My reflections on Topic 1

Topic 1: Online participation & digital literacies is almost completed and it is time to do some own reflections.

Topic 1 turned out to be very interesting. When I first read the instructions of the topic I didn’t even understand that the scenario was the actual scenario we were expected to work with… I thought it was an example of a scenario, and that the real thing could be found somewhere else. Anyway, after communicating with my co-facilitator of Topic 1, Alexia, I soon realised that the scenario text was the center piece of Topic 1.

I had the joy to lead our PBL group 4 through this topic together with Alexia, mentored by our two PBL facilitators Tore and Fernanda. We managed to co-host four Zoom-meetings with our team. We alternated the lead- and co-facilitation between meetings, which worked out really well. The Zoom application has worked really well. We have participants based on three continents collaborating and sharing our thoughts and ideas without any serious glitches. The only issue we have had during Topic 1 is that all group members have not been able to attend all our group meetings. This is something that I hope will improve during Topic 2.

In summary: the group work in my PBL group has been great! We have managed to hold our meetings, jointly identify focus points that require some further investigation, conduct individual investigations, which were compiled in online documents, and then finally jointly decide on how to present our results to our fellow colleagues in the greater PBL community, and develop this, all in good time.

What I have learnt during Topic 1?

Online participation and digital literacy has many more sides to it than I thought at first. I have for the first time reflected about how I engage and participate online. If I am a vistior or a resident, and how I separate my private and professional presence when participating on-line. It was very interesting to read the original thoughts by Marc Prensky in his article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1 in ’On the Horizon, published in 2001. And to see how Prensky’s theories have been further developed, and excellently presented in the video by David White in his two youtube films: https://youtu.be/sPOG3iThmRI and https://youtu.be/kO569eknM6U, introducing the concept of visitors – residents and the private and professional dimension of online participation and digital literacy.

I have always been a bit cautious to share my private as well as professional opinions and views on platforms like Facebook and Instagram as you never know who is reading and interpreting what you may say. When it comes to platforms like Research Gate and LinkedIn it becomes trickier. Here you would like to share your professional experiences and knowledge, but it is not easy to become a resident on these platforms. To air your opinions and to engage requires time and committment, and that you see some meaning and benefits from sharing. I so far have not managed to take the step from being a visitor on these platforms to becoming a resident, taking active part in discussions and contributing my ideas and opinions.

Twitter is another platform that I never used with much of a purpose, more than following the steady stream of news and information from some organisations that I am following. During Topic 1 we had a Tweetchat about online participation. This was a new experience, which I so far haven’t made up my mind about. Did it really add value? What do I do with my corny tweets after the meeting? Are these anything I would like my few followers to read? I am looking forward to the next opportunity to do a Tweetchat to see what more this form of exchange can bring.

The learnings are: try to become more resident on the platforms where I spend time online, and develop my professional interaction and engagement on these platforms, using the right tools for the right purpose.

In conclusion

I have now reached the end of my first reflective blog post for the ONL191 course and it is time to sum up the thoughts and conclude. The experiences and the learnings from taking part in this course have so far exceeded my expectations, and I am waiting with anticipation for Topic 2 to be launched, eager to see what it may bring.