PART 1 : MY DIGITAL CONFIDENCE LEVEL
- Personally, I think that this resulting profile represents me as an undergraduate student who is able to use quite a number of different tools and definitely knows how to manipulate images, files, documents and other data. I am reasonably comfortable about using technology. I’m also aware of how things work in general…
- However, I don’t have enough knowledge of the technical and practical aspects of those technologies that we can use to support teaching, learning and researching. I would definitely require training and support to extend the range of technologies that I use on daily basis.
- Anyhow, I’m really proud of being able to use different technologies for the purpose of supporting learning including tools and techniques for referencing, creating outstanding presentations, linking and sharing various ideas and sources, helping myself to test my progress and to make sense of my subject and last but not least, being able to advise others and support them in the effective use of technologies for learning.
- The areas of improvement that I’m interested in developing throughout this course are the tools and technology, in other words, the knowledge of the technical and practical aspects of those technologies that we’re using for learning and research, as well as the find and use area which refers to the skills needed to find and evaluate relevant information and data for effective research and professional purposes.
PART 2 : DIGITAL LITERACIES FOR ONLINE LEARNING
- To clarify, digital literacy refers to the capacity of using both online communication technologies as well as information in order to find, use, create, learn, teach, communicate and collaborate effective and useful information requiring technical skills and cognitive abilities. It basically means owning the skills and having enough knowledge that you need in this society in order to access right information through internet platforms, mobile devices and last but not least, social media.
- Finding, using, creating, innovating, identifying, teaching, learning, using technology, communicating and collaborating are digital skills.
- Nowadays, digital literacy is definitely essential for everyone and especially university or college students, just like me as we’re required to interact with people through online platforms including the Soliya conference platform or connect program, share our thoughts and ideas using social media: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, etc… and certainly use mobile devices for effective research. In addition, digital literacy is going to be a fundamental tool in the future when it comes to our professional world, more precisely, our workplace as we’ll be also required to stay in touch with certain people and complete almost all tasks relying on digital literacy.
- Looking at it from a local perspective, digital literacy is really important for exchanging and spreading socio-political events and critical news including climate change, sudden sandstorms, traffics in Cairo, unexpected demonstrations and strikes, etc…
- Here’s a list of references, in other words, a list of credible links that I found on the topic:
- https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html
- http://connect.ala.org/files/94226/what%20is%20digilit%20%282%29.pdf
- https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/studysmart/home/digital_literacy/what_is_digital_literacy
- https://digitalskillsacademy.com/blog/the-top-10-digital-skills-tech-companies-are-looking-for-today
- http://www.skillsoft.com/assets/white-papers/Skillsoft_whitepaper_What-are-digital-skills-a-comprehensive-definition.pdf
I found that the previous links are interesting as they all provide credible, reliable and detailed information on the importance of digital literacy as well as the digital skills. The only disadvantage of these sources is that they’re all biased and don’t consider or even mention the opposite point of view. In other words, they don’t consider the other (opposite) side: digital literacy’s drawbacks, which would definitely be preferable to mention in order to evaluate and look at the topic from a whole and full perspective with both arguments.
- Digital literacy definitely matters to me as it facilitates almost everything I need on a daily basis. To clarify, it enables me to express my point of views freely on social media, share my personal thoughts without hesitation, keep in touch with long distance friends, connect with global peers and students all over the world, explore new cultures, discover other perspectives, exchange useful information with people and most importantly, learn effective information, skills and abilities that are very useful for both my educational and personal life experiences.
- My reflection on the Hypothes.is activity: “An impressive and informative article on both digital skills and digital literacies. Thanks for letting me know that digital fluency is not the same as digital literacy. I didn’t realize that there are differences between both terms. Overall, my my take home message from your video as well as your article is that we all need to know how to LISTEN and ACT on social media… Thanks doctor Maha!”
PART 3 : EXPLORING THE 2 STATIONS
- Blogs: I have learned that blog is short for “webblog” and that it refers to an online platform for sharing specific information. I have also learned how blogs can be used in a wide variety of ways that enhance teaching and learning. Finally, I have learned the difference between public platforms and private platforms. Overall, the lesson enabled me to understand the various purposes of keeping a blog, differentiate between the purposes of a blog and a journal, make an informed decision about a suitable blogging platform and last but not least, acknowledge the personal and professional benefits of maintaining a blog or journal.
Here’s the first badge that I received. This badge is awarded on successful completion of the All Aboard online lesson which introduces key ideas regarding blogs:
- Systematic Searching: After completing this 30-minute lesson, I have learned the five different steps that involve in planning my search including: defining my topic, describing key terms, identifying sources, building search syntax and last but not least, executing and optimizing my search query as long as I progress as well as evaluating the results and source material for both relevance and quality. The most interesting thing that I’ve learned from this session is the distinction between primary, secondary and tertiary sources through a diagram that illustrates the proximity of sources. In addition, identifying whether a source is popular or scholarly without any confusion or hesitation like before.
Here’s the second badge that I received. This badge is awarded on successful completion of the All Aboard online lesson which introduces key ideas regarding systematic searching:
Mirna's Blog 