• 1.2: Introduction to Digital Literacy

    Read book blindfolded.jpg In this subunit we research and create a personal definition for digital literacy and explain the difference between digital skills and digital literacies. 

    • Upon successful completion of this subunit, you will be able to: 

      • conduct a search of definitions for digital literacy on the web;
      • explain the differences between digital skills and digital literacies;
      • share links to credible resources you find on the topic on bookmarks.oeru.org (our resource bank for the course);
      • share your personal reflections on why digital literacy matters to you via the discussion forum; and
      • publish your personal definition of digital literacy and depict your personal learning network (PLN) online.
    • Posting a WENote comment Page

      OERu uses a microblog-like comment feature called WENotes for learners to share thoughts and ideas during the course. Microblog posts are intended to be short. Whereas, the popular Twitter social media site has evolved from a simple 140-character text message, WENotes are restricted to 300 characters.

      To post using WEnotes, you must be logged in on the OERu course site. When you post to WEnotes, your comments will automatically be included in the Course feed.

    • OERu Social Network Page

      OERu hosts its own social network using Mastodon for course specific activities and a backchannel for the Learning in a Digital Age community. A backchannel is a networked conversation that runs alongside the primary course conversations. You will need to know how to use the course hashtag in your toots for course related posts. 

      Note that Saylor Academy's LiDA100 course combines all four of the OERu micro-courses. This Saylor course will use four hashtags for the backchannel: #lida101 for unit one conversations; #lida102 for unit two; #lida103 for unit three; and #lida104 for unit four.

    • Introduction to Digital Literacy Page

      In this subunit we invite you to define digital literacy. We begin by:

      1. Searching for definitions for digital literacy on the web.
      2. Considering the difference between digital skills and digital literacy.
      3. Sharing the links you find on bookmarks.oeru.org (our resource repository for the course).
      4. Sharing personal reflections on why digital literacy matters to you in the course forum.

      By starting to unpack the meaning of digital literacy, you also demonstrate your digital skills in social bookmarking, using online forums and earning badges on discourse.saylor.org.

    • Digital Skills vs. Literacies Page

      In this section, we review an article on the difference between digital skills and digital literacies using Hypothes.is, an online social annotation technology.

    • Researching a Definition Page

      The resources we access on the Internet can facilitate and enable learning in a digital age. This involves the ability to search, evaluate and choose appropriate resources to support learning. A key feature of a personal learning environments (PLE) is the ability to share useful and valuable information with your peers.

      In this section, we complete our first resource bank activity where we invite you to search for additional resources to help refine and develop your own definition of digital literacies and reflect on how they differ from digital skills.

      The resource bank activity builds on your initial search on the previous page by inviting you to share links to valuable resources you source on the Internet. The resource bank provides the technology to share these resources with our LiDA learning community. The OERu resource bank hosted at bookmarks.oeru.org is an open source social bookmarking application that allows you to share and annotate links to resources you find on the web. It uses a tag system to group resources according to different topics. The tag system helps you locate links to resources on the site using the same tag.

    • Why Digital Literacy Matters Page

      A key component of digital literacy and networked learning relates to the ability to engage meaningfully in online learning communities.

      The learning activity which follows will provide an opportunity to become familiar with the open discussion technology platform we use at Saylor Academy and OERu to support community learning discussions.

    • Assessment and Scope of Digital Literacies Page

      Digital literacies for academic learning involves more than Facebook, Snapchat or Twitter and the associated technical skills in using these technologies.

      As you explore the concept, you will find online resources which confuse digital skills with digital literacies. The activities which follow aim to provide an initial introduction to the wide range of digital literacies associated with academic learning. We will explore the concept of digital literacies in greater depth as we progress with the course. When exploring these online resources, we encourage you to differentiate between skills and literacies and to develop a critical disposition. Digital literacies involve issues, norms, and habits of mind surrounding technologies used for a particular purpose. However, these literacies are closely related to technical proficiency in using a range of digital applications. 

    • PLN Mapping Challenge Page
      Mini Challenge Summary

      Summary: Publish a blog post including your personal definition of digital literacies and complete the digital visitor/digital resident personal learning network (PLN) mapping exercise. Time: 2 hours.

      Note: This challenge overlaps with Task 2 of the Unit 1 Assessment.

    • Optional: Continue to participate in the LiDA photo challenge.