Living and Working on the Web

Lisa Harris, Sarah Hewitt & Nic Fair

#MANG2049

7th November 2017

Session Plan

• How the module works https://blog.soton.ac.uk/mang2049

• The Learning in the Network Age MOOC

• The Catalyst A Research Project

• Getting started with blogging

• Introduction to Digital Literacy

• Background

– Student Video: Living and Working on the Web

The Web has changed the way we learn….

It has changed….

• How we learn - networked learning

• Why we learn - self-motivation and autonomy

• What we learn - facts vs skills/literacies

• Where we learn - anywhere we want

• When we learn - whenever we like• From/with whom we learn - friends and peers,

not ‘experts’

We need to develop our digital literacies and our learning networks….

“Lif

e-w

ide”

an

d “

life-

lon

g”

lear

nin

g

Contacts

Experts

Teachers

Classmates Friends

Family

Coworkers

Synchronous Communication

Mobile Texting

Video Conferencing

Microbloging

Instant Messaging

RSS

Wikis

Blogs

Subscriptions readers

Podcasts

Social Bookmarking

Social Networks

Information ManagementLibrary/

Texts

Open CourseWare

Evaluating Resources

Scholarly Works

Locating Experts

Wendy Drexler (2008)

The Learning in the Network Age MOOC

• Register with FutureLearn

• Join the ‘Learning in the Network Age’ course

• Participate in the MOOC as much as you like, BUT the module topics will refer you to certain parts of the MOOC, which you will have to do.

The Catalyst A Research Project

• Please help us to research this module as part of a large scale University of Southampton research project led by Prof. Carol Evans of Southampton Education School.

• Follow this link to complete the short survey before you start the module.

• There will be a second survey at the end of the module for you to help us with too.

• BIG THANKS!!

Setting up your blog

• You may have your own blog already

• You can use a major free platform like wordpress.com

• Some good examples:

– Chris Phethean’s PhD progress blog

– Andy Sugden’s and Catherine Hunt’s curriculum innovation module blogs

Google likes blogging

• Social media interaction with digital content is the *biggest influence* on its search visibility:

1. Facebook shares2. Facebook comments3. Facebook likes4. Tweets

• Hootsuite blogpost

• Advice from Social Media Strategist

Beware the “filter bubble”

• From https://www.google.com/settings/me you can view what results other people see when searching for your name, and what your own publicly visible Google profile looks like.

• Entering your name directly into a Google search in your own browser will NOT give you an accurate view of how other people see these results.

• Google filters and personalises results according to past search behaviour, so a search from your own machine is likely to disproportionally favour your own sites.

Digital Literacy

• “Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organise, understand,

evaluate, and analyse information using digital technology. It

involves a working knowledge of current tools and an

understanding of how they can be used”

• “The active management of online activities such as

collaboration, networking , content creation and curation in

order to “stand out from the crowd” in today’s job market”

• “an ability to respond positively to change”

• “How we can best live, learn and work in an increasingly

digital society”

Building a professional digital profile

• how we can proactively manage our digital experiences for:

– effective learning in a world where we are increasingly swamped with data.

– showcasing our knowledge and building our networks to “stand out from the crowd” – enhancing employment prospects or a setting up a new business

– promoting “digital citizenship” – for example by behaving responsibly online or raising awareness of and supporting good causes.

Watch our video

Digital Capabilities (JISC 2015)

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/building-digital-capability

Scope of digital literacy: information management

• Finding, managing, evaluating and curating information

– how do we manage the sheer volume of search results we might get?

– How do we recognise a trusted source?

– How do we curate relevant materials from different sources and formats to meet a specific need, for example in addressing an assignment question.

Scope of digital literacy: creating materials

• How do we create new materials in written, visual and audio formats?

• What role can a reflective blog play in our learning journeys?

• How can its impact be enhanced with images or video?

Scope of digital literacy: effective communication

• How can we use tools such as twitter to communicate, collaborate and participate in online communities – building our own networks and contributing to the work of others, potentially on a global basis?

Scope of Digital Literacy: identity and behaviour

• Safety and security – managing passwords, privacy, access and tagging

• Managing the boundaries between the personal and the professional

• Digital citizenship – charitable fundraising, paying it forward, activism

Thank you

Questions?