After spending time on Pinterest it seems to be a social media platform that allows users to make a search on a specific topic and save relevant posts. There is the option to save posts and then organise those posts into separate boards. For the purpose of this assignment I searched “Pancake recipes” and “Dublin travel guide”. I saved images from both topics and they were all displayed on my saved profile. I used the boards option to create different folders for the different topics. 

Pocket on the other hand is a platform that stores outside sources in one place. It is helpful for saving articles to look back on later or share with others. Once logged in there is a list of recommended articles which can be read and saved to the user's account. There is also an option to save urls from outside sources. I used the same two titles again,  “Pancake recipes” and “Dublin travel guide”. Where I saved articles from other websites. Then i put the articles into a tag so they could be organised. 

Being a digital citizen as mentioned by Jason Ohler, is to understand the impact of what we see online. (Ohler, J. B. (2010)). There are many different social media platforms both familiar and unfamiliar to me prior to starting this module. Many of which help to support my engagement as a digital citizen.

Since starting this module I have been developing a Padlet page where I have been adding the components of my E-portfolio to it. The website is simple to navigate and share with others. What I liked most about using the padlet was how easy it was to add information such as images, links and text. I feel that this would be a really good platform to continue to use as a digital citizen as I would be happy to ask others  to contribute to my padlet or create their own without them having any issues when it comes to using the platform. With group work being a big component of my college career I feel I could make great use of padlet as a group by simply sharing ideas with each other. (Halsted, E. (2014)) 

Overall, Padlet offers a range of tools and features that can support my online engagement as a digital citizen. Whether I am finding, creating and publishing, curating and managing, or sharing information, Padlet can help to enhance my online presence and facilitate collaboration with others.

Pinterest is a social media platform that I would have seen myself using to support my online engagement as a digital citizen the least. Before this module I thought of pinterest as a social media platform to be used for just leisure. However after completing this assignment i have realised that it is more than that. Pinterest can be used to find information and ideas as it is simple to search for many different images and posts. Pinterest can also be used to create and publish content for others to view. It would be a good platform to use to help promote a business or product. (Driver, S. (feb 2023))

Unfamiliar at first pocket has become one of the platforms which I think will benefit me as a  digital citizen the most. When it comes to researching information I never had anywhere to store the information in one place. Sure there's the option to copy links into a blank document but they can get lost. The main issue I have is that there's never been anywhere to store all of this in one place until now. What I find most useful about pocket is that you can add outside sources to save to your page but the option to add tags is also available to make the information neater and organised. This helps manage the information and find it easier.

Though many laptops and tablets have the ability to screen record. I still would be inclined to use screencast o matic over just screen recording as it is just as easy to use but also gives the user the benefits of being able to edit the video all in one place. The edits include voice overs, video and music. This tool will help with supporting my online engagement when it comes to sharing information with others. This would be the perfect platform in order to share information to others if I wanted to show them how to do something on my laptop which is easier to show rather than try to explain. The option of adding a voice over just makes it a lot easier to explain by showing both my screen and using my voice.  
Another use for screen recording was shown in a study where people were asked to screen record a day of them using their laptops, this data was able to show the different ways people used their laptops during the day (John C. Tang, Sophia B. Liu, Michael Muller, James Lin, and Clemens Drews. (2006)).

Youtube is a platform that we all know and love. I always felt that it was  just for people to create a platform and share videos in order to get a following. There are of course many other uses of youtube and not just limited to getting a following. The way I would use youtube to enhance my digital citizenship by sharing information is if i needed to give a group of people the same information then I could create a youtube  video and share the link to everyone that needed it. 

To conclude the completion of this module has really broadened my horizons on the possibilities of what other options are out there. I feel that this module has supported my online engagement as a digital citizen especially when it comes to storing and sharing information. 

 

Bibliography 

Halsted, E. (2014,). Why Padlet is an important tool for your classroom. Retrieved March 11, 2023, from https://www.edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/why-padlet-is-an-important-tool-for-your-classroom/#:~:text=Padlet%20is%20a%20great%20tool,for%20your%20class%20fellows%20%26%20teachers.

Driver, S. (feb 2023). How to use Pinterest for business. Retrieved March 10, from https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7552-pinterest-business-guide.html 

Krasnoff, B. (2022,). Saving sites: Pocket's bookmarking app and its alternatives. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://www.theverge.com/22927750/bookmarks-pocket-firefox-instapaper-raindrop 

Ohler, J. B. (2010). Becoming digital: The road to digital citizenship. Corwin Press, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452219448 

John C. Tang, Sophia B. Liu, Michael Muller, James Lin, and Clemens Drews. (2006). Unobtrusive but invasive: using screen recording to collect field data on computer mediated interaction.

