Open Networked Learning has started for real. Over the last two weeks our Problem Based Learning Group 5 (PBL5) has been discussing the first topic of the course, “Online participation & digital literacies”. We have launched into the subject with two videos by David White’s Visitors and residents and Visitors and residents – Credibility, introducing the concept of visitors and residents and one by Doug Belsaw about the the essential elements of digital literacies. Together with the suggested reading, our group was well prepared for the first online meeting.
How we worked together
Next to what I have learnt about online participation and digital literacies these first two weeks have been a very fruitful experience in online group collaboration. Together with another member of the group, I volunteered to take the lead for this topic. I did not know anyone of the group and it was impossible to anticipate what was going to happen. We prepared a rough agenda and waited for the session to begin … and it went very well, thanks to some basic ground rules, a straightforward PBL methodology, reliable technology and everybody participating at some stage of the process.
The FISh model developed by Nerantzi and Uhlin was of great help. It guided us form focussing on the topic to investigating resources and finally sharing outcomes with the wider ONL community. The strength of this model is its simplicity. It provides a basic structure and thereby allows all group members to participate according to their possibilities and interests.
CC-BY-NC FISh model by Chrissi Nerantzi & Lars Uhlin
Technology wise, we used Google drive for collaboration, Google+ to communicate asynchronously and ZOOM for our bi-weekly videoconferences. All worked well and I am sure we all refined our digital skills using them. So already from a group perspective we covered online participation and digital literacy!
What we discussed
Based on the scenario of someone new to the digital world we tried to answer the following questions:
- Private vs. professional online activity – how to separate, if needed?
- Tools and media – what is out there, how to use?
- Confidence in using digital/online tools – what helps?
- Digital literacy – what skills, competencies are important?
Regarding private versus professional online activity we found David White’s concept of digital residents and visitors very useful to describe how people use technology and behave online. Other than Prensky’s concept of digital natives versus digital immigrants, it allows for people changing modes of online activity depending on their needs and the specific circumstances. In the resident mode, they actively co-create digital content and sort of inhabit online spaces. In the visitor mode, they use digital tools for a specific purpose only and usually do not leave any traces. This matches my personal experience – I usually move somewhere in between the two extremes of the stratum.
Based on this model we have tried to allocate different tools and media according to our individual use:
Discussing confidence in using digital/online tools we found that that acting and communicating in a new environment – be it real or virtual – is always challenging, but with virtual environments it can be especially difficult to developing confidence. Technology savvy community members (digital residents) usually dominate in the beginning while less confident people (digital visitors) tend to remain inactive. This gives often the impression that everybody else is more experienced. It is therefore important to support mechanisms for creating online presence. For example, in our PBL group I find it is very helpful that everyone is regularly posting something in the Google+ community, even if they are unable to attend meetings or contribute to group work.
Regarding digital literacy we found that a general curiosity and openness to new tools and different ways to use them is very important. However, as Doug Belsaw demonstrates in his video The essential elements of digital literacies there are many different digital literacies. Knowing what is necessary for which purpose is essential and I found the overview and the explanations provided by JISC very helpful:
CC BY-NC-SA Seven elements of digital literacies (Developing digital literacies JISC)
This was very good start into the course. I have learnt new things about online participation and digital literacies and practiced them at the same time – I am looking forward to the next topic!
JISC infoNet 2014. Developing digital literacies. Found 10.10.2018 http://web.archive.org/web/20141011143516/http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/digital-literacies/
White, D. S., Le Cornu, A. 2011. Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday. Peer-Reviewed Journal of the Internet. Found 10.10.2018 http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171/3049