Succeeding in a digital world

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Contents
Introduction and guidance 6
Introduction and guidance 6
What is a badged course? 7
How to get a badge 7

Week 1: Your digital life 10

Introduction 10
1 The importance of being digital 11
2 How digital are you? 14
3 Digital skills for everyday life 17
3.1 Everyday transactions 17
3.2 Using social media 19
3.3 Problem-solving 20
4 Reflection 22
5 This week’s quiz 23
6 Summary 24

Week 2: Getting up and running 26

Introduction 26
1 Information in a digital age 27
2 Digital skills and digital literacy 30
3 A framework for digital skills 33
3.1 Understand and engage 34
3.2 Find 37
3.3 Evaluate 40
3.4 Manage and communicate 41
3.5 Collaborate and share 43
4 Digital skills and university study 46
5 Reflection 47
6 This week’s quiz 48
7 Summary 49

Week 3: Making your mark online 51

Introduction 51
1 Digital me: starting your digital journey 52
1.1 Checking out your digital footprint 52
1.2 First steps to a good digital footprint 53
2 Openness versus privacy 56
2.1 On the road 57
3 Digital citizens 59

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4 Reflection 62
5 This week’s quiz 63
6 Summary 64

Week 4: Staying safe and legal 66

Introduction 66
1 E-safety 67
1.1 Passwords 68
2 How to protect yourself 71
2.1 Protecting yourself from viruses and malware 71
2.2 Avoiding online scams and hoaxes 72
2.3 Protecting personal data 72
2.4 Agreeing to terms and conditions 73
3 Digital well-being 75
3.1 Connecting and communicating safely 76
4 Keeping it legal 78
4.1 What is copyright law? 79
4.2 Copyright responsibilities 79
4.3 Creative Commons (CC) licences 81
4.4 How do Creative Commons (CC) licences work? 82
5 Reflection 84
6 This week’s quiz 85
7 Summary 86

Week 5: Critical consumption 88

Introduction 88
1 Your information landscape 89
1.1 Exploring your information landscape 91
2 Searching 94
2.1 Refining your search 95
2.2 Dealing with information overload 96
3 Asking the right questions 98
3.1 Useful starting points 100
3.2 Developing your ‘trustometer’ 102
4 Reflection 104
5 This week’s quiz 105
6 Summary 106

Week 6: The right tool for the job 108

Introduction 108
1 Everyday life; everyday tasks 109
1.1 ‘There’s an app for that’ 111
1.2 What can apps and tools do for you? 114
1.3 What are apps doing with your personal data? 115
2 Which apps might be for me? 116

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 2.1 Finding apps 117
2.2 Communicating, creating, collaborating, managing 118
3 Reflection 120
4 This week’s quiz 122
5 Summary 123

Week 7: Being digital: making it work for you 125

Introduction 125
1 Manuela's progression through the course 126
1.1 Finding the right information 126
2 John’s progression through the course 129
2.1 Using social media 129
3 Michael’s progression through the course 132
3.1 Investigating study 132
4 Reflection 135
5 This week's quiz 138
6 Summary 139

Week 8: Continuing your digital journey 141

Introduction 141
1 Taking stock 142
2 Skills development 143
3 Making your mark online 144
4 Copyright and Creative Commons (CC) 146
5 Staying safe online 148
6 Critical consumption 149
7 The right tool for you 151
8 Reflection 153
9 This week’s quiz 154
10 Summary 155
Tell us what you think 156
Glossary 156
References 162
Acknowledgements 164

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Introduction and guidance
Introduction and guidance

Introduction and guidance

Introduction and guidance
Succeeding in a digital world is a free badged course which lasts 8 weeks, with
approximately 3 hours’ study time each week. You can work through the course at your
own pace, so if you have more time one week there is no problem with pushing on to
complete another week’s study.
The course will develop your confidence and skills for life online, whether study, work or
everyday life. It explores a range of digital skills and practices, including digital identity,
digital well-being, staying safe and legal, finding and using information and online tools,
and dealing with information overload. The importance of developing a critical approach to
life online is emphasised throughout, whether consuming or creating information. You'll be
encouraged to reflect on your own situation and to apply what you learn to real-life
scenarios, using a digital skills plan to keep a record of progress.
You’ll start with an overview of your own 'digital life'. You'll identify and reflect on your
current use of online technologies and think about your level of digital confidence. All
these aspects will be explained so don’t worry if they seem unfamiliar at the moment.
There are case study examples to help with this and you’ll get plenty of opportunities to
practise your new understanding and skills.
Part of this practice will be the weekly interactive quizzes, of which Weeks 4 and 8 will
provide you with an opportunity to earn a badge to demonstrate your new skills. You can
read more on how to study the course and about badges in the next sections.
After completing this course you will be able to:

● understand and be confident in your online identity

● choose and use the appropriate online tool for the task in hand
● use technology confidently and critically to achieve your study, work and life goals
● identify your level of digital confidence and any potential steps for further
development.

Moving around the course

The easiest way to navigate around the course is through the ‘My course progress’ page.
You can get back there at any time by clicking on ‘Back to course’ in the menu bar.
It's also good practice, if you access a link from within a course page (including links to the
quizzes), to open it in a new window or tab. That way you can easily return to where
you’ve come from without having to use the back button on your browser.
Get careers guidance
This course has been included in the National Careers Service to help you develop new
skills.

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Introduction and guidance
Introduction and guidance

What is a badged course?

While studying Succeeding in a digital world you have the option to work towards gaining
a digital badge.
Badged courses are a key part of The Open University’s mission to promote the
educational well-being of the community. The courses also provide another way of helping
you to progress from informal to formal learning.
To complete a course you need to be able to find about 24 hours of study time, over a
period of about 8 weeks. However, it is possible to study them at any time, and at a pace
to suit you.
Badged courses are all available on The Open University’s OpenLearn website and do
not cost anything to study. They differ from Open University courses because you do not
receive support from a tutor. But you do get useful feedback from the interactive quizzes.
What is a badge?
Digital badges are a new way of demonstrating online that you have gained a skill.
Schools, colleges and universities are working with employers and other organisations to
develop open badges that help learners gain recognition for their skills, and support
employers to identify the right candidate for a job.
Badges demonstrate your work and achievement on the course. You can share your
achievement with friends, family and employers, and on social media. Badges are a great
motivation, helping you to reach the end of the course. Gaining a badge often boosts
confidence in the skills and abilities that underpin successful study. So, completing this
course should encourage you to think about taking other courses.

How to get a badge

Getting a badge is straightforward! Here’s what you have to do:

● read each week of the course

● score 50% or more in the two badge quizzes in Week 4 and Week 8.

For all the quizzes, you can have three attempts at most of the questions (for true or false
type questions you usually only get one attempt). If you get the answer right first time you
will get more marks than for a correct answer the second or third time. Therefore, please
be aware that for the two badge quizzes it is possible to get all the questions right but not
score 50% and be eligible for the badge on that attempt. If one of your answers is
incorrect you will often receive helpful feedback and suggestions about how to work out
the correct answer.
For the badge quizzes, if you’re not successful in getting 50% the first time, after 24 hours
you can attempt the whole quiz, and come back as many times as you like.

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Introduction and guidance
Introduction and guidance

We hope that as many people as possible will gain an Open University badge – so you
should see getting a badge as an opportunity to reflect on what you have learned rather
than as a test.
If you need more guidance on getting a badge and what you can do with it, take a look at
the OpenLearn FAQs. When you gain your badge you will receive an email to notify you
and you will be able to view and manage all your badges in your OpenLearn profile within
24 hours of completing the criteria to gain a badge.
Get started with Week 1.

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Introduction and guidance
Introduction and guidance

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Week 1: Your digital life
Introduction

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.
(Naughton, 2012)

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 have the opportunity to think
about your own experience of buying things online or connecting via social media, or
managing information on your phone, laptop or perhaps in the cloud. You'll also hear from
Manuela, Michael and John – your three companions on this course – as they share their
experiences of digital work, life and study.
In Week 1 you will identify your starting point and where you want to get to. To help you
keep track of your learning and development, you have the chance to fill in a Digital plan
(or learning journal) with actions you want to take. You can start it here in Week 1 and then
keep adding to it throughout the course. You can use it to note down any insights you gain
through studying this course, or perhaps things you want to explore further. It's personal to
you and no-one has to see it, if you don't want them to. Now would be a good time to
download the document and keep it somewhere safe for future reference.
Download: Digital plan
If you prefer, you can use another tool for your notes. You may already have a digital
space, possibly cloud-based, or you may want to try one out – for example Microsoft
OneDrive or Google Drive or a Notes app on your phone. You might prefer to keep a
record of your thoughts as audio recordings. Whatever you decide, have a quick look first
at the Digital plan template that we’ve provided so you get an idea of the sort of things to
record.
Now watch Katharine and Wendy of The Open University (and original authors of this
course) introduce Week 1 and the course:

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Week 1: Your digital life
1 The importance of being digital

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 1: Introduction to Week 1

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.

The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about
yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional
start-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on
your details to others.

1 The importance of being digital

Water, water every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
(Coleridge, 1834)

Although technology is all around us, some people are still excluded (The Tech
Partnership, 2017). This is often due to lack of opportunities to access the internet or
ability to afford the necessary equipment. There are all sorts of benefits for society when
people and organisations are able to use the internet to full effect.

● On an individual level, gaining digital skills can reduce isolation, increase career
prospects and enable people to access health information.

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Week 1: Your digital life
1 The importance of being digital

● For organisations, becoming more digital is likely to increase visibility, efficiency and
competitiveness.
● For society in general, being digitally confident empowers people to make their
voices heard on issues of importance to them.
● Digital skills are also highly important when it comes to studying.

There is more to succeeding online than just knowing how to do specific tasks. It is also
important to be able to judge who and what you can trust, understand the essentials of
ethical behaviour online and communicate well with others. Being ‘digital’ is about using
technology to achieve your goals, whether those are related to work, everyday life or
study. It involves thinking critically and making the decisions that are right for you and your
life.
In the next activity Manuela, Michael and John, your three ‘digital companions’ on this
course, will introduce themselves, and talk about their aspirations and goals.

Activity 1 Starting your digital journey

10 minutes

In the following videos, Manuela, Michael and John introduce themselves and share
what they hope to get out of this course.
As you watch, think about whether any aspects of Manuela’s, Michael’s or John’s
stories reflect your own experience.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 2: Manuela’s introduction

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 3: Michael’s introduction

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 4: John’s introduction

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Week 1: Your digital life
1 The importance of being digital

Note your own aspirations and goals in your Digital plan.

(Remember, you can use a different tool to record your notes, if you prefer, but have a
look at the Digital plan template provided to give you some guidance.)

In the next section you will identify your starting point for this course, by thinking about
what technologies you currently use and what you do online.

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Week 1: Your digital life
2 How digital are you?

2 How digital are you?

The following short activity is designed to provide you with a light-hearted look at how
digital you are in everyday life.
In Week 2 you will have the opportunity to explore in greater depth those areas where
you’d like to become more skilled and confident.

Activity 2 What type of digital user are you?

10 minutes

There are no right or wrong answers in this quiz, rather, the aim is to get a feel for the
extent to which using technology and the internet are a part of your life and what kinds
of things you tend to do at the moment. Keep a note of how many As, Bs etc. you
choose.
Question 1: Your flat-pack wardrobe came without any instructions and you are
stumped. Do you:

a. Go to YouTube and find a video that shows you exactly what to do?
b. Google it?
c. Ring your friend who is really good at DIY and ask them to come over?
d. Stop and make a cup of tea – it can wait till another day?

Question 2: You’re planning a holiday to Spain and need to book accommoda-

tion and flights. Do you:

a. Go online and compare prices using comparison websites?

b. Email your friends and family who’ve been there and ask them for recommen-
dations?
c. Get hold of a brochure and ring up the hotel and airline you want to use?
d. Ask the local travel agent to arrange it all for you?

Question 3: You want to find out the latest football results. Do you:

a. Look it up on your smartphone or tablet?

b. Switch on the television and go to the sports channel?
c. Ask your friend, who always keeps up with the latest?
d. Buy a newspaper and turn to the sports pages.

Question 4: You’ve just had some great news. What is the first thing you do?

a. Post it on Facebook with a photo (selfie) of you celebrating?

b. Email everyone in your list of contacts?
c. Ring your best friend?
d. Go out for dinner?

Question 5: You have cousins in America who you are planning to visit this year.
You want to discuss arrangements for your stay. Do you:

a. Set up a time to have a video call (e.g. Skype) with them?

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Week 1: Your digital life
2 How digital are you?

b. Email back and forth?

c. Do it all by phone, on your landline?
d. Write a letter?

Question 6: You have taken lots of holiday photographs on your phone or digital
camera and want to share them with friends and family. Do you:

a. Store them online on a site where you can share with others virtually?
b. Save them in a folder on your computer and email them in batches?
c. Store them in a folder on your computer and show visitors when they come to
your house?
d. Print off the ones you like the best and send them by post to one or two people
who you think would be interested?

Question 7: You are watching television and there’s an ad break. Do you:

a. Update your Facebook status on your smartphone?

b. Text a friend or family member?
c. Talk to the other people in the room?
d. Go and make a drink?

Question 8: You’ve been asked to plan the staff Christmas party at work and
you’re trying to find the best date for everyone. Do you:

a. Set up an online poll with some options and get everybody to vote?
b. Send an email to everybody in the office, responding to each person as they
reply?
c. Go round and ask everybody in person and write down the answers?
d. Just set a date and tell people when it is – democracy is overrated?

Question 9: Your boiler has broken down and you need to get hold of an
engineer quickly. Do you:

a. Consult the app on your smartphone or tablet for finding a tradesman?

b. Do an internet search?
c. Visit your neighbour and ask who they would recommend?
d. Look through the telephone directory yellow pages?

Question 10: You are applying for a job and the application process is all online.
You are not sure how to go about it. Do you:

a. Look up the Help facility on the relevant website to read more detailed guidance?
b. Have a go at working it out by trial and error?
c. Ask a friend or family member who knows what to do?
d. Decide not to apply – it doesn’t seem worth the trouble?

Discussion
Mostly As: ‘Appy’ and adventurous
You have embraced technology and social media and use it confidently in all sorts of
everyday situations. You may sometimes need to be reminded that face-to-face
communication is important too.

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Week 1: Your digital life
2 How digital are you?

Mostly Bs: Online and aware

You are aware of the sorts of information you can get from the internet and you are
comfortable using email. This usually serves you well and you haven’t found it
necessary to use social media much (or at all) so far. It would be worth getting to know
other ways to use online tools as it could save you time in some situations.
Mostly Cs: Face-to-face and friendly
You like to interact with people face-to-face and so far haven’t seen the need to use
technology in a big way. Face-to-face is best sometimes, but there may be occasions
when talking to someone in person is not an option. It is worth thinking about those
tasks and situations that come up regularly where going online could make life easier.
Mostly Ds: Paper-based and pragmatic
You prefer to just get on with life and not waste time going online when it would be
easier to find another way round the problem. Sometimes, the pragmatic solution
makes most sense. In other cases, mastering the basics of technology and online
communication could open some new doors for you.

The technology you use is likely to depend on your individual needs and preferences as
well as any requirements of your job, if you are currently employed. It may also be
influenced by your family and friends. It could include any or all of the following:

● mobile or smartphone
● mp3 player (e.g. iPod)
● tablet (e.g. iPad)
● laptop or desktop computer
● assistive technology
● games console.

The types of activities mentioned in the quiz reflect some everyday uses of technology.
During the rest of this week you will look in more detail at some of the skills involved in
these activities, as preparation for the rest of the course.
It’s likely that you will only do some tasks once in a while – for example, applying for a job.
It may therefore take some time to feel confident about what you’re doing and, of course,
every site will be slightly different. Succeeding in a digital world is about developing your
confidence so that you can take on new challenges as they arise. Like learning a
language, this kind of fluency will build up with practice.
Now is a good time to make a note in your Digital plan of anything you have come across
so far that you want to learn more about.

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Week 1: Your digital life
3 Digital skills for everyday life

3 Digital skills for everyday life

The fundamental skills for everyday life include:

● Finding, managing and storing digital information and content.

For example, using a search engine to find information and
bookmarking useful websites and services.
● Communicating, interacting, collaborating, sharing and connecting with
others.
For example, using email, instant messaging or social media.
● Buying and selling goods and services, organising your finances and
using digital government services.
For example, ordering shopping online, managing a bank account or
booking travel.
● Solving problems and finding solutions using digital tools.
For example, teaching yourself simple tasks using tutorials, or using
feedback from other internet users to solve common problems.
● Creating basic digital content in order to engage with digital communities
and organisations.
For example, creating a social media post, creating a text document
such as a CV, creating and sharing a photo album or creating and
sharing feedback about products and services.

(Go ON UK, 2015)

Safety is a really important aspect of life online. It can involve managing your digital
identity, assessing the accuracy of sources of information, regularly updating anti-virus
software on your computer, using the right security settings, avoiding scams and hoaxes,
protecting your privacy, and respecting the privacy of others. You will have the opportunity
to focus on safety in more detail in Week 4 of this course.
Skills in finding, evaluating and managing information, communicating and collaborating
with others, and managing your digital identity will be covered in Weeks 3, 5 and 6 of the
course.
The quiz you took earlier may have got you thinking about how familiar you are with
everyday digital skills and how often you use them.
For the rest of Week 1, you will have the opportunity to practise your skills in searching the
internet, using social media and solving an everyday problem using online information.
If you have questions about how to get online in the first place, set up an email account,
pay for things online or fill in online forms, visit BBC WebWise Digital skills.

3.1 Everyday transactions

Many transactions can now be done online, for example, ordering your shopping or
booking your travel. Being able to manage digital information will help you to find what you
need quickly, and locate it again easily. This is a big help when carrying out such everyday
tasks.

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Week 1: Your digital life
3 Digital skills for everyday life

In the following activity you will practise finding information, comparing prices and keeping
track of what you have found out. This is laying the foundation for future weeks of the
course. The purpose of the activity is to find out how confident you are in doing this kind of
online task, rather than to learn how to use a particular website in detail.

Activity 3 Finding a hotel in Majorca

10 minutes

You are planning a holiday in the sun and want to find a reasonably priced hotel in
Majorca. For the purposes of this activity you are going to use TripAdvisor.

Figure 1 Woman relaxing on a beach

TripAdvisor claims to be ‘the world’s largest travel site’. It offers advice and reviews
from millions of real people on accommodation and places of interest. These reviews
provide a useful way of checking if somewhere really lives up to the image presented
by the owners. It enables you to find details of holiday accommodation and compare
prices quickly.

● Open up a new tab in your browser (usually you can do this at the top of the
page, next to this tab).
● Go to a search engine, such as Google, and type ‘TripAdvisor’.
● Select the site from the results, http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk
● Have a go at finding details of hotels in Majorca. (If you have difficulty using
TripAdvisor you will find some advice on how to search in the Feedback).
● It is possible to register with TripAdvisor and save hotels you like the look of to
your personal area within the site. However, for the purposes of this activity, save
the page for the hotel to your browser favourites. Set up a new folder and give it a
name, e.g. ‘holidays’.

Discussion
How did you get on? Did you find what you were looking for?
It is likely that you found a large number of hotels at a range of prices. There are
different ways you can cut down the list, for example, by price, by availability, by
distance from Majorca city centre or by ranking.
You may have gone through something like the following process:

● From the front screen of the site select ‘Hotels’ and type ‘Majorca’ into the box.
● Enter in the dates you would like your holiday to begin and end and select ‘Find
hotels’.
● From the range of options across the top of the page, sort by ‘Price (low to high)’.
● Scan down the page to compare prices.
● Select one of the hotels (ideally with a rating of 4 or more) and view all the
available deals. There is no need to go further than this unless you actually want
to book a holiday.

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Week 1: Your digital life
3 Digital skills for everyday life

In the next section you will explore use of social media.

3.2 Using social media

Communication is one of the most important digital skills. In everyday life it can include:

● keeping in touch using email, instant messaging, video calls and social media
● posting on forums to connect with communities
● communicating with organisations about their products and services.

‘Creating’ is about using something digital that you have made, to express yourself or
communicate with others. It could be words (for example, a text document) or media (for
example, images and videos).

Figure 2 Visual definition of social networking

Social media is an important tool for communicating and creating (and sharing what you
have created), and will be the focus of the next activity. If you are new to the world of
social networking, you might wonder why you should get involved with it. The following
activity gives you a chance to explore some of the benefits.

Activity 4 Social networking: what’s in it for me?

15 minutes

Listen to Michael and Katie describe the social networks they use, and how these help
them in different areas of their lives.
As you listen, note down whether any of the sites used by Michael and Katie would be
useful to you, and what you might use them for.

Audio content is not available in this format.

When you are ready, select ‘Reveal feedback’.

Discussion
Michael and Katie use a range of different networking sites for different purposes.
Some of the main benefits of social networking identified by Michael and Katie include:

● keeping in touch with friends and family

● getting back in touch with people you have lost contact with
● promoting events
● sharing information, such as music or professional publications
● establishing and maintaining contacts with other people in your line of work
● keeping up to date at work or with hobbies and interests.

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Week 1: Your digital life
3 Digital skills for everyday life

You might have thought of additional benefits relevant to your own life.

You may have identified a number of ways in which social networks could be useful to
you. The audio mentioned using Facebook. The Open University has many Facebook
pages, some set up by official departments of the University, and some informally, by
students. These are both a source of interesting news and a way of giving and receiving
support. For students, Facebook communities can be a valuable way of connecting with
fellow learners.
An example of a well-used official page is the Open University Library Facebook page.
Later this week you will have the opportunity to use it. For now, you may like to visit it and
have a quick look at what’s on it.

3.3 Problem-solving
The final skill to consider is problem-solving. Online resources and networks can be very
useful when it comes to solving everyday conundrums. This includes:

● teaching yourself simple tasks using video tutorials

● using feedback from other internet users to solve common problems
● accessing support services.

The ‘What type of digital user are you?’ activity you did near the beginning of this week
included some of the typical scenarios you might encounter in everyday life, such as
putting together flat-pack furniture or doing an online job application. Often, the most
useful solution is probably for someone to show you.
Later in this course, you’ll explore some of the online tools and applications (apps) that
can help you to solve particular problems quickly. You’ll also learn how to assess the
reliability of information you find online. For now though, you will focus on the potential of
videos to help with all kinds of practical tasks, whether that’s putting up a shelf or learning
to play the ukulele. The following activity gives you the opportunity to solve an everyday
household problem using resources available on the internet.

Activity 5 How to make profiteroles

10 minutes

John has been asked by a friend to provide the food for a special birthday party. His
friend’s favourite dessert is profiteroles, but John has never made them before. He
needs to find out quickly as the party is tomorrow.
Your task is to find a video that takes him through the process.

Figure 3 Profiteroles

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Discussion
It is possible to find a variety of videos on how to make profiteroles on sites like
YouTube. You should have been able to identify one or two suitable ones fairly quickly.
The number of times a video has been viewed may be an indication of quality, or just of
entertainment value.
In future weeks of this course, you will find out more about how to assess the reliability
and trustworthiness of resources you find online. For John’s purposes though, high
production values are not required.

Problem-solving is not just relevant to these kinds of practical questions. It is also highly
important in the workplace. In fact, in John’s case, cooking is his profession, so the link is
clear. The other skills you have looked at, such as finding and managing information, and
communicating and creating, are also applicable at work. All of these digital skills can help
you when studying. In Week 2, you will explore in more depth some of the ways in which
your digital skills are useful in different areas of life.

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4 Reflection

4 Reflection
At the end of each week, you will have the opportunity to reflect on what you’ve learned,
and to have a go at a short quiz based on the learning from that week’s study.
Before you do this week’s reflection and quiz, listen to the audio recording of Manuela,
Michael and John (who you were introduced to earlier) talking about what they have
learned so far, what they’ve put in their Digital plan and where they want to go next with
their digital skills study.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela’s reflection

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael’s reflection

Audio content is not available in this format.

