Coldwell-Neilson succinctly defines digital literacy as ‘the ability to identify and use technology confidently, creatively and critically to meet the demands and challenges of living, learning and working in a digital society’ (‘What does it mean to be digitally literate?’, 2020). I cannot say that I was particularly confident, creative or critical in my online activity before I undertook the DigiLife module. I feel differently now, however. Not only have I become more familiar with social media platforms and their impact on society, I have become a more reflective and critical digital consumer, and have begun a conscious process of digital engagement that will continue to develop in the future. I intend for my ‘digilife’ to be responsibly informed, first and foremost, but also to be reflective of an expanding set of digital skills which are effective in meeting my needs in work, as an educator, and life, as a Generation Y citizen who simply wishes for online services and experiences to complement, rather than consume, her predominantly offline world.
I have gained experience and confidence in many practical digital skills throughout this module. In some cases, these skills were completely new for me, such as setting up a WordPress blog, managing data in a map mashup, setting up a LinkedIn profile, engaging creatively with privacy policies, presenting information visually, and conducting peer reviews through the interactive platform of Bongo. Due to my lack of prior knowledge, I often found such tasks to be challenging. I struggled with the WordPress blog for many weeks, for example, and spent innumerable hours trying to rectify problems to do with the arrangement of pages and posts. I reached out to my peers and to the WordPress help community for advice, and gradually became more accustomed to the platform. I am now more at ease with the formatting process, resulting in more visually engaging posts on my blog. Prior to this module, I had categorised myself in work as someone who would simply be incapable of managing our school website. The progress that I have made with regards to the blog has taught me, not only that I have adequate skills for such a job but, more importantly, that I can seek advice from a variety of sources and constantly develop my expertise. I am not, as it turns out, ‘someone who’s just not good with technology’.
Some other practical digital skills allowed me to build on my (albeit limited) prior knowledge. Tasks such as managing data through social media and making and editing audiovisual information were not completely new for me. I had been introduced to Padlet and Symbaloo in an educational capacity, and am an avid user of Pinterest for both personal and professional means. I have also created educational videos with my students using a variety of apps, including Stop Motion and Movie Maker. This module has nonetheless added another dimension to my digital understanding. For example, I found Pocket’s concept of ‘captur[ing] the content that comes at you all day long’ (2017) to be ingenious, but also a reminder of how fast-paced and demanding our world is, and how information-management apps are responding eagerly to this. The enlightening article by Guidry et al. about anti-vaccine pins on Pinterest (2015) was also a stark reminder about the presence of agenda-driven posts on seemingly innocuous social media platforms, causing me to refresh my critical-thinking skills online. Furthermore, reinventing a privacy policy for Pinterest compelled me to dig deeper and discover thought-provoking statistics about the site, such as the fact that 72% of its users are female (Statista, 2020). My understanding of managing data through social media has become more nuanced in light of such insights.
My knowledge regarding the creation and editing of audio-visual material has similarly been greatly enriched. Being introduced to screencasting has helped me hugely in meeting the recent challenge of teaching remotely. Research has shown that many features associated with the video format positively affect our ability to encode and retrieve information, particularly in the case of dual encoding, whereby information that is encoded both visually and verbally is better remembered (Thornton & Kaya, 2013). Being equipped with this creative technique has significantly enhanced my professional efficacy. This new ability to screencast, along with my newly-established skill of presenting data visually through infographics, is something which I intend to use in my role as an educator, both to convey information and to facilitate students in constructing knowledge themselves.
Critically engaging with social media research has caused me to reconsider how I view social media in our world today. Topics which have particularly resonated with me include micro-influencers and opinion leadership, collaborative online authorship, short-lived content, social analytics, personalised marketing on social media, agenda-driven online posting, the dangers of Youtube, and social media ethics. Word-limit constraints prevent me from delving into the many new insights which I have obtained, however, it should be stated that the cumulation of my new learning has made me feel more knowledgeable and empowered online. I regard Instagram posts more critically, Wikipedia articles more considerately, Facebook ads more astutely, Youtube content more apprehensively, and Pinterest Pins more cautiously, to cite a few examples. While I was never a naïve or reckless online consumer, I have certainly become more aware of marketing agendas, privacy concerns and other topical digital issues.
Conducting peer reviews through the platform of Bongo was, for me, a constructive experience. I was compelled to formulate my ideas succinctly and articulate them clearly for my peers. Despite these videos being somewhat informal, they nonetheless ensured that I refined my presentation skills. Furthermore, this process obliged me to be thoughtful and analytical in providing feedback, and to be responsive and flexible in receiving feedback. Coldwell-Neilson suggests that digital literacy is best developed in collaboration with peers and in one’s own personal context (‘What does it mean to be digitally literate?’, 2020), and I have found this to be true to my own experience. As a primary school teacher, I facilitate peer-assessment strategies amongst young pupils, but perhaps sometimes underestimate its enduring value in my own life too. I have been rightly reminded to always be open to constructive criticism.
In conclusion, Gillespie notes that ‘though the benefits of [social media] may be obvious, and seem even utopian at times, the perils are also painfully apparent, more so every day…’ (2018, p.5). Engaging with this module has allowed me to appraise both the advantages and hazards inherent in social media, and adopt a balanced, critical approach to my online participation henceforth.
References:
Gillespie, T. (2018). Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, content moderation, and the hidden decisions that shape social media. Yale University Press.
Giudry, J.P.D., Carlyle, K., Messner, M., Jin, Y. (2015). On pins and needles: How vaccines are portrayed on Pinterest. Vaccine 33, 5051-5056. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.08.064
Read It Later, Inc. (2017). Pocket (Version 7.16) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pocket-save-read-grow/id309601447
Statista (2020). Distribution of Pinterest users worldwide as of January 2020, by gender. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/248168/gender-distribution-of-pinterest-users/
Thornton, D., Kaya, E. (2013). All the world wide web’s a stage: Improving students’ information skills with dramatic video tutorials. Aslib Proceedings, 65 (1), 73-87. https://doi-org.ucd.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/00012531311297195
What does it mean to be digitally literate? (2020). Retrieved from https://this.deakin.edu.au/career/what-does-it-mean-to-be-digitally-literate/
Rachael Kinkead (18202251) 