I was drug into the digital era kicking and screaming. I refused to get a smart phone for some time because I thought it was such a waste. I had a Facebook page which I did nothing with for almost a year after opening it. Now I have a smart phone, tablet, and a laptop. One of them is usually just a step away.
Digital literacy is the ability to use digital technology to find, use, and construct information and use it in a technological format. When someone who is digitally literate, a person able to use technology becomes fluent, it means they achieve a desired effect through technology.
One thing I think I am good at when it comes to digital literacy is being able to find what I need and usually I am able to use it well. I am also very safe and legal and have good ethical behavior when it comes to technology. There are a lot of social and societal issues that present themselves when using technology and I think it is very important to demonstrate that you are professional and be courteous of others.
I would like to learn how to use even more technology so that I can use it in my future classroom. Having worked in a school system for many years already I have seen many examples of digital literacy in the classroom. I know that I need to learn how to use technology because every day it changes and grows and it is what the future holds. I also think that by learning how to use twitter and other social media it will put me in touch with other educators who may have some really great information to share.
While researching digital literacy on the net I found one site which was particularly helpful when explaining the importance of digital literacy when it comes to students. The site was http://www.learning.com/21cs/. The site put the importance in short, concise, easy to understand ways. It is really worth looking at if you are a teacher or wonder why it is important for students to learn to be digitally literate and fluent.
julmakco 
Julie,
Hello fellow life-long learner! You and I are taking the class for the same reasons – to be more knowledgeable in the classroom. I’m open to learning, and allowing the students to teach me new things, but I hope not to have to “rely” on the students to run the digital media for me! Yikes! I really think it’s going to be important to be a bit savvy with digital literacy for our students, especially since many schools are now 1:1 with laptops/tablets. It might even make teaching a bit easier and fun for us too! So much to learn, but I think this class will help a lot!
I’m from the “in-between” generation – not as archaic as my parents, but not savvy like my children. Oh dear, I’ve become the mother who asks her son for help with the computer! lol Well, now you should see us in the living room, all of us watching television (sort of) and multi-tasking on our tablets. I think I’m getting just about as addicted to my tablet and smart phone as my kids! I say that like it’s a bad thing…haha
My most difficult learning curve was working on a play and concert in Second Life virtual world, having never done it before! Wow…that was tough. I still don’t use it much, but I did enjoy learning to buy and wear new clothes on my rockin’ virtual body! (not so rockin’ in the real world)
Well, here’s to fun in digital land!
Thanks for sharing!
Vicky D
“Peanut Butter Theater”
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I have found that the more I understand about technology the more I like it. It is all just a process.
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Having a solid digital footprint you can be proud of is so important! We’ll be talking about that sometime in the next few weeks in this class. It’s always amazing to me how many pre-service teachers have digital footprints that are going to cost them jobs in the future. You really can’t be talking about getting drunk or wanting to punch the girl sitting next to you in class on Twitter when you’re trying to become a professional educator!
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Yeah, avoiding technology in our field is pretty hard to do. Though teaching here in the Midwest seems like it would be so traditional to forgo advanced technology, every elementary classroom I have been in the past couple years has a smart board (which I do not know how to run) and other things. Likewise with you, I’ve avoided it personally when possible, but eh, I’ve given in – getting a Facebook in the last couple months, for example – because it’ll be so hard to connect with future generation (I.e. Our students) if we avoid it.
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