Space and place

The first topic in the ONL191 course is Online participation & digital literacies. Both the introduction to the topic and the related webinar asked us to reflect on our digital identities and experiences. And the PBL scenario for the topic brings a student who is not very familiar/comfortable with online technologies and is apprehensive of an online course he/she is enrolled.

As I prepared for studying the materials provided, I found myself in an interesting spot of the digital Visitor-Resident continuum proposed by White & LeCornu (2011). While I consider myself a quite comfortable resident of the digital space (more in some places than others), I “need” to physically interact with the material in order to be able to retain information. In the old days of paper I would highlight and write notes on articles and book pages. For videos or audio I need to take notes- otherwise the information just passes me by. So that’s what I did: lots of highlights on the articles and notes on my iPad using the Apple pencil. Old habits die hard.

What White & LeCornu proposed is an improvement over the currently rather maligned “digital native” vs “digital immigrant” dichotomy coined by Prensky. The digital visitor vs resident terms are defined as a continuum both in time and in scope. This flexibility allows for both longitudinal changes and variation in usage across multiple platforms. Reasons for variations may be multiple, from brain development to technological “geekishness or even age.

The article fits well with my own experience. I consider myself a bit on the geeky side, therefore I was never shy to try new things. The learning curve from those first personal computers to the internet and then mobile devices has gone for many years, but it has been a steady uphill. However, moving from “digital” as a tool to place and then to space…that was a major change. It happened in 2011 when I joined Twitter as part of the “Building Online Community using Social Media (BOCSM)” course by my dear friend and mentor Michelle Pacansky-Brock. I was hesitant for a while, and feared being “out” there with a public profile. Michelle was gentle and encouraging, I decided to give it a go, and the rest is history. For me Twitter is an invaluable source of information (and for the echo chambers and the ugliness, I have gotten quite good at zoning those out).

But this is where the topic scenario and my own experience converges: I was apprehensive of a new tool (which was taking me to an unknown place/space). Why did I give it a go? Why did I succeed?

The response is manyfold, of course. The course design provided a safe space and a supportive community by allowing the participants to share reflections, stories, and pictures. By the time the Twitter assignment came we were already comfortable blogging. The instructor was supportive and encouraging. And somehow all that worked with me and for me.

So as we as a group move from Focus to Investigate, I know where I am heading: looking into the cultural aspects of our digital identities and learning of best practices to support students coming from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Through a course I recently took with Michelle, Humanizing Online Learning, I became acquainted with the book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond. While the book is mainly for K12 teachers, I am finding it a very useful reading.

And am also reading Doug Belshaw’s book on digital literacy, a framework that was mentioned during the webinar. I like the 8Cs of digital literacies, and particularly how he places “cultural” at the top. He says “Focusing on the Cultural element of digital literacies can be transformative and empowering. In a similar way that learning a new language can give individuals a new ‘lens’ to view the world, so having an understanding of various digital cultures and contexts can give people different lenses through which to navigate new and familiar spaces.”

References

Belshaw, D. (2014). The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies. Retrieved from http://digitalliteraci.es
Hammond, Z., & Jackson, Y. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students.
White, D. & Le Cornu, A. (2011) Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9).