As a digital native, there has never been a point in my life where computers and the internet did not exist. With that being said, I have should developed a set of what we can call “21st Century Skills” when it comes to technology usage. Let’s make a list, shall we?
KNOWING WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO
You can imagine how important this is. Lets pretend you are writing a multiple page assignment on cats (yes, we are back to cats again) and you are browsing through many web pages looking for the information you need. When reading through all these websites about cats, you need to be aware of what you are looking for. Are you needing to know how to train a cat? Care for a cat? Breed cats? By knowing exactly what you are looking for, you will be able to determine what information is useful when you come across it. I find I can have some trouble with this sometimes, but I think that is because there are times when I do not know exactly what I’m looking for.
ABILITY TO DISTINGUISH GOOD INFORMATION FROM CRAP INFORMATION
Let’s play a game. Just a small game. It won’t take much of your time, I promise.
Which website will give you good information and which one will give you crap information?
#1: Why is the sky blue?
#2: Why is the sky blue?
Okay…so that one was easy. But what about this one?
#1: Why do dogs spin in circles before they lie down?
#2: Why do dogs spin in circles before they lie down?
Not so easy, right? It’s hard to know what information is actually credible. The way that I have been able to work through this problem is by looking at multiple websites. Have you ever been told the same thing a bunch of times by many different people? This is taking the same approach. By seeing what other people think, write down, or believe, you can start to build an understanding of what is mostly true. I say “mostly true” because we cannot always believe what the majority of people say. Thinking back to my example, many of your friends could say that so-and-so did this with this other person (yes…remember those high school rumours?) but does that make it true?
Another way to help sort out the crap from the good stuff is to check the credibility of the authors, which I find I usually do. What is more reliable: a University professor’s thesis or a 12-year-old’s blog post regarding the subject of weather patterns in Toronto? Again, I think my point is fairly obvious.
ABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY USE A SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE
This skill is SO important for so many people in today’s society. Social networking websites are key factors in business promotion and communication between members of a society. Think about all the business you know that have a Twitter and/or Facebook account. How many businesses or organizations do you follow on Twitter and/or Facebook to get information? Social networking has become such a key factor for advertisers and business people because it allows them to instantly communicate with the demographic that they wish to target. This has elevated our business related activities to a whole new level. This skill is a key skill because EVERYONE does it. When I come across people that are unplugged from the social media world, I find it hard to communicate with them about current social activities because they are completely unaware of them. Myself, being a user of Facebook, find it easy to obtain the information I need very quickly because everyone else is using the same networking website to communicate.
USING A SEARCH ENGINE PROPERLY
Believe it or not, many people do NOT know how to use one of these things correctly! I’ve seen people getting frustrated because they aren’t finding information, but when I go to help them I see that they aren’t even using the correct keywords for their searches. Knowing how to use a search engine can save you LOTS of time and LOTS of swear words. Due to the fact that I usually pick research topics that are hard to find information on, I had to learn how to use a search engine correctly to avoid causing myself a lot of stress. Some search engine tricks can be found here: Using Search Engines
More white text to get the correct spacing
Signing off in 3…2…1…
*click*
Julia Wice 