Topic 1: Online Participation and Digital Literacies

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Writing an entry about coursework that happened in the PBL Group 6 several weeks ago is challenging but by consulting both the process and the resulting presentation I will try to recapture some of my initial  thoughts on the material and subtopics associated with the course's Topic 1.

To begin with, I would define my workplace (the specific subject in which I teach) as semi-digital. The majority of our courses today are taking place online, although we still run some courses exclusively on campus. As a result, it is easy to lose one's motivation for teaching and developing courses in general. And that is not surprising, because everything suddenly seems different. Where are the students, who are the students and how do I communicate with them? So we come to the topic of digital literacy.

I have developed my own digital literacy as both a teacher and a student of online courses, and concur with Belshaw, who defines such literacy as a "continuum of ambiguity" rather than a skill that one has or does not have (Belshaw, p. 22). So far, the course has really demonstrated that to me. While I feel comfortable using some of the digital tools we have at our disposal or are trying out (e.g. Zoom), others I find difficult to navigate and master, even though I have tried them out some before (e.g. Google.docs). This is a useful lesson for me.

Reference:

Belshaw, Doug. (2012) The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies. 22 March. Youtube.

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