Slowly moving in...reflections on gaining residency in a digital habitat

When I was watching the video  'Digital media: New learners of the 21^st Century', I  was trying to determine how I would define myself in this discussion. Up until recently, I think I was quite comfortably a 'visitor' in the digital world. I used what I had to in order to get by (email, search engines, my digital camera...I even lurked on a few blogs or discussion boards). I didn't really push myself to become more involved-probably because I was too busy and distracted by my very young family at the time.  About two and a half years ago though, things began to change for me; I started to get restless as a visitor and began 'moving in' to the digital world. At this point,  I started my online MEd and I joined Facebook. Both of these changes were major departures from my comfort zone, but I had been home for nearly five years with my children and I was really starting to feel the need to 'get out there' again both personally and professionally.

Just as a person needs to learn the ins and outs of a new community when they relocate,  in the same way, I began to learn to reside in this brave new digital world of ours.  Getting on Facebook allowed me opportunities to engage in the social interaction I so desperately craved some days-  especially when I felt cooped up my little ones at home.  I loved the fact that if I wanted to chat with someone or to find out what they were up to, I could go online, and get in touch- on my terms.  The 'on my terms' factor was also an essential consideration in my decision to continue my studies. I knew that an online degree would be a stretch for me- not only technologically and cognitively, but also socially. I love interacting with people and with my instructors and I wasn't really all that technologically inclined.  I was completely unsure of what to expect from an extended learning context and how I was going to fit in.  At the time, I think I was so desperate for mental stimulation, I was ready to put aside my misgivings and go for it.  It is because of my studies here at the U of C that I have decided to leave behind my 'visitor's pass' and settle in.    


This past fall I took a course on building a distributed learning environment (BDLE). In this course, I learned SO much about the interactive tools of the Web 2.0 and how people-  teachers in particular, are making these tools work for the learning environments in which they work. In this course we talked of paradigm shifts in education and we had many lengthy discussions about digital literacy and digital citizenship. This  BDLE course forever changed the way I look at teaching. Furthermore, it gave me confidence that I too could be an active member in the digital community- and I learned to manipulate a number of tools that would enhance my own participation and my teaching practice.  


One of my favourite articles from the BDLE course was by Will Richardson (2007)- who spoke of the 7 Cs of learning. I think it summarizes a lot of my thoughts about where we are heading - when we consider literacy in a digital habitat.  Richardson lists the 7 Cs as:

• communication
• connection
• collaboration/cooperation
• creation/contribution
• community
• continual learning

For a more detailed description of each 'C', check out: http://www.springvillegi.org/webpages/ttalk/files/The%20Seven%20C.pdf