We have a final project in my digital writing class. Basically, we are to pick a medium that we would use to create a fresh Writing in the Digital Age class. We already use quite a few digital mediums in the class to learn: Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Blackboard, and blogs. A couple of questions to prompt ideas that caught my attention are "What do you want to learn in this class and why?" and "What skills, issues, topics, theories, and questions should we consider?". I want to address these questions in my version of the class.
To begin with, I kind of know what I want to learn--what skills I want to have. One, how to be successful online. It was briefly mentioned in class, but nobody seemed to know the answer. I think I'd like to learn the key to success by interviewing popular Youtbers and bloggers, such as John Green and Aidan Moher (my geek side is showing). On the other hand, I would like to teach this by having students create blogs and then go out and interview successful bloggers and Youtubers. If they cannot get an interview, then research how that person became a digital icon. In addition, experimenting with their own blogs.
The second thing I would like to learn is how to network online. I thought it would be easier than networking in the real world, but I honestly don't even know where to start. I mean, I have a blog and I follow several large participants in the industry/discipline I wish to work in, but besides, that, I don't know. I've been told to create a LinkedIn account. I haven't because, quite frankly, I haven't a clue what I'd do on it. I know in general what it is and what it is used for, and yet, I feel like even if I did figure it out, I still wouldn't be able to network. I suppose I'd teach students how to network online by having them explore it themselves, and I'd learn along with them. To do this, I'd have them follow blogs, commenting and posting pieces relative to what they learned on other blogs.
I suppose networking and success are related. If you are successful online then you are good at networking or you at least know how; if you have a large, knowledgeable network then you are successful online. The question is, how to actually get to the point where your network is good and your success is more than your family and friends commenting and liking your online stuff.
Why do I want to learn this? Because having an online presence is crucial. Networking is crucial too, among other things. Employers are looking for people who can tweet and make an alluring website while also having other skills. As most of my classmates and I are millennials, the assumption that we are skilled in all things digital might be unfair (see I Don't Know Everything post: http://lizloch.blogspot.com/2015/09/i-dont-know-everything.html), but it's not necessarily something to be angry with. The world, whether you like it or not, is digitized. People like technology. And they like technology that works and helps them "better" their lives. They do not look in the Yellow Pages anymore for a company's name, they Google the company and get the number from the company's webpage that they can access on their phones. Even the most traditional institutions, such as the Catholic Church, have their own websites, Twitter handle, and Facebook page.
In general, I want to have blogs as my medium for my project, and the themes I will explore will networking and being successful through them.
I may not always be thrilled about the digitalization of the world, but I can't very well escape it. I don't really want to. I want to learn how to be successful online not just for professional reasons, but also because I have a digital life I wish to maintain.
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