Critical Digital Literacy: Persona & Citizenship

Digital Persona & Digital Citizenship

Your digital persona is the way others view you throughout the digital spaces you participate in. Much like people create opinions about you in the real world as a result of the things you say and actions you take, people also will view you in different ways based on your digital presence. I have learned that my digital presence is currently quite limited as searching my name on Google, for example, does not produce almost any results that are actually related to myself. As a result of these findings, I now am aware that building a professional persona in digital spaces would be beneficial to my future as a teacher to allow others to access my ideas and reach out to me, as well as to network with teaching professionals myself. 

Digital citizenship on the other hand, is the specific actions you take when participating in digital spaces, rather than simply how you are viewed. I have discovered that being a good digital citizen is much like being a good citizen in real life. It requires one to be respectful, safe, and cognizant of their surroundings. This is a concept that I believe is important to teach our students as they will enter the school system with a vast array of digital technologies available to them and it would be valuable for each student to learn appropriate ways to use these technologies from the very beginning.

Both digital persona and digital citizenship are concepts that will follow a person with them throughout life, as a connected piece of their identity when others look at them. Because of this, when we create in digital spaces, it is important to analyze what we are doing, understand exactly how we are using the space, and agree with the meaning behind whatever we are posting publicly.

This Week's Creative Makes

For my creative makes this week, I first created a Mindomo map about the important topics and concepts I have come to discover in my learning of critical digital literacy. I compiles all of the main sections that fall under the digital literacy and then included subtopics that impacted myself throughout my learning. This Mindomo map is a true depiction of the lessons that resonated with me and I find the most important to share with others learning about critical digital literacy in the classroom, but also on a professional and personal level.

 

I also created another meme this week to highlight the end of my time in this course about critical digital literacy. As the semester is coming to an end, this meme displays the thoughts of many students looking forward to the holidays and leaving the semester in their past. Now let’s just hope that all of the knowledge we have all gained follows us into Christmas break and our future endeavours, and is not left in our past!

Awareness of Persona & Citizenship: My Progress

My knowledge of digital persona and citizenship has impacted my progress in the use of all the digital tools I have recently tried because I now consciously think about the impact I am going to have from my participation with these tools and how I myself am going to be viewed based on the things I create. Thus, with my creations this week, I aimed to display my personal understanding of critical digital literacy from the beginning to the end and highlight what I deemed most important. I also created my fun meme for the class to present an exciting and not too serious image that can be related to by many. This was done with the ultimate goal of keeping learning fun and presenting a positive persona while accomplishing educational goals.

Resources Used to Establish Persona and Model Citizenship

The resources I used to first establish my persona were mainly social media accounts and google searches. Once I realized that my presence on these digital spaces was minimal, I focused on using new digital tools that could be included in my blog, as can be seen with my Mindomo map and meme this week, to begin creating a more prevalent persona. I am continuing to use my blog to model citizenship by sharing information with others and create a positive atmosphere. Additionally though, I am also using my social media accounts to model good citizenship in the digital world on a more personal level now that I have discovered its importance and value.

Reflecting on Critical Digital Literacy

Learning about critical digital literacy has opened up my views on the impact and use of digital spaces in the everyday world as well as the classroom. Using digital technologies can have so many positive effects on young children as they are learning to navigate new spaces and this will be highlighted in my teaching practice as I am looking forward to employing the digital world into many assignments and lessons. It will be a number one goal of mine to teach my students the fun and usefulness of technology, but also to teach them how to use it appropriately, safely, and effectively.