Week 1: Your digital life
Introduction
It is too early to tell whether the Internet’s effect on media will be as radical as that of the printing press. It is not too early to tell that there is nothing that happened between 1450 and now that comes close.
Why is ‘digital’ such a big deal? Here are a few reasons. The world is connected in such a way that news is available at our fingertips as it happens. ‘Everyday activities – such as shopping, using a telephone and banking – increasingly require interaction with technology’ (House of Lords Select Committee on Digital Skills, 2015, p. 6). Children are born into a digital world and exposed to technology from a young age. At work, many routine processes are being automated, and according to some commentators, around 35 per cent of jobs are at high risk of computerisation (BBC News, 2015). Technology is impacting on every area of life and the speed of change is accelerating.
All this has implications for the way people live, work and study. If you are new to life online, it is not always obvious where to start. There is a saying that even the longest journey begins with a single step. This course is designed to help you to succeed in a digital world by starting with a few essential core skills. You will reflect on your own experience and also that of Manuela, Michael and John – your three companions on this course.
In Week 1 you will identify your starting point and where you would like to get to. To help you keep track of your learning and development, you’ll fill in a Digital plan (or learning journal) with actions you want to take and you can use it to note down any insights you have gained through studying this course. The Digital plan is structured to guide your reflection each week, and help you review progress. Now would be a good time to download the Digital plan [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] document to your computer.
Watch Katharine and Wendy of The Open University introduce Week 1 and the course:
Transcript: Katharine and Wendy: Week 1 introduction
At the end of this week you will have:
- identified and reflected on your current use of online technologies
- thought about how confident you are online
- started your Digital plan.
Before you start, The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations of the course. Your input will help to further improve the online learning experience. If you’d like to help, and if you haven't done so already, please fill in this optional survey.