ICC
Personal literacy… What is it?

Objectives

On completion of this activity, you will be able to:

  • define key concepts pertaining to personal literacy
  • understand and explain how their own online identities are key elements of your students’ online life
  • select resources for the classroom and design personal literacy tasks for your students

What is personal literacy?

Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum (2014: 27) define personal literacy as “the ability to use digital tools to shape and project a desired identity”.

Why is personal literacy important?

‘In the digital world, just as in the physical one, you are partly who others say you are.This is why you need to be at least one – and preferably the most prominent – of the voices talking about you. You can’t allow others to define who you are, or control the way you are perceived.’
Dan Gilmore, 2011, Mediactive, First Edition

HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) (code literacy) have been added to print literacy in our educational and professional lives, but, as Mary Madden and Aaron Smith (Reputation Management and Social Media, Washington: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2010) claim: ‘managing an online identity has become a multimedia affair’ (see multimedia literacy). Nowadays, we are part of a digital eco-system, which is interacting through digital tools (from e-mail to augmented reality), available to a third of the world’s population.

Indeed, the image, lives, and experiences of many of us feature online and are open to public access. If potential employers google their candidates, it is because what the Internet says about you matters. Who you are online can be narrowed down to how you see yourself and how others see you both off- and online. Thus, our students need to be aware of what their personal digital identity is and of the consequences that an inappropriate, negative or, even, non existent digital identity can have on their lives and on their future careers.

Our digital identity can be fluid, as we can create it, shape it, modify it in whichever way we like, showing what we like to our readers, for as long as they have no access to our physical identity. It is thus important that students learn techniques that will allow them to form a digital identity that is suitable to the physical and digital environment they want to interact in (be it the academic environment, or a professional environment). They will have to be shown how to build a network (see network literacy), how to represent themselves within that network and how to interact with it. This is what is called personal literacy.

Also, personal literacy entails learning how “to protect your digital self (and, by extension, your physical self) from attack by cyber bullies, online predators and identity thieves.” (Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum, 2014: 27)

The following is a TED Talk on Digital freedom by psychologist Professor Jim Blascovich

Useful links
Source/attribution:      Digilanguages.                                                    Author:       Alexandre Jacquot

