Continuing Knowledge on Digital Literacy
Throughout this course, I feel that I have gained a lot of knowledge on a topic that has consumed so much of my life for many years, technology and the internet. I have learned so many things that will not only help myself and my technology usage, but my family, friends, and future students as well. As I write my last post for this course, I am reflecting on some important concepts that I have learned within my last week of this class, as well as the many weeks before this.
For our last readings in this course, we read some pages out of a book called Net Smart by Howard Rheingold. Rheingold is a very insightful human being in the world of technology, and reading over his research and studies were very interesting to me. However, there is one particular concept that I specifically enjoyed reading about, and that is digital mindfulness. In this reading, Rheingold talks about how he has noticed certain aspects of his life, both personally and within the people around him, and how technology has taken over certain special aspects of his everyday life. He uses the examples of his daughter having to catch up on emails while they are out to dinner together so that she doesn’t fall behind. He also talks about how his wife has to finish up a couple last minute emails on her computer before she turns to greet him after he gets home from work, and vice versa. “I know that I have been guilty of the same kind of social media delay in face-to-face sociability with the most important person in my life; I often have to finish my email, instant message, tweet, text, bookmark, tag, post, or comment before I greet my wife when she walks in the door.” (Rheingold 2012). I believe that we are all guilty of this in many aspects of our lives. We tend to check our phone as soon as it vibrates, no matter the situation or moment that we are in. This is where the term “digital mindfulness’ comes into play. We need to be aware of where we are, the people around us, the memories we’re making, and check our electronic devices at the appropriate time. If people are able to do this, we will be able to be more present with the people in our lives, and learn to enjoy the moment instead of being focused on our digital world.
As far as throughout the entirety of this class, there is one specific topic that really stuck out to me, especially being a future educator. For me, that was the topic of internet safety. In this course, we have learned about many dark parts of the internet, and how many people, both children and adults, do not feel as though they have gotten enough education on how to use the internet in a safe and positive way in order to avoid things like viruses, fraud, identity theft, and bullying. After learning about this topic more in depth, I decided to use my new found knowledge and help others who are not as educated on the topic. For my final project, I am creating a website for students, parents, and teachers with many resources on internet safety and the importance of it. i plan on using this for my own classroom in the future, as well as giving it to my peers to educate themselves, their students, and the parents. I feel that if everyone had the knowledge that I gained on internet safety that I did during this course, the internet would be an all around safer and more positive place for both adults and for children.
Of course, with this class coming to an end, it has been important for me to consider how I am going to continue building my digital literacy skills throughout my life. One of the main ways that I feel that I am going to be able to do this is through my career of teaching. It is a goal of mine to help my students build their digital literacy skills as well, and for them to be able to do that I will need to nail down important and credible sources, improve my digital mindfulness and internet safety, and continue to build my online identity. Whether we like it or not, classrooms are becoming more digitized every day, so it is important that we continue to shape our digital literacy skills. This class has helped me come a long way in the world of technology and the internet, and I cannot wait to apply all of my new found knowledge and skills into real life and my career. I am very thankful for the new concepts that have shaped how I look at the digital world, and I am excited to see what the future of technology has in store.
