Week 1

I have always thought of myself as a native user of technology. Since our generation has grown up with it, unlike our parents. We had the 2D Nintendo when we were little, and with time the majority of people got the ‘fancy’ Nintendo 64 or a computer to play with, escalating to the technology that we have today. Little did I know that I thought wrong! One week into this course and I am already surprised by how little I know- well, KNEW. While reading through the questions before my exploration into the content I decided I did not want a digital footprint. It took me a whole of 2 minutes to realize that people in this day and age do not really get a choice whether they have one or not.

http://bit.ly/1gNb8rh

Before children are even born or get a choice they are being tracked, starting with their hospital file. Now with media such as Facebook, many pictures such as sonograms and newborn photos are uploaded on the Internet for all friends and family to view. Once a child is old enough to use technology they will register themselves on different online tools. And this will progress with time, having more and more personal information available to the world! My initial thought of not wanting a digital footprint and all of my information available on the Internet is gone. Now I have to think deeper about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79IYZVYIVLA

If I can’t avoid a digital footprint, I will have to make a positive one! I have to make sure that the things I say and share online do not negatively affect me in any way. Because what I say on the Internet will never truly go away or be undone, I need to think before acting. Just like everything else in life, things can come back to haunt you, and Internet has just made it that much easier! It is important to have your online identity reflect you in a positive light, one which members of the community will find respectable. Luckily for people that have not consciously been thinking about what they have been putting on the Internet for years, there are tools to help enhance your online profile, such as Google Profile and Friendfeed!

After taking a ‘Digital Driver’s License Exam’ from our textbook it seems that I really know my stuff! Many of these dos and don’ts in the test I have learned through growing up with technology in society, although I know there is much more for me to learn. The one area where I was lacking was Digital communication. I am glad to know this at the beginning, so I can work on this through the course. I think that this exam is a good way to test people’s basic knowledge but I think that to really test understanding, the questions would have to be far more in depth. Since we have just started this course, it is implied that the test can not be extremely difficult but I trust that with our further understanding of the digital world as we work through this course all of this information will become second nature to us.

TTFN