Chapter 3: Plugging Digital Skills into Your Professional Practice
Summary of Exercises
This chapter 3 exercise has four parts:
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Digital Literacy ChecklistWe’ll recognize our feelings about technology, then put into action methods for ongoing tech education that will fill our digital literacy gaps. Also, learning will come from paying attention to others, including those who are digital influencers in the field and for our campuses/organizations. By the end of the exercise, you’ll be tasked to play with new tools and create sandbox scenarios for you or your team to act out.
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Be a Digital ExplorerOne of the first tasks in digital identity is to understand your current online presence. So, let’s be digital explorers! Search your legal name, as well as any other version of your name that could be used. For example, I would search “Josie Ahlquist,” “Dr. Josie Ahlquist,” and my maiden name, “Josie Hutchinson.” I may also search using my middle name.
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Digital Branding Wish ListTo start intentionally growing and refining your social media presence and overall brand, we need to know your current impact and actions online. This will come from conducting an advanced search of your digital identity on platforms and looking for patterns of your past activity.
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Warming Up to Digital LeadershipSince digital leadership is a newer term to higher ed and I will always be, by training and heart, a student affairs educator, this application exercise is an icebreaker. You’ll start to look at your leadership abilities differently and dream about possibilities for your online impact. Connecting these dots entices you to own digital leadership in your life.
Download this exercise below, either using Google Docs or PDF version.
Next Steps
Now head to our book community, the Digital Leadership Network found at http://bit.ly/DigitalLeadershipNetwork, and find the chapter 3 topic, where you can share a few of your reflections, discoveries and actions on any of these exercises.
The Digital Leadership Network is a community of learners reading the book Digital Leadership in Higher Education.
Chapter Resources
This rewind of my path of technology adoption outlines major shifts in tech tools over the last 40-plus years. Use my timeline as a jumping-off point to reflect on your own relationship with technology.
