Final Thoughts (Blog 3)

/in /by

This post is my last post for this class. That is an ominous way to start this post, but it is the truth! So the final assignment is a reflection on what I had originally thought “digital citizenship” meant before the course.

Before the course, I thought that “digital citizenship” was about the way the Internet is a deeply integrated part of the world. I thought it was about how the Internet makes people more social but also more closed off. My final thoughts were about content that is on the Internet and how we consume said content.

I would say that this course has definitely opened my eyes to what the Internet can be. I feel that as someone who grew up as the Internet progressed, I thought that I knew the Internet pretty well. But this class showed me that digital citizenship is much more about the participation involved with the Internet. The Internet has a lot of power to pull people from all over the world together and grow a community. Each social media site shows its own type of community and each community can affect the world in different ways. My opinion of the Internet has changed. I don’t think that having access to the Internet in our pockets through our phones makes us more closed off. I truly think the Internet connects the world in such a way that we don’t even realize how connected we are. For example, my boyfriend started a personal blog that he writes from little, old, humble Camarillo, and he gets international readers! I started a YouTube page more for myself like a video diary, but the reality is that anyone in the world can watch my videos if they want to. The idea that the whole world is connected is insane to me. I didn’t think that digital citizenship meant a type of worldly citizenship.

I still believe in the importance of the content that users put out and also the content we absorb. Because it’s so easy to put out one’s own content for everyone to see, we must be aware of what we put out. Any content that we put out is a form of engaging and a form of participating in the world wide web. I think that this aspect of the Internet calls us to be more aware of what we put out and what others are doing on the Internet.

The different skills that I learned from this course that I will definitely carry with me is crap-detection, lurking, and the comfort of engaging. The Internet gives us access to the world and its information, it’s important to utilize it (and utilize it correctly and knowledgeably!). Lurking and engaging are techniques of research that I had not used before this class, and I think it’s extremely useful. With these techniques, I’m able to gather knowledge from people all over the world, and I think that exposing myself to different walks of life and knowledge will in turn make me more knowledgeable.

To my readers, whether you’re from my class or otherwise, thank you so much for reading along this semester. I’m not sure yet if I will continue blogging, although, this experience has been extremely enjoyable for me. I think that it has also broadened my writing style. There’s not the pressure of a grade so much with these blog posts, so I feel that my writing and my ideas flow more freely onto the screen/page. If anything, I may continue to blog about my experiences at school.

Again, thank you so much! I hope you’ve had fun, because I definitely have.

Crossing the Channel Program

/in /by

I am involved in the crossing the channel program with the junior high’s and high school’s in Oxnard. A group of CSU Channel Islands undergraduates work with these students to mentor them and encourage them to go to college.  Today, I was signed up to go to present my capstone project at the middle school. I left early to make sure I would make it there on time. I don’t have a navigation system or a smart phone, so I do it the old fashion way of looking it up before driving. I made all the correct turns and made it to Juanita St. in Oxnard with plenty of time to spare. I arrived in an office in the back of the school. When the lady asked me who I was, I told her I was with the crossing the channel program with Dr. Cause Hanna and am presenting to the 7th graders at 10:07. Confused, she called the front office. The front office had no idea what the crossing the channel program or who Dr. Cause Hanna was. However, because I told them I was scheduled to present for the 7th graders, they wanted to get all the 7th graders to go to the cafeteria to hear my presentation. They started calling around to the 7th grade classrooms and this is when Ms. Arroyo wanted me to come give the talk to her individual classroom. They then had me get in my car to drive around the block to the front office. This is when they ask me more questions on who I was and who I was supposed to meet. I then told them I was supposed to go to Ms. Arroyo’s classroom. After a few minutes of both the office lady and myself being confused, they asked what school I was supposed to be at. They then informed me I was at Cesar E. Chavez school. At the time, I blanked on the name of the school I was supposed to be at.

Screen Shot 2015-12-09 at 7.06.33 PM

I was about to take out my computer to look at my email to see which school I was supposed to be at, then the lady at the desk started naming off schools. She said RJ Frank Middle school. At this time, I realized I was at the wrong school the entire time! Oh, silly Ms. Arroyo wanting me to come speak to her classroom. Luckily, it only took us 20 minutes to figure out the whole situation. I was still able to make it to the correct school on time. Once I was on the correct campus, I soon recognized the students from the field trips. Long story short, the presentation went well. It just had an interesting start and makes for a good laugh.