John’s reflection

Activity 6 Reflecting
Take a moment to think about:

● your own starting point at the beginning of the week

● the most interesting or useful thing you have learned during the week
● one thing you want to learn more about.

Record these in your Digital plan.

If you would like to, go to the Open University Library Facebook page and post a
comment there to share something about your experience of this course so far. To help
others, remember to introduce yourself and let them know that you are a learner on
Succeeding in a digital world.

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5 This week’s quiz

5 This week’s quiz

Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week practice quiz. Remember
that while optional, working through the quiz can help you see how you’re getting on with
the course. Your answers are not visible to the other learners, they’re just for your own
information.
Week 1 practice quiz
Click on ‘Week 1 practice quiz’ above to access the quiz. If you open the quiz in a new
window or tab, you can come back here more easily when you’ve finished. It also enables
you to refer to the course as you work through the quiz, if you want to.
To open in a new window, right click on the link above and select ‘Open in new window’.
You'll get feedback on your answers as you go through the quiz. When you finish the quiz
and press ‘submit’, the system will record that you have finished your attempt, and your
score. As this is a practice quiz, this is just for your learning, so you can identify areas you
might like to revisit. The score won't be counted towards your badge.

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6 Summary

6 Summary
Well done! You have completed the first week of Succeeding in a digital world.
This week you have thought about your use of technology and the kinds of things you tend
to do at the moment. You have also been introduced to Manuela, Michael and John, your
companions for this course, and you have shared their experience.
You have:

● reviewed some basic digital skills for everyday life

● practised using digital skills for finding information, communicating, creating and
problem-solving
● started your Digital plan.

You have learned:

● the benefits of being able to use the internet

● what the basic digital skills for everyday life are
● how social networking can be useful to you.

Next week you will explore in more depth the skills you need to be successful in a digital
world, including university study. You will be using a framework developed by The Open
University to assess your level of confidence in five key skills areas. Following this, you
will add to your Digital plan.
You can now go to Week 2.

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Introduction

Week 2: Getting up and

running
Introduction
The importance of digital skills is now recognised at a national level by the House of Lords
who held a Select Committee on digital skills in 2015. They stated:

We must aspire for the vast majority of the population to achieve the level of
digital literacy needed to fully participate in society.
(House of Lords Select Committee on Digital Skills, 2015)

How can you build the skills needed to succeed in a digital world?
During Week 1 you had an opportunity to think about how you use the internet and social
media. You made a note of a few of the online tools and apps you use.
This week you will be finding out about the skills you need to be effective in a digital world.
Over the course of the week, you will find out how to improve what you do online and the
way you do it, from finding information to communicating and collaborating with other
people.
You will be given an opportunity to assess how confident you are in a range of skills. You
will also be introduced to resources designed to help you develop your skills, which you
can add to your Digital plan.
In this video Katharine and Wendy, from Open University Library Services, talk about
ways in which people interact with their digital environments.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 1: Introduction to Week 2

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By the end of this week, you will be able to:

● describe what digital literacy means

● understand how digital literacy can support distance and online study, for example, at
The Open University
● identify which skills you need to develop to be an effective online learner.

1 Information in a digital age

Figure 1 Our digital world

You may have heard people say that we’re living in an ‘information age’. The ‘information
age’ started around the 1970s and shows no signs of stopping. Indeed, the pace of
change is accelerating. The Collins English Dictionary defines the ‘information age’ as:

a time when large amounts of information are widely available to many people,
largely through computer technology.
(Collins, 2016)

Computer technology has advanced quickly in recent years. It has changed our lives and
continues to do so. This ‘revolution’ in computing has given us access to information at
the touch of a button. We are no longer limited to desktop computers and can access
information from anywhere, and at any time, using mobile devices like smartphones or

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tablets. Technology has become a significant part of everyday life and has brought
information instantly to our fingertips.
Recent advances include voice recognition software on mobile devices that can actually
‘talk’ to us. We can ask them to find the information we need, and they can tell us what we
need to know. Examples are ‘Siri’ on Apple devices and ‘Cortana’ on Windows devices.
Our phones use location tracking to identify where we are, and provide us with information
that they think is relevant. If we're looking for a bank, a smartphone can determine where
we are and locate the nearest one.
We can document what we do, by taking photographs or videos, which we can instantly
share with family and friends. We can also record and share our thoughts by pressing a
button on our phones, computers, tablets and now using ‘smart’ watches.
If we want to find out how to do something, whether it’s how to bake a cake or build a
house, it’s likely that there will be an online video showing us exactly how to do it.
We are now surrounded by information whether we’re at home, at work, or studying.

Activity 1 Your digital environment

15 minutes

You will get a better sense of your own digital environment by reflecting on how you
use the internet and social media. Later on, this will help you to identify which skills
development activities would benefit you most. The list below gives some examples of
activities you might have engaged in during the last month. Pick two activities and
provide some details on what you were doing, why you were doing it, how it helped
and any issues that came up. Make your notes in the table provided in your Digital
plan. You can also write about an online activity that doesn’t appear on the list.

● Searching for information on the internet (news, holidays, restaurants shop-

ping etc.).
● Passing information on to another person or group (hobbies, clubs, social media).
● Finding out about a current affairs issue.
● Using social media to share news, comments, photographs, and video and audio
clips.
● Writing about an interest online.
● Sharing information about yourself on social media.

Discussion
You may have noted down some of the following. If any of them trigger any
recollections, add them to your list.

Table 1
What I did Why I did it How it helped Issues raised

Searching for I was looking for I searched on There were so many

information on the some information on Google, and got a results that I didn’t
internet (news, inflammatory arthritis large number of know where to start.
holidays, because my mother results.
restaurants has been diagnosed Some sites were
shopping etc.). and I wanted to really complex, and
understand it, and the others just
find out how I can seemed too trivial.
help her. Then I found that not

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all the information

was the same across
the board.
Passing information I’m on the town I’m familiar with I’m never sure how
on to another Christmas lights Facebook, so I was many people are
person (hobbies, committee. I’m really pleased that I reading the posts. It
clubs, social responsible for was able to set up a goes in their news
media). arranging meetings group. feed, but I’m not sure
and telling people if they keep track of
about how they can what’s in there.
donate or help out. I Sometimes we get
send out messages posts on our wall that
on Facebook from our I don’t think are
Facebook group. appropriate. I have to
delete them, so no
one will get offended.
Finding out about a I wanted to know I found the news sites I didn’t want to follow
current affairs about each political very helpful. political groups on
issue. party before I voted in Facebook, in case it
an election. I looked goes on some kind of
on news sites and record. The campaign
also the different seemed to have a lot
political party of mudslinging and I
websites and social was never sure what
media. the truth was.
Using social media If I see an interesting Friends find the One time I passed on
to pass on post on Facebook, I information I share a story without really
information. share it with my interesting and thinking and it
friends. useful. I learn a great offended quite a few
deal from information of my friends.
shared by others.
Writing about an I’ve started to share The ‘conversations’ I wish I could get
interest online. fashion tips on are really interesting. more people to read
Twitter. I have a few my Twitter feeds and
people who follow my comment.
tweets, and they
seem to like it.
Sharing information I put some pictures up There were a lot of There was a picture
about yourself on of a party we had last comments about of me dancing on a
social media. summer. what a great night table. I was a bit
we had. worried that my boss
might see it.

We hope that you have been able to identify areas you need more advice on. Over this
week, we will direct you to resources that can help you to develop the skills you need
to be successful in a digital world.

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2 Digital skills and digital literacy

When talking about digital skills you might come across different definitions, which range
from describing the basic use of a computer or computer software to more advanced
technical and programming skills. One term you may hear relatively frequently is ‘digital
capability’. Another is ‘digital literacy’.
The term ‘digital literacy’ is used as an overarching term for referring to ‘digital skills’ or
‘digital capabilities’. A useful definition of digital literacy comes from Jisc, a national body
that champions the use of digital technologies for UK education and research: ‘the
capabilities which fit someone for living, learning and working in a digital society’
(Jisc, 2015).
‘Digital literacy’ includes the skills everyone needs to be effective online, whether it’s
searching efficiently, evaluating online information, communicating and sharing, or finding
the right digital or online tools to suit particular needs.
These are skills that transfer across all areas of our lives. If you think back to the list you
made in Activity 1, many of the things you listed are likely to have been relevant to your
everyday or home life. However, the same activities and skills can help you to be more
effective at work. In fact, many of the skills you’ve listed may appear in job descriptions.
The ability to work online with members of staff in remote locations, for example, could be
an essential skill for a particular job. Digital (literacy) skills are very important if you’re
studying, and can make a different to how successful you are at researching,
collaborating with other students or writing assignments.
Digital literacy is therefore also about using your digital skills in different contexts and
having the confidence to decide what is right for you. One of the aims of this course is to
help you develop confidence and skills to be able to ask the right questions of who, and
what, you come across online. In other words, to think critically.
You’ve provided some details about what you do online. In the audio recordings below,
Manuela, John and Michael talk about the kinds of skills they think they need to succeed
in a digital environment. They’ll also talk about how confident they feel.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela talks about skill to succeed in a digital environment

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael talks about skill to succeed in a digital environment

Audio content is not available in this format.

John talks about skill to succeed in a digital environment

Activity 2 Identifying skills

15 minutes

Reflecting on the skills you use in a digital environment will help you to gauge how
confident you are about using them, and identify which ones you would like to improve.
Choose one of the environments listed below and think about what skills you might

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need to do things effectively online. Use the table in your Digital plan to note down
your thoughts.

● At home – for example, knowing how to find things on the internet quickly.
● At work – for example, being able to find information for reports quickly to meet
deadlines.
● If you’re studying – for example, being able to conduct research online.

Discussion
You will probably have made a list of skills that are relevant to your own experience.
Table 2 provides a few suggestions.

Table 2
At home, I might need to At work, I might need to When I’m studying, I might
know … know … need to know …
… where to look for … where to find statistics and … where to find journal
information. research that I can use to get articles.
my point across.
…how to communicate … how to communicate with … how to write online,
online to get my point across colleagues, clients and especially blogs.
without upsetting anyone. customers online, including
using social media. When
writing online, I would need to
know who my audience is and
be able to adapt what I write
for that audience.
… what and who to trust … where to find reliable up-to- … how to find trustworthy
online. date information, or know the sources of information.
best people to go to for this
information.
… how to find reliable … where I can find resources … where to find resources
information. – multimedia or industry for my subject.
information. This includes
databases that would be
useful in my area of expertise.
… where to go for specific … how to use social media to … how to find experts in
information. keep up to date with specific fields.
information on my profession/
industry.
… how to make the best use
of video conferencing.
… how to stay safe online. … how to use social media to … how to use online
keep up to date with platforms to collaborate with
information on my profession/ other students online, while
industry, while maintaining my maintaining my own privacy.
own privacy.
… how to develop and … how to project a good … how to keep up to date
protect my digital identity. impression online for clients, with my subject.
colleagues and employers.
… how to use social media to … how to find tools and apps … how to keep up to date
connect with friends and that would be useful for and communicate with others
family. my job. in my subject area using
social media.

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… where to go if I want to … how to find places to learn … where to go to fill the gaps
learn how to do something. and develop the skills I have – in my knowledge in a subject.
including how to use software
packages or online tools.
… where I can find free …where I can find free … where I can find free
resources – images, audio resources that I can use to resources – images, audio
and video – that I can use create more interesting and video – that I can use
without breaking the law. marketing materials and legally for my studies,
reports. particularly within
assignments and reports.

You’ve now thought about the different activities that you engage in when you’re online.
You may also have identified a few of the issues you have come across while doing this.
And finally, you’ve thought about the skills you might need to make you more effective
when you’re online.
In the next section, you will get a chance to reflect on how confident you are about
different aspects of online activity, and be directed to resources that will help you to
develop your skills.

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3 A framework for digital skills

A helpful way to understand and develop the digital literacy skills you need to be effective
online is to think of them in different categories.
The Open University has created a Digital skills framework, which divides the key skills
into five categories:

● understand and engage

● find
● manage and communicate
● evaluate
● collaborate and share.

Figure 2 The Open University digital skills framework

Through this section, you will be looking at each of these areas in turn. You’ll be
completing some activities to help you to assess how confident you are with skills related
to each area. The feedback will suggest resources you might want to look at in the future
to develop your skills and boost your confidence. You’ll be able to add these to your
personal Digital plan. Even if you feel that you’re really confident at something,
remember that it is always worth referring to guidance for additional hints and tips.
If you’d like to explore a different framework, Jisc provides one for digital capabilities. It
divides them into six categories: ICT proficiency; digital creation, problem solving and
innovation; digital communication, collaboration and participation; digital learning and
development; information, data and media literacies; digital identity and wellbeing
(Jisc, 2018).

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Figure 3 Jisc digital capabilities framework

3.1 Understand and engage

Figure 4 Words associated with understanding and engaging online

In order to understand and engage with your digital environment, you need to know what
digital information is and what you can do with the information you find. You also need to
be able to find and select the most appropriate online tools, websites and software for
your needs. Figure 3 illustrates the words you might use to describe activities in this skills
area.
Engaging with a digital environment can also mean being able find people with similar
interests to you. If you can do this, you’ll be able to communicate with a wide network of
people, and avoid anyone who might be malicious.

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A very important aspect of understanding and engaging is being aware of how you come
across online. You will find out more about this in Week 3.

Activity 3 Understanding and engaging in an online environment

15 minutes

This activity provides you with some practical examples of what understanding and
engaging in an online environment involves.
In each of the areas covered, read the description and use the text box to write a
sentence or two on how confident you feel in that area.
Then read the feedback, which lists resources you can use to develop skills in that
area. Copy any useful links into your Digital plan, and make a note of how they might
help you. This will be a good reminder when you return to your plan at a later date.

Connecting with others online

How confident are you in your ability to connect with people online, for example on
Facebook or other social media? Do you know where to find people with similar
interests to your own?
How well do you judge the people you meet online? Can you tell if they are genuine
and trustworthy, or if their motives should be questioned? For example do they have
commercial interests or malicious intent?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
If you know where to look online for people with similar interests to you, you’ll be able
to communicate with a wide network of people.
Try to pick up some tips that will help you to avoid anyone who might be malicious.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: Deciding what to trust online

Being digital: Deciding who to trust online
Being digital: Scams and hoaxes
Being digital: Communicating online

Your digital identity

How confident are you when it comes to understanding what your digital identity is,
and what it says about you? Can you track your digital footprint?
Think about how aware you are of the image you are projecting online and how it
affects your online reputation.
Also consider how much you know about what happens to information you put online.

Provide your answer...

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Discussion
The term ‘digital footprint’ refers to any information about you that is available online,
for example, photos, comments or personal details. Information that appears online
about you could be something you’ve posted yourself or something someone else has
posted about you.
Whenever you write or post anything online, whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter or a
blog, you need to be aware of who has access to it. You can use privacy settings to
control who sees what, and to ensure that you keep your online reputation intact.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: My digital identity

Being digital: Developing a good digital footprint
Jobseekers’ social media 101 (short video)

Sources
How confident are you at being able to find reliable information, written by experts,
online? Think about whether you know how to judge if information you find online
comes from a reliable source.
Do you know how to find out who owns the information?
Would you know where you stand legally if you reuse information that has been
provided by someone else?
Do you know what Creative Commons is?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
There are many instances when you might want to contact an expert or find reliable
professional information – for work, research, study, or to find a tradesman to do some
work at your home.
Developing the ways you search will help you to find the right person quickly, and
establish their contact details.
When you put anything online that you’ve created yourself, your rights are
automatically protected. You will find out more about this in Week 4.
There are many reasons for knowing how to find out who owns information. The main
reason is to ensure that you don’t break the law if you use content or material that have
been created by someone else.
We’ll be looking at working within the law more closely in Week 4.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: Evaluation using PROMPT

Being digital: Deciding what to trust online
Being digital: Deciding who to trust online

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Media
How confident do you feel about using information in different forms of media? For
example, do you know when a video or podcast would be a more appropriate source of
information for your needs?
Also think about how confident you are in finding and choosing the right online tools for
your requirements. A tool is something that enables you to perform a task or activity. In
this case, it could be a search engine, some software or a website. It could be software
that helps you to create audio or video, or manipulate photographs.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
It’s fairly easy to find a variety of tools that will help you to find, use or create
information online. With such a wide range on offer, it’s important to know how to
assess which one will best meet your needs.
The following resources will help you to identify tools that can assist you in this area.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: Selecting the right online tools

Being digital: The information universe
OU Help Centre: Making audio recordings

3.2 Find

Figure 5 Words associated with finding information and people online

Finding information is about planning how you search for the information you’re trying to
find, and knowing where and how to look for it. It’s about knowing whether you should use
an internet search engine, search specific catalogues or databases, or ask a person. You
need to be aware of what sources of information will be most appropriate to your needs. If
you can target appropriate sources, your search results will be much more focused, and
you’ll find what you’re looking for much quicker. Figure 4 illustrates the words you might
use to describe activities in this skills area.
Your success at finding the information you need can also depend on the words and
phrases you use in your search. They tell a search engine exactly what it should be
looking for and what to exclude.

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Activity 4 Finding information and people online

15 minutes

This activity provides you with some practical examples of what finding online
information involves.
In each of the areas covered, read the description and use the text box to write a
sentence or two on how confident you feel in that area.
Then read the feedback, which lists resources you can use to develop skills in that
area. Copy any useful links into your Digital plan, and make a note of how they might
help you. This will be a good reminder when you return to your plan at a later date.

Knowing what’s online

How confident are you about assessing what you need and knowing where to find it
online. Do you know where to find different types of information (news, opinions,
experience etc.)?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
If you can assess the type of information you need, you will be able to target your
search to sites that provide specialist information. This will result in more focused
search results.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: The information universe

Searching online
How confident are you at searching online? Can you use keywords and advanced
search options to focus your search, or filter a large number of results? Do you know
when to stop searching and consider alternative search strategies?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
Most of us choose a couple of obvious terms to put into a search engine and hope that
we get relevant results. Your search will be more focused if you know exactly what
you’re looking for and can choose appropriate keywords that reflect this.
You can refine your search, and get fewer, but more relevant results, by using the
advanced search option of your preferred search engine.
Filtering search results quickly is about developing your own judgement and critical
skills. Search engines also provide tools that enable you to filter your search results by
refining the search criteria you’ve used. This can save a great deal of time, and avoid
restarting your search from scratch.
Knowing when to stop and think about using alternative search strategies to find what
you are looking for will save you time, and help you to get to the information you need
much quicker.

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Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: Choosing good keywords

Being digital: Target your Google search
Being digital: Search slips and tips
Being digital: Filtering information quickly
BBC WebWise: What is a search engine? (short video)
Digital Unite: how to use Google

Scanning and skimming

How confident are you at scanning and skimming a web page to get to the relevant
information quickly?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
You can learn how to scan a series of pages to find the ones that are most relevant to
what you are looking for. You can also learn how to skim the content on a page to find
the sections that contain the information you need.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: Scanning and skimming a web page

Keeping up to date
How confident are you about keeping up to date with news in subjects that interest you
for work, study or personal interest?
Do you understand how to use social media to do this?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
Social media, like Twitter and Facebook, can be valuable sources of information for
work and study. They can be used to share up-to-date information on specific areas of
interest.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: Keeping up-to-date using online networking

Being digital: Making the most of Twitter
Being digital: Keeping up-to-date using RSS
Being digital pathway: Keeping up to date
Common Craft: RSS
BBC WebWise: About social networking and blogs (short video)
BBC News: What are newsfeeds?

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3.3 Evaluate

Figure 6 Words associated with evaluating online information

With such a wealth of information available online, it can sometimes be difficult to know
who and what to trust. Knowing how to evaluate sources and people will help you to
identify good quality information and sources. It will also help you find the most
appropriate tools for your needs. Figure 5 illustrates the words you might use to describe
activities in this skills area.
We connect with a variety of people and groups online. Trust is an important issue. Being
able to assess how trustworthy people are is important, especially if their views have the
potential to impact on your own. Sharing opinions, yours or other people’s, on social
media can affect the way you are perceived by others, so you need to be confident that
what you are sharing is reliable.

Activity 5 Knowing who and what to trust online

15 minutes

This activity provides you with some practical examples of what evaluating online
information involves.
In each of the areas covered, read the description and use the text box to write a
sentence or two on how confident you feel in that area.
Then read the feedback, which lists resources you can use to develop skills in that
area. Copy any useful links into your Digital plan, and make a note of how they might
help you. This will be a good reminder when you return to your plan at a later date.

Evaluating online information

How confident are you at assessing whether an online resource (e.g. web page, blog,
wiki, video, podcast, academic journal article) or person is credible and trustworthy?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
With so much information online, you need to be able to assess whether what you’ve
found comes from a trustworthy source. You will sometimes find information online that
is misleading or wrong, even on websites that ‘look’ very professional. It is also
important to be able to separate opinion from fact.

Resources to help you develop your skills

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Being digital: Deciding what to trust online

Being digital: Deciding who to trust online
Being digital: Evaluating using PROMPT
Being digital: Scams and hoaxes
Being digital: Using Wikipedia
Being digital: Selecting the right online tools
Being digital: Social networking: is it for me?
BBC WebWise: 5 tips for avoiding email scams (Video)

3.4 Manage and communicate

Figure 7 Words associated with managing and communicating online

Once you’ve found useful information, the way you manage it will make a big difference to
whether you can find it again easily. Sites like Diigo, Delicious and Pinterest allow you to
save links to useful resources in one place. You are able to tag them with words and
phrases that you can use to search for resources on particular topics in the future. You
can also group resources and share your lists with others. Figure 6 illustrates the words
you might use to describe activities in this skills area.
If you are studying, it’s especially important to keep a record of useful sites and online
articles. If you mention them in an assignment, you will be expected to provide details of
the source, and a reference list. There are tools that allow you to keep details of your
resources, so that you can reference them later. Two examples are Zotero and Mendeley.
Learning how to reference will help you to avoid making it seem as though you are
passing off someone else’s work as your own.
Being able to communicate in a digital environment is an extremely important skill to have.
Whether you are blogging, posting on Facebook or Twitter, or even just commenting on
something someone else has written, you need to think carefully about what you write.
Written material you have posted online is open to interpretation and can easily offend.
What you write will reflect on your digital identity and reputation, and this could have an
impact on your everyday life, work, and professional credibility. So it’s important to get this
right.

Activity 6 Managing and communicating online

15 minutes

This activity provides you with some practical examples of what managing and
communicating online involves.
In each of the areas covered, read the description and use the text box to write a
sentence or two on how confident you feel in that area.

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Then read the feedback, which lists resources you can use to develop skills in that
area. Copy any useful links into your Digital plan, and make a note of how they might
help you. This will be a good reminder when you return to your plan at a later date.

Organising and sharing information

Once you’ve found information that might be useful to you, how confident are you that
you can keep an accurate record of it, so that you can use it again or share it with
others at a later date? Do you understand how social bookmarking or specialist
software can help you to do this?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
When you find information online it is useful to keep a record of the details, as you
might need to provide evidence of where it came from. You may also find that piece of
information useful in the future.
There are a number of online tools and software packages that make it easier to keep
these records. You may have heard of Delicious or Diigo, two of the more popular
tools. These, and sites like them, allow you to save the web addresses and attach
keywords to them, so that you can find them easily at a later date. The sites are
accessible from any computer, phone or tablet, and you are able to share the
information with anyone with similar interests.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital: Selecting a reference management tool

Staying within the law

How confident do you feel about staying within the law when you’re online, and
avoiding plagiarism? Are you aware of the rights that exist to protect creative content
and how that affects what you share with others? Do you know how to acknowledge
someone else’s work and provide references relating to it?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
The law protects online content and so you are required to gain permission if you want
to use someone else’s work, for example, someone else’s photograph for a poster
you’re making. You may be required to acknowledge their work. If you fail to do this,
you are at risk of plagiarising. This means using someone else’s work and passing it
off as your own.
If you are sharing files online, you must take care to respect the copyright associated
with that file. It’s fine if you are sharing files containing work that you have created
yourself. There are rights in place to protect your own work. And those same rights
come into force if you share or distribute material that belongs to someone else.

