Model & Foster

Teaching digital literacy is a key aspect of all my courses, whether online or on-campus. The digital world with which we interact on an almost daily basis (or hourly for many) cannot be ignored. While most if not all of my students are aware of and participating in this world, it's surprising that so many of them are cynical about it. Several of them have expressed their disillusionment with the prospect of finding anything truthful in the platforms that constitute this digital world. Many lack the knowledge of how to navigate these platforms to derive value.

Along with knowing how to locate and assess information online, it helps students to learn how to be a responsible digital citizen, a term I learned in the @ONE Digital Citizenship course. Part of this includes creating their own digital presence, and another part is knowing how to leverage digital assets responsibly.

Where I was

• In a time capsule. I admit I was a bit of a digital Luddite before taking courses like Digital Citizenship. I didn't realize how much value exists in online platforms that I could build on in my courses, value that would help me reach my students more effectively and which would allow my students to participate more creatively. Lesson learned. The other @ONE courses also illuminated my thinking about how digital platforms can be used to create learning communities online.

Where I am

• In the now. All of my @ONE courses helped me to become a better model of responsible digital citizenship.The @ONE facilitators and courses walk the talk. I informed my own digital presence with the principles modeled by them. I incorporate the digital world that my students inhabit in my courses rather than shunning it. And when they express frustration or confusion about navigating that world, I'm better prepared to help them using several of the resources I learned about in my @ONE courses. I use other digital resources to create more individual presence in my courses--both my presence and my students'.

Where I'm headed

• To the future. I'm sure I've only skimmed the surface of what's possible in the evolving digital landscape. I'm still learning some of the more powerful features of the tools that @ONE has shown me. My goal is to strengthen the immersive aspects of learning online so that my courses outlive the semester my students took them and increasingly become something my students use throughout their lives. The next step for me is to foster my students' participation in this digital world, to help them connect with a global audience and to develop their digital presence as this principle outlines.

To see examples of modeling and fostering, click the Examples link below.