Digital Literacy: A personal reflection
How does one use social media and digital platforms intelligently and mindfully? And why is this important? These are the questions that Rheingold begins to answer in the introduction of his book Net Smart: How to Thrive Online (2012). While there is a lot of information covered within the introduction alone, what I found most interesting was his discussion on combining digital knowledge and collaboration. Specifically, he mentions the term collective intelligence, which refers to group/shared intelligence that emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and competition of many individuals. One example Rheingold mentions is that “by bookmarking and tagging Web sites that contain useful information, people are creating a kind of mass-curated knowledge that would have been impossible before the Web” (2012, p.11).
It is so challenging to reflect and choose one thing that has most stuck out or influenced me. I guess I would say that overall, all of the topics we have discussed have influenced me to realize the importance of digital literacy. There are many important reasons why it is essential to have digital literacy skills in this day and age, such as to stay safe online and being better informed with reliable sources. This further enforced the idea that as a future educator, I need to incorporate lessons on digital literacy into my class and the curriculum in order to best prepare youth for the digital future. This does not just mean “teaching digital skills in a vacuum, but doing so in an authentic context that makes sense to students” (Bali, 2016).
How can I continue to build on and refine my digital literacy knowledge and skills? One way is to stay up to date on digital news. This can help me stay aware of ways to continue to stay safe online. For example, from the week that we researched case studies of current digital safety news, I learned that Ring cameras can pose danger to ones’ digital safety. By staying up to date, I can learn if there are more discoveries of scams/danger and how I can continue to stay safe online. Another way to continue to practice and refine my digital literacy knowledge is by reflecting when I post and when I view posts. This can help me critically think about the potential results that could come from a post (positives and negative), the intent for posting, and how a post will impact my digital footprint and the future. There are many other ways to continue to build my digital literacy knowledge, but these are just two simple ways I can continue digital literacy and safety in my everyday digital use.