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Learning the basics of copyright, ownership and licensing will help you to remain within
the law when you share files with others. This will be covered in more detail in Week 4.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital pathway: Avoiding plagiarism

Being digital pathway: Referencing your sources
BBC WebWise: What can I safely upload?
BBC WebWise: What can I safely download?
About Creative Commons

3.5 Collaborate and share

Figure 8 Words associated with collaborating and sharing online

Today’s online environment provides ideal opportunities to collaborate and share
information with other people online. Social media, along with a wide range of free tools
and apps, actively encourages the sharing of information and opinion. This can feel quite
daunting at first, and it takes time to build the confidence to engage with others in this way.
Figure 7 illustrates the words you might use to describe activities in this skills area.
Developing skills in this area can help you to increase your confidence. It enables you to
learn from others and share good practice. This provides a range of benefits at home, at
work and when you’re studying. It is particularly valuable in the workplace, where you may
find yourself working with people not based in the same physical location.

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Activity 7 Collaborating and sharing in digital environments

15 minutes

This activity provides you with some practical examples of what collaborating and
sharing online involves.
In each of the areas covered, read the description and use the text box to write a
sentence or two on how confident you feel in that area.
Then read the feedback, which lists resources you can use to develop skills in that
area. Copy any useful links into your Digital plan, and make a note of how they might
help you. This will be a good reminder when you return to your plan at a later date.

Communicating with others online

How confident do you feel about communicating with other people online? This may be
on social networking sites or forums. Would you be confident commenting on other
people’s opinions? Do you understand the importance of observing online etiquette
(netiquette)?
How do you feel about your ability to write for different audiences and online spaces,
e.g. a web page or blog?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
Communicating online requires us to have a range of interpersonal skills that are
specific to digital environments. It can be difficult to have conversations online with
people you don’t know, who you can’t see and who can’t see you. You can learn how to
improve the way you communicate online, whether in writing or using audio and video
meeting software. This will help to increase your confidence in a digital environment.
Social conventions exist which are specific to online communication. These suggested
guidelines exist to ensure that online communication is not misinterpreted or taken out
of context. They also ensure that a level of respect and courtesy is observed when
communicating in online communities.
When you write anything, it’s useful to identify who your audience is. You can then
adapt your style of writing to be most effective and accessible for that audience. One
example is knowing whether to write in a formal or informal style. Your choice of style
will also be affected by the medium you choose to communicate in (blog, online article,
social networking, etc.)

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital pathway: Communicating online

BBC WebWise: Social networking and blogs (Video)

Collaborating online
How confident are you at working with others online to create a shared document or
presentation? Is this something you have tried? Are you confident at using social
media?

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Provide your answer...

Discussion
Google Docs and Dropbox are examples of online tools that enable groups of people
to work together on shared documents and presentations. This can be particularly
useful if a group of people need to work on the same project, and avoids duplication of
work or content. It also ensures that all members of the group have the opportunity to
be involved.

Resources to help you develop your skills

Being digital pathway: Communicating online

Being digital: Keeping up to date using online networking
BBC WebWise: Social networking and blogs (Video)

Using a variety of media to communicate and collaborate online

How confident are you at using media-capture devices to communicate or collaborate
online? This includes photography or recording and editing audio and video material.
How confident would you be at creating and sharing podcasts?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
When you want to upload content to an online space it’s a good idea to consider
delivering it using different media, for example photographs, audio and video. This
enables your content to be downloaded to tablets and mobile devices and may be
more accessible to people who have time constraints. They can look, listen and watch
on the move.

Resources to help you develop your skills

OU Help Centre: Making audio recordings

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4 Digital skills and university study

4 Digital skills and university study

Figure 9 Being digital

Digital skills are fundamental when it comes to studying at university, and universities
strive to help their students to develop these skills. Being digitally competent and
confident will save you time and help you to study in a more effective way.
Many academic institutions, like The Open University, offer a range of resources to help
students to develop their digital literacy skills – like this course. You’ve also been
introduced to some of the activities from the Being digital website, which are examples of
the types of resources the Open University library makes available to its students. Today’s
online university libraries provide access to a wide range of resources – electronic
journals and publications that you can download, advice on developing study skills,
support material and online video and audio, to name just a few. If you are studying, it’s
worth getting to know what your online library offers.
The digital skills you learn while you’re studying are the kind of skills that employers are
expecting you to have when you apply for jobs. These skills will also make a difference to
your everyday life, whether you’re looking for a holiday or connecting with people around
the world.
Finally, the confidence you gain through developing your digital skills will also prepare you
for future challenges in an ever-changing technological world.

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5 Reflection

5 Reflection
This week has given you an opportunity to improve your understanding of the digital
environment and the skills you need to be effective within this environment. You have
assessed your confidence on the five main digital skills areas. You now also have a
Digital plan that you can use to develop your skills in the future so that they are useful at
home, at work and for your studies.

Activity 8 Reflection
20 minutes

Listen to Manuela, John and Michael talk about what they have learned and how this
has been beneficial in different areas of their lives. As you listen, make some notes in
your Digital plan on how the skills might be helpful to you too. Identify three resources
from your Digital plan to try out over the next month. This will help you to progress on
your digital journey by reminding you what you’ve discovered on this course and what
is available to explore in the future.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela’s reflection

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael’s reflection

Audio content is not available in this format.

John’s reflection

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6 This week’s quiz

6 This week’s quiz

Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week practice quiz. Remember
that while optional, working through the quiz can help you see how you’re getting on with
the course. Your answers are not visible to the other learners, they’re just for your own
information.
Week 2 practice quiz
Click on ‘Week 2 practice quiz’ above to access the quiz. If you open the quiz in a new
window or tab, you can come back here more easily when you’ve finished. It also enables
you to refer to the course as you work through the quiz, if you want to.
To open in a new window, right click on the link above and select ‘Open in new window’.
You'll get feedback on your answers as you go through the quiz. When you finish the quiz
and press ‘submit’, the system will record that you have finished your attempt, and your
score. As this is a practice quiz, this is just for your learning, so you can identify areas you
might like to revisit. The score won't be counted towards your badge.

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7 Summary

7 Summary
This week you have explored the digital skills you need to be successful in a digital
environment. You have:

● considered the role of information in a digital age

● reflected on how you use the internet and social media
● assessed how confident you are with a number of digital skills
● built up your Digital plan to include a range of resources that will help you to develop
your digital skills in the future
● identified three activities to try out over the next month.

You have learned:

● the definition of digital skills and how it relates to digital literacy

● how the skills you need to be effective online are part of a digital skills framework
made up of five skills areas
● the importance that universities and employers place on digital skills.

Next week you will be encouraged to think about your digital identity and footprint. You will
learn some techniques to help you to present yourself well online and improve your digital
profile.
You can now go to Week 3.

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Week 3: Making your mark online
Introduction

Week 3: Making your mark

online
Introduction
Would you recognise the ‘online you’? Katharine and Wendy discuss this further in the
video.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 1: Introduction to Week 3

During Week 2 you explored the range of skills that contribute to being effective in a digital
world. You started to develop your own plan for the skills you want to work on. This week
you’ll think about your ‘digital identity’ and your ‘digital footprint’. Digital identity is about
the way you present yourself online. Digital footprint refers to the permanent collection of
data about you that is available online.
During Week 3 you’ll look at your own and others’ digital footprints and discover what you
can do to ensure that your digital footprint is ‘healthy’. You will also be introduced to some
ways you can create a positive impact online to help you achieve your goals, whether they
relate to work, study or other aspects of life. Throughout this week we refer to your ‘digital
profile’. By this we mean how you appear to others online.

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1 Digital me: starting your digital journey

You’ll start the week by thinking about your own ‘digital journey’: that is, where you are
now and where you want to get to. As you go through the week you'll be able to shift the
focus from your own personal digital identity to thinking about when you might interact
with others online in general, and becoming a ‘digital citizen’.
By the end of this week, you should be able to:

● describe the terms ‘digital identity’ and ‘digital footprint’

● identify some steps to help you present yourself well online and improve your digital
profile.

This relates to ‘Understand and engage’ in the Open University digital skills framework
and ‘Digital identity and wellbeing’ in the Jisc digital capabilities framework that you came
across in Week 2.

1 Digital me: starting your digital journey

Digital identity has become a very important part of twenty-first-century life. It’s about how
you present yourself online to ensure you make the impression you want. Even if you
don’t feel you want to spend a lot of time online, it’s still useful to think about what others
can see of you. Your digital identity is not something completely detached from the rest of
life. It can be a way of expressing who you are in a meaningful and engaging way, to
people and communities you want to connect with.
Watch these short videos for some insight into digital identity, and the important role that
technology can play in life (make sure you open the links in a new tab or window).
What is a digital identity?
Maria's digital journey
Think about your own feelings about technology and your digital identity. What motivates
you to get online and be active there?
You will come back to the inspiration for your digital journey later in the course. For now,
start by considering your digital footprint.

1.1 Checking out your digital footprint

You may have heard the phrase ‘digital footprint’. This is about the traces you leave
online. It includes information about you and your online activity such as:

● profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn

● photographs that you or others have posted online
● anything that has been written about you, for example, on discussion boards or
Facebook.

Your digital footprint can be shaped by what others put online about you. This may not
always be within your control. However, doing this course will show you how you can
ensure that your digital footprint is what you would like it to be. The following activity will
help you to find out what your digital footprint currently looks like.

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Activity 1 Reviewing your digital footprint

10 minutes

Take a moment to think about the places where you have been or are currently active
online. Even if you are not very active online, it is still worth doing the activity to
establish your starting point for developing your digital identity.
Put your name into a search engine and see what comes up. Any surprises?
Make a note in the box below of anything you want to change or improve.
Look at the feedback when you are ready.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
When you googled your name you may have found:

● evidence of your activity on Facebook or other social media sites

● older information that you had forgotten existed
● material written about you by other people, or referring to events you have
attended
● photos that you weren’t aware of
● instances of where you have accessed certain websites, for example, when
commenting on what other people have written.

On the other hand, you may have found very little about yourself or, depending on how
common your name is, you may have found mentions of other people who are not you.
This is a good starting point from which to develop your digital profile. In the rest of this
week you will have opportunities to think about what is important to you and how you
want your digital footprint to reflect that.

1.2 First steps to a good digital footprint

If you are fairly new to life online, it is natural to feel cautious about what you disclose to
others. On the other hand, you may be used to sharing quite freely without giving it much
thought. By learning a bit more about how to manage your digital footprint, you will be
better equipped to stay in control of the information about you that others can see online.
Being in control of your own information is becoming more and more important when
applying for jobs. Many employers look at the digital profile of prospective employees and
the recruitment process itself increasingly takes place online. One blog author suggests
that 89 per cent of recruiters have hired someone through LinkedIn, and that 73 per cent
of 18 to 34-year-olds found their last job through a social network (Medved, 2014).
In real life, you probably behave differently with your friends and family than you do at
work. Online it’s important to think about the image you are projecting to others and who
might be reading what you put there. The following activity will help you to see the sort of
information that can show up in someone’s digital footprint.

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Activity 2 Spy file

30 minutes

A private eye has been investigating the digital footprints of Manuela, Michael and
John by searching for their names on the internet to see what she can find out about
them. This is not unlike the sort of research an employer might do on a prospective
employee.

● Read each of the reports to find out what our detective uncovered.
● Make your own notes about whether you think the information revealed is
positive, should have stayed private, or is broadly neutral.
● Select ‘Hear the reaction’ to find out what each of them thought (transcripts are
available).

Manuela
Read the report:

● Manuela is mentioned a few times in her children’s Facebook posts and

Instagram pictures.
● Her name comes up in a blog post that one of her motor-racing friends wrote
following an event they both attended
● She once did a parachute jump for charity and a video of the occasion was made;
a search for her name retrieves this.

Hear her reaction:

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela’s reaction

Michael
Read the report:

● Michael has a page of ‘liked’ videos on YouTube. These include funny football
‘fails’ (e.g. people falling over), his 5-year-old granddaughter performing in her
school play, and one about how to service his boiler (Michael wants to change
career to become a trainer and his son is a British Gas engineer). This page
comes up under a search for his name.
● Photos of him at a recent football match have been shared by his son on Twitter.
● His name comes up on Pinterest in a set of images his wife put together for her
brother’s 50th birthday.

Hear his reaction:

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael’s reaction

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John
Read the report:

● A lot of his Facebook posts come up, not all of them showing him in a positive
light; as well as photos of John and his friends out and about in pubs, clubs and at
parties.
● There are some mentions of someone with the same name who lived in America
in the last century.
● John has a LinkedIn profile that a careers adviser suggested he set up but he’s
never added much to it, so it is not up to date.

Hear his reaction:

Audio content is not available in this format.

John’s reaction

All the information about Manuela, Michael and John is freely available online. Think
about how this relates to your own experience of googling yourself.
Discussion
You may find the idea of someone checking out your online activities in this way a bit
alarming. However, in the same way that other people can ‘check you out’ online, you
can also check someone’s digital footprint, for example, if you want to establish the
credentials of someone you come across who you do not know in real life. You will
return to the subject of how you can know who and what to trust online in later weeks
of this course.

In the next section, you will think further about how you can learn online and interact with
others while maintaining your privacy.

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2 Openness versus privacy

2 Openness versus privacy

It is possible to find all sorts of material freely available online. Using digital technology
and media, you can learn what you want, when you want. The opportunities are immense,
both to build up your own knowledge and to share what you’ve found with others.
Open collections bring together particular types of resources. For example, YouTube is a
large collection of videos and Flickr contains hundreds of thousands of photographs,
uploaded by many different people. Anyone can view and add material. It is also possible
to interact with other users of these resources.
Free educational resources are known as open educational resources or OERs. These
are often provided by reputable institutions, like universities. Examples include
OpenLearn, FutureLearn and, indeed, this free course. Individuals are now able to license
their own work easily and at no cost. You will be learning more about this in Week 4 of this
course. Online communities of learners may form around OERs or subjects of study.
These provide valuable opportunities to learn together and benefit from peer support.
There is, however, a downside. One of the things you will be realising as you explore your
digital footprint is that your actions online may be visible to others in ways that you did not
realise. There is a tension between learning and sharing openly online and maintaining an
acceptable degree of privacy. Part of the aim of this course is to equip you with the
knowledge and skills to make the choices that are right for you, whilst gaining maximum
benefit from online learning and communities. Activity 3 will help you to develop your
digital identity and keep control of your digital footprint.

Activity 3 Shaping your digital identity

10 minutes

Manuela, Michael and John have been working on improving their digital profiles. They
have tried to make sure that the information they want to be public portrays them in a
good light and that they protect the information they would like to restrict to more
private circles.
Listen to Manuela, Michael and John and make some notes in your Digital plan on:

● ways in which you can create a positive digital footprint

● what actions you could take if you have a negative digital footprint.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela talks about improving her digital profile

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael talks about improving his digital profile

Audio content is not available in this format.

John talks about improving his digital profile

Look at the feedback when you are ready.

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Discussion
You may have come up with some or all of the following:

● build up a profile on LinkedIn

● connect with others in your field of interest through Twitter
● set up a blog
● connect with others through open online study
● check privacy settings on social media sites
● delete old accounts and old social media posts / photographs that don’t show you
in the best light
● switch off location/GPS settings on your mobile phone
● ask other people to remove (or not post) photos of you that you don’t wish to be
shared
● do not publish your personal and contact details on social media sites or blogs.

It’s possible you have thought of other things too, for example, remember that Google
will remove your information if you request it under the ‘right to be forgotten’.
You will have the opportunity to put what you have learned into practice in the next
activity. In the meantime, add anything you want to follow up to your Digital plan.

2.1 On the road

Now that you’ve looked at some examples of digital footprints it’s time to take action.
Before you do the activity, watch the video about improving your digital footprint.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 2: Ten top tips to improve your digital footprint

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Activity 4 Developing your digital footprint

20 minutes

● Using the notes you made for the last activity, remind yourself of the steps
Manuela, Michael and John have taken to reduce the negative impact of their
digital footprint and to create a positive image, particularly for career purposes.
● Note one or two things you want to achieve when you’re online, for example,
keeping up with friends and family, developing your business, keeping up to date
with your interest or study topic.
● In your Digital plan, make a note of three things you can do to develop your
footprint.

If you would like to, you could also go to the OU Library Facebook page and provide a
tip on how to improve your digital footprint.
It is worth thinking about who is shaping your digital footprint – is it you or your friends?

In the next section, you will explore what is meant by digital citizenship and how you can
contribute positively online.

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3 Digital citizens

3 Digital citizens
We live in a global society, where it is increasingly possible to connect across continents
and cultures using technology. As well as being confident going online, it’s important to
show awareness of the needs and feelings of others, and to be sensitive to cultural
differences.
Citizenship in general refers to the way in which individuals contribute to society. The term
‘digital citizenship’ has now entered everyday language and is defined as:

A person who develops the skills and knowledge to effectively use the Internet
and other digital technology, especially in order to participate responsibly in
social and civic activities.
(Dictionary.com, 2015)

Digital citizenship includes:

● handling yourself appropriately and ethically in a digital environment

● being aware of the impact of your actions on the digital communities you are part of
● contributing to the community in a mature and responsible way.

It is part of the ‘understand and engage’ aspect of the Digital skills framework you were
introduced to in Week 2.
As a good digital citizen, it is important to treat your digital footprint, and the digital
footprints of others, with respect. Bear in mind that:

● your potential audience may be far bigger than you think

● once information about you or others is out there on the web it generally stays there.

Another essential aspect of digital citizenship is being able to communicate online. The
notion of ‘netiquette’ refers to the guidelines for appropriate behaviour when commu-
nicating with others online in writing. The conventions are likely to vary, depending on the
context in which your online communication is taking place. You may find it helpful to
observe how others are interacting before you launch in. There are also some general
principles to bear in mind:

● Ensure that what you say is appropriate to the context, clear, relevant, to the point
and courteous.
● Present your opinions sensitively and acknowledge the other person’s point of view,
even if this is different to your own.
● Think about who you are communicating with and adopt the appropriate tone, for
example, a friend, colleague or an official in an organisation.
● Communicate your emotions – this can help other people understand your
perspective. This is particularly important for written communication where others
cannot see your face or body language to gauge your mood. Many online
environments have smileys or emoticons and emoji you can use to show how you
are feeling, which might be appropriate to use in informal communications.
● Be aware of cultural differences, particularly when communicating with people from
other countries. Check whether there is anything in your words, or the way you
communicate, that could cause offence.

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● Remember not to write in capitals, as this comes across as shouting.

These principles essentially boil down to treating others as you would want them to
treat you.

Activity 5 Communicating online

10 minutes

The following activity is designed to test your understanding of the above principles.
Look at the list of statements about good communication and select all those that apply
to written communication online:
When you are ready, look at the feedback.
o Don’t fire off a hasty reply if someone sends you an email that upsets or
annoys you
o Smile and make eye contact.
o Keep your communications brief and to the point.
o Don’t write in capital letters.
o Acknowledge what other people say in their messages or posts.
o Keep in mind who you are communicating with.
o Acknowledge others’ points of view when disagreeing with them.
o Be aware of who may be reading what you write.
o Use appropriate body language.
Discussion
Some of the suggestions in the quiz require participants in a conversation to be able to
see each other, which of course isn’t possible with many forms of online
communication. This is why it’s really important to be clear in what you say and to think
about how the communication will be received. If you don’t know who will read it,
imagine how someone relevant to the context would respond, for example, your boss,
client or best friend. Edit it if you think that person would not understand your
sentiment.

If you wish to learn more this area, you may like to look at the
‘Communication Skills’ section in another badged course, Succeed with learning.
Digital citizenship is about using technology for positive benefit. Social networks and
online communities can be powerful forces for good, for example, citizen science,
crowdsourcing and online campaigns. These initiatives enable ordinary people to
contribute to knowledge and public good, and to bring about change. If you are interested
in learning more about these kind of online communities, you may like to explore some of
the following resources:

Citizen science – Wikipedia entry for citizen science explaining how members of the
general public actively contribute to scientific research, often using online networks.
You can study this further with another badged course,
Citizen science and global biodiversity.
Crowdsourcing.org – a site that brings together information, tools and resources for
harnessing the power of online communities to get solutions and feedback to all sorts
of problems.

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Causes – a site where you can find out about, support and organise campaigns on
issues that are important to you.

Record anything you want to follow up in your Digital plan.

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4 Reflection

4 Reflection
It is worth bearing in mind that everyone’s digital journey is different. Just as your personal
identity may change over time as you have different experiences and learn new things,
the same is true of your digital identity. Learning new skills may encourage you to become
active online in new ways, shape your digital identity and enable you to move forward in
your digital journey.
Also, as you have seen, it’s not just about ‘digital me’, it’s about ‘digital us’. What we each
do online has an impact on other people. Even if you found that your digital footprint has
room for improvement, be reassured that, over time, you can take control of your life
online and develop the digital profile you would like.
At the beginning of this week you thought about sources of inspiration for your digital
journey. Have these changed at all as you have gone along? If the answer is yes, make a
note in your Digital plan of any actions you want to take as a result.
During the week you have been making notes in your Digital plan of how you want to
develop your digital footprint. Now is a good time to review your plan and prioritise what
you will do first. Putting these steps into practice will help to ensure that your digital
journey is enjoyable and goes in the direction you would like.

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5 This week’s quiz

5 This week’s quiz

Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week practice quiz. Remember
that while optional, working through the quiz can help you see how you’re getting on with
the course. Your answers are not visible to the other learners, they’re just for your own
information.
Week 3 practice quiz
Click on ‘Week 3 practice quiz’ above to access the quiz. If you open the quiz in a new
window or tab, you can come back here more easily when you’ve finished. It also enables
you to refer to the course as you work through the quiz, if you want to.
To open in a new window, right click on the link above and select ‘Open in new window’.
You'll get feedback on your answers as you go through the quiz. When you finish the quiz
and press ‘submit’, the system will record that you have finished your attempt, and your
score. As this is a practice quiz, this is just for your learning, so you can identify areas you
might like to revisit. The score won't be counted towards your badge.

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6 Summary

6 Summary
This week you have looked at the area of digital identity and how to ensure your digital
footprint reflects you in the best light. You have:

● thought about what inspires your digital journey

● reviewed your own digital footprint
● looked at examples of other people’s digital footprints
● considered how you can keep control of your digital identity in a world of open online
resources and sharing
● thought about the elements of good communication online
● identified some steps to help you present yourself well online and improve your
digital profile.

You have learned:

● what is meant by digital identity, digital footprint and digital citizenship

● why digital identity and footprint is important, particularly for employment purposes
● the benefits of digital citizenship.

In the next week you will look more closely at e-safety, security and other aspects of digital
well-being. You will also learn how to stay within the law when using other people’s
original work, and how you can protect your rights when sharing your own material online.
You can now go to Week 4.

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Week 4: Staying safe and legal
Introduction

Week 4: Staying safe and

legal
Introduction
How safe do you feel when you’re online?
Last week while exploring your digital footprint and identity, you identified techniques to
help you create the ‘right’ image online. You are now aware of your presence and impact
in a digital environment. In addition to this, you also need to know how to protect yourself
online and stay within the law. This is all part of digital well-being.
Over the course of this week, you will be introduced to some key strategies to help you
keep safe online. Being aware of possible threats and understanding how to deal with
them will go a long way towards increasing your confidence when you’re online.
In this video, Wendy and Katharine talk about the importance of keeping safe online and
identify some of the potential pitfalls.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 1: Introduction to Week 4

Protecting yourself is also about looking after your own digital property (content) and
respecting content owned by others. It is useful to know how your content is protected

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legally and how that works for anything you create and share online. If you decide to reuse
someone else’s content, you should only do this with permission from rightsholders (those
who are in control of the rights you need) or by making use of your country’s legal
defences – such as Fair Dealing in the UK.
In the first section you will be exploring passwords and finding out how to protect yourself
online.
By the end of this week, you should be able to:

● make sure that your online experience is safe and constructive

● begin to consider and improve your digital well-being
● use and create online information without breaking the law.

