My online presence map
Here is my map of my online presence as described by White (2014a):
I didn't get so much directly out of this exercise. I use quite a lot of online applications and I'm not so much a producer of content or comments, which I already knew. I found it a bit unclear if the x-axis was about visibility or interactivity or if it's public or all of it.
However, it made me reflect on the purpose of online exercises and the distinction, which was nice. Does the exercise give me any new insights about myself? Do I feel inspired? Have I learned anything new? Can I use this? How?
In education, we can move more towards engaging students digitally, which is something they are used to. This is especially interesting how with Covid-19 and all the digital education we have. This can be done through gamification, which I have used in my system of Bonus Assignments, Pettersson & Bolldén (2020, p 167). Another way is to use online collaboration tools such as Google docs, Mural, Padlet or Miro.
White (2014b) discusses how open education could eventually replace the traditional education system. I agree that it's possible, but there are several components currently missing before that can become a reality. I educate engineers and that is a whole package of carefully composed courses. This is currently not available in open education, which mostly offers individual courses. There are also laboratories and a social and collaborative component that would be difficult to reproduce online. There is also the quality stamp that an engineering exam from a university offers.
I agree with Belshaw (2012) that there are many forms of digital literacies, which are context dependent. For example, most student can use Google Docs, but most cannot use Overleaf. If you want to have a simple collaborative document, Google Docs is fine, but if you want to make a more elegant document, Overleaf is better.
As discussed by Belshaw (2012), memes is an important part of the internet. Fortunately, there are memes in most subjects and I use them occasionally to lighten the mood in my courses.
References
Pettersson, L., & Bolldén, K. (Eds.). (2020). Bidrag från 7:e utvecklingskonferensen för sveriges ingenjörsutbildningar. Presented at the 7:e utvecklingskonferensen för sveriges ingenjörsutbildningar, Luleå: Luleå tekniska universitet. Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-79996
White, D. S. (2014b). Visitors and Residents: Credibility. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO569eknM6U
I think the x-axis represents a spectrum from leaving no trace to leaving durable signs of ourselves, and it reminded me of other distinctions like audience member vs band, tourist vs local, or Nature photographer vs hunter.
ReplyDeleteWhen you think of any of these seeming dichotomies, you can see how really, they're spectra. Like, you could go to a concert and just sit in your seat, or you can get up and dance a bit, or you can grab someone's hand and start dancing with them, or you can sing along, or you might be invited up on stage if you're a real show-off, etc.
For sure, before this exercise, I'd thought about the impact of my online activities, but I'm not sure I'd ever thought about how some of our intrinsic traits, e.g., age, income, culture, might influence which parts of these four quadrants we inhabit most, or how that relates to my students.
For instance, I always have at least a couple of Chinese students in my class. Well, these people have grown up in a society where info is heavily censored and if you "misbehave" online, the consequences can include diverse forms of ostracisation or worse. So if I'm assigning my students to write a environmental blog (as I do), I have to think about the fact that they may be less willing to inhabit the upper and, especially right sides of the graph, so how do I help them feel comfortable with that ?
Anyway, those are just some of the things I thought of.
I think the mapping-exercise was a way to make visible your digital whereabouts. Also, interesting to discriminate between where you leave digital traces and not, and also to understand why this is.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, from Maria in group 11 - ONL.
DeleteI agree that the exercise was quite affirmative in terms of results. At the same time, it provided an opportunity to take a step back and reflect a little on my attitudes towards digital tools and, by extension, how it relates to my students' attitudes and habits. There is a gap there as there are benefits to trying to bridge. And it will become more and more important over the years. Swedish school children now have their own computers from the age of about 10 and carry out most of their school work in a digital environment. It will be strange if we at the university then do something completely different.
Delete/Magnus from Group 2
Thanks for sharing your map and the process of creating it.
ReplyDeleteDear Erik, Thank you for sharing your online map and your experiences around it. Perhaps the comments already given could befriend further reflections? Please let me add to that idea bank. The first time I did this map was in the end of my PhD studies. I have since then drawn a new map from year to year. What I have found most interesting is to put these side by side and reflect upon the changes: Which digital tools have vanished? Why? Are there new ones? Why? And what about those who are still there, but have changed position in the matrix, and/or have grown in size or decimated a bit? Why? It get's even more interesting if you do this among your colleagues (especially if working in teams). What does it say about our professional area and our role in it (as a group and as individuals)? Do we, jointly, cover the important online networks that are prominent in our professional area? I have not done this exercise with undergraduate students but am wondering of it could be a way of approaching their digital presence in relation to their subject area. Again, thank you for sharing Erik!
ReplyDelete