Well I googled myself today and was pleased to see how little my digital footprint is. I am definitely a minimalist when it comes to my digital presence. I have social media platforms but rarely use them. With the platforms I do use, I am vigil in ensuring all my content is private and rarely post things online. Nardi states “Learning professionals can actively undertake measures to make the best use of the learning opportunities in their layered personal learning networks.” (Brinke, 2011) As someone who does not use social media to network I do not believe that actively taking measures to learn has to occur exclusively online. When it comes to networking using social media I see myself slowly curating my platforms to align with my personal and professional interests by following certain groups and educators who share their ideas online. But that is pretty much where my online networking ends. I see myself to be orchestrating my personal learning network online by actively building connections. However, when it comes to maintaining and activating connections online I have zero motivation. Where I do find myself building, maintaining and activating connections within my learning network is at the physical school I work at. As a learner I reach out to other experienced professionals in personl for a variety of factors such as: communality, reputation, like-mindedness, potential for collaboration, and potential for learning (Brinke, 2011). Thesed factors are what motivates me to connect, which then gives me the opportunity to gain new experiences and perspectives on ways I can improve my practice.
When I watched the video about the government using digital ID, I have to admit, I was a little perturbed. My initial thought was I personally have no motivation to have a digital ID especially as someone who’s motivation is to be as private as possible. In the simplest of definitions Digital Identity is a persons presence online and having the government curate or dictate my identity online is very off putting to me. In the article White Paper: Canada’s Digital ID Future – A Fedarated Approach, digital identification is explained to be a way for people to identify themselves electronically without the need to present physical documents (2018). I then realized I’m already dipping my toes in the water of government digital ID as a Canadian citizen. Whether I am filing my taxes, signing up for my covid shot, and maintaining my student loans I am doing so in the comfort of my own home through a variety of digital identification sytems. No appointments, no traveling to the city and no waiting in line. I live in a rural town and see how truely beneficial this can be. Digital ID makes things easy for myself but for those who have a variety of factors imparing their ability to access the centralized government resources in the highly populated metropolises it is becoming a nessecity.
References
Brinke, DesirĂ©e Joosten–ten. Bruggen, Jan Van., Rajagopal, Kamakshi. and Sloep, Peter B. “Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them.” First Monday, Volume 17, Number 1 – 2 January 2012 Retrieved from https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/download/3559/3131doi:10.5210/fm.v17i1.3559
“White Paper: Canada’s Digital ID Future – A Federated Approach.” Canadian Bankers Association. https://cba.ca/embracing-digital-id-in-canada
