I never suspected that I would be questioning my identity after I attended my first virtual symposium (#RRUMALAT). After several sessions, it has become clear that creating a digital identity is more complex than I thought. The first step in my technological journey is asking who ‘should’ I be in this digital world?
I, like all of us, wear many hats: the Mom hat (a worn baseball cap; comfy and flexible), a teacher hat (a black top hat; great for entertaining, yet requires strength and confidence to pull off), and most relevant to my current blog post, a student hat (a beret; casual yet sophisticated, and requires some practice and patience to place it properly).
While attending the virtual symposium, I firmly have my student hat on; I am eager to learn and excited to apply what I’ve learned to my practice. Catherine Cronin’s session further substantiated my ideals, stating the idea of “openness” in open education varies across personal preferences and platforms. “Open is not a state…it’s contextual”, she explains, meaning the user/educator decides on what aspects of identity are seen (Cronin, 2017). Her graphic organizer outlining the “4 dimensions shared by educators using OEP” specifically pointed out the difficulty of “balancing privacy and openness”, what she refers to as the “Micro” or digital identity (Cronin, 2017).
I thought to myself, ‘Easy! I am a student; therefore, I will keep my online presence set to student related aspects’, and off I went gathering more knowledge, beret expertly atop my head.
But my decision to share only my student persona was confronted after I listened to Cindy Harris’ session. She argues that a more open approach is the most beneficial. Cindy states that a more genuine, creative presence occurs when multiple parts of your identity are utilized (Harris, 2021). Her box analogy opened up my thinking. By opening myself up and allowing all parts of my identity to show and intermingle, a truer, fuller version of myself can shine through, allowing for a more authentic experience (Harris, 2021).
Although the idea of having all my identities come through is honestly quite terrifying. Am I ready for this? I have been doing pretty good keeping my identities compartmentalized. I am comfortable with choosing which aspects of myself I share in various situations, but I know that Cindy is right. My true self is all my identities: mom, aunt, bike rider, teacher, etc.
Learning is being uncomfortable; it is about challenging your thinking and ways of doing things. For me, it also requires confidence, trust, and a good support network. I am not there yet, but each course I take and each person I meet in my educational journey will help get me there.
In the meantime, my beret is awkwardly placed on my head, and all my other hats are well within reach.
References
Cronin, C. (2017, April 20). Open culture, open education, open questions. In E.Childs (Chair), 2017 Virtual Symposium [Symposium]. https://malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca/lrnt521/recordings/catherine-cronin-choosing-open/
Harris, C. (2021, April 14). The person in the middle of the road: one educators [sic] journey supporting training and education. In E.Childs (Chair), 2021 Virtual Symposium. [Symposium]. https://admin.video.ubc.ca/html5/html5lib/v2.86.1/mwEmbedFrame.php/p/154/uiconf_id/23449276/entry_id/0_zbtpyuj3?wid=_154&iframeembed=true&playerId=kaltura_player_1632766724&entry_id=0_zbtpyuj3