<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Objectives</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>On completion of this activity, you will be able to:</span><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>define key concepts pertaining to personal literacy</span></li><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>understand and explain how their own online identities are key elements of your students’ online life</span></li><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>select resources for the classroom and design personal literacy tasks for your students</span></li>
<br /><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>What is personal literacy?</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><a href=”/bibliography/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/bibliography/”>Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum</a> (2014: 27)</span> <span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>define personal literacy as “the ability to use digital tools to shape and project a desired identity”.</span>Why is personal literacy important?<h5>‘In the digital world, just as in the physical one, you are partly who others say you are.<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>This is why you need to be at least one – and preferably the most prominent – of the voices talking about you. You can’t allow others to define who you are, or control the way you are perceived.’</span></h5><h5 style=”text-align: right;” data-mce-style=”text-align: right;”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Dan Gilmore, 2011, </span><i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Mediactive</span></i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>, First Edition</span></h5>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) (<a href=”/code-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/code-literacy-what-is-it/”>code literacy</a>) have been added to <a href=”/print-literacy/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/print-literacy/”>print literacy</a> in our educational and professional lives, but, as Mary Madden and Aaron Smith (Reputation Management and Social Media, Washington: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2010) claim: ‘managing an online identity has become a multimedia affair’ (see <a href=”/visual-media-and-multimedia-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/visual-media-and-multimedia-literacy-what-is-it/”>multimedia literacy</a>). Nowadays, we are part of a digital eco-system, which is interacting through digital tools (from e-mail to augmented reality), available to a third of the world’s population.<br />
</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Indeed, the image, lives, and experiences of many of us feature online and are open to public access. If potential employers </span><i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>google </span></i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>their candidates, it is because what the Internet says about you matters. Who you are online can be narrowed down to how you see yourself and how others see you both off- and online. Thus, our students need to be aware of what their personal digital identity is and of the consequences that an <em>inappropriate</em>, <em>negative</em> or, even, <em>non existent </em>digital identity can have on their lives and on their future careers.<br />
</span>Our digital identity can be fluid, as we can create it, shape it, modify it in whichever way we like, showing what we like to our <em>readers</em>, for as long as they have no access to our physical identity. <span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>It is thus important that students learn techniques that will allow them to form a digital identity that is suitable to the physical and digital environment they want to interact in (be it the academic environment, or a professional environment). They will have to be shown how to build a network (see <a href=”/network-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/network-literacy-what-is-it/”>network literacy</a>), how to represent themselves within that network and how to interact with it. This is what is called personal literacy.<br />
</span>Also, personal literacy entails learning how “to protect your digital self (and, by extension, your physical self) from attack by cyber bullies, online predators and identity thieves.” (<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><a href=”/bibliography/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/bibliography/”>Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum, </a>2014: 27)</span>The following is a TED Talk on Digital freedom by psychologist <a href=”https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/blascovich” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/blascovich”>Professor Jim Blascovich</a>.<i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Useful links</span></i><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/cRrgD-4-D8s” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/cRrgD-4-D8s”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Fake It – to control your digital identity: Pernille Tranberg</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”> at TEDxOxford</span></li><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/CSpyZor-Byk” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/CSpyZor-Byk”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>How Social Media Shapes Identity: Ulrike Schultze</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”> at TEDxSMU</span></li><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/IZjPnaifVIM” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/IZjPnaifVIM”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>David Birch: A new way to stop identity theft</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>, Ted Talks</span></li>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><strong>Source/attribution:      </strong>Digilanguages.                                                    </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><strong>Author:       </strong>Alexandre Jacquot</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Objectives</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>On completion of this activity, you will be able to:</span><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>define key concepts pertaining to personal literacy</span></li><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>understand and explain how their own online identities are key elements of your students’ online life</span></li><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>select resources for the classroom and design personal literacy tasks for your students</span></li>
<br /><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>What is personal literacy?</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><a href=”/bibliography/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/bibliography/”>Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum</a> (2014: 27)</span> <span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>define personal literacy as “the ability to use digital tools to shape and project a desired identity”.</span>Why is personal literacy important?<h5>‘In the digital world, just as in the physical one, you are partly who others say you are.<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>This is why you need to be at least one – and preferably the most prominent – of the voices talking about you. You can’t allow others to define who you are, or control the way you are perceived.’</span></h5><h5 style=”text-align: right;” data-mce-style=”text-align: right;”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Dan Gilmore, 2011, </span><i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Mediactive</span></i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>, First Edition</span></h5>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) (<a href=”/code-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/code-literacy-what-is-it/”>code literacy</a>) have been added to <a href=”/print-literacy/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/print-literacy/”>print literacy</a> in our educational and professional lives, but, as Mary Madden and Aaron Smith (Reputation Management and Social Media, Washington: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2010) claim: ‘managing an online identity has become a multimedia affair’ (see <a href=”/visual-media-and-multimedia-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/visual-media-and-multimedia-literacy-what-is-it/”>multimedia literacy</a>). Nowadays, we are part of a digital eco-system, which is interacting through digital tools (from e-mail to augmented reality), available to a third of the world’s population.<br />
</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Indeed, the image, lives, and experiences of many of us feature online and are open to public access. If potential employers </span><i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>google </span></i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>their candidates, it is because what the Internet says about you matters. Who you are online can be narrowed down to how you see yourself and how others see you both off- and online. Thus, our students need to be aware of what their personal digital identity is and of the consequences that an <em>inappropriate</em>, <em>negative</em> or, even, <em>non existent </em>digital identity can have on their lives and on their future careers.<br />