This relates to both ‘Manage and communicate’ and ‘Understand and engage’ in the Open
University digital skills framework, and both ‘Digital identity and wellbeing’ and
‘Information, data and media literacies’ in the Jisc digital capabilities framework that you
came across in Week 2.

1 E-safety
Although the internet is a wonderful resource, it also has a potentially dark side, which can
make us feel vulnerable at times. The good news is that there are some simple steps you
can take to ensure your safety in this digital environment. Before you begin to explore
these, think about how safe you feel when you’re online.

Activity 1 How safe do you feel online?

10 minutes

Identifying where you feel vulnerable online will help you to focus on what you need to
do in order to feel safer. In the audios below, Michael, Manuela and John talk about
how they feel about online safety. As you listen, think about your own situation.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela talks about online safety

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael talks about online safety

Audio content is not available in this format.

John talks about online safety

Use the box below to make some notes on how safe you feel online. Have you, or
anyone you know, ever had a bad experience, for example, being scammed or dealing
with a virus? Make a note of these experiences and jot down how that made you feel.

Provide your answer...

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Discussion
Your response to this activity will be personal to your own situation. Bad online
experiences can often make people wary about using the internet. Some of the
reasons why people feel unsafe are:

● the risk of being scammed

● finding out that your personal information has been lost or stolen
● lack of trust in internet companies
● not knowing what happens to your information when you are online
● not knowing how to protect yourself against viruses
● having an unpleasant exchange with someone on social media
● being offended by what you see on social media
● finding out that a video or photograph has gone viral, in other words, been shared
beyond your immediate circle of friends.

In the next few sections, you will be given guidance on the basic steps you can take to
ensure that you are safe online.

1.1 Passwords
We use passwords for everything – email, banking, shopping, social media – the list is
endless. When you are asked to create a password, you are advised to use a mixture of
numbers, characters and letters, making up a combination that would be hard to guess.
Think about how you go about creating a password. Do you have a strategy? Do you use
different passwords for different things? If so, do you have a strategy for remembering
which password you’ve used? Thinking up a strong password can be difficult, especially if
you are trying to create something unique. It’s a good idea to assess the strategies you
use to do this.

Activity 2 Improving your cyber security

30 minutes

Without writing them down (in order to keep them secure), think about the some of the
passwords you use, such as email, social media and online banking.
Now watch the video below, which provides some tips for improving the strength of
your passwords.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 2: Paul Ducklin: Cyber security

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Consider your passwords again, and try to improve on them by following the advice in
the video.
You can find lots more advice online about passwords and other aspects of cyber
security. Take some time to look over these resources (make sure to open the links in a
new tab/window):
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/secure-home-working-personal-it
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberaware/home
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/dec/31/get-cybersecure-for-2020-cy-
bersecurity-passwords-smartphone
Discussion
Use your Digital plan to make a note of the techniques you can start using
immediately to make stronger passwords (but don't make a note of your actual
passwords!), and any other steps you could take to upgrade your internet security.

Software for hacking passwords is getting more sophisticated and can find your
password by repeatedly attempting to log in to your account. A computer program, using
an algorithm, can work through thousands of dictionary words and letter combinations in a
matter of minutes. This is why it is so important to ensure that your password is hard to
guess. An additional measure is to change your password every few months.
For some kinds of information, such as online banking, even strong passwords aren’t
secure enough. Passwords alone can be subject to attack and leave your information
vulnerable.
A number of companies, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple and eBay, support
a system known as ‘two-factor authentication’. This is where the user is required to
enter two pieces of information before they can log in. Two-factor authentication is called
different names by different websites, for example, Facebook calls it ‘login approvals’. If
you are a Facebook user, you may have come across this when logging into Facebook
from a new computer.

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It is worth finding out whether two-factor authentication is available on sites you use. In
general, if a site requires a strong password or offers two-factor authentication, it is more
likely to be trustworthy.

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2 How to protect yourself

2 How to protect yourself

Cybercrime is a term that refers to criminal acts perpetrated on computers or via the
internet. In 2020, Easyjet fell victim to a "highly sophisticated" cyber attack in which the
personal details of approximately nine million customers were breached, including some
bank details (BBC News, 2020).
At the beginning of the week, you were asked to note down how you felt about online
safety. You may have expressed concerns about your personal data being taken, or you
may have been worried about viruses on your own computer. Using strong passwords
and two-factor authentication are good first steps towards protecting yourself, but there
are other measures you can put in place to improve your confidence when exploring the
internet.
There are a number of reliable websites that provide advice on how you can stay safe and
teach you what to do if you do fall victim to cybercrime.

● Get Safe Online is the UK’s leading source of unbiased, factual and easy-to-
understand information on online safety.
● National Cyber Security Centre contains guidance for individuals and families as well
as for businesses.
● Cyber Aware provides advice from the UK government about how to stay secure
online.
● Staying safe online – advice from Age UK.
● Guide to internet security from Digital Unite.
● Reliable information about current scams and hoaxes at Hoax slayer.

Although Age UK and Digital unite are primarily aimed at older people, the advice they
provide does apply to everyone.
Knowing how to protect yourself online is one step towards improving your digital well-
being. The next section looks at this in more detail.
Over the next few sections, you will be finding out how to protect yourself in four different
areas. As you read through, use your Digital plan to make a note of any advice or
websites that will be useful to you, either now or in the future.

2.1 Protecting yourself from viruses and malware

Figure 1 Viruses and malware

Viruses and malware are pieces of computer code that gain access to your computer
system, often without your knowledge. They are designed to corrupt or destroy data on
your device. This might sound quite terrifying, but there are simple steps you can take to
prevent this from happening.

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2 How to protect yourself

To combat cybercrime and prevent harm to your computer, it is sensible to ensure that
you have a firewall in place. A firewall is a piece of software that prevents any
unauthorised access to your computer system. It will alert you if it thinks a program or
person is trying to access your data without your permission. Most computer systems
come with a firewall built in, but you may decide to buy your own.
Antivirus software can detect any existing threats from viruses and malware and will
attempt to isolate or destroy them. It can also block any potential threats. New viruses
emerge over time, and the software works on lists which are updated on a regular basis.
It’s important to keep your antivirus software up to date.

2.2 Avoiding online scams and hoaxes

Figure 2 Scams and hoaxes

You may already be aware of email scams, such as emails claiming to be from banks or
those that ask for personal details. These hoax emails can look genuine but often contain
links that lead to unsafe websites or attachments that contain viruses. You can also be
scammed through social media, for example, through a Facebook quiz that requires
access to information held on your Facebook account.
Remember to:

● Be vigilant and trust your gut instinct on suspicious emails.

● Be critical. Look at the style of writing. Is it stilted? Does it contain bad spelling and
grammar?
● Think about who has sent the email. If it comes from people you know, consider
whether this is something they would send.
● Look carefully at what information apps or quizzes require access to, and think about
how comfortable you are about agreeing to this access.

Next week, you will explore, in greater detail, who and what you can trust online.

2.3 Protecting personal data

An increasing number of services conduct business online. They all involve providing
personal data over the internet such as name, address, credit card number and salary in
relation to shopping, banking or even a job application process. In May 2018, the General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect and although an EU policy, its
relevance for the UK is expected to continue even when the UK is no longer a member of
the EU. GDPR places the obligation of keeping personal data safe with the person or
company processing the data. However, it makes sense for you to do what you can to
protect your own personal data yourself, as well as that of others. You can find a full guide
to GDPR online (GOV.UK, 2018).
Ensure that the webpage is secure by looking out for these features:

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● secure sites will have a web address that begins https://

● some sites may provide a padlock in the address bar
● use websites that are trustworthy – you’ll be finding out how to judge how trustworthy
a website is in Week 5.

Figure 3 Personal data

There are a number of free tools that can warn you if a site you are accessing is
considered unsafe before you access it. We’ve provided some examples below, but you
might want to search for your own.

● WOT (Web of Trust) – a free browser extension for Chrome that helps you decide
which websites you can trust based on other users experiences.
● McAfee Site Advisor – free download that gives ratings to signal when to click and
when to skip.
● Avira Browser Safety – a free browser extension for Chrome that blocks harmful
sites, protects your privacy and finds deals while you shop.

Ensure you have permission from the owner, for example before you upload photos of
them or their family to social media. You might think, for example, that you can post your
photos of your grandchildren online, if you want to. However, think again! In one case, a
grandmother was ordered to delete Facebook photos under GDPR or face being fined
(BBC News, 2020).

2.4 Agreeing to terms and conditions

Figure 4 Terms and conditions

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If you are uploading, storing or sharing anything online, like a photo to Facebook or a file
to Dropbox, you will be placing it on a server owned by a company or organisation. They
will ask you to agree to their terms and conditions. This is legally binding.
Read these terms and conditions carefully before you agree. You need to ensure that the
rights you have to material you’ve created are not compromised in ways that make you
feel uncomfortable. Some companies may stipulate that they have access to and
ownership of whatever you upload. This involves you agreeing to them using, moving or
modifying your content. In most cases this is just to ensure that they are able to improve
the service they are offering.
Later this week, you will be finding out more about copyright and protecting what you
create.

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3 Digital well-being

3 Digital well-being
Digital well-being is all about feeling comfortable, safe and confident when you are using
technology in an online environment. It is about feeling in control in a digital world that can
sometimes seem overwhelming. It is also about maintaining positive relationships with
others online, and avoiding unwanted behaviour such as cyberbullying. Most importantly,
it concerns the balance between your online and offline worlds.
According to Ofcom (2019) an adult typically spends 25.3 hours online per week – that’s
over a day a week online! In addition, adults now estimate they spend more time online
when they are out and about, and rather than using a computer, around one in ten adults
say they only use a smartphone to go online. So, if you do spend time online, it’s worth
taking steps to ensure your own personal safety.
In this section you will think about connecting and communicating safely with others
online.

Activity 3 Your typical week online

20 minutes

It would be interesting to compare the Ofcom statistics with your own experience. We
often do not realise just how much time we are online or connected. For example, if we
keep our mobile phones or tablets on all the time, we can potentially be connected 24
hours a day. Estimate how much time you spend online in comparison with other areas
of your life using our Time calculator. Click to download.
Make a note in the box below about how your online time compares to your offline
time. How happy are you with the balance?

Provide your answer...

Discussion
Your results will be personal to your own situation. The activity should give you an idea
of the proportion of time you spend online. If you are unhappy about the balance with
your offline life, you may want to make a few changes to the way you do things.

Being online in itself can sometimes be stressful. It can also have an impact on other
aspects of your life and your relationships with people around you. Your digital well-being
can have an impact on your physical and mental health. Schools, universities and
workplaces are very aware of this and provide guidelines to ensure the digital well-being
of students and staff.

Activity 4 Improving your digital well-being

20 minutes

The video below provides some guidance on how to improve your digital well-being in
five key areas. In your Digital plan, make a note of three tips you would want to try.

Video content is not available in this format.

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Video 3: Improve your digital well-being

Discussion
Again, your response to this activity will be personal. You may have identified a
number of things you would like to change. Here are some suggestions.

● Turn my phone off when I’m with other people (restaurant, pub) – or at least put it
on silent, in case of emergencies.
● Don’t answer text messages when I'm with other people, or in the middle of a
conversation with someone else.
● Take some time away from electronic devices. Build in some ‘me’ time to relax.
● Take up a hobby that doesn’t involve being online.
● Unsubscribe from emails notifications and newsletters I don’t need.

Some apps allow you to ‘synchronise’ on multiple devices. This means that whatever
you do on one device will be updated on all your other devices. See if your apps allow
this.
The Open University Skills for Study: Managing stress website provides some good
advice on managing stress. Although this is aimed at students, you may find it useful in
other areas of your life.
Good communication skills and wise online behaviour will help your online interactions
with others to be positive and beneficial. You will explore this in the next section.

3.1 Connecting and communicating safely

There are many ways to connect and communicate with people online. You have probably
communicated with people online through social media services like Facebook and

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LinkedIn. You may also want to keep in touch with people you know or connect with
people from around the world who have similar interests to you. Social media provides a
perfect opportunity to share useful information and learn from others.
Communicating online can be tricky because you can’t see people’s visual cues or
reactions. There are a set of rules for online behaviour. You may remember from Week 3
that this is referred to as ‘netiquette’. Of course, the conventions may vary depending on
the context. If you are unsure, observe how others are interacting before joining the
conversation.
In the audio clips, Manuela, Michael and John provide some advice based on their own
experiences.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela’s advice

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael’s advice

Audio content is not available in this format.

John’s advice

When you are communicating with others, it’s important to ensure that you protect
yourself by limiting the amount of personal information you provide. The tips below will
help you.

● If you are communicating with people you do not know personally, try to find out
some information about them. Read their profile or look up their digital footprint as
you did for yourself in Week 3. Assess how trustworthy they are, especially if they are
providing you with information.
● Be aware of what you are sharing. Think carefully about who you are sharing
personal information with and avoid giving away any details that you would prefer to
remain private.
● Be aware of your safety when you are on social media. For example, if you post
information about where you are, it can make you and your home vulnerable.
● If you are concerned, use an image to represent you rather than a picture of yourself.
You may even decide not to use your real, or full, name.

If you are sharing information about other people, ensure that you have their permission
and take steps to protect them. Remember GDPR.

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4 Keeping it legal
One of the exciting things about the internet is that you can create, remix and share
content. These are things that are increasingly easy to do, even for people who are
relatively new to technology. In some cases you will create something new, from scratch.
In other cases you may use something that you find.
If you want to use someone else’s material (often referred to as third party content), you
need to think about getting permission to do so. This might be done in different ways: by
contacting the rightsholder, through an exception such as Fair Dealing, or a Creative
Commons license.
When you share your own original material online, you should also think about how you
can best protect your own copyright and avoid confusion by any potential users of your
content.

Activity 5 Starting to think about copyright

15 minutes

Look at the following examples and decide what needs to be considered.

Example 1
Remixing means taking existing material and reworking it for your own purposes. It is
very easy to do and you may have seen videos on Facebook or YouTube where
people have used films or famous songs for their own videos. The video below is an
example – it was made to teach the scientific method and uses the music Gangnam
Style by Psy.

View at: youtube:MyFi6BQfDik

Example 2
Writing a blog and posting ideas for cooking or lifestyle, for example, is relatively
popular. To make the blog more appealing to its audience, attractive photos are often
used.
The blog cookingonabootstrap.com is an example (make sure to open in a new
window/tab).

Example 3

In a work context, you might create a website to promote your own business. To attract
potential customers, you might want to include photos, videos and quotes from
existing customers.
You can find an example website of a business using such an approach here:
Celebrate personal training (make sure to open in a new window/tab).

If you need to contact the rightsholder to seek permission, make sure you allow plenty of
time for a response and explain the context of your use and the media in which you want
to reproduce their content.

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For the remainder of this week you’ll be finding out more about copyright law and how it is
used. You’ll also learn about Creative Commons licences, which offer a quick and easy
way to protect your own rights when you share original material, as well as Fair Dealing.

4.1 What is copyright law?

Intellectual property refers to anything unique that someone has created and may want to
protect. This might include written content, images, photographs, sound recordings and
video.
Copyright is an Intellectual Property Right (IPR) protected in statute in the United
Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988). Other countries have their
own legal systems for protection of copyright works. The law of copyright prevents the
unauthorised copying of original content (often referred to as ‘works’) in any medium and
in any territory.
Copyright in the UK offers legal protection automatically to original works and comes into
force as soon as a work is created (authored) and put in writing or otherwise (fixed). There
is no need to register or apply for copyright to exist. This was agreed by the Berne
Convention, which also agreed to protect each country’s copyright works in their own
country. The convention enables countries to trade and be secure that their copyright is
protected from any unauthorised use worldwide. This is particularly important when
working with the internet and seeing content on other sites which may be hosted in places
other than the UK. There are further details on the Gov.uk
How copyright protects your work website.
Most copyright works are legally protected either from 70 years from creation (recordings
for example) or 70 years after the death of the creator (books and music composition for
example). This means that you need to seek permission for use of any work (or large
extract) which is still in copyright unless you are making use of any provision/exception in
any country you intend to use the work or extract.

Useful resources
Copyright Licensing Agency (n.d.), What is copyright? provides helpful explanations of
copyright.
Intellectual Property Office (2014), How copyright protects your work provides a table
showing the length of copyright protection for different types of original work.

4.2 Copyright responsibilities

Given the ease with which online material can be reused, whether it belongs to you or
someone else, it is very important to be aware of the implications for copyright owners and
users.

Copyright holders
The copyright holder is usually the person who has created an original work. This might
be a picture, photograph, song, text or a piece of software. As long as it is saved in a fixed

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form, they control the rights to that content. As you’ve already discovered, the author’s
rights are automatic from the time the work is created.
If you create something entirely original yourself and are therefore the copyright holder, it
is often a good idea to record ownership of the work. You can do this by using the
copyright symbol, ©, on the work itself, for example ‘© Jane Bloggs (date)’. You should
also consider in what ways you would allow use of your work without asking for your
permission. You can add this to your work using Creative Commons licences for example.
It is a good idea to add on your contact details so that users can contact you to request
permission which is not covered.

Copyright users
If, however, you use someone else’s original work, you are then a copyright user. It’s
easy to find material online, but just because you find it online, you should not assume
that you have the permission of the copyright owner to reuse it. Unless the rightsowner
has specified permission on their work, you will need to seek permission to copy it and
share it online or distribute it further.
As a copyright user, you have the responsibility to:

● contact the copyright owner to ask permission to reuse their material, unless a
permission exists on their work such as a Creative Commons licence to copy and
share their work
● credit the original creator of the work in the form of an acknowledgement. This will
state the name of the work you copied, the author, the url or page numbers (if
applicable) and the date of the original publication. There are different styles for
doing this, one example is: ‘extract from Burns-Booth, K. (2020) ‘Cheese and lentil
slice’, Lavender & Lovage, 25 April [blog]. Available at https://www.lavenderandlo-
vage.com (Accessed 15 May 2020)

Activity 6 Acknowledging someone else’s work

10 mins

Find a photo or extract from an article that you might want to use in a lifestyle blog.
Assuming you have managed to contact the owner, how would you acknowledge it?
Have a look at Week 4 Acknowledgements in this course for an example of how to do
them.

Exceptions
There are a number of exemptions under copyright law such as Fair Dealing in the UK
and Fair Use in the US. These are ‘defences’ which mean that, while there is provision to
use content without permission, this use can be challenged by rights owners if they do not
agree with the interpretation of Fair Dealing.
Exemptions under Fair Dealing are:

● criticism, review and parody

● news reporting

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● personal study and non-commercial research

● education (personal study and other limited provision).

The exemption for education allows students and academic researchers to access and
copy the work of others as long as that original work is properly credited and the use is
fair. Students and researchers use a reference list and bibliography to credit the
contributions of others in the development of their own ideas. Note that it is not usually
considered fair to use a whole work.
Creative Commons licences provide a means for establishing specific rights without the
need to contact the copyright owner. This is explained on the next page.

4.3 Creative Commons (CC) licences

Copyright laws are all about protecting the (mostly) economic rights of the individual
creator and preventing unauthorised use. They provide a legal framework for copyright
owners to pursue those who copy or use their material without credit, which is known as
plagiarism.
Copyright laws have been in existence for many years and can be slow to change. Digital
technology, such as the internet, provides the means for rightsholders to share their works
more easily. However, many rightsholders wanted to share their works (and at the same
time benefit from others sharing) but were concerned about protection of their works and
needed assurance that they were only going to be used in ways that they agreed with.
Creative Commons (CC) was founded in 2001 and provides a set of licences which are
guaranteed by the rightsholder to be non-revokable providing the user abides by the
licence terms.
Rights owners can make their works freely-available under an appropriate CC licence and
any rights not granted still rest with the copyright holder (rights owners). In this way their
copyright is protected as well as being shared. A rightsholder may withdraw their work
from a CC licence at any time. However, those works already accessed and being used
still enjoy the non-revokable licence.
The video below was made by Common Craft and illustrates the benefits of the licences.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 4: Benefits of licences

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4.4 How do Creative Commons (CC) licences work?

You will have seen from the video that Creative Commons (CC) licences work within
existing copyright laws to protect digital property. They make it easy to share and reuse
online content, and ensure the terms and conditions are clear. The distinctive badging
means that potential users of any online content can see immediately what they are
allowed to do with it. It saves time because you don’t have to find the owner and ask
permission unless your use is not covered by the licence.
If you are trying to protect your own work, or looking for something you can reuse legally,
then you need to understand what the different licences mean. It won’t take you long to
recognise the symbols when you see them online.
The best way to explore the different licences is to visit the Creative Commons website.
You can also download this Creative Commons licences and contexts document. This
explains each licence and shows how they might apply to Manuela, John and Michael.

Activity 7 Choosing a Creative Commons (CC) licence

20 minutes

You should now have a good idea about how CC licences work. The best way to
illustrate how these work in practice is to try to set one up for yourself.
Imagine that you have taken some wildlife photographs. You’re so proud of the results
that you would like to share them online. You’d like to allow people to use them for free,
but you don’t want them to be modified in any way. You also want them to

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acknowledge you as the photographer. You don’t want your photos to be used
commercially.
Go to the Creative Commons Choose a Licence page. Work through each of the steps
and generate a licence. Make a note of the licence you were advised to use in the box
below.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
The correct licence in this case would be Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs (CC-
BY-NC-ND).
You might want to try some other scenarios that are more relevant to you.

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5 Reflection
At the beginning of this week, you explored issues around your online safety. In your
Digital plan you made some notes on steps you can take to stay safe online. You now
also realise the importance of your digital well-being and maintaining a good balance
between your online and offline activities. You have been given good advice on how to
communicate online and you’ve been introduced to the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR).
You should also now have a better understanding of how copyright and Creative
Commons (CC) licences work. You can use your knowledge to protect your own rights
and stay within the law when you use someone else’s material. When you want to find
resources you can use freely, look for ones displaying a CC licence. If you upload your
own work to the internet, think about protecting your rights with a CC licence.

Activity 8 Next steps

15 minutes

Reflect on the lessons you’ve learned about protecting yourself online. In your Digital
plan, note down three steps you can take within the next month to improve your online
safety.

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6 This week’s quiz

Check what you’ve learned so far in the course by taking the quiz. If you would like to earn
a digital badge on completion of this course, you will need to do this quiz. However, you
can continue on the course without completing the quiz and without obtaining a badge, if
you prefer.
Week 4 badge quiz
Click on ‘Week 4 badge quiz’ above to access the quiz. If you open the quiz in a new
window or tab, you can come back here more easily when you’ve finished. It also enables
you to refer to the course as you work through the quiz, if you want to. At the end of the
quiz press ‘submit’. This enables the system to provide you with a badge at the end of the
course if relevant.

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7 Summary
We are now at the end of the week. In addition to feeling more confident about e-safety
and digital well-being, you should also have a greater understanding of how to protect
your own work and respect the rights of others.
This week you have considered your online safety and well-being, and explored
copyright and Creative Commons. You have:

● assessed how safe you feel online

● built up some strategies to create passwords and protect yourself online
● reflected on your digital well-being and the balance of your online and offline activity
● developed the ways you communicate with people online
● gained an understanding of how copyright and Creative Commons protects the work
you create and share online
● established how to reuse the work of others legally.

You have learned:

● how to protect yourself online

● how to communicate with people online
● how to manage the time you spend online and connecting with other people
● how to use Creative Commons licences.

Next week, you will learn how to search online for reliable information, and find what you
need quickly. You will also find out how to judge who and what to trust when you are in a
digital environment.
You are now half way through the course. The Open University would really appreciate
your feedback and suggestions for future improvement in our optional
end-of-course survey, which you will also have an opportunity to complete at the end of
Week 8. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details
to others.
You can now go to Week 5.

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Introduction

Week 5: Critical consumption

Introduction

Figure 1 Montage of headlines

There are often bizarre stories on the internet.

