Digital Literacy

Part One – Name searched: Marco Germinario

1) What does your partner’s current digital footprint says about him/her, does it say anything about their new media creative abilities or interests?
Well, when searching up for any information about Marco Germinario, one will find that there really isn’t very much to find. The only link that I found that was tied back to Marco was the link to his Facebook page (assuming that he wasn’t the Artistic Director and Founder of the Ragnarok Nordic Festival in 2010). Through his Facebook page, you can see that aside from being a normal kid, he has a photo album displaying a few of the paintings art pieces that he created, which are certainly impressive. The paintings show his ability to be creative and communicate his ideas and concepts, which is a key element for the creation of new media art pieces.

2) Do you think an  employer or teacher should be able to see that?
I would think that an employer or teacher should be able to see the work that Marco has done. It would give other people a good idea of what he is capable of in terms of artistic creation. In terms of the other photos and information that can be found about him on his Facebook page, there really isn’t anything there to show that he’s anything but a normal kid.

3) Where is the information coming from?  A blog, a website, Facebook, etc.
As stated earlier, the information I gathered came from Facebook.

 

Part Two

How to establish your digital footprint using web 2.0 technologies (Julia)

• Create personal profiles pages on social networking websites
• Comment on other people’s blog, profile pages, websites, etc
• Tag yourself in blog posts, videos, photos, etc
• Subscribe to other people’s posts
• Keep on top of what is being said about you and your own posts

How to create a data trail that can be searched and found via specific keywords (Julia)

• Add as many keywords and tags as your possibly can
• Be specific with your key-words, or be vague when you want to reach a wide audience
• Limit where each unit of information can lead- if you let them free, the trail can’t be followed
• Use unique keywords
• Try to think like your target audience – use the keywords that they would use.

A strategy would best serve the purpose of creating a digital identity that serves to inform teachers and potential employers of who you are as a new media creative professional (Marco)

Your identity in life is one perceived by others through your words and actions in the moment. Now image being able to sit down at your computer with that moment and tweak every aspect of your produced information. I’m pretty sure you would not only be the best but would look the best all the time, come on we’re all a little conceited. Well as crazy as that might sound its possible, how you say, well through something called your digital identity. The main purpose of which is to outsource your information as it suits you through a multitude of mediums. This information can be descriptive and beneficial to your social image as well as a way to inform teachers and potential employers of how you see yourself. As for a new media student it shows ones creative potential and professional caliber. Though the words you write, videos and photos you post it also helps familiarize yourself to your superiors and points out your creative abilities and interests, something very advantageous when yearning to get ahead of the rest. Altogether its a quick and easy way to outsource your information, like an ongoing, digital resume with and the space and customization for you to fill it with.

Web Literacy

So I’m pretty sure we were here before. Remember my 21st century skills post and the section about blue skies and dogs? I guess this is basically an extension of that.

Web literacy: It’s defined as “the ability to make critical use of the Web to access information, and to prepare documents and Web sites that make effective and appropriate use of this medium” (thanks http://dp.biology.dal.ca).

Basically, it means sorting out the good stuff from the crap.

I find that I’ve been a fairly decent judge of what is good and bad information. Having to do many research papers and such in my high school days, I’ve learned how to figure out how legitimate the information is on a website by analyzing who wrote it, what organization they work for, and the sources they used. It’s fairly simple, you ask yourself the following questions:

• Who wrote the information?
• Do they have the credentials that prove they know what they’re talking about?
• Can you verify the credentials?
• Is there contact information for the author?
• Where is the website being hosted?
• What organization is sponsoring the webpage?

By asking these questions, you can start to formulate an idea of who wrote the information, any bias they might be holding based on their personal beliefs or their company’s beliefs, and the legitimacy of the information.

Having grown up as someone who has known the Internet for their entire life, I consider myself someone who knows how to use it for my own benefit. As I grow with the technology, I will discover new and more effective ways of finding the information I need….I hope.

 

Signing off in 3…2…1…

*click*