Week 1 served to be a great introduction to things, not only in terms of expectations regarding assignments and effort, but also simply getting to know Professor Whalen and beginning to loosely connect with other students. Even with something as simple as sharing our Wordle scores, I feel instantly more in touch with the class and anticipate a great semester.

This week, we went through some start-of-class housekeeping and especially important aspects of the syllabus, a few of those things being the terms digital fluency, digital citizenship, and digital praxis.

Beginning with digital fluency, or the idea of truly having a core understanding of the digital world to the point of “fluency,” one truly has a grasp on the ideas behind and supporting digital technology. Not only can they operate a computer and navigate a website, but they understand the mechanisms behind said systems. In my mind, one has this level of understanding when they can essentially teach someone said ins and outs.

When it comes to digital citizenship, the idea of being ethical and thoughtful with decisions regarding technology and the internet shines through. Technology is a privilege, not necessarily a right, and with that it is important to be informed and use said technology for good and for growth, whether it’s on a small or large scale.

Finally, digital praxis is pretty straightforward, referring to using the digital tools at your disposal to complete tasks. It is important to keep in mind that there are many different ways to use programs and software on a computer, so one should be mindful to not limit themselves and instead expand upon what they already know and really ask themselves what more they can do with the tools they have.

These are three terms that I plan to keep in mind all semester, actively striving to improve my digital literacy through digital praxis while acknowledging the fact that I am a digital citizen and need to respect the digital landscape we’ll be working in.