Week 1 Making Connections in a Digital Environment

Weekly Report & Reflection Post #1: 

Leaving a Legacy in Cyberspace

Welcome back! First week down and to my surprise I am still here.  Even though I am still wary about this whole blogging world, I am happy to report that I somehow managed to complete this site after hours of trying to figure out the technical aspects.  Between that and surviving my family’s ‘back to the school’ routine – it is pure luck that I finished my readings for this week.  However, as always, I am happy that I did – after all, it was Confucius who once said, “You cannot open a book without learning something”.  True - but, what is learning without sharing?

So, here I go, preparing to share personal reflections for the next 12 weeks about learning in the digital world – scary when you think about it – isn’t it? To think that what I am posting is forever stamped in cyberspace has really made me think twice about what I am writing and what you are reading.  Gone are the days of erasing or burning that note or picture that you did not want anyone to see – that does not exist in cyberspace. Anything you say (technically, meaning post) can be used against you – there is no delete from cyberspace button that can erase posted information entirely - at least that I know of.  I just hope that my so-called legacy in cyberspace (or as I have discovered this week – my digital footprint) does not ‘nip me in the behind’ in the decades that follow. Maybe I should apologize to my children now if I embarrass them in any way.   

One of the learning activities this week was to complete Ribble’s (2011) Digital Driver's License Exam. I am happy to report that I passed with an overall mark of 19/20. However, I still feel that knowing the rules of technology does not necessarily mean that I will follow them in our digital society. For example, we know that the speed limit on most highways is 100kph but how many times do you find yourself breaking that law? Did you lose your license?  Did you not read the speed limit or is it that you simply did not care? Essentially, having a digital driver’s license may make you competent in the rules of technology but - it is up to you to adhere to them in our digital society in order to attain and maintain your digital citizenship.  As for me, of the nine elements of digital citizenship that Ribble introduces, I am most looking forward to exploring the areas in Digital Literacy and Digital Security. The latter, of these two, being of high priority since protecting my family’s information from hackers or from being misused, is of great importance. 

Link

“The goal of digital citizenship is to provide a consistent message to students and education professionals so that they can become productive and responsible users of digital technologies” 

 (Ribble, 2011, p. 2). 

This week’s readings also led to discussing and learning about digital footprints and Netiquette. As previously mentioned, I am hesitant in providing a digital footprint but am aware that at least a couple already exist – the only thing that is left is to ensure that they are a positive influence. To maintain a positive digital footprint is quite simple – keep it clean - by cleaning it up. Ainslie’s (2009) article gives insight into the benefit of maintaining a positive digital footprint. She discusses sites such as Google Reader and Google Alerts, Social Mention and IceRocket that provide social media monitoring tools that can track what is being written about you – the good and not so good. If any of you decide to use, or have used, these tools please let me know. I am still afraid to use these tools – more so since some things are better not knowing.

Don’t you just wish that everyone would just behave normal – well at least, write and post ‘normally’? I know that my definition of normal may differ from other views but I am sure that most of us would agree that etiquette should play an important role in determining what is posted. I must admit that it was Shea who reminded me of the golden rule in netiquette – remember the human. Her articulation of the Core Rules of Netiquette should be a reminder to us all that what we post should be respectful and that behind all those pixels of the digital world lies a human who deserves to be enlightened by posts that go beyond gossip or spoiler alerts. 

I leave this week’s session feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the technology that actually exists. The activities and readings let me discover that digital footprints can be positive especially if we adhere to the rules of being netiquette.  In addition, maintaining a digital citizenship is more than just adhering to the rules - it is also about educating others along the way. In some sense, I feel that paying it forward will go a long way in our cyberspace world. 

 
Thanks for taking the time in reading my first official post – please feel free to leave me a comment along the way – I am always interested in other “news” and do believe that sharing is the key to learning.

Reference:
Ribble, M. (2011). Digital citizenship in schools (2^nd Ed.).Washington, D.C:  International Society for Technology in Education