</span>Our digital identity can be fluid, as we can create it, shape it, modify it in whichever way we like, showing what we like to our <em>readers</em>, for as long as they have no access to our physical identity. <span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>It is thus important that students learn techniques that will allow them to form a digital identity that is suitable to the physical and digital environment they want to interact in (be it the academic environment, or a professional environment). They will have to be shown how to build a network (see <a href=”/network-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/network-literacy-what-is-it/”>network literacy</a>), how to represent themselves within that network and how to interact with it. This is what is called personal literacy.<br />
</span>Also, personal literacy entails learning how “to protect your digital self (and, by extension, your physical self) from attack by cyber bullies, online predators and identity thieves.” (<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><a href=”/bibliography/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/bibliography/”>Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum, </a>2014: 27)</span>The following is a TED Talk on Digital freedom by psychologist <a href=”https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/blascovich” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/blascovich”>Professor Jim Blascovich</a>.<i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Useful links</span></i><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/cRrgD-4-D8s” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/cRrgD-4-D8s”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Fake It – to control your digital identity: Pernille Tranberg</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”> at TEDxOxford</span></li><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/CSpyZor-Byk” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/CSpyZor-Byk”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>How Social Media Shapes Identity: Ulrike Schultze</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”> at TEDxSMU</span></li><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/IZjPnaifVIM” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/IZjPnaifVIM”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>David Birch: A new way to stop identity theft</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>, Ted Talks</span></li>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><strong>Source/attribution:      </strong>Digilanguages.                                                    </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><strong>Author:       </strong>Alexandre Jacquot</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Objectives</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>On completion of this activity, you will be able to:</span><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>define key concepts pertaining to personal literacy</span></li><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>understand and explain how their own online identities are key elements of your students’ online life</span></li><li><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>select resources for the classroom and design personal literacy tasks for your students</span></li>
<br /><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>What is personal literacy?</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><a href=”/bibliography/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/bibliography/”>Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum</a> (2014: 27)</span> <span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>define personal literacy as “the ability to use digital tools to shape and project a desired identity”.</span>Why is personal literacy important?<h5>‘In the digital world, just as in the physical one, you are partly who others say you are.<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>This is why you need to be at least one – and preferably the most prominent – of the voices talking about you. You can’t allow others to define who you are, or control the way you are perceived.’</span></h5><h5 style=”text-align: right;” data-mce-style=”text-align: right;”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Dan Gilmore, 2011, </span><i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Mediactive</span></i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>, First Edition</span></h5>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) (<a href=”/code-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/code-literacy-what-is-it/”>code literacy</a>) have been added to <a href=”/print-literacy/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/print-literacy/”>print literacy</a> in our educational and professional lives, but, as Mary Madden and Aaron Smith (Reputation Management and Social Media, Washington: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2010) claim: ‘managing an online identity has become a multimedia affair’ (see <a href=”/visual-media-and-multimedia-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/visual-media-and-multimedia-literacy-what-is-it/”>multimedia literacy</a>). Nowadays, we are part of a digital eco-system, which is interacting through digital tools (from e-mail to augmented reality), available to a third of the world’s population.<br />
</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Indeed, the image, lives, and experiences of many of us feature online and are open to public access. If potential employers </span><i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>google </span></i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>their candidates, it is because what the Internet says about you matters. Who you are online can be narrowed down to how you see yourself and how others see you both off- and online. Thus, our students need to be aware of what their personal digital identity is and of the consequences that an <em>inappropriate</em>, <em>negative</em> or, even, <em>non existent </em>digital identity can have on their lives and on their future careers.<br />
</span>Our digital identity can be fluid, as we can create it, shape it, modify it in whichever way we like, showing what we like to our <em>readers</em>, for as long as they have no access to our physical identity. <span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>It is thus important that students learn techniques that will allow them to form a digital identity that is suitable to the physical and digital environment they want to interact in (be it the academic environment, or a professional environment). They will have to be shown how to build a network (see <a href=”/network-literacy-what-is-it/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/network-literacy-what-is-it/”>network literacy</a>), how to represent themselves within that network and how to interact with it. This is what is called personal literacy.<br />
</span>Also, personal literacy entails learning how “to protect your digital self (and, by extension, your physical self) from attack by cyber bullies, online predators and identity thieves.” (<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><a href=”/bibliography/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/bibliography/”>Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum, </a>2014: 27)</span>The following is a TED Talk on Digital freedom by psychologist <a href=”https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/blascovich” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/blascovich”>Professor Jim Blascovich</a>.<i><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Useful links</span></i><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/cRrgD-4-D8s” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/cRrgD-4-D8s”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Fake It – to control your digital identity: Pernille Tranberg</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”> at TEDxOxford</span></li><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/CSpyZor-Byk” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/CSpyZor-Byk”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>How Social Media Shapes Identity: Ulrike Schultze</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”> at TEDxSMU</span></li><li><a href=”https://youtu.be/IZjPnaifVIM” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://youtu.be/IZjPnaifVIM”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>David Birch: A new way to stop identity theft</span></a><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>, Ted Talks</span></li>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><strong>Source/attribution:      </strong>Digilanguages.                                                    </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”><strong>Author:       </strong>Alexandre Jacquot</span>