I have a dream about a sustainable future and that dream is actually related to this course. How? By giving me the means through which I hope to connect with people around the globe who are interested in learning and teaching for a sustainable future. However, I have always considered myself as digitally illiterate – something which quickly put my ideas to a halt. During the last two weeks however, I have gradually realized that I’m not an illiterate after all – I actually do have literacies which are useful in an online environment. For example, I have some critical thinking skills which are useful in evaluating the credibility of different sources and I’m pretty communicative. I’m also used to using social media – being a resident with respect to e.g. Facebook. But that is part of my personal life – not my professional. It is with respect to my professional activities that I have to grow more confident in using social media.

I use the web extensively to search information in my professional life – a typical visitor’s mode. But I also contribute and leave my footprints. Among my active ones are a number of research articles and book chapters along with lecture slides etc. We also use closed learning platforms as part of our teaching at Linköping University. Among the passive ones are probably to be found conference programs where my name is mentioned. What would be new is to use social media as part of my professional activities – advancing from a visitor’s to a resident’s mode. And I can see great potential in doing that as related to teaching and learning for sustainable development – not the least the potential it offers to engage in multidisciplinary communities and understanding sustainability challenges from a local perspective (to name but two important aspects for learning for sustainable development). So, a few weeks into the course I’m optimistic both with respect to my digital literacies as to how this course can contribute to me realizing one of my dreams.

 

This text builds on the following sources:

David White: Residents and visitors

Doug Belshaw: The essential elements of digital literacies

Julia Hengstler: Managing your digital footprint – Ostriches vs. eagles

UNESCO: Education for sustainable development goals