‘Pigeons can identify cancerous tissue on x rays’

‘Why the internet is made of cats’

These are just two stories that have appeared in the media recently. Some are more
plausible than others and we’ll be returning later to the question of which are true or not.
In previous weeks, you have been introduced to the idea of the information age and have
explored some of its characteristics. The internet is teeming with information, on every
conceivable subject and from many different sources (the image above shows a few
headlines that have appeared in the media recently). These sources include an ever-
increasing quantity of freely available user-generated information, and from an increasing
number of online communities. There are advantages and disadvantages to this
abundance. It is not hard to find information, but judging its reliability is less
straightforward. Online social networks can be very beneficial, but how do you establish
whether someone is telling the truth or not?
In Week 4 you considered what you can do to stay safe online and protect your privacy.
This week, you will have the opportunity to think about which information sources are
most relevant to you in your own context (also referred to as your ‘information landscape’)
and learn techniques to deal with information overload. You’ll also find out how to
develop a critical approach towards the people and information sources you encounter
online. This is all part of making technology and the internet work for you, and helping you
to stay in control of your digital life.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 1: Introduction to Week 5

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By the end of this week you should:

● have thought about which information sources are most relevant to you
● know how to find reliable information online quickly
● be able to judge how trustworthy online sources are.

This relates to both ‘Find’ and ‘Evaluate’ in the Open University digital skills framework as
well as to ‘Information, data and media literacies’ in the Jisc digital capabilities framework
that you came across in Week 2.

1 Your information landscape

You may not have thought of yourself as having an ‘information landscape’. The term is
used to refer to the range of information used in everyday life, at work and for study.
Everyone is different and therefore information landscapes vary. It is likely that your
information landscape will reflect your interests and relate to different parts of your life.
Not every source in your information landscape will be online. For instance, at work your
colleagues are likely to be an important source of information. There will be shared
understandings about what information means and how it is used in particular workplace
settings, for example, healthcare or law. You’ll think about your information landscape as
a whole before considering in more detail your online information landscape. This will help
you to set the context for your digital life.
The image below includes words describing different categories of information.

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Figure 2 What makes up your information landscape?

This next activity helps you to think about your information landscape, both digital and
real-life, and relate the categories of information to different parts of your life.

Activity 1 Getting orientated

5 minutes

Below are four different areas of life, each of which might form part of your information
landscape. For each heading, some categories of information are suggested. The list
is not exhaustive.
As you read about the categories of information listed under each heading, note down
which ones you use. Are there others, not listed, that you would add? Make a note of
these.
Select ‘Reveal feedback’ when you are ready.

You
● Ideas and opinions: your own and those of your family and friends.
● Research: you have done yourself (for example, on the internet).
● Experience: your own, and your family and friends.

Your local community

● News: local newspapers, local television, radio.
● Ideas and opinions: local media and community groups.
● Research: public library (physical or online resources).
● Facts and figures: local library or council, local club meetings and community
groups.
● Historical information: archives of local organisations or the local press.
● Experience: local support groups.

Your workplace, college or university

● News: noticeboards, meetings, emails, social media, colleagues, meeting
minutes, company intranet.
● Ideas and opinions: colleagues and discussion groups.
● Research: journal articles held in the library, project reports, product test logs.

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● Facts and figures: from the information department, or any information systems
you have access to, project specifications, orders, contract orders, technical data
sheets, product manuals.
● Historical information: notes, records and archives.
● Experience: refer to colleagues, clients and customers, tutors, teachers, and
fellow students.

Your world view

● News: the media (newspapers, TV, radio) or the specialist press, social media.
● Ideas and opinions: broadcast media, conferences, information from experts
and relevant organisations, social media.
● Research results: national libraries, specialist organisations, relevant journals.
● Facts and figures: national libraries, government statistical services.
● Historical information: records offices and national libraries.
● Experience: national support groups, specialist charities.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
In practice, most of these information sources exist in digital form. National and
international news is generally digital these days and breaking news is often shared on
social media such as Twitter or Facebook before it reaches broadcast media.
To use some information sources effectively, especially in more local contexts, a two-
way conversation is needed. For example, in the workplace, when asking a work
colleague about their experience of a particular job area or issue, you will probably
want to clarify and ask further questions depending on the response. This might be by
email or in person. Without this clarification, misunderstandings can occur. Information
and communication go hand in hand, there is dialogue involved and shared
understandings evolve over time.
Information landscapes are therefore not fixed. They change as your circumstances
change, as you move into new areas of life and as you engage with new communities.
There may be overlap between different parts of your information landscape. In the
next activity, you will think about your information landscape and how it has changed.

1.1 Exploring your information landscape

To see what someone’s information landscape might look like in practice, let’s hear from
Manuela, Michael and John.

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Activity 2 Mapping your information landscape

20 minutes

Listen to the audio recordings of Manuela, Michael and John talking about the sources
of information they regularly use.
Make some notes in your Digital plan about the kinds of areas their information
landscape covers.
Now reflect on your own information landscape – what are your most important
sources, and how has this changed for you over the last six months?
Use your Digital plan to note key features of your information landscape:

● six months ago

● now.

Select ‘Reveal feedback’ when you are ready

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela’s sources of information

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael’s sources of information

Audio content is not available in this format.

John’s sources of information

Discussion
Manuela’s information landscape is fairly focused on the local community, though she
does get involved in the wider world through her interest in Formula One. She uses her
local public library, her children’s school website and her local further education
college website. So far her digital information landscape does not include much that’s
relevant to work or formal education. That is changing as she works through this
course and explores options for further study.
John’s landscape is also a mixture of local (what gigs are on in my town) and national/
international (BBC Food, chef blogs, Bandcamp and Soundcloud).
So far, he has not considered work or study as part of his information landscape, but
the self-study he does of recipes, cooking techniques and the work of other chefs, is
taking him in that direction.
Michael doesn’t feel he has an information landscape – it’s more of a backyard really.
Apart from following the sports news (which his son shows him on his smartphone), his
sources of information are mainly personal. For example, he has one or two
colleagues he turns to when he needs to get the low-down on new procedures at work.
However, his desire to change career has prompted him to venture into new places,
including an online course. He’s not very confident he has the skills to keep up with an
online course – it all looks a bit daunting – and hopes this course will help.
How did your own information landscape compare to those of Manuela, Michael and
John? You may have found it includes similar elements, however, it will also be unique
to you. You might have found some overlap between different areas of your landscape,

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for example, your own experience of a particular issue (say, parenting) is reflected in
an online community you belong to that is open to people nationally and internationally.
You may also have noticed some changes in your information landscape over the last
six months. This might reflect changes in your life (for example, starting a new job or
course of study), or it could be that other people have introduced you to new sources
of information that you find useful.

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2 Searching
Now that you have thought about your current information landscape, it is time to look at
how you can navigate it. For the following activities, you will use Google to search for
information on a topic. You may like to also try using another search engine and
comparing the results.

Activity 3 Searching for information on Facebook privacy

10 minutes

● Open Google in a new tab or window and search for information on how to set
your privacy options on Facebook. (You may be able to speak instructions for
your device to search using a digital personal assistant such as Siri or Cortana,
as an alternative to typing it.)
● Find two resources: one text explanation and one video explanation.
● For each resource, establish: who put the information there, when it was added
and how well it seems to match what you are looking for.
● Reflect on the search process you have just been through: what words did you
use, and how long did it take you to find the relevant information?

Discussion
A search of this nature will most likely bring back several hundred million results. Text-
based resources provided by the Facebook Help Centre will probably appear at the top
of this list. This guidance is a sensible place to start, but if you read a bit further down
the list, you will find guidance produced by other people. Some of these other
resources may give you a more complete view of Facebook privacy settings. Be aware
that Facebook changes its appearance and functionality (what users can do) quite
frequently, so any guidance more than a few months old may not be accurate any
more.
To find videos, you may have typed the word ‘video’ or ‘YouTube’ or a combination of
the two, into the search box, or you may have selected ‘Videos’ from the options at the
top of the search screen.
The words ‘Facebook privacy settings’ are enough to bring back the right kind of
information. However, bear in mind that in this case it is very important that information
is up to date, so adding the current year to your search words may help you get what
you want more quickly. It’s likely that you scanned quickly through the results you had
found to see which ones looked most promising.
Whether text or video is more useful to you will depend on your personal preference
and the topic. Sometimes it can be really helpful to watch a demonstration of what to
do, for example, if you want to learn how to do something. At other times written
guidance or instructions are preferable.
There is widespread agreement that it is relatively easy to find information online. In
fact, information overload is likely to be more of an issue. The problem is not so much
finding information in the first place, as in pinpointing the right information quickly.
There are a few tricks you can learn to help you feel more in control.

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2.1 Refining your search

According to statistics, very few Google searches get past the first page of results. This
means that most people accept the first few results they find and don’t go any further. The
search you have just carried out may have been sufficient to get you the information you
wanted, if it was available on that first page. However, there are some useful techniques
for refining your search that will save you time.
In the last activity you may have used Google’s ‘videos’ filter (across the top of the page)
to restrict your results to videos. Other information types you can use to filter a search
include News, Images, Books, Shopping, Maps, Flights and Apps (note that some of
these categories may vary depending on the internet browser and version of browser you
are using). As well as filtering by information type, it is possible to refine your search in
other ways.
The next activity is an opportunity to use some of these techniques.

Activity 4 Refining your search

10 minutes

Some of the following actions will help you to refine your Google search. Read through
the list and note those that you think will help you to focus your search more precisely.
Try out the techniques you have chosen and make a note of how successful they were
in refining your search.

● Adding more search terms to make your search terms more specific. Google
automatically links your terms together with AND, which means it will search for
websites where all your search terms are present. The more specific you are, the
more likely you are to find relevant information. Note that the order in which you
type your search terms will affect your search results.
● Using ‘OR’ to link your search words. Searching using ‘Facebook OR privacy’
will bring back all websites in which the word ‘Facebook’ is present, and all
websites in which the word ‘privacy’ is present (regardless of whether they were
about Facebook privacy). If you wanted to find sites in which all these words are
present at the same time, you would need to take out ‘OR’ from your search.
● Using quotation marks to enclose your search terms. Also known as a phrase
search, this will make your search more precise. For example, ‘"complete guide to
Facebook privacy settings 2015"’ as opposed to ‘complete guide to Facebook
privacy settings 2015’. It may exclude some sites you would be interested in
though, such as ‘Facebook privacy settings’ or ‘Here’s how to use Facebook’s
mystifying privacy settings…’.
● Using an asterisk *. This will expand your search rather than focus it, as it is
used as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms. For example, priva* will
increase the number or results you find by looking for ‘privacy’ and ‘private’. In this
case, it may also bring up organisations named ‘Priva’, which you don’t want.
● Using specialist or specific search terms related to the subject of your
search. This can be helpful, especially if you are doing research for academic
study. Look for terms used within the field you are researching that help to focus
your search more clearly.

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Discussion
Adding or substituting search terms is one way to hone your search. Phrase searching
using quotation marks can also be helpful. Knowing the specialist vocabulary used for
the subject you are looking for will increase your chances of success. Think about how
your subject might be described on the kind of site you are hoping to find. Note that
these tips and tricks may not work in other search engines.
Google’s advanced search screen provides a range of options to help you target your
search, for example narrowing your search to include specific keywords. You can also
filter results to only include those updated within a specific date range or with text in a
particular language.
Another option that you may find useful in light of what you learned in Week 4, is the
option to narrow your search by usage rights to only retrieve resources that are free to
use or share.
You can access the advanced screen by going to ‘Settings’ at the bottom of the screen
and selecting ‘Advanced search’ – or by googling ‘Google advanced search’. It is worth
exploring how the advanced search can help you.
If you really want to get up close and personal with Google, you may like to visit the ‘
Search operators’ page, which tells you how you can use punctuation and symbols to
refine your search.

Despite being able to refine your searches, you may still find the amount of information
overwhelming. You will find out some tips on how to tackle this in the next section.

2.2 Dealing with information overload

Being able to handle information efficiently is a skill which will stand you in good stead,
both when studying and at work. Information overload is a very real problem, which – as
discussed in Week 4 – can affect morale and well-being if not acknowledged and tackled.
So far, you have looked at the search process and found out how you can refine your
search using some of the options in Google. Making full and efficient use of search engine
functionality can be a useful tool to help you deal with information overload, but human
input is required too. In your initial search, you selected a couple of results. This involved
filtering.
Filtering is a mental process involving skim-reading, evaluation and a series of quick
judgements about what to do next. When faced with a screen full of search results, you
can get a feel for which ones might be relevant by looking at the headings, highlighted
keywords, type of site, URL and date.
Having decided to investigate a site further, you can get a quick overview by employing
some scanning and skimming techniques.
Scanning involves looking quickly down the page to locate relevant words, phrases or
images that you are interested in. This will help you to decide whether you should read
further and how useful the website or document might be. You can scan:

● headings and subheadings

● images and artwork
● the body text itself, e.g. for authors’ names
● the sitemap.

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Skimming the text quickly involves:

● getting an indication of the scope and content of the information

● looking at the first sentence of each paragraph to see what it’s about
● noting the key points in any summaries.

Of course, information overload is not just about information you find on the web when
you are looking for it – it can also come from our inboxes. It is easy to sign up for
information from various sites, such as retailers or restaurants, and then find your inbox
overflowing with frequent messages that aren’t necessarily useful.

Activity 5 Tackling information overload

10 minutes

It’s time to hear from Manuela, Michael and John about some of their experiences of
information overload and how they dealt with it. As you listen to the audios, think about
your own situation and make a note of any tips you want to remember. Add these to
your Digital plan.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela talks about information overload

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael talks about information overload

Audio content is not available in this format.

John talks about information overload

The 5 Ds (Caunt, 1999), that Michael referred to, are a useful technique to help you be
more decisive when handling information that comes to you. They can be summarised as:

1. Discard
2. Deal with (Do It Now)
3. Determine future action (SIFT it – Schedule It now For Tomorrow)
4. Direct / Distribute it (think about why you are directing it and what you expect the
recipient to do with it)
5. Deposit it (file it).

All of the techniques considered so far are part of the broader ability to take a critical
stance towards what you read. This is about knowing what questions to ask, so that you
can determine not only what information is relevant to you but also who put it there, what
their viewpoint might be and how far it can be trusted.
Critical thinking is a skill of great value for academic study and beyond. It will also help you
to stay in control of your digital life, rather than feeling it is controlling you. In fact, it is
probably the number one skill you can develop.

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3 Asking the right questions

Figure 3 Kilauea Volcano at Mauna Ulu

In December 2015, a new article posted on Facebook claimed that ‘a single eruption from
a volcano puts more than 10,000 times the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
than all of mankind has produced’. On the face of it, this is a plausible statement.
However, it is actually false. The estimated annual amount of CO2 generated by human
activity is 135 times higher than the annual amount released by volcanoes (Evon and
Kasprak, 2015). This is just one example of 'fake news', which has been an increasingly
significant term in recent years (Carson, 2019).
Have you ever been convinced by information that later turned out to be untrue? Maybe
you even passed it on to someone else, believing it came from a reliable source? Some
stories and videos on the internet are clearly untrue but in other cases, it may not be so
clear-cut and you are unsure whether to believe what you see or hear. In some cases this
may not matter. However, if government policy decisions or guidance to citizens were to
be based on faulty information, there could be serious consequences. But how can you
know what is reliable or not?
It helps to know what questions to ask of what you read or see or hear online. There are
various frameworks that provide you with a good starting point. Here are two that The
Open University has come up with, CAN and PROMPT. The abbreviations are designed
to help you remember the criteria when you need them.

CAN – can I trust this information?

C – Credibility: How much do you know about the person or organisation providing the
information? What sort of authority do they have for any statements or opinions they put
forward? How do they back up opinions or facts? What sort of language do they use?
Language that is either emotionally charged or vague can be a danger sign.
A – Agenda: Can you detect any bias or agenda? Who has put the information there? Do
the authors state clearly the viewpoint they are taking? Can you detect any vested interests,
for example, a particular political viewpoint or a product that is being promoted? You may
need to dig deep to uncover these: this could include scrutinising the ‘About’ information on

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the website, and doing some research to find out more about the organisation or people
who put the information there.
N – Need: What is your need or requirement in this particular situation? Think about what
you are planning to do with the information. How important is it that the source is
trustworthy?

This framework is useful for the sort of quick evaluation you might do in everyday life. It
reminds you that the extent to which you scrutinise an information source may depend on
what you plan to do with it. Sometimes, you just want a quick idea of what a topic is about,
or a sense of what others thought about something you are interested in (e.g. a holiday
home or new gadget). In this case, a high academic pedigree is not necessary. Wikipedia
is one source that many people use to get a quick overview. Social media is also a source
of news and information. Use CAN to do a quick reality-check, for example, when
someone shares a sensational sounding story on Facebook. Ask CAN I trust this?

PROMPT – evaluating information

P – Presentation: Is this information clear and well-communicated? Is it succinct? Can I
find what I need here? If it’s a website, is it easy to use and navigate?
R – Relevance: Does this information match my needs right now? What is it mostly about?
O – Objectivity: Are opinions expressed? Are there sponsors? What are you being ‘sold’
here (a particular product, or corporate view)? What are the vested interests or hidden
agendas?
M – Method: If statistical data is presented, what is this based on? How was the data
gathered? Was the sample used really representative? Were the methods appropriate,
rigorous, etc.?
P – Provenance: Is it clear who produced this information? Where does it come from?
Whose opinions are these? Are they a recognised expert in their field? Do you trust this
information?
T – Timeliness: Is this current? When was it written and produced? Has the climate or
situation changed since this information was made available? Is it still up to date enough?

The PROMPT framework offers a structured method for evaluating any information you
find online. It is more detailed than CAN, and is especially useful when studying, for
example, if you are looking for trustworthy sources to support arguments in an
assignment. You can use it to evaluate both academic articles and freely available
information on the internet. It can also be very helpful in a work environment, for example,
if you need to find material for a project or report. Rigorous evaluation is particularly
crucial when business decisions are being made on the basis of information you provide.
You may not need to go through the whole checklist each time you evaluate something,
but it provides a useful reminder of what to look for. With practice over time, you will find
that asking these kinds of questions becomes second nature.
You can download the CAN and PROMPT checklist to refer to later.
In the next activity you will think about how far you already ask critical questions of the
online sources you come across in your ‘information landscape’.

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Activity 6 Evaluating resources

Identify some situations where you have needed to find information on the internet.
How did you decide what to trust?
Note down the sort of process you go through and the questions you ask. How far do
they reflect the CAN or PROMPT criteria?
Record in your Digital plan any points you want to remember for the future.

Both these frameworks can be used and adapted for all kinds of information. You can also
use them when deciding who to trust online. While your ‘gut reaction’ should not be
ignored, it is good to go beyond initial first impressions of how a person comes across
online. It is worthwhile doing a search to find out more about their background, who they
are linked with (for example, particular professional or political groups) and what they do
and say online. As mentioned in Week 3, many employers do an online search when
considering whether to interview or appoint someone.

3.1 Useful starting points

Figure 4 Finding the starting point

There is an old saying: ‘If I were going there, I wouldn’t start from here’. Although using a
general search engine such as Google may sometimes be the best approach when
looking for resources online, there are other alternative starting points that can save you
time.
You have four options:

● freely available online resources

● resources available via subscription
● specialist search engines
● social networks.

Of freely available resources, some are produced by organisations such as universities

and may be licensed under Creative Commons for anyone to use, share and (sometimes)
adapt. Others are contributed by individuals or created by members of online
communities.

Freely available resources

Wikipedia is well-known example of a freely available resource created by many different
people. When searching for information on the web, you will often find that references to
Wikipedia articles appear near the top of your list of results. Opinions on Wikipedia are
often divided, as many people are sceptical about the quality of information held here. The
best advice when assessing the accuracy of an article is to find out about the author and

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look at the references listed at the end. You could also keep an eye out for who has edited
the page, how many times it has been edited and any conflicting agendas on the part of
the editors. You can find this out by clicking on the ‘View history’ tab of any Wikipedia
entry. Wikipedia is useful for getting a quick overview of a topic, but it is always wise to
double-check what you find against other sources.
If you are looking for a particular type of media, you may find it useful to go to a site that
brings those resources together. Some examples include YouTube for videos,
SoundCloud for music and podcasts, and the onlinenewspapers.com site which provides
access to newspapers from around the world. It is often possible to interact with others on
these sites by commenting on, rating, sharing or liking resources.
Open Educational Resources (OERs) have already been mentioned. This course is an
example of an OER on the OU’s OpenLearn platform. The OER Commons network lists a
large number of OERs provided by many people around the world.
The Open University Library also provides a list of good-quality
publicly available online resources that anyone can use. These resources cover a wide
range of subject areas and are worth exploring if you have time.

Subscription resources
An important resource for students doing degree courses is their college or university
library. The Open University Library is completely online, free to OU students and staff,
and provides access to a wide range of high-quality resources, including books, journals,
images, videos and music.
It is also possible to take out your own individual subscription to online journals and
magazines for a fee.

Specialist search engines

Specialist search engines can be useful. For example, Google Scholar is useful for
tracking down academic articles and books, though the results aren’t always
comprehensive, and the full text is not always freely available. Wolfram Alpha is a
specialist search tool for finding data. If you are concerned about privacy, DuckDuckGo is
a general search engine that (unlike Google) doesn’t track your personal information or
provide you with personalised search results.

Online social networks

Online social and professional networks can be useful resources for information research.
LinkedIn is one example. Not only can you put your own profile and CV on there, but you
can also find other people in the field you are interested in, identify potential jobs and learn
from the discussions that happen in special interest groups. Some online networks are
informal, such as Facebook groups set up by groups of students to support each other.
Universities, including The Open University, have many such groups. You will also find
groups set up for particular communities, like the Facebook pages for the
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Open University Library.

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3.2 Developing your ‘trustometer’

Figure 5 Barometer
Often, you are taking a calculated risk when deciding whether or not to trust someone or
something online. What you decide to do may depend on how much time you have
available and what is at stake. Developing your research and evaluation skills will enable
you to weigh up the ‘pros and cons’ more quickly and make good decisions. You could
think of the decision-making process as a kind of barometer which changes in response to
a variable set of factors – your ‘trustometer’. For the penultimate activity this week you are
going to put some of what you have learned into practice.

Activity 7 What would you do?

Manuela, Michael and John are facing some predicaments in their digital life. Listen to
the audio recordings and note down the advice you would give to each one of them.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela talks about her digital life

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael talks about his digital life

Audio content is not available in this format.

John talks about his digital life

Discussion
Manuela now knows that her bank would never ask for her PIN by email in this way.
The site that she was taken to looked convincing and professional. However, on closer
examination the URL was not quite right. The email itself began ‘Dear Sir or madam’
and contained several grammatical and spelling errors, which would not have occurred
in a real communication from the bank, as these are usually carefully proof-read. A
useful site that lists scams and hoaxes to be aware of is Hoax Slayer.
Michael could have done a search for information on treatments for coeliac disease, to
establish the facts and research behind the article. Using the PROMPT framework
would help him here, as it would encourage him to ask questions about the
provenance and accuracy of some of the figures quoted. An update to the article
Michael read was later published, clarifying that the NHS food prescription bill was for
all special diets, not just sufferers of coeliac disease (Daily Mail, 2015).
John could have done an image search using the ‘Usage rights’ filter in Google
advanced search, to search for images that are free to use or share. Or he might have

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found something suitable in an online collection of images licensed under Creative

Commons, such as Flickr.

Manuela, Michael and John are generally becoming more sceptical about information
they find online, or that comes to them via email. At the same time, they are becoming
more open about the possibilities of learning through the many online resources available
to them.
Knowing what questions to ask is giving them confidence that in future they will be able to
avoid being taken in. As you encounter different information and people online, keeping
those questions in mind will enable you to live wisely and safely in a digital environment.
Developing a critical mindset helps you to avoid the ‘potholes’ in your information
landscape and make the most of life online.

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4 Reflection

4 Reflection
During this week you have been learning how to ask the right questions and develop a
critical mind-set towards what you read online.

