Starting with the digital profile, I could fairly assess my digital skills. I found that my digital skills vary from comfortable to competent. For example, I can search the internet to find most of what I need. My digital search skills have also improved since I joined the AUC through the tutorials and the writing courses I took. As for my ability to create and innovate, I can produce simple digital content such as tables, images, and diagrams. But I still need training to produce well-made multimedia resources. As for identity and well-being, I take care to be careful with my sensitive data. I don’t reveal them to people I don’t know or those who I suspect, especially when I am on a social networking website such as Facebook or Twitter. I guess I need to be extra careful when I enter my banking data while buying something online. I usually use the default browser on my devices. But I trust Google, so I use Google Apps even if they are not the default apps. My communication is limited to WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and sometimes Twitter. As of this year, I started blogging as part of an AUC course.
The difference between digital skills and digital literacies opened my eyes to many important issues that I was unaware of. Having the technical skills to do something on the internet comes short of knowing which platform to use and when and what for. For example, it is very important to know which social networking site to publish what kind of information. Or even which search engine to look for particular information on. Copyright is another issue. Digital literacy helps people to refrain from piracy and find free options for the content they want. Digital literacy helps people to be careful about their sensitive data and know how to deal with potentially dangerous sites. Digital literacy teaches us to use the internet with responsibility. Although we are free to publish what we want, we have to take so many issues in consideration.
My digital literacy goals for this semester include the following:
- Seek training to produce high quality multimedia
- Use Social Networking websites more competently
- Find more ways to protect my identity and sensitive data on the Internet
Mohammad Nader 