useful skill to benefit my business, family, or health & wellness.

Knowledge of gaps:

• Takes time to read posts and find ones that I can relate to enough to adopt, comment on
• Takes bravery to press that send an invite button to someone I’ve never met before

Strategies to Address Gaps:

• Don’t put pressure on myself to read everything, get great at scanning and determine what has the most potential or best overall benefits
• The person on the other end most likely feel’s the same way

Measure(s) of Success:

• Increased connections and value added in business

Unexplored Social Media

Use of Social Media to advertise, promote, and share business opportunities

Approach:

• Explore digital platforms I am not familiar with and decide to adopt or pass (Instagram, TikTok or new platforms recommended by others)
• Decide on one platform that I can do really well at and use it to its advantages

ID of Skills, knowledge of gaps:

• To be determined as I am unfamiliar with those I haven’t explored, only heard from second-hand experience

Strategies to Address Gaps:

• To be determined as I don’t want to explore platforms that I only ever hear or think are negative, so this is an area I have yet to explore for myself

Measure(s) of Success:

• Coming to a decision if such platforms will or will not suit my business or education needs

A YouTube Channel?

Create a YouTube page to advertise the services of each business I am involved in; positive promotion, increase followers, and gain momentum to bigger opportunities.

Approach:

• To be determined, still not too familiar

ID of Skills, knowledge of gaps:

• Content is required and this takes time to develop, though I have over a decade of photos, videos, education, projects, and a lifetime of experiences to draw from, it takes time to put together to share on such a widely used technology
• Building an Identity is needed, takes time

Strategies to Address Gaps:

• Start with one, make it short, and research benefits to starting a channel
• Organize data, create a storyboard of what I hope to accomplish, and potentially do things in sections, to draw in an audience with an end note to want to learn more

Measure(s) of Success:

• A YouTube Channel to educate others and share the services in business I am involved in.

Website Facelifts

Re-design and update websites used for each business I work with, de-clutter, re-organize, and re-structure to allow navigating smooth, while incorporating blogs, videos, or stories to share growth, milestones, and projects completed:

Approach:

• Delegate staff to outline webpages we want to see
• Make a choice for the one that is priority and work my way down the list

ID of Skills, knowledge of gaps:

• Time consuming to create or update website contents
• Need for quality photos and videos, which requires time for editing and polishing

Strategies to Address Gaps:

• Hire a designer to assist and guide them through the vision
• Ask for help and input from younger generation

Measure(s) of Success:  

• 2021 Version of the websites

I must remind myself that where I spend the ultimate gift of life, time, needs to be productive. I know creating a digital presence can so easily consume time that I can never get back.

References:

Campbell, G. (2009). A personal cyberinfrastructure. Educause Review, 44(5), 58-59. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure

Hargittai, E., & Walejko, G. (2008). The Participation Divide: Content creation and sharing in the digital age. Information, Community and Society, 11(2), 239-256. https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/doi/full/10.1080/13691180801946150

Schryver, K. (2013). Who are you online? Considering issues of web identity. The New York Times blogs. Alternate link to the The NYT blogs site. https://advance-lexis-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/document/index?crid=6d4ad924-c6c0-4e84-84ec-65cd9b0fb26b&pdpermalink=5f3b81ac-4fb7-4de0-aee8-c39f43c49cad&pdmfid=1516831&pdisurlapi=true

Video:

Jenkins, H. (2013, May 7). Participatory Culture (Big Thinkers). [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/1gPm-c1wRsQ

Upon review of David Cormier’s Collaborative Activity, using collaboration, digital, individual, and analogue as guides, I tend to prefer the first activity as I can relate to it. However; giving it further thought and time, the representation allows me to evaluate the ‘how’ do I work in the digital world instead of the what.

In reflection of the various live presentations and those documented over the period of five years, from a diverse group of students, professionals, and experts, I was not surprised to see safety and belonging repeated in the concept of open learning. No matter where we live, work, or play, as a human being, we want to belong and we want to feel safe.

Cromier provided an overview of the messiness of online communities, which in the past, deterred me from plunging into the digital world because of my own safety concerns. I have been very hesitant, for similar points he made, including lack of inclusion, community health, and safety (Cromier, 2017).   However; with recent changes in the world, I have come to realize it is necessary to adapt and learn how to benefit from open learning and to take advantage of the opportunities that exist.

Einarson’s presentation demonstrated the strength a community has in making a person feel like he or she belongs (Einarson, 2021). As an Indigenous person, my community raised me with a sense of belonging, making me feel safe, a natural part of the environment and culture. To create symposiums, platforms, and digital learning tools in a safe manner, is crucial, knowing the impact a safe environment has for those who want to belong in it.

Becoming a part of open learning is happening before my eyes and like Cronin, I also need to ask myself, “am I willing to contribute to helping my community stay healthy?” (Cronin, 2017) There is messiness in online communities, however; there is also substantial benefits if used safely. The intent to learn and share knowledge and experiences with a far greater audience then ever before provides benefits that are now achievable for communities that need it the most.

I was born and continue to live in the Northwest Territories, where the opportunity to learn diverse subjects from people of other cultures, cities, and beliefs, is rare. Sharing my own cultural beliefs, knowledge, and experiences have also been limited to in-person audiences. Open learning as I understood while listening to Cronin, is bringing forward opportunities to share, bridge gaps, and communicate (Cronin, 2017). I want to be a part of open learning while building a sense of community, safely, and offer students opportunities and an option.

When providing opportunities, I too want to participate in consultations with Indigenous groups as they are the true keepers of our land (Gates, 2021). I envision working alongside Indigenous groups with beneficiaries in mind, while balancing the safety of our children, communities, and integrating a sense of belonging. There is much to learn from Inuit, Dene, and Metis in the region(s) I live and work in. Traditional and Indigenous knowledge integrated with open learning in a safe environment, will shape the direction my work takes, throughout all the messiness that exists on and off line.

References:

Cromier, Dave. (2017) Intentional messiness of online communities. [Padlet]. MALAT Virtual Symposium 2017; Royal Roads University.
https://malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca/lrnt521/dave-cormier-virtual-symposium-presentation/

Cronin, Catherine. (2017) Open culture, open education, open question. [Padlet]. MALAT Virtual Symposium 2017, Royal Road University.
https://malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca/lrnt521/catherine-cronin-choosing-open/

Einarson, Earl. (2021). How can we incorporate Indigenous Worldviews in creation of online culturally safe learning environments? [2021 ARP Padlet]. MALAT Virtual Symposium 2021; Royal Roads University.

Gates, Lisa. (2021). Playing Together: An open education resource of games for cultural learning. [2021 ARP Padlet] MALAT Virtual Symposium 2021; Royal Roads University. .

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock (2015). Privacy Data Secure Protection Safety Concept. [digital image id309537986]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/privacy-data-secure-protection-safety-concept-309537986