Activity 8 Asking the right questions

Have a go at evaluating one or both of the stories below, using the techniques you
have been introduced to. (Look back at 3 Asking the right questions if you need a
reminder.)
Scan the article to get a feel for the headlines and key points of the story. Make a note
of the process you follow in each case and any questions that arise. For example, how
do you decide if someone is who they say they are? If scientific claims are being made,
how can you check what they are based on?

● Article 1: Pigeons can identify cancerous tissue on x-rays… (Brait, 2015) (or
watch the YouTube clip:
Pigeons as Trainable Observers of Pathology and Radiology Breast Cancer
Images.
● Article 2: Why the internet is made of cats (Potts, 2014) There is no need to read
the whole article, the section entitled ‘Allen-Alchian Explains Why the Internet is
Made of Cats’ and the conclusion should give you enough to go on.

Discussion
The story about pigeons being able to identify cancerous cells is based on bona fide
scientific experiments. For some of the research behind the headline see
Pigeons as Trainable Observers of Pathology and Radiology Breast Cancer Images
from Plos.

The birds proved to have a remarkable ability to distinguish benign from

malignant human breast histopathology after training with differential food
reinforcement; even more importantly, the pigeons were able to generalize
what they had learned when confronted with novel image sets.
(Levenson et al., 2015)

Article 2 argues that ‘cute shapes the internet’ (with particular reference to Grumpy
Cat). The author uses the Allen-Alchian theorem, or the ‘third law of demand’ to model
quality on the internet.
The article makes some assumptions, which may make sense to those immersed in
the field of economics, but are open to question from other perspectives. It is up to you
if you buy the argument or not!

Add to your Digital plan one or two top tips for evaluating information that you would like
to remember. Also make a note of any ways in which your information landscape has
changed as a result of what you have learned, for example, useful new sources or
networks you have discovered.

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5 This week’s quiz

5 This week’s quiz

Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week practice quiz. Remember
that while optional, working through the quiz can help you see how you’re getting on with
the course. Your answers are not visible to the other learners, they’re just for your own
information.
Week 5 practice quiz
Click on ‘Week 5 practice quiz’ above to access the quiz. If you open the quiz in a new
window or tab, you can come back here more easily when you’ve finished. It also enables
you to refer to the course as you work through the quiz, if you want to.
To open in a new window, right click on the link above and select ‘Open in new window’.
You'll get feedback on your answers as you go through the quiz. When you finish the quiz
and press ‘submit’, the system will record that you have finished your attempt, and your
score. As this is a practice quiz, this is just for your learning, so you can identify areas you
might like to revisit. The score won't be counted towards your badge.

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6 Summary

6 Summary
This week you have focused on your information landscape and how to navigate it. You
have been introduced to:

● some ways of finding information quickly

● some approaches to dealing with information overload
● criteria for judging who and what can be trusted
● some useful starting points when searching for information.

You have learned how to:

● search effectively
● filter, scan and skim to get to the information you want more quickly
● ask the right questions of online sources.

You have had the opportunity to put what you have learned into practice using real-life
scenarios and stories that have appeared in the media.
The key point from this week is the importance of thinking critically about sources of
information, whether online or not. The relevance of all this to the workplace has been
highlighted throughout.
Week 6 will continue with the theme of how to make technology work for you rather than
you for it. As part of this you will have the opportunity to use your critical thinking skills to
evaluate online tools and apps.
You can now go to Week 6.

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Week 6: The right tool for the job
Introduction

Week 6: The right tool for

the job
Introduction
Have you ever wondered whether there was more to life than deleting unwanted email, or
if there’s a better way to timetable those music practices or football matches? This week
will give you the opportunity to think about online tools that can help you in your everyday
life, whether that’s for work, home or study.
So far in this course you have been introduced to the idea of the information age and you
have thought about your own digital presence and identity. You have also been given tips
on how to stay safe online. You will also have gained a better understanding of how to
find, evaluate and use online materials in an ethical way that respects the other people’s
content.
Week 5 introduced you to the concept of your ‘information landscape’ and helped you
think about what information sources are most relevant to you in your own particular
environment. You were introduced to filtering and evaluation techniques to help you deal
with information overload, and some critical approaches to evaluating the information and
people you encounter online.
This week develops the idea of your information landscape and asks you to consider how
this relates to the tasks you carry out in your everyday life at home, for work, or when
studying. You will explore ways that you can do these more efficiently and effectively by
either moving the task online or by using a better online tool for managing the task.
You will use similar evaluation techniques to those developed in Week 5 to help you
choose the best tool for the job.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 1: Introduction to Week 6

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By the end of this week, you should be able to:

● find the right online tools for your needs

● identify the best tools for working with others online.

This relates to ‘Collaborate and share’ in the Open University digital skills framework, and
both ‘Digital communication, collaboration and participation’ and ‘ICT proficiency’ in the
Jisc digital capabilities framework that you came across in Week 2.

1 Everyday life; everyday tasks

We all have things that we need to do regularly as part of our everyday lives. These can
include:

● doing the shopping; running the household finances

● fulfilling routine appointments, like the children’s football training
● less routine appointments, like visits to the dentist and hairdressers
● keeping up with family – local and further away
● socialising
● checking personal email.

These things are all important, but can sometimes get on top of us. We can miss things
like friends’ birthdays, or even dentist appointments. Keeping on top of our email lists can
seem to take forever.

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Activity 1 Everyday tasks; thinking about your own ‘taskscape’

15 minutes

A ‘taskscape’ is a made up word to describe all the things that you routinely do, like
those listed above, some very frequently and others less so. Sometimes we are too
busy doing everyday tasks to be able to see how we can do them better. This activity
helps you take a fresh look at your taskscape and to start to think about areas you
might want to do better.
In the audios below, Manuela, Michael and John talk about the routine things they do
and which of these they find the most annoying or frustrating.
As you listen, make a note of some of the routine tasks that populate your everyday life
in your Digital plan. The examples deal with home life but you may want to think about
the tasks you routinely do as part of work or study.
Then add some details about:

● how you manage your everyday tasks at the moment

● what tools you use (e.g. pen and paper, scrawled lists, project management
software at work, shared calendars, spreadsheets)
● which tasks take longer
● which tasks you do less well than other people
● which tasks get in the way of other things you’d like to do with your time?

Audio content is not available in this format.

Manuela talks about her routine

Audio content is not available in this format.

Michael talks about his routine

Audio content is not available in this format.

John talks about his routine

Select ‘Reveal feedback’ when you are ready.

Discussion
Your own responses to the activity will be relate to your own situation. The notes below
are observations relevant to Manuela, Michael and John.
Manuela talks a lot about organising her children and the family budgets. She didn’t
mention her hobbies to do with the Formula One racing so I think she feels in control of
those. Maybe her desire to run the household better stems from her awareness that
these things can get chaotic and that collaborating with children and friends in order to
get to appointments and social events takes time and can sometimes go wrong.
Manuela might find that mobile banking provides her with better tools for managing the
household budgets, like downloading monthly accounts in a spreadsheet format; or
that tools for collaboration with other parents might ease the organisational burden of
lift sharing to the teenage commitments.
Currently Michael’s attitude to his information use and gathering is a bit haphazard.
He doesn’t really seek out information, rather he lets it come to him. He watches

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Sports Scene on a Saturday, reads the match reports in the Sunday papers or listens
to the mid-week radio when his wife, Margaret, lets him turn over from Radio 2.
Michael’s admission that he thinks he should get involved a bit more with the
household budgets is interesting; he realises that if he got more involved he’d know
more about what’s going on. It reflects his approach to gathering his information. In
order to feel more in control he needs to get himself organised.
John’s interest in cookery has encouraged him online, together with his love of music.
So much music is shared online these days and events are advertised through bands’
Facebook pages. His lack of time management could be a problem though, and
although he’s keen his employers might lose patience if he turns up to work too late too
often. John might find time management tools useful and a better way of managing his
online recipe lists could save him time whenever he wants to revisit a recipe.

You’ll revisit your own notes as you progress through the week’s activities.

1.1 ‘There’s an app for that’

Figure 1 Apps
You may have heard this phrase a lot over the last few years. In fact it’s been used so
many times that Apple – who first used it in 2010 as part of an advertising campaign –
have actually been granted sole use of the phrase as a commercial trademark.
Apple might have the monopoly on the use of the phrase ‘There’s an app for that’, but they
don’t have the monopoly on apps themselves. Apps are created for each platform, such
as Apple’s own OSX and iOS, Android systems and Windows-based platforms. Most
apps use the internet to retrieve or share data.

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During this week, the terms app and tools are used to mean the same things. So let’s take
a moment to look at exactly what they mean.
‘App’ is short for an application, which is a computer program designed to fulfil a very
specific function, such as retrieving data from Facebook to your smart phone. The
implication is that an app will do one thing very well, although many do more than one
thing. Although they are commonly used on mobile devices, whether tablet or smart
phone, they are also used on a desktop PC or laptop.
‘Tool’ has broader definitions, but in computing terms, Google define it as:

a piece of software that carries out a particular function

(Google, n.d.)

It is generally defined as an implement to help with a particular task. Within this next
activity we use the term ‘tool’.

Activity 2 Thinking about your own use of apps

20 minutes

Many people use particular apps or online tools to help them get more organised. This
activity helps you reflect on the online tools you currently use and to start thinking
about areas where you might want to explore some new apps.
In your Digital plan, use the table to help you think about the different areas of work,
study and home life where you might currently use apps to help you. Use the questions
below to help you complete the table.

● How often do you use the app?

● What do you find particularly useful about it?
● What do you find particularly annoying about it?

You might be surprised when you complete this table at just how many online tools you
currently use.
Select ‘Reveal feedback’ to compare your responses with John’s.
Discussion
John has thought about the different areas of his life in which he currently uses apps
and has completed parts of the table.

John’s app list

Function: Which app? Work/study/ How What do you like about the
what are Which device? daily life? often? app? What do you not like?
you doing (Can be more
online? than one.)

Money management
Online Website based Daily life Once or Remembering all the
banking online twice a complicated passwords! But
banking; PC. week much better than going into a
branch.
Pingit; phone. Daily life Rarely Added to help a mate out
who’d lost his bank card.
Don’t really need it at the
moment.

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Leisure – music, video and games

Music online iTunes; phone. Daily life Daily Syncing is useful.
Soundcloud; Daily life Weekly Great for dance stuff and free
phone. music that you can’t get on
iTunes
Bandcamp; Daily life Weekly Having to create an account
phone. was a bit annoying but you
need to do that to get band
updates.
Games Temple Run; Daily life Weekly Adverts are annoying with
phone. free version.
Video and iMovie; phone. Daily life; work Weekly/ Really easy to use; just got a
audio monthly friend to video me while
cooking!
Audio Recorder for Daily life; work Monthly Recorded tunes for adding to
iPhone; phone. video.
Video iMovie; phone. Daily life; work Monthly Use this for adding sound to
editing my videos before uploading
to YouTube.
News
BBC news Free BBC apps Daily life Daily I have set the font size higher
and weather or PC based so it’s easier for me to read. I
website; PC and like the videos and audio
phone. rather than having to read all
the time.
Picture and Snapchat; Daily life Weekly This was funny at first but
video phone. now the app keeps freezing. I
sharing haven’t used it in a while.
Instant Facebook and Daily life Daily Great free messaging tool;
messaging Facebook group chat great for nights
and group messenger; PC out. Not dependent on
chat and phone. platform like some messaging
tools.
Blogging Blogger; phone. Daily life; work Weekly/ I’ve only recently started my
software monthly blog, this was fine to get me
started but already I want to
embed video. I am thinking I
might want to do more than
this app will enable.
Text to OS X; phone. Daily life; work Daily Love this: helps me digest
speech text differently when the
software dyslexia is slowing me down
a bit.
Organisation
Travel Google maps; Daily life; work Weekly What’s not to like? It’s like
phone and PC. having a free sat nav!

Your table will look different according to your individual circumstances. When John
was thinking about what he liked about these apps and how frequently he used them,
he decided to uninstall a few as he realised he didn’t use them very often. He also
found alternatives for apps he found annoying.

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Did you feel the same about some of the tools on your list? Are there any apps that you
have heard of, thought might be useful but have never found the time to explore? Are
there any that you have come across while studying this course that you would like to
explore?

You will build on this activity and your answers to some of these questions as the week
goes on.

1.2 What can apps and tools do for you?

So far this week you have looked at those areas of work, study or home life where you feel
a bit disorganised, or where you might be aware that there could be better ways of doing
things. You have also had a chance to think about the sorts of tools you already use to
help you get things done.
There is now a bewildering array of apps and tools available that can be used in many
different areas of life. We are now going to look at some tools and applications that you
might not be aware of.
Have a look at this The Internet in Real-Time infographic (Penny Stocks Lab, n.d.) which
shows the estimated amount of data generated in real time by the most commonly used
apps; it can give you are a real sense of the scale of activity.

Same tools: different uses

You’ll have seen from the definition of an app that they are designed to do one thing very
well.
Perhaps that is a bit of an oversimplification, because people usually discover that they
can use them in all sorts of different contexts and situations. One app will be used
differently by people, depending on their situations and circumstances. Take the
teenagers who use a Facebook group chat to complain about their maths homework, but
who then use that same chat to work through how to do that difficult homework by working
collaboratively.
The first use of this Facebook group chat is purely social. The second, with largely the
same group of people, is helping them study. The ability to communicate and collaborate
with lots of people who are all engaged on a similar task can help understanding and
completion of that task.
Using apps you can agree meeting times, book a work visit, review hotels, book hotels,
book flights and other transport, review and book restaurants, and then share that
information with colleagues around the world. You could even meet online using video
conferencing if you couldn’t get together in the real world. This can be useful not just at
work, but also for social activities. You could use exactly the same tools to plan your
business meetings or sales conference, as you would to plan a holiday itinerary with
friends.

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1.3 What are apps doing with your personal data?

It’s important to be aware that apps can only do many of these wonderful things if they can
access, store and sometimes share your personal data. In Week 4 you learned about the
importance of reading, then thinking about the terms and conditions of a service before
you sign up to it. Some services like Facebook own the copyright of any data that you post
to their site; they will very rarely use or share that data with anyone, but you need to be
aware that you sign away complete control of any information you share in Facebook.
Mobile device users may find their location information is constantly monitored by some
apps and sometimes shared with advertising services. Free apps are more prone to
sharing location data than other types of apps, because of their need to generate revenue
through other means.

Activity 3 A judgement call

5 minutes

It’s important to be more aware of the personal data that mobile devices harvest from
us. This activity helps you think about the typical judgement call you would make when
choosing an app.
In this scenario you have found a free app that helps you manage your photos. This
app enables editing, curation and the sharing of photos through social media. The
terms and conditions state that this app needs access to your location data, and that
by signing up you agree to your location data being used by the app.
Take a moment to consider the implications of accepting those terms and conditions,
and then decide whether you would still want to use that service. Click ‘Reveal
feedback’ to see what we thought about the issue.
Discussion
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Whenever you are thinking about
using an app or online service you will need to consider the value of the service offered
and whether it is worth the inconvenience of agreeing to some of the terms and
conditions. Many of us accept a little invasion of our privacy to share things with friends
online and adjust our privacy settings in social media according to personal
preference. Location data is often necessary for some apps to function: geolocation
services like travel and direction finders could not work without location data.
Restaurant booking services and hotel finders need such data to work better.
Ultimately these decisions are up to you, but you need to be aware of the implications
of your choices. Don’t be put off using apps but do use them in full knowledge of what
you might be agreeing to.

You might like to read this recent online article,

‘Apps snoop on your location way more than you think’ that appeared in Wired
magazine (2015).

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2 Which apps might be for me?

2 Which apps might be for me?

Now you’ll think about which tools might help you at work, at home or in your studies.

Activity 4 Same tools different uses

10 minutes

Thinking about apps and tools by their different functions, and where those functions
overlap, can help you evaluate their potential use. It can also help you think more
creatively about the possibilities they provide.
The following video sets out some of the ways you can use apps and tools to help you
in different areas of daily life, such as work, home or study. The apps are grouped
under four categories:

● tools for communicating/connecting

● tools for creating
● tools for collaborating
● tools for managing information/keeping up to date.

As you watch the video, think about the apps described, and how well they fit into
these groupings. These groupings are one way of thinking about apps. What are some
other ways? How would you group them? Note your ideas in the box below.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 2: Useful apps and tools

Provide your answer...

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Discussion
Here are some of the different groups:

● some apps that can help us in all three of our contexts (work, study and home
life). You might have grouped them in this way.
● you might group apps by whether they can be used across lots of different
platforms, or whether you can ‘sync’ them on all your devices
● you might have grouped them by the type of information they work with: text,
image, data, finance and so on.

Apps are great enablers, they allow us to accomplish all sort of things.

2.1 Finding apps

In the next activity you will explore an app store to get a sense of the breadth and scale of
apps written for different purposes. Many of these are free to download.
There are three main app stores. The one you choose to use will depend on which mobile
device or smartphone you use.

● Google Play store: You would use this on Android devices (like Samsung, and HTC)
● Apple online store: You would use this for Apple devices (iPad, iPhones, Macs)
● Microsoft Windows store: You would use this for Windows devices (like Windows
smartphones, tablets and Xbox).

All three stores are available on desktop or laptop computers.

Activity 5 Exploring app stores

20 minutes

Go to the app store for the device you use. If you don’t have a mobile device or
smartphone, use Google Play, as you don’t need to be registered to search for apps.
Search for two apps that might appeal to your own particular interests or requirements.
Some ideas are:

● an app that will allow you to set up task lists

● a calendar/diary app
● an app that provides up-to-date sports scores
● a news app
● an app that turns your phone into a torch
● an app that tells you about restaurants in your location
● a navigation app
● an e-reader app.

Think carefully about the keywords you use when you search.
When choosing each app:

● read the description to get further details about them

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2 Which apps might be for me?

● read one or two of the reviews to get a sense of potential glitches or bugs which
other users might have experienced, or features they particularly liked
● check their terms and conditions. Do they suit your needs?

In the box below, make a note of the two apps you chose. For each of them, briefly
write down what they do and any issues reported by other users. If you are a Facebook
user, you might like to share one of the apps you recommend on the
OU Library Facebook page.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
You should now know where to find new apps for downloading and how to navigate
your way round online app stores. You will also have begun to look at ways of
evaluating apps by reading product reviews by other users.

2.2 Communicating, creating, collaborating,

managing
Some examples of common apps that fit under the four functional categories you thought
about in Activity 4 are explained below. We have provided downloadable sheets
explaining what they do and how they can help you. Click on the document names within
the text below to see the lists.
Read one or two of the descriptions under each of the headings within these tables and
think about some of their possible uses. You might want to download and store these
documents somewhere for future reference. The sheets also have some empty spaces at
the bottom where you can add any other useful apps that you discover.
You might be able to see a different use for these apps. Depending on the area you work
in, you might have a use for Facebook in your job, or you might run a Facebook page to
advertise your company or want to set up a closed group for colleagues.

Tools for communicating

The tools on the Tools for communicating sheet provide different ways of communicating
with others online.

Tools for creating

Creation tools help you create, edit and share different types of content. The different
applications described on the Tools for creating sheet help you create presentations,
visualise mathematical data, video, screencasts, record and share audio, and curate
images.

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2 Which apps might be for me?

Be aware that all sites with video capabilities might contain some pornographic material. If
you wish to avoid that content, you can set limits on your searches or choose not to use a
particular service. Different services provide different ways of limiting searches.

Tools for collaborating

All the social media tools already listed on the 'Tools for communicating' sheet also enable
collaboration. Many of the tools and apps listed here on the Tools for collaborating sheet
rely on cloud storage to enable collaboration. You will need to carefully consider whether
cloud storage is suitably secure for the type of material you are sharing. Do your
documents contain personal data or contain commercially sensitive information? In these
cases you might need to use other storage options.

Tools for managing information

The tools within the Tools for managing information sheet are most likely to be used by
those pursuing study; some, like Twitter and Reddit, are also used for more social
purposes.
You might be able to see a different use for the apps in the documents above. Depending
on the area you work in, you might have a use for Facebook in your job, for instance, to
run a Facebook page to advertise your company or to set up a closed group for
colleagues.

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3 Reflection

3 Reflection
This week has introduced you to the wonderful world of apps. You have been encouraged
to think about them in terms of what they can do for you, as well as what you need to be
aware of when using them. You have already begun to think about some of the important
questions you need to consider when using an app, like whether charges apply, or
whether terms and conditions require access to too much personal data.
Use the mnemonic ACCEPTS to help you evaluate all aspects of an app:
Access – how will you access it? Laptop, phone, iPad, etc.? Different devices?
Collaboration – how collaborative is this tool? How easy is it to share information, or
control privacy?
Cost – many tools start off free then require payment later, or offer a base application free
with a fuller version that you need to pay for.
Ease of use – how long are you willing to spend learning how to use this tool? Will it be
intuitive?
Purpose – how much functionality do you need?
Trust – does the app look trustworthy? Who produced it? Who else is using it? What
personal data are they harvesting?
Shelf-life – is it important that it’s still there in three, six, or twelve months? What would
happen if it disappeared?

Activity 6 Evaluating apps

20 minutes

When choosing apps for real you will need to evaluate them before installing to make
sure you understand what you are using. This activity helps you practise evaluating
apps.
At the beginning of this week, you thought about some areas of your life where you
would like to feel more organised or where you would like to be doing things a little
differently, and noted them in your Digital plan. Review them now, then go back to the
app store you were using in the previous activity and look for three apps that you might
find useful. Make sure that one of the apps you select has collaborative uses.

● Google Play store: You would use this on Android devices (like Samsung,
and HTC)
● Apple online store: You would use this for Apple devices (iPad, iPhones, Macs)
● Microsoft Windows store: You would use this for Windows devices (like Windows
smartphones, tablets and Xbox).

All three stores are available on desktop or laptop computers.

It might be that your particular function is more likely to be based on a laptop or PC; if
that is the case you might want to search Google for applications or software that fit
your chosen task.
You do not need to download the apps, you can read the summaries of their
functionality on the app store together with the product reviews provided by users. You
could also search for review articles by bloggers and journalists as they are often
useful to help you evaluate apps and services.

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3 Reflection

Critically evaluate each of the three apps/tools you chose according to the ACCEPTS
mnemonic that you’ll find in your Digital plan.
Then think about the different criteria for evaluation within the ACCEPTS mnemonic.
How useful was it to use this framework to evaluate your chosen tools? Make some
notes in your Digital plan on which criteria were the most useful. Would you have
used different criteria?
Select ‘Reveal feedback’ when you are ready.
Discussion
The framework provides a set of questions to ask of each tool. What an app does, how
complex the functions are and how important it is to you in your work, study or daily
life, will affect how important each of the criteria are for you. If you are downloading a
free Sudoku game to while away your daily commute, then you will worry less about its
functionality and shelf-life than a tool that is managing all the citations in your
dissertation or helping you project manage your house extension.
You may also have thought about reliability, and whether the checklist ought to include
this. Reliability is hard to measure without downloading and using the tool yourself for
a period of time. Reading other users’ reviews can help you gauge reliability.
One of the most compelling reasons for choosing to use an online collaborative tool is
because other people that you know are already using it; this is not included in the
evaluation criteria in the ACCEPTS framework . This criterion is an important one
when most of the tools we use have a collaborative element; as we cannot collaborate
with others if we are not part of their conversations.
Look at Manuela’s completed checklist. She was particularly interested in exploring
collaborative sharing of documents to help with car sharing rotas for the children’s
activities, so her evaluation also considered the ease of use for others within her circle;
the app chosen would have to be easy enough to ensure everyone’s involvement.

