Category: Digital Literacy

Before proceeding with your first blog post, we expect you to consider your privacy preferences carefully and that you have considered the following options:

1. Do you want to be online vs. offline?
2. Do you want to use your name (or part thereof) vs. a pseudonym (e.g., West Coast Student)?
3. Do you want to have your blog public vs. private? (Note, you can set individual blog posts private or password protected or have an entire blog set to private, but everything but your posts would be public, such as your URL, title, etc.)
4. Have you considered whether you are posting within or outside of Canada? This blog on opened.ca is hosted within Canada. That said, any public blog posts can have its content aggregated/curated onto social networks outside of Canada.

First tasks you might explore with your new blog:

• Go into its admin panel found by adding /wp-admin at the end of your blog’s URL
• Add new category or tags to organize your blog posts – found under “Posts” (but do not remove the pre-existing “Digital Literacy” category or assignment categories, “Inquiry” and “Reflections”). We have also pre-loaded some competencies as categories should you wish to use them to document your learning. If you would like to add more categories, please do so (e.g., add categories to curate materials and learning from your other courses, your hobbies, etc.). You can then build more menus for them. This blog does not have to be all about just this course.
• If you have consented to have your posts show up on the course blog feed, see if your blog posts are appearing on the feed on the course website (you must have your blog set to public and the course categories assigned to a post first and have provided your instructor with your blog URL). It may take a few hours for your posts to show up once public, so please be patient.
• Add pages
• Embed images or set featured images and embed video in blog posts and pages (can be your own media or that found on the internet, but consider free or creative commons licensed works). You cannot use copyrighted photos. If any media does not state its copyright status, then it is considered copyrighted by default. See the course blog about how to find media you can use and how to attribute them. Your lab instructor can help you.
• Under Appearance,
  • Select your preferred website theme and customize to your preferences (New title, etc.)
  • Customize menus & navigation
  • Use widgets to customize blog content and features
• Delete this starter post (or switch it to draft status if you want to keep for reference)

Do consider, if creating categories for other courses that  you wish to curate your learning for, that you may wish to use the course topic as the category as opposed to the course number as those outside of your program would not be familiar with the number (e.g., we use “Digital Literacy” instead of “edci136).

Lastly, as always, be aware of the FIPPA as it relates to privacy and share only those names/images that you have consent to use or are otherwise public figures. When in doubt, ask us. Even if you have permission to comment about a person or public figure, consider how what you write impacts their digital footprint as well as yours. Your lab instructors can review any posts you are unsure about.

Please also review the resources from our course website for getting started with blogging:

• WordPress resources
• Using RSS feeds to read blog posts from your networks (e.g., Feedly)
• Privacy resources
• FIPPA for public bodies as an example
• Review Copyright & Copyleft
• Finding images, multimedia, and attribution

Reflecting on Digital Literacy: A Look at What We Learned

This week w dove into more of what Digital Literacy is, and how we use it in everyday lives. I always knew and was told growing up how to protect myself online, but this also dove more into the how to and communication aspect.

Why Digital Literacy Matters

The articles and resources we explored showed that digital literacy is not just about knowing how to use digital tools. It’s also about being responsible and mindful when we use technology. The BC Digital Literacy Framework talks about how digital literacy involves being able to create, share, and interact in digital spaces safely and thoughtfully. This includes things like protecting your privacy online, creating good content, and being aware of how technology can be used to hurt or help different groups of people.

A part of this that stood out to me was data sovereignty, the idea that Indigenous communities should have control over their data and cultural information. This made me think about how we all have a responsibility to respect others privacy and their cultural knowledge when using technology. It’s not just about what we can do with technology, but also about how we can use it ethically.

What This means for Teaching + Learning

Digital Literacy is so imporatnt for both teachers and students, the reosurces I read showed how teachers can help students underrstand not only how to use proper digital tools, but also how to use them in positive + safe ways. I find this very important as it is NOT enough just to teach students how to use technology, there is a huge need for responsible + safe use.

There is need to create safe spaces online, where students can share ideas, ask questions, and learn from each other without fear of bullying or harassment. Also to help students learn how to use technology to collaborate and create content that is both thoughtful and respectful of others.