Having literacy as opposed to just being skilled in a particular area requires a fair deal of experience and a great deal of patience, i.e., self-patience. When I was a trainer at the Apple Store, I would have entire days filled with customers who wanted to know how to edit photos, or movies, or record music. Their particular skill sets would span the entire spectrum of personal experience, so it was crucial for me to assess their learning style in a few minutes because we rarely had more than an hour per client. My basic query to see what kind of learner they were (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.) was to ask, âWhatâs the hardest thing you ever had to learn and how did you do it?â The answers would help me determine they way that person not only learned a particular subject/skill, but took me out of my own thinking about how to approach the training session. I think we could all use this method on ourselves: how do I like to learn things? Do I engage physically by just jumping in and doing, or do I prefer a tutorial first? Do I like to read about how to do a thing or would I rather listen to an audio book? There are several operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux) and there are numerous mobile devices (Apple, Android, etc.) to choose from, as well as a myriad of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to pick from; the point is that we have more choices now in the Digital Age for self-expression and self-learning than in the entirety of human history. However, I think that digital learning starts with knowing ourselves a little more by simply sitting back and doing short self-checks rather than jumping onto the latest trend. We may find the time we spend with a some self-analysis will pay off with long-term satisfaction when it comes to making technology choices.
Well founded advice and reassurance for LiDA learners. At OERu - our approach is to support learning on the Internet using a variety of tools (rather than a single application.) This can be quite daunting for learners who are not familiar with a distributed learning environment. However with a healthy dose of âself-patienceâ we can all succeed and be better prepared to face digital learning futures.
Really, it is surprised that they use this way to get engagement with users! So in your country, do you know who is responsible for giving training to communities about digital literacy?
Thereâs no central committee or body of academics who are responsible for giving training on digital literacy in the US. If only there was! Itâs up to the individual institution to implement policies and methods to address DL. Maybe there should be a larger national conversation, perhaps a subject for a symposium or at an educators conference.
A digital literacy I have - a bit of a boring one - is understanding how to layout and structure online text-based content. While I could use word processing or blogging tools, it was not till very recently that I really got the hang of concepts like separating content from style, how and when to use images etc. In higher ed 80% of my work is making/reading websites, word documents or emails - so doing that well saves a lot of time and stress.
This is more a literacy because itâs about the âwhyâ - why that information should have an image to go with it, why use a heading structure instead of making standard text larger and bold, and so on.
Iâm keen to work on a couple of skills/literacies: video-making, since so much educational content is moving to online video; and databases, which seem to be becoming vast stores of information that could be put to use - for good or ill!
@Mien This is a great point well-explained! Particularly that, regardless of the skill being learned, our learning styles will be about the same, so we can transfer our learning strategies from one context to another.
The separation of content and form using consistent semantic markup (for example using heading styles rather than manually changing the font size) is an important digital skill. Very few users who author digital content are aware of the difference ;-).
A note about Markdown
Of interest - this Forum site uses a standardized markup called âMarkdownâ to separate content and form.
Enjoy your studies!
Why are digital literacies important to me? Theyâre simply an integral part of work and social life now. Using digital technologies can make things both easier and more complicated depending on the task.
I see some Vygotsky coming through there :-). Scaffolding is a good tool for learners to explore and discover from. Perhaps leaning towards heutagogy on this course too.
Agreed - and getting the balance right between scaffolding and âself-determined learningâ can be a challenge. For example, for a good number of LiDA learners - this course is their first online learning experience and the range of distributed technologies can be quite daunting - that said, over simplifying the digital learning environment to reduce complexity removes authenticity. A balancing act for sure!
Evet mantıklı katılıyorum
Dijital okuryazarlık neden benim için önemli? Onlar artık sadece iĆ ve sosyal yaĆamın ayrılmaz bir parçası. Dijital teknolojilerin kullanılması, göreve baÄlı olarak iĆleri daha kolay ve daha karmaĆık hale getirebilir.
As the digital landscape changes, it is important to effectively function in the digital space and display the right amount of etiquette in navigating the online arena. Digital literacy is also important in remaining safe in our interactions across borders.
One digital literacy I have acquired and use regularly in my own context is interpreting and analysing data to construct meaning. This is mostly used in my research course on performance improvement. This is a literacy because being able to do the research and not know what to do with the findings will not be beneficial.
A digital literacy I would like to improve on is creating instructional content to enhance student learning. This literacy is important to me because I am an aspiring Instructional Designer and this would be very critical to my practice.
I think in my personal life I use a wider variety of digital literacies as opposed to the work environment where things usually follow a specific routine.
Hi Megan - Welcome to LiDA101. We have a good number of Instructional Designers engaged with Learning in a Digital Age. Youâre in good company here.
@Kelleigh78 Knowing how and when to use the digital technologies to suit various needs is very important.
Yes I agree and can relate. As a designer it is not only enough to know how to use certain platforms but also be knowledgeable about the various principles of design and why certain design choices are made to have a better impact on users who will interact with that design.
Agreed - good example illustrating that digital literacy is more than just knowing how to use the tools.
hello
am new here but need to learn and participate fully i request you offer n render to me the available help
@singhmarshal - Welcome to LiDA101!
For navigating the course site and information on using the different technologies the OERu support site is a good place to start.
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