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4 This week’s quiz

4 This week’s quiz

Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week practice quiz. Remember
that while optional, working through the quiz can help you see how you’re getting on with
the course. Your answers are not visible to the other learners, they’re just for your own
information.
Week 6 practice quiz
Click on ‘Week 6 practice quiz’ above to access the quiz. If you open the quiz in a new
window or tab, you can come back here more easily when you’ve finished. It also enables
you to refer to the course as you work through the quiz, if you want to.
To open in a new window, right click on the link above and select ‘Open in new window’.
You'll get feedback on your answers as you go through the quiz. When you finish the quiz
and press ‘submit’, the system will record that you have finished your attempt, and your
score. As this is a practice quiz, this is just for your learning, so you can identify areas you
might like to revisit. The score won't be counted towards your badge.

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5 Summary

5 Summary
This week you have focused on your own taskscape and how tools and applications
(apps) can help you. You have:

● been introduced to the wide range of tools and apps that exist
● thought about the personal data that applications use
● thought about different ways of categorising tools and apps
● considered different criteria for evaluating those tools.

You have learned:

● how to search for apps

● how to evaluate them using a framework.

You have had the opportunity to put what you have learned into practice using real-life
scenarios and your own experience. The key point from this week is the importance of
thinking critically about applications and online tools, whether at work, at home or for your
studies, so that you can choose the best tools for the job.
Next week you will reflect on how digital skills relate to everyday life, study and work.
You can now go to Week 7.

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Introduction

Week 7: Being digital:

making it work for you
Introduction
Over the last six weeks you have been encouraged to reflect on the ways you interact and
succeed in a digital world. You have also been given an opportunity to develop your skills
and knowledge. You’ve been accompanied on your journey by Manuela, John and
Michael.
This week you are going to find out how the course has helped Manuela, John and
Michael, and what impact it has had on their lives. This will remind you of your own
experience of the course and help you to think about how you might apply your learning to
work, study or everyday life.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 1: Introduction to Week 7

By the end of this week, you should:

● have had the opportunity to think about how your digital skills relate to everyday life,
study and work.

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1 Manuela's progression through the course

This relates to all categories in the Open University digital skills framework and all
categories in the Jisc digital capabilities framework that you came across in Week 2.

1 Manuela's progression through the

course

Figure 1 Manuela
Since starting the course, Manuela has noticed a great improvement in her confidence
online. She has recognised that what she has learned will have a great impact on her
career and home life.
Manuela now keeps an eye on her digital footprint and feels more confident about being
able to improve it.
To help her in her career, Manuela has learned how to harness social media to showcase
her professional skills, knowledge and experience. She plans to use LinkedIn to do this
and to connect with a wider community. She has set up Twitter account to keep up to date
with the motor sport industry and she has started writing a blog.
At the beginning of the course, Manuela felt vulnerable online, particularly when it came to
providing personal or financial information. Knowing how to assess who or what to trust,
and understanding what she can do to protect herself, has improved her confidence. She
now uses strong passwords and she learned how to protect her computer from viruses.
When she searched online, Manuela used to feel quite overwhelmed with the amount of
information available. This course has taught her how to search more effectively and filter
information. This has been invaluable when she’s been searching for jobs in the
motorsport industry.

1.1 Finding the right information

Manuela’s primary motivation for learning more about digital skills is to help her pursue a
career in marketing for the motorsport industry. She knows that as well as looking for job
opportunities, she also needs to understand exactly what the job entails and find out what
skills she will need.
Much of the information she needs can be found online, however, finding it can take time.
Developing her skills in finding information, such as those listed below, will result in being
able to search far more effectively.

● Keywords: using focused words and phrases for her search.

● Filtering her results by location.

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● Filtering her results by time.

With so much information available online it is also important to know which sites are the
most trustworthy. The most reliable websites will be those belonging to:

● reputable organisations/companies/industries
● government departments
● training and skills organisations
● industry specialists or experts.

A great deal of information can also come from connecting with people online and hearing
about their own experiences and advice. Manuela could benefit from a more human
angle, but would need to be aware that these will be opinions, rather than fact.
In the following activities you are asked to offer Manuela some guidance on searching for
reliable careers information online.

Activity 1 Choosing the right keywords and phrases

20 minutes

Manuela is about to start some online research into Formula One careers. She’s
particularly interested in marketing and needs to work in the UK. How would you
advise her on:

● the most useful search terms she might use

● how she can limit her search?

You might find it useful to jot down a few notes in the box below before reading the
feedback.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
You may have mentioned some of the following search terms:

● marketing
● ‘formula one’
● ‘motor sports’
● careers.

You might have included ‘jobs’ in the search terms. This is likely to generate job
opportunities, rather than advice on careers.
Manuela could use an advanced search to limit her search to:

● a particular time period – she would want to find recent information so could limit
results to the past six months or year
● a particular location – she could limit the search to UK websites
● she could exclude words – Formula One is usually known for racing or
engineering careers. She could exclude ‘racing’ and ‘engineering’ from her
search.

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Activity 2 Knowing what information to trust

30 minutes

Manuela has found three websites that she thinks might help:

● Autosport forum –
http://forums.autosport.com/topic/192442-one-does-not-simply-get-a-job-in-f1/
● Careers guide – the motorsport industry association –
https://the-mia.com/page/careers
● Job in F1 – http://jobinf1.com/

Have a look at each of the sites and offer some advice on:

● what type of information each site offers

● how trustworthy that information is
● how helpful the information is to Manuela in researching careers.

You might find it useful to jot down a few notes before reading the feedback.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
The three websites all offer different types of information and vary in relation to how
trustworthy they are:
Autosport forum
There might be some useful information here, but Manuela needs to remember that
this is a forum and contains opinion, rather than fact. Some of the information might not
be as trustworthy as it could be, as we don’t know how much experience the people in
the forum have. The site is also over a year old and things might have changed since
the comments were posted.
What do I need for a career in Motorsport?
This document provides comprehensive information on careers in the motorsport
industry. It has been provided by the Motorsport Industry Association, which is the
trade association for motorsport in the UK. This is a reliable source of information and
would help Manuela to focus on what she needs to do in order to pursue a career in the
sector. It provides helpful guidance and links to relevant websites.
Job in F1
Closer inspection of this site reveals that it is a private blog. The writer claims to work
as a senior engineer in Formula One. However, they do not provide a name or any
credentials which would allow us to confirm this. The information may well be relevant,
and is worth reading. It is very comprehensive and the author has obviously put a lot of
effort into writing the blog. They provide a number of links to other sites which might be
useful. However, there is no obvious indication of when the blog was written, so it is not
possible to know how old it is. Also, it seems to offer a lot of information related to
engineering and may not mention careers in marketing.

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2 John’s progression through the course

2 John’s progression through the course

Figure 2 John
At the beginning of the course, John was unsure how much it could help him, as he felt
very confident about his ability to succeed in digital environments. He was hoping it would
teach him how to do things more efficiently.
John was a bit embarrassed about his digital footprint. Not everything portrayed him in a
good light. The course has taught John to improve this, and he’s now deleted old posts on
Facebook and Instagram and unfriended people he doesn’t know well. He’s also
tightened up security on his account, to ensure that his posts are only visible to family and
friends.
John is keen to progress professionally, and has recognised the power of LinkedIn to
network and to promote himself to potential employers.
When it comes to safety, the course has helped John to realise where he could make
improvements. Like Manuela, he now uses strong passwords and two-factor authenti-
cation. He has also installed a firewall and antivirus software to make sure that he protects
the many recipes and cooking videos he has created and saved on his computer.
John is eager to share his recipes online as this would improve his online professional
reputation. He feels that what he’s learned about Creative Commons and copyright will go
a long way towards helping him to stay within the law, and protect his own creative rights.
John’s taskscape focused on his cookery activities, social events and interest in music.
He thinks he could be more organised in terms of time management and has now been
introduced to apps and tools that can help him to do this. The course has also taught him
how to manage and keep track of the information he finds online. He’ll hopefully never
lose track of those important recipes again.

2.1 Using social media

John is keen to take forward the skills and knowledge from this course in terms of
improving his career prospects and professional development. He would also like to
become part of a wider professional network and find opportunities to showcase the skills
he does have. LinkedIn is one of the world’s largest professional networks and offers the
ideal opportunity for John to do this.
The two videos below provide some information about LinkedIn and how to get started. As
you watch them, think about how they might help John to improve his professional profile.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 2: What is LinkedIn?

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Video content is not available in this format.

Video 3: Top tips for getting started on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is often seen as an online CV. It should be as complete and as detailed as a CV,
and should be kept up to date. Other ways LinkedIn can help with your career include
enabling you to:

● connect with others in your industry or profession

● find jobs
● be part of professional groups and discussions
● find connections through other people.

Companies and employment agencies use LinkedIn to recruit staff. They will be searching
for specific keywords, so it’s essential to include those keywords within your profile. Think
about what recruiters are likely to search for. If you’re unsure, look at job specifications or
advertisements for essential skills.

Activity 3 Making the most of LinkedIn

30 minutes

Think about how you would advise John on making a professional impact using
LinkedIn. What kind of information should he include on his profile and who could he
connect with?
You might find it useful to make some notes on your ideas in the box below before
reading the feedback.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
LinkedIn will give John a good professional presence online. When people search for
him, they will find his LinkedIn profile. Employers will be able to find out about his
experience, passion and commitment. He will also benefit from making connections
with chefs around the country, and finding new people with similar interests to connect
with. He can join LinkedIn groups and look for jobs.

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John will make an impact if he comes up with a strong summary that highlights his
skills and enthusiasm. He needs to treat LinkedIn like an online CV and include all his
experience, training and skills. By choosing appropriate terms to describe his skills,
employers will be able to find him when they search for people with those specific
skills.
John’s profile needs to have a good headline and information on the industry he is in.
He should choose an appropriate and professional-looking photograph that portrays
him in a professional light.
John should initially connect with people he already knows. These might be people he
currently works with, or people he’s worked with in the past. From there, he can make
new connections through his own contacts or special interest groups on LinkedIn.

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3 Michael’s progression through the course

3 Michael’s progression through the

course

Figure 3 Michael
Before starting the course, Michael was aware of what the internet had to offer and
reasonably comfortable with email. However, he felt that his online experience was very
minimal. At that time he had not found it necessary to use social media.
The course has highlighted the benefits of social media, and Michael has now learned
how it can help him to connect with others and stay in touch with people. He has now
joined a special interest group of engineering trainers. This has made it easier to receive
industry news and share good practice.
When presented with the variety of tools and apps available online, Michael was amazed
to find out that there were a number that could help him save time in certain situations. For
example, using his phone to view his Facebook page saves powering up his computer all
the time. He’s also thrilled with bookmarking sites that allow him to track and manage the
information he finds online. This makes it much quicker to find things again when he
needs them.
Michael is very keen to find courses and free learning that would help him to learn the
skills he needs to become a trainer within the field of railway engineering. The internet has
proved to be a treasure trove in this respect. The course has taught him how to search the
internet more effectively and he now feels confident at being able to filter his searches to
find more specific courses and resources. The course has also helped to build the skills
he needs to study online.

3.1 Investigating study

Michael’s confidence in the digital world has improved very quickly throughout the course.
He now wants to move forward to progress with his studies in the most efficient way.
The Open Educational Resource (OER) movement began in the early part of the
twenty-first century and has seen substantial growth over the ensuing year. Open
Educational Resources are resources (content, documents, tools and media) that can be
used freely for teaching, learning and research.
Today, those who want to develop skills can find courses and materials which cost nothing
and can often be studied flexibly.
A number of websites have been developed to offer these courses in meaningful ways,
and many offer some kind of reward or recognition for completion.
OERs are an ideal opportunity for universities and educational organisations to provide
tasters of the learning they have available. OpenLearn and FutureLearn are examples of

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OER websites from the Open University. Studying in this way can introduce you to the
material on offer, help you to prepare for study and give you an opportunity to experience
study for yourself. If you are new to study, or have not studied for a long time, these free
courses are ideal preparation.
More informal learning material can be found on more informal websites like YouTube.
Universities also use YouTube and iTunes U to showcase their learning materials. Have a
look at:

● The Open University on YouTube

● The Open University on iTunes U

In the activity below you are asked to provide Michael with some advice on how to find
courses and resources that can help him to progress in his career.

Activity 4 Finding online courses

30 minutes

In Week 5 you explored your information landscape. Use this knowledge to advise
Michael on how to find free courses and resources that could help him to progress in
his career as a trainer.

a. Look at what is available on OpenLearn. Search the site to find resources and
courses that might help Michael to pursue his goal to become a trainer in the
engineering sector.
b. Search online for free courses and recommend three sites which Michael can visit
to find courses he might be interested in.
c. Search YouTube for videos that might help him find out how engineers are trained
in the UK and across the world.

Use the box below to make some notes.

As you search, use your Digital plan to make a note of any sites you find that you think
would be useful to you, either now or in the future.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
We recommend that you access the links below by opening them in a new window or
tab. You can do this by right-clicking with your mouse or holding the Ctrl key, or Cmd
key on a Mac, when you click on the link.

a. OpenLearnYou may have searched for resources and courses that focused on
Michael’s own study requirements. A couple of examples include:
○ Succeed in the workplace
○ Succeed with learning
You may have searched for resources and courses that focused on Michael’s aim
to be develop as a trainer. Some examples include:
○ Learning to teach: Making sense of learning to teach
○ Teachers sharing resources online
○ Learning and practice: Agency and identities.

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b. Free coursesYou may have found some of the following websites that either
provide or direct people to free learning:
○ MOOC List
○ Futurelearn
○ Udacity
○ Coursera
○ Khan Academy
○ edX
c. YouTubeYouTube is a great place to find resources that can show you how
engineers are trained across the world, and highlight good practice. A few
examples:
○ Inside Amtrak’s engineer training school
○ Railway training videos
○ Network Rail
○ The Open University on YouTube
○ The Open University on iTunes U.

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4 Reflection

4 Reflection
This week you have had a chance to use your skills to help Manuela, John and Michael to:

● develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a digital world
● apply their learning to different areas of their lives – work, study and everyday life
● improve their confidence when engaging with an online environment.

This will hopefully have helped to remind you of the things you’ve learned over the last six
weeks.

Activity 5 Your digital skills: how confident are you now?

15 minutes

Think about your level of confidence at the beginning of the course. Has your mindset
changed since then through studying this course? Take a look at these questions
about your digital footprint to gauge your online presence, and how you feel about it.
There are three questions, along with a list of possible responses – see which apply to
you and which don't. There are some response boxes where you can add your own
particular footprint details before revealing some discussion points.
Where do you make your footprint?

● I surf the web

● I use email
● I have a Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn account
● I use my phone to update my social networking accounts
● I own and maintain a website about me

Provide your answer...

Discussion
If any of these apply to you, you definitely have a digital footprint! Almost everyone
visits websites and although it may not seem like you're leaving a footprint when you
visit a site, corporations may be tracking your visit for marketing purposes.
Social networking sites are also an important part of your digital life. Facebook tends to
be for social interaction, LinkedIn is related to employment and people use Twitter for
both business and social purposes.
Lastly, a website all about you is a significant project that takes time and effort. But if
you do it well, it can become a personal portfolio to help market you to future
employers!

Who else is shaping your footprint?

● My friends mention me on Facebook, and/or we use services like Foursquare

● My friends take photos at social events and post them online
● I know all my social networking friends in real life

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4 Reflection

● My friends sometimes log into each other’s accounts and post fake status
updates as a joke

Provide your answer...

Discussion
By now, you have probably realised that your digital footprint can be influenced by
others. Posting online about the fun you're having in real life is one of the best parts of
social networking. Sometimes you might know when someone is posting something
about you, but sometimes you may not. If you do not know all your social networking
friends in real life, you should carefully consider how much information you share with
those people.
It’s also important to choose passwords your friends can’t guess, and keep your
passwords private. Now that you know how important and permanent a digital footprint
can be, treat your friends' digital footprints with respect. The internet is an open stage
for the world, not a place to play even a friendly prank.

Are you in control of your footprint?

● I was shopping online, and soon afterwards, realised that the web ads were
targeting the choices I had made.
● I've used Google or other search engines to see what information is out there
about me.
● My social networking profile picture is a photo of me.
● My social networking profile is a photo I would be willing to show my grandmother.
● I include personal information, such as my birthday or address, in my social
networking profile.
● I've tagged or untagged a photo of myself because I liked or didn't like what it said
about me.
● I had a fight with a friend, or broke up with my boyfriend/girlfriend online.
● I've deleted a social networking account because I wanted to get rid of what I said
or what was said about me.

Provide your answer...

Discussion
Now that you know all the ways that you and others are shaping your digital footprint,
it's important to be vigilant about keeping your footprint in shape. Have you ever
realised how closely marketers are watching you online? Does it bother you and would
it affect the kinds of things you might shop for online?
Searching for yourself on a search engine is a quick way to see what information is out
there about you. You may find a number of people who have the same name as you –
and some of them might have a digital footprint you wouldn't want for yourself. How will
you make yourself stand out in the crowd of people who may seem to be you?
Using an appropriate photo of yourself in your social networking profiles is an
important start. Think carefully about posting your contact information or birthday. As

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4 Reflection

fun as it is to get birthday messages, you may also get targeted by marketers or even
identity thieves.
We all have good days and bad days, but remember that what goes on the Internet is
public and long-lasting. Do you want everyone, including your future employers, to see
your personal business, including fights and breakups?
And if there are some parts of your digital footprint that you are not proud of, don't be
afraid to untag a photo, ask a friend to take something of yours down or even delete an
account. These ‘fixes’ are not absolute, but they can help to keep your private
business private.

Your responses throughout this activity will be personal and specific to you. The
important thing is to know how to identify areas where you have improved.
Reflecting on your learning at different stages can also help you to see how far your
knowledge and skills are developing. This goes a long way towards improving your
confidence.
Discussion

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5 This week's quiz

5 This week's quiz

Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week practice quiz. Remember
that while optional, working through the quiz can help you see how you’re getting on with
the course. Your answers are not visible to the other learners, they’re just for your own
information.
Week 7 practice quiz
Click on ‘Week 7 practice quiz’ above to access the quiz. If you open the quiz in a new
window or tab, you can come back here more easily when you’ve finished. It also enables
you to refer to the course as you work through the quiz, if you want to.
To open in a new window, right click on the link above and select ‘Open in new window’.
You'll get feedback on your answers as you go through the quiz. When you finish the quiz
and press ‘submit’, the system will record that you have finished your attempt, and your
score. As this is a practice quiz, this is just for your learning, so you can identify areas you
might like to revisit. The score won't be counted towards your badge.

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6 Summary

6 Summary
This week you have had the chance to see how the course has helped Manuela, John and
Michael. You have been reminded of:

● how they have improved their skills and confidences across the course
● the relevance of digital skills to work, everyday life and study.

You have also had the chance to use your own learning to advise Manuela, John and
Michael on how to move forward and use what they’ve learned to achieve their goals.
You have also had a chance to reflect on how your own confidence has improved since
you started the course.
Next week you will have a chance to reflect on your own learning in greater detail.
You can now go to Week 8.

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Introduction

Week 8: Continuing your

digital journey
Introduction
Welcome to Week 8, the final week of Succeeding in a digital world. You are almost at the
end of the course and your badge is within reach!
Last week you considered what advice you would give Manuela, Michael and John as
they move forward. This week is all about reviewing your own Digital plan, identifying the
key things you have learned, and putting in place some practical steps to take over the
next few months.
You will also have the opportunity to think about what you will do next in terms of learning
opportunities, with a view to continuing your journey as a learner in a digital world.
Watch Wendy and Katharine as they introduce the final week of study.

Video content is not available in this format.

Video 1: Introduction to Week 8

By the end of this week, you should have:

● reflected on your journey over the eight weeks of this course

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● identified, as part of a personal development plan (your Digital plan), some steps for
moving forward.

This relates to all categories in the Open University digital skills framework and ‘Digital
learning and development’ in the Jisc digital capabilities framework that you came across
in Week 2.

1 Taking stock
During this course you have had the opportunity to engage with various aspects of life
online.
In Week 1, you thought about the technology and the digital skills you use in everyday life.
You also started to develop your Digital plan.
In Week 2 you used the Open University’s Digital skills framework to assess your
confidence levels across a range of skills relevant to study and work. You identified the
resources that are available to help you in areas where you feel less confident, and
prioritised three activities to try out.
During Week 3 you thought about your digital identity and how you can ensure you have a
good digital footprint. You reflected a little on your digital journey and what it means to be
a digital citizen.
Week 4 tackled the important topic of e-safety and ethical behaviour online, including the
rights and responsibilities relating to material that you or others put online. The topic of
‘digital well-being’ was introduced and you thought about how you can maintain the right
balance between your digital and ‘real’ life.
In Week 5 you explored your information landscape. You were introduced to some
techniques for smarter searching, dealing with information overload and judging the
trustworthiness of online sources, whether those are people or information.
Week 6 was all about choosing and using apps to help you in all areas of life. In particular,
you thought about how apps can help you with communicating, connecting, creating,
collaborating, keeping up to date and managing information.
In Week 7 you read about how this course has helped Manuela, John and Michael. You
were asked to advise them on how they can use their new digital skills to achieve their
goals. Now you’ll do the same for your own situation.
In the next few sections, you will reflect on each part of the course and apply what you
have learned to your own life. Make sure you have your Digital plan to hand as you do so.

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2 Skills development

2 Skills development
In Week 1 you thought about the major role technology plays in contemporary society and
why it is important to ‘be digital’. You were introduced to some of the digital skills that are
important in everyday life, and that you may already be using. You applied a few of these
skills to some typical real-life scenarios such as booking a holiday (Activity 3) or finding a
recipe (Activity 5). You were also made aware of the
BBC WebWise Digital skills resources, which can help you to fill in any gaps in everyday
computer skills, for example, how to set up an email account, fill in online forms or pay for
things online.
The aim of Week 2 was to introduce you to the Open University’s Framework for digital
skills. This focuses on the kind of digital skills you need for study. You can learn online
through free short courses such as this one, by researching a topic yourself, or by doing
formal study at a university or college. In all cases, your digital skills will be of benefit when
doing research and academic writing. They will also help you to get organised and
manage your time well, for example, by keeping track of sources you have found. Being
able to communicate and present yourself well online means you will find it easier to
connect with other learners and work together. This is applicable to any kind of university
study and particularly important in a distance learning environment.
Many of these skills are also relevant to the workplace. You had the opportunity to reflect
on how far you use and feel confident with the skills in the framework. In order to help you
develop skills in those areas where you feel less confident, you were encouraged to pick
three activities from the Open University’s Being digital collection and add them to your
Digital plan. The Being digital resources are freely available and you can return there at
any time to learn new skills.
Now you will review the activities you identified, to see what difference they have made in
practice.

Activity 1 Your digital skills: progress so far

15 minutes for this activity, plus 30 minutes if working through the activities from Being digital

If you have not yet had the opportunity to work through the activities you identified in
Week 2, do so now. Think about how what you have learned will help you in specific
situations in your life. Make a note in your Digital plan.
If you have already done the activities, how have they changed the way you do things?

In the next few sections you will have the opportunity to reflect in more detail on key areas
covered by this course. You will also find out more about how these skills are relevant to
online learning.

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3 Making your mark online

3 Making your mark online

Figure 2 Footprint in the sand

In Week 3 you considered how you appear to others online (your digital profile), how you
present yourself (your digital identity) and the traces of activity you leave online (your
digital footprint). Digital identity and digital footprint are important for career purposes as
many employers will look online to see what they can find out about prospective
employees.
You learned how you can keep control of your digital footprint, while making the most of
free learning opportunities. You were introduced to the concept of ‘digital citizenship’, a
term that is becoming part of everyday language. Being able to communicate well online
is a key skill when learning and sharing with others online and to be a good digital citizen
in general.
The process of looking at the ‘footprints’ of Manuela, Michael and John and reviewing
your own digital footprint highlighted how each person’s digital footprint is different. Your
digital identity and digital footprint will change as you become more active (or active in
new ways) online.