Reflection

/in /by

I have been part of a course that teaches its students about digital citizenship and how to work in a world that is going under the cyber age. In the beginning of this semester I was very nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. I thought I knew most things about what it meant to be a digital citizen; don’t be a troll and don’t post something you might regret later. I thought that was it and I was very wrong. Back then, what I thought of digital citizenship was  that it meant you were apart of the cyber world and that was it. You had an account and sometimes you would post things and scroll through your feed. That’s all it was to me.

After entering this course, I was bombarded with an array of knowledge. There was a book we had to read called Net Smart by Howard Rheingold, and this book taught me so much about the digital world. First off there’s a thing called crap detection, and I remember the first time I read it I had a real kick out of it. But that was a real concept we had to learn for this class and it was an important concept at that. The book also taught about the importance of communication with others. I thought that this was one of the most important concepts we could have learned as a class. I thought this because in the world that we live in most often times we are silenced because the expression of feelings and thoughts and words can be seen as weak. We live in a world where there is so much pressure to be different that even a colloquialism among youth is being expressed; the term “basic” is now being used. If we live in a world, and we do, in which young people have an air horn to have their voices expressed but have fear of using that medium of communication because of the social repercussions of the day and age; then we are simply doing something wrong.

The idea to communicate, and communicate well, is a lost art. With so many people screaming ideas into our heads and having others tear them apart for having them; it’s no wonder youth may have apprehension from having a voice.

What this book taught us, along with our teachers, was how to communicate. And I take this with a grain of salt because we all communicate, but now we know the abundance at which we communicate when in the cyber world. We understand now that everyone can see it, literally everyone. But with the knowledge of this at hand, we are able to communicate efficiently, responsibly, thoughtfully, and wholeheartedly.

I remember when our teachers first had us engage in the community we were studying I was feeling more then a bit nervous. I was honestly scared of what might happen. I felt this way because I knew about the trolls and had seen them in action and I didn’t want anyone to talk to me like that. But, my teachers advised the class not to talk to those hurtful people and provided a safe place in the classroom so I felt brave enough to engage.

I say this because I no longer have fear to say what I believe or to ask questions to people of my fellow cyber community. I know how to communicate well and am aware of the image I am putting out into the world. I know myself and I know my cyber self. I am not afraid to say what I think or believe and I fear no one who would say anything against me.

Final Blog Post

/in /by

So it is finals week and our assignment is to say if our idea of being a digital citizen is the same from when we first entered the class.

My post said that we all have a responsibility as digital citizens to watch what we say because what we say and what we do can effect others. I also said that we are all connected. The digital world makes us so. I could communicate with someone in Russia or China, when before it would be a huge deal to communicate with someone that far away from me. (I live in the U.S).

That was our first class. Now it’s our last and I have to say it that my ideas of digital citizenship is pretty much the same. Some of the things I could add is that one could potentially use the digital world to spread news about something or promote themselves to get a job. The use of the internet can be used in ways that, I’m pretty sure, the original creators never dreamed of. They probably never thought that people would build communities on the internet or start organizations.

For instance, I have a friend who used to live in the United States. She recently moved back to Russia. We still talk very often. In fact, I think we talk about everyday. We don’t email, but we’ll tag each other on posts in instagram, or Facebook, send videos or text through snap chat, Skype, and we even have a group messenger on Facebook to talk with each other and a few more of our friends. Even though she is hundreds of miles away from me I feel closer to her now because we talk so much. Before I never thought I would be able to keep in tough with someone half way across the world. Now I find myself feeling closer to this person. I even have a friend in Germany who I keep in tough with too. We send letters to each other and care packages, but if we ever move or are at our parents house (we are both students) we Facebook each other and tell each other where we are. Facebook turned out to be a great way to keep in touch just in case our mail was lost or we didn’t know where each other was living.

People also build communities through social media. My Russian friend started her own makeup account on instagram and YouTube. Through her account she started to get to know people who were also in the makeup blogging world. If I wasn’t close to her I would have no idea that there was even such a thing as that. She has grown close to these people and shares their accounts on her page as well. My friend has also gotten to know these people more through their accounts and has built a friendship. A friendship she would have never known if she had never started her account.

I guess digital citizenship means to me now is that there is more to social media and the internet than just goofing around. It is a place to build a community, to build organizations, to start events or protests, to find knowledge, to advance ones career, or to starts something based on a hobby. What ever it is,it’s coming for you.

Here is my friends account if you want to check it out on instagram: @nushadoesmakeup