Topic 1: Online participation & digital literacies

• Who am I as an individual in the digital age, and what characterizes your journey so far?

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Topic 1 in our ONL201 explores “Online participation & Digital literacies” which I find both interesting but also sometimes difficult to understand. My experience is that it has happened so much in a very short time. Maybe, it depends on my digital age. And what does that mean? Well, for me, it means that I read books, borrowed books at our local or school library and didn’t use digital tools in school at all. Me and my boyfriend (now husband) went to Australia with no mobiles to use for calling our parents. We used telephone boxes or just an analog telephone. I also remember my farther in law in 1980^th, when he had bought a new digital mobile phone, weight of 5 kg. It was amazing! When I began my work at the University in 1994, most of us had a simple typing machine. In 1996 (I think) me and my colleges got a computer to our office. How old am I, you may think? Not to old….55 years

• How about my own digital literacy and identity in personal and professional life, and how they are linked or how you separate them?

This topic is about digital literalities. What is that may you think? I do. One definition is described as “Digital literacies are those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society”. Link 

Digital literalities are about behaviors, practices and identities within the digital world. It is not about function and techniques according to the literature. Digital literalities are also changeable, are depending on the context and people’s interests. Doug Belshaw have made an interesting presentation about “The essential elements of digital literacies” at TEDxWarwick (recommended). He uses for example Memos as an example describing digital literacies (very funny, interesting but also scary). Link
He says it is about individuals’ interest about important issues and a Remix of eight elements: Communicative, Civic, Critical, Creative, Confident and Culture. eight elements; Cognitive, Constructive. It is more than just “elegant consumption”.

• So, how about my own digital literacy…….

David Wight talks about digital literacy from two perspective, the Visitors and Residential perspective, which I find interesting. From my perspective, I (as many other) have moved from a visitor (inactive) to be like a more of a residential (active) user. In a same time, I can change to be more of a visitor, i.e. take a break of being active and creative. It is also about me acting as a person or as a professional. I try to separate that most of the time. I would say that I’m in the middle of an active digital transition.

//Ulrika

Ulrika Lindmark