During E-portfolio B I learnt a lot of things that are not only going to benefit me in the future but also will support my control of my digital presence. LinkedIn is a platform that markets a person or business. It can be used to market yourself and help connect with others. It is important to keep updating your account and interact with it on a regular basis so as to not ruin the chance of getting a good opportunity. Many people have gotten jobs and internships through LinkedIn. ‘LinkedIn is one of the fastest growing and most successful business networking sites in the world’ (Prodromou, T. (2015)). The platform that has helped me to create a personal digital profile by acting as my online resume and personal brand. I have connected with people with similar interests to me and also brands I would like to work for in the future. LinkedIn is manageable in supporting the control of my digital presence. I am able to say as little or as much as I want about myself, I also have the ability to accept and decline connection requests. This is good for controlling my digital presence as I can create a platform of like-minded people. Another feature of LinkedIn that helps with the control of my digital presence is being able to make posts and engage in others posts. This allows me to share content that aligns with my goals of how I want my digital presence to look. LinkedIn is the perfect platform to create a strong digital presence and show brands your best self (DiLascio, A. (2022)).

Using Canva has been a beneficial tool to me and definitely something I will use in the future, I have always struggled with trying to make posters from scratch but using Canva has been really helpful in giving me ideas for the design of my posters, it is definitely a platform that I will continue to use in the future as I imagine there will be a lot of opportunities in the future where it will be useful. ‘It lets you create an astonishingly large range of assets — including adverts, infographics, videos and even websites — easily, cheaply and quickly’ (Singleton, C., (2023, April 18)). The main learning on this however came from the creation of the infographic, and the information I put into it. Previously I never thought of having a personal digital strategy, however, when I stopped and thought about it there are definitely many goals that I want to achieve through my online presence and I discovered that I do have a lot of goals with how I portray myself online. 

The online e-assignments originally seemed like something that would not benefit me actually turned out to be quite useful. The material covered in the assignments was really interesting and the things I learnt in them will help me in the future when creating my personal digital strategy. By having the assignments online it gives me the freedom to do the assignments when suits me best, and also I was able to get a result back immediately (NewPath Learning. (2021, November 11)). This was super helpful to me as in this particular task I needed to get 100% to carry forward so I just kept going until I got them all right.

Peer scholar was really beneficial to me, not only did I get constructive feedback from two of my peers, I was also able to read through and evaluate two of my peers' reflections. This was really helpful to me as I was able to see other perspectives and ideas that I may have wanted to mention myself and hadn't thought about yet. Studies have shown that incorporating peer-to-peer reviews into the syllabus it can make the participant more aware of what they are submitting as they know a peer is going to be reading and constructing it, also it can hugely benefit the student's communication skills(Ferris, S. P., & Wilder, H. A. (2013)) I feel I have learnt good communication skills through peer scholar as I learnt it was important to pick out positive parts of the work but also negative parts. When discussing the things the student could work on it needs to be said in a constructive way and in no way trying to upset the student. This is important for creating my own personal digital strategy, as it is so important to word things in a way as to not cause any unnecessary upset. Sometimes things can sound better in your head but when someone else reads it they could take it the wrong way. The skills I learnt in the peer scholar will support my role in my digital presence. 

Prodromou, T. (2015). Ultimate guide to linkedin for business. Entrepreneur Press.

Ferris, S. P., & Wilder, H. A. (2013). The plugged-in professor: Tips and techniques for teaching with social media. Oxford: Chandos Publishing.

DiLascio, A. (2022). Why having a strong linkedin presence is important. Retrieved April, 2023, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-having-strong-linkedin-presence-important-msmdesignz/?trk=pulse-article_more-articles_related-content-card

NewPath Learning. (2021, November 11). Importance of online homework assignments. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://www.newpathlearning.com/the-latest-news/importance-of-online-homework-assignments/#:~:text=Students%20have%20the%20freedom%20to,cases%2C%20grades%20on%20their%20work.

Singleton, C., (2023, April 18). Canva Review (2023) - all the key pros and cons. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from https://www.stylefactoryproductions.com/blog/canva-review#:~:text=Canva%20is%20an%20excellent%20design,%E2%80%94%20easily%2C%20cheaply%20and%20quickly.