Studying online
Becoming a student can have an important positive influence on your digital identity. It will
introduce you to new interests and new communities of learners, both formal and informal.
As you move through your chosen course, the new knowledge and skills you gain can be
added to your digital profile. You may find that your contact with fellow students is mainly
online. If you are able to interact confidently and sensitively in online spaces such as
forums or social media, you will not only reap personal benefits, but you will also
encourage fellow learners. For example, you may find yourself able to take a lead in
initiating online conversations, when previously you would have held back.
You will also find members of academic staff active on social media. This helps them to
share their work widely and to enhance the reputation of the institution they belong to.
Searching for relevant academics online will help you to establish more about their work
and perhaps even make personal contact with them. Being able to learn from experts in
your field is one of the advantages of the internet and social media.
Connecting with others, whether fellow students or staff, can reduce feelings of isolation,
provide a means of giving and receiving support and help you to better understand what
you are studying. For distance learners in particular, it is a way of broadening your
horizons and keeping in touch with people.
You have seen how Manuela, Michael and John have moved forward in their digital
journeys. For example, Manuela is using social media to help her pursue her goal of
developing a career in marketing. Michael has become more active on Facebook,
something he thought he would never do. John has taken steps to take down old

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information that doesn’t reflect him in a good light, and he has improved his LinkedIn
profile.

Activity 2 Digital identity and digital footprint

10 minutes

In Week 7 you found how John has been developing his digital identity and managing
his digital footprint. In particular, he is using LinkedIn to improve his digital profile, in
order to increase his career prospects.
Think about the advice you gave him on building up his LinkedIn profile in
Activity 3 Making the most of LinkedIn. Does any of this advice apply to you?
Make a note in your Digital plan of anything you plan to do to continue developing
your digital identity or to improve your digital footprint.

Next, you are going to review what you have learned about e-safety, ethical behaviour and
‘digital well-being’.

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4 Copyright and Creative Commons (CC)

4 Copyright and Creative Commons (CC)

The internet offers exciting possibilities to find, use and remix all sorts of media, for
example, images, videos or music. In Week 4 you found out how you can use Creative
Commons (CC) to protect your own and other people’s rights when creating, sharing and
re-using online material in public spaces.
Knowing how to find and use freely available resources licensed under CC will enhance
your study by enabling you to introduce a wider range of information and media into
assignments and projects, safe in the knowledge that you are staying within the law. As
you become more confident in creating your own digital content, CC licences provide an
easy way to let everyone know you are happy for them to use your work. It is also a way of
making others (including employers) aware of the knowledge and skills you have gained
as a result of study.

For study
Getting in the habit of acknowledging others’ work is very good preparation for academic
writing. When you make clear reference to the sources you have used, you are signalling
clearly what you have based your arguments on. Readers of your work can follow up
these sources for themselves as they engage with your writing. Good referencing also
helps you to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is when you use the work of other people to
gain some form of benefit (for example, a good essay grade) without formally
acknowledging that the work came from someone else. It does not just occur in academic
assignments. It may happen when you pass on information in online forums or other
social networking sites without acknowledging where it came from.
In Week 4, you learned how to use the work of other people safely. The following activity is
an opportunity for you to reflect on how this skill might help you.

Activity 3 Creative use of others’ resources

20 minutes

John is publishing his online recipe collection under a CC licence, which is having the
added benefit of enhancing his digital profile. Michael has really enjoyed producing his
own materials (Christmas cards, leaflets and posters) using images licensed under
CC. Manuela has used photographs and music for a presentation on repairing bikes.
She has even been the star of an online video, which she made available under a CC
licence.

● Think about your own interests and hobbies and identify something you would like
to share with others online.
● Find a relevant image online that represents your interest and is free to use or
share under Creative Commons. For example, if your interest is walking, it might
be a picture of a pair of walking boots. If your interest is sport, it could be an image
of the particular sport you do or follow.
● Note down where you found it and why you chose it (i.e. how it represents your
interest or hobby and how you know that you can use it freely).

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● Optional: If you wish to, post the image on the OU Library Facebook page with a
short explanation of why you have chosen it.

Make a note in your Digital plan of anything you plan to do to develop your skills in this
area.

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5 Staying safe online

5 Staying safe online

Figure 3 Protecting yourself online

In Week 4 you focused on e-safety and how to protect yourself online (including creating
strong passwords). You were introduced to the concept of digital well-being and the need
to balance your digital life against your real one. Spending too much time online can result
in stress, so making time for ‘offline’ activity is important. You also thought about how you
can ensure your safety and that of others when communicating online.
Manuela and Michael started out feeling quite cautious about going online because of
safety considerations. Knowing how to stay safe online has encouraged them to branch
out in terms of what they do online and who they share with. John, who has grown up
using technology as part of everyday life, was more confident, but has become much
more aware of how he appears to others online and ways in which he can positively
influence this.
All three now feel much more in control of their digital life. They have also gained the
knowledge and skills to put some of their own material online and are able to make
greater use of others’ work in what they create.

Managing your study

When it comes to online learning, being aware of some of the pitfalls can help you stay in
control of your study and your life in general. This includes knowing how to manage your
time online, taking regular rest breaks from technology and generally paying sufficient
attention to your physical and mental health.
Although there are many benefits to connecting with others in a study community, there
are also risks in sharing too much of your life online. It is also possible to feel pressured by
others achievements and have a sense that you are missing out. It can help to remember
that even those people who are very active on social media are generally only sharing
selected parts of their lives.

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6 Critical consumption

6 Critical consumption

Figure 4 Information overload

In Week 5 you explored your information landscape. As part of this, you learned some tips
and techniques for finding and filtering information quickly, and dealing with information
overload. You were introduced to two frameworks (PROMPT and CAN) which help you
ask the right questions of information and people you come across online. Some useful
starting points were highlighted, including Wikipedia. Although Wikipedia is not regarded
as a reliable academic source, it can give a helpful overview of a topic. You just need to be
aware of its limitations.
You had the opportunity to apply your learning to some real-life scenarios faced by
Manuela, Michael and John. Throughout this course they have each been developing
their own ‘trustometer’: the ability to decide which sources you can trust in any particular
context.
In Week 7, you found out how the information landscape for Manuela, Michael and John
has evolved through doing this course. They are using some of the same sources as
before, but in different ways. For example, they are making more use of social media to
keep up to date with things they are interested in. They are also using their research skills
to move forward with their career aspirations.
By putting into practice the frameworks for evaluating information, they have also become
more confident about deciding who and what they can trust online.

Research online
Being able to carry out research online is a very useful skill and part of learning to study
independently. It will help you when preparing assignments and to back up your
arguments when discussing study topics with others, whether that’s online or face-to-face.
In this course, you have mainly focused on searching the internet. However, not all
information is freely available on the open web. Some of it is hidden in company intranets
or online subscription resources.
If you decide to study at university, your university library is a key place to find information.
Online libraries, such as the Open University’s, make available articles, books, images,
music and videos, as well as many other types of resources on all kinds of subjects. By
getting to know your online library you can:

● find information for assignments from a variety of sources that you would not
otherwise be able to access
● find different viewpoints on a subject
● read the full text of the books and articles that might not be freely available on the
internet
● be confident that the information you find is of a high standard, because it has been
written and reviewed by experts in the field.

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6 Critical consumption

A US survey of teachers (Purcell et al., 2013) found that 91 per cent of teachers surveyed
reported that ‘judging the quality of information’ is the top digital skill students need for the
future.
In earlier weeks, you learned how to evaluate information you find on the web. Although
the quality of information you’ll find in a university library is high, you should still always
question what you read. As you progress with studying and get to know your subject, you
will become aware of different schools of thought and develop your own opinions. Your
critical thinking skills will help you to question what you come across in all sorts of other
situations too, including the workplace.

Activity 4 Developing discernment and expanding your information

landscape
20 minutes

Think about the advice you gave to Manuela and Michael in Week 7 on finding
information and resources to help them move forward with their career aspirations. Is
there any advice you could use to help your career? Make a note of the advice and
decide how you could put it into practice.

Provide your answer...

Does any of this advice apply to you?

Refer back to the evaluation criteria (CAN and PROMPT) you were introduced to in
Week 5 and the notes you made in your Digital plan at the time about points you
wanted to remember.
The CAN and PROMPT evaluation criteria are designed to remind you of the key
questions to keep in mind when judging the quality and reliability of information. Now
that you have worked through this course, you may have formed your own ideas about
how to question the sources you come across online. Have a go at creating your own
set of evaluation questions, with a suitable abbreviation that you will remember.

Provide your answer...

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7 The right tool for you

7 The right tool for you

Week 6 was an opportunity to explore some of the online tools (‘apps’) that can make life
run more smoothly and aid collaboration with others. You thought about your ‘taskscape’
and how using apps to help you manage routine tasks can save you time. This applies to
all areas of life, whether everyday life, work or study, and some apps provide a way of
linking different parts of your life more seamlessly.
You were introduced to some examples of apps that enable you to communicate and
connect, create content, collaborate and keep up to date. You had the opportunity to think
about the questions to keep in mind when choosing an app. As with evaluating other
online sources, it’s a case of being clear about how you want to use the app and knowing
the right questions to ask.
It is worthwhile establishing what apps can help you with study. This could include:

● blogging apps to help you share your thoughts and ideas with others (e.g. Blogger)
● file management apps that enable you to capture, store and synchronise text, image
and video files across multiple computing devices (e.g. Evernote)
● tools for storing files and sharing them with others (e.g. Dropbox)
● sites that help you to collect together useful information and images, and discover
other people’s collections (e.g. Pinterest)
● apps for sharing presentations (e.g. Slideshare)
● apps that help you to manage your references (e.g. Mendeley).

You may find apps developed by universities, such as OU News (up-to-date information
from around the University) or OU Alive (the OU Undergraduate Prospectus brought to life
with videos of real students talking about their experience of studying with the OU).
In Week 7, you found out how Manuela, Michael and John are using online tools and
apps. In some cases they have become more adventurous, and in others, more
discerning. All three are now able to think more critically about how these kind of online
tools can best help them manage their life, whether that is booking a restaurant or
collaborating on a work project.
There are still areas of life where they would like to be better organised and more efficient.
Maybe you feel the same. The following activity gives you an opportunity to reflect on your
own use of online apps.

Activity 5 Using apps

15 minutes

At the end of Week 6 you chose three apps to help you in areas of life where you would
like to be more organised or do things a little differently.
Take a moment to review how useful these apps have been. Make a note in your
Digital plan of where they have made a positive difference in the area of life you
identified.
If you have not had the opportunity to try them out yet, do so now.
If any of the apps have not lived up to expectations, see if you can find another app
that is more suitable for your needs.

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If you are planning to do further study, you may want to look for apps that help you to
manage your information.

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8 Reflection

8 Reflection
Now that you are almost at the end of the course, it is time to do one last piece of self-
assessment before you take the final quiz and gain your badge. The following activity is
designed to help you to review your digital skills development as a whole.

Activity 6 Moving forward

30 minutes

Your Digital plan has been specifically designed to provide you with a record of your
learning throughout this course.
Take some time to review your Digital plan now, thinking about your starting point,
your goals for life, work and study and what you hoped to get from the course.

● What are the three most valuable things you’ve learned?

● How will you apply these three things to your own situation?
● What would be your top tip to a fellow learner on ‘Succeeding in a digital world’?

Provide your answer...

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9 This week’s quiz

9 This week’s quiz

Check what you’ve learned over the course by taking the end-of-course quiz. If you would
like to earn a digital badge on completion of this course, you will need to do this quiz.
However, you can finish the course without completing the quiz and without obtaining a
badge, if you prefer.
Week 8 badge quiz
Click on ‘Week 8 badge quiz’ above to access the quiz. If you open the quiz in a new
window or tab, you can come back here more easily when you’ve finished. It also enables
you to refer to the course as you work through the quiz, if you want to. At the end of the
quiz press ‘submit’. This enables the system to provide you with a badge at the end of the
course if relevant.

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10 Summary

10 Summary
Congratulations! You have completed Succeeding in a digital world.
As you have progressed through the course, you have had the opportunity to explore
different aspects of digital life and develop your skills and confidence. It may be that you
feel pretty familiar with some areas by now. You have also followed the digital journeys of
Manuela, Michael and John, and learned from their experience.
In Week 8, you have reflected on what you have learned throughout the course and what
your next steps might be. You have reviewed:

● your digital skills as a whole and what your priorities are for development
● what your next steps might be in developing your digital profile (you looked at how
John is using LinkedIn for career purposes)
● how freely available material (licensed under Creative Commons) can help you
enhance material you produce in a variety of situations
● the questions to ask when evaluating online sources (including creating your own
mnemonic) and how you can make that part of your approach
● your use of apps to help you be more organised or do things differently, perhaps
enabling you to link better between different areas of life such as home and work.

All the skills you have been introduced to in this course are relevant not only to everyday
home and work life, but also to study. By engaging with life online, you are laying strong
foundations for any courses you may do in future, whether freely available, like this one,
or formal study, such as online distance learning with the Open University.
Throughout the course you have been building your Digital plan. This document is for
you to take with you and keep adding to in future. You may also want to share it with other
people. Although the course is at an end, your digital journey will continue.
If you’ve gained your badge you’ll receive an email to notify you. You can view and
manage your badges in My OpenLearn within 24 hours of completing all the criteria
to gain a badge.
Wishing you all the very best for the future and every success in your digital life!
Get careers guidance
The National Careers Service can help you decide your next steps with your new skills.

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Tell us what you think

Tell us what you think

Now you've come to the end of the course, we would appreciate a few minutes of your
time to complete this short end-of-course survey (you may have already completed this
survey at the end of Week 4). We’d like to find out a bit about your experience of studying
the course and what you plan to do next. We will use this information to provide better
online experiences for all our learners and to share our findings with others. Participation
will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.

Glossary
Browser
Short for web browser, a program used to navigate the internet by connecting to a web
server, allowing the user to locate, access and display web content.
Facebook
A popular free social networking website, used by millions of people around the world.
Search engine
A programme that enables users to find information on the internet.
Selfie
A self-portrait in the format of a digital photograph, most commonly taken with a camera
or mobile phone held at arm’s length. Posting selfies is popular among users of social
networking sites like Facebook and Instagram.
Social media
The blanket term for online sites and applications which allow a large number of users
to interact and share information digitally, for example social networking sites like
Facebook or Twitter or media sharing sites such as YouTube.
Social networking
In this context, the use of internet-based social media sites and applications to
connect with friends, family, colleague and other personal contacts.
Tablet
Tablets are mobile computing devices which are operated by a touchscreen. For
example, iPads and Microsoft Surface.
YouTube
A free video sharing site where anybody can watch online videos, and also upload
videos they have created themselves.
Information age
A time when large amounts of information are widely available to many people, largely
through computer technology.
Plagiarism
Using the work of other people to gain some form of benefit, without formally
acknowledging that the work came from someone else.
Podcast

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Glossary

A digital audio recording made available on the internet, usually as part of a series and
released at regular intervals. Podcasts can be listened to online or downloaded to a
computer or portable media player.
Wikipedia
A free encyclopaedia, written collaboratively by the people who use it, using a website
called a wiki which can be easily edited by anyone.
Citizen science
A term describing scientific research carried out by members of the general public,
often under the supervision of scientists or organisations. It is often used for basic
analysis of vast sets of data provided online for people to work through on behalf of
scientific researchers, facilitated by ‘Citizen Science’ websites. An example of
Crowdsourcing.
Copyright
The legal provision which protects the rightful creator of an original work or concept
from plagiarism and intellectual theft by others.
Creative commons
An organisation whose philosophy and work are focused on promoting a variety of
copyright licences which allow creators to grant more generous and flexible levels of
usage of their work by others.
Crowdsourcing
A term that refers to the largely online practice of asking for input from a large number
of people on a specific project. Citizen science is an example of crowdsourcing.
Data
Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. In an online context,
data refers to information stored and transmitted electronically for others to see.
Digital citizenship
A person who develops the skills and knowledge to effectively use the internet and
other digital technology, especially in order to participate responsibly in social and civic
activities. (Dictionary.com, 2015)
Digital footprint
The trail or traces that people leave online.
Digital identity
How a person presents themselves online.
Emoticons and emoji
A method of conveying emotional tone and intention, either online or in text messages,
using characters or small images. It began by using simple punctuation, e.g. the classic
‘smiley’ :-) but has evolved to include many different formats of small pictures,
commonly called emoji.
Flickr
A social media site for sharing photographs and videos – it was one of the biggest
sources of photography on the internet in the 2000s. Some content can be downloaded
by anyone under Creative Commons copyright licences.
LinkedIn
A social networking site designed specifically for the business community, which
enables registered members to connect and create networks with others they know
and trust professionally.
Online campaigns

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Glossary

Using electronic communication technologies such as social media to engage in

activism, advocacy, marketing, and online petitions, especially by citizen movements.
An example of an online campaigning site is change.org.
Right to be forgotten
The right to have information about you on the web removed from search engines so
that it no longer comes up in search results.
Search engine
A programme that enables users to find information on the internet.
Social media
The blanket term for online sites and applications which allow a large number of users
to interact and share information digitally, for example social networking sites like
Facebook or Twitter or media sharing sites such as YouTube.
YouTube
A free video sharing site where anybody can watch online videos, and also upload
videos they have created themselves.
Acknowledgement
When you credit someone else’s work by stating their name, the title of the piece of
work, the date of its publication and its source.
Antivirus software
Software designed to protect computing devices from virus attacks.
Bibliography
A list of other people’s work that may have influenced your own work, perhaps an essay
as a student, but which you haven’t directly quoted from or provided a summary of. The
list provides the title of each piece of work, the date of their publication, source and
author’s name.
Cloud storage
A public or semi-public space online where data can be stored and accessed from
anywhere.
Copyright
The legal provision which protects the rightful creator of an original work or concept
from plagiarism and intellectual theft by others.
Copyright holder
The person or organisation who usually created the piece of work and has the right to
control its reuse or reproduction.
Copyright user
Someone who uses someone else’s work.
Creative Commons
An organisation whose philosophy and work are focused on promoting a variety of
copyright licences which allow creators to grant more generous and flexible levels of
usage of their work by others.
Credit
When using someone else’s work and you make it clear that it is not your own work.
Cybercrime
Criminal activities carried out computers and a network like the internet. This includes
computer-related crime, such as hacking, and traditional crimes conducted through the
internet, for example, hate crimes or identity theft.

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Glossary

Digital well-being
Ensuring that digital technologies do not impact negatively on safety, relationships or
mental and physical health.
Dropbox
A personal cloud storage service often used for file sharing and collaboration.
Fair dealing
Also knowing as fair use. Using someone else's copyright material without acquiring
permission from the rights holders, under one of the following exempt conditions:
criticism, news reporting, personal research or educational purposes, parody. The term
‘fair use’ is more used in the US, and ‘fair dealing’ in the UK.
Firewall
A system designed to prevent unauthorised access to or from a private network such
as your computer.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
This is an EU policy which sets rules for businesses and individuals who collect and
process information so as to protect privacy and personal data.
Hacking
When someone gains unauthorised access to data in a system or computer.
Malware
Software that is specifically designed to disrupt or damage a computer system.
Plagiarism
Copying or using someone else’s material without crediting them.
Reference list
A list of other people’s work that you have quoted from or referred to in a summary,
perhaps in an essay as a student. The list provides the title of each piece of work, the
date of their publication, source and author’s name.
Remix
Take existing online material and rework it for your own purposes.
Rightsholder
The person or organisation who own the legal rights of a piece of work.
Synchronise
or sync – link all your computers and mobile devices together so that you can easily
access your information from anywhere.
Social media
the blanket term for online sites and applications which allow a large number of users to
interact and share information digitally, for example social networking sites like
Facebook or Twitter or media sharing sites such as YouTube.
Two-factor authentication
describes gaining access to an online account using two pieces of information such as
a password and a code sent to your mobile phone for example.
Virus
A computer programme that is capable of copying itself and typically has a detrimental
effect such as corrupting the system of destroying data.
The 5 Ds

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Glossary

A system for dealing with information overload. The 5 Ds stand for: Discard, Deal with
it, Determine future action, Direct / Distribute it, Deposit it (i.e. file it).
Apps
Abbreviation of ‘applications’, usually meaning programs that run on a computer or
mobile device.
Browser
Short for web browser, a program used to navigate the internet by connecting to a web
server, allowing the user to locate, access and display web content.
CAN
A framework developed by the Open University for evaluating information. The letters
CAN stand for Credibility, Agenda, Need.
Cortana
A virtual intelligent personal assistant created by Microsoft for Windows devices.
Cortana can be set up to work on your PC (personal computer) and phone, enabling
you to keep track of information and events wherever you are.
Data
Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. In an online context,
data refers to information stored and transmitted electronically for others to see.
DuckDuckGo
A search engine that does not track your online activity and therefore protects your
privacy.
Filtering
Dealing with large amounts of search results by using the options in a search engine
and / or reading quickly through to focus on the most relevant.
Information overload
Difficulty or stress caused to someone by the presence of too much information.
Personal assistant
In the context of life online, a personal assistant is a kind of virtual secretary who will do
tasks for you such as scheduling appointments, organising travel arrangements, or just
waking you up in the morning.
PROMPT
A framework developed by the Open University for evaluating information. The letter
PROMPT stand for Presentation, Relevance, Objectivity, Method, Provenance and
Timeliness.
Scanning
A technique to help you read large amounts of text online to decide whether you should
read further.
Search engine
A programme that enables users to find information on the internet.
Search operators
Punctuation or characters that you can use in a search engine query to narrow or
widen the focus of your search.
Siri
A built-in ‘personal assistant’ computer programme on Apple devices (iPhones, iPads
and iPods) that enables users to speak voice commands in order to operate the mobile
device and its apps.

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Skimming
A technique for reading online text quickly in order to get an overview.
Viral
To ‘go viral’ describes the way a piece of online content can quickly be seen and shared
across the world by a large number of people via the internet.
Wolfram Alpha
A specialist search engine for finding data.
App
Abbreviation of ‘application’, usually meaning programs that run on a computer or
mobile device.
Cloud storage
A public or semi-public space online where data can be stored and accessed from
anywhere.
Remix
Take existing online material and rework it for your own purposes.
Sync
Or synchronise - link all your computers and mobile devices together so that you can
easily access your information from anywhere
Tags
Where web pages, blogs and other online resources can be labelled with names that
allow users to easily search for similar or related content.
Taskscape
A term invented for this course, to describe the sorts of everyday tasks that make up
our lives, ranging from the daily and the mundane to the less frequent but still important
things we need to get done.
Tool
A digital programme or app that enables you to carry out a particular function.
Open Educational Resource (OER)
A resource (such as a document, tool or video) which is made freely available via the
internet for educational use.
Acknowledgement
When you credit someone else’s work by stating their name, the title of the piece of
work, the date of its publication and its source.
Plagiarism
Using the work of other people to gain some form of benefit, without formally
acknowledging that the work came from someone else.
Referencing
Giving credit to other people’s work that you have quoted from or referred to. The
reference list provides the title of each piece of work, the date of their publication,
source and author’s name.

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References

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Coleridge, S. T. (1834) The Rime of the Ancient Mariner [Online], Poetry Foundation.
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Jisc (2018) Building digital capability [Online]. Available at
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Crowdsourcing.org (n.d.) Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding - the industry website
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Medved, J.P. (2014) ‘Top 15 Recruiting Statistics for 2014’, Capterra Talent Management
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BBC News (2020) EasyJet admits data of nine million hacked [Online]. Available at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52722626 (Accessed 23 June 2020).
BBC News (2020) Grandmother ordered to delete Facebook photos under GDPR
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GOV.UK (2018) Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation [Online]. Available at
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Ofcom (2019) Adults: Media use and attitudes report 2019 [Online]. Available at
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Borland, S. (2015) ‘Doughnuts and pizzas on the NHS: £116million of food for special
diets including junk food was handed out in prescriptions in the past year’, Daily Mail, 16
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Brait, E. (2015) ‘Pigeons can identify cancerous tissue on x-rays ... ’, Guardian, 19
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Carson, J. (2019) ‘Fake news: What exactly is it – and how can you spot it’, Telegraph, 20
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Corpuz, J. (2015) ‘10 Best Podcast Apps’, Tom’s Guide. Available at
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(2013) ‘The 25 best photo and video apps to download now’, The Telegraph, 29
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Moynihan, T. (2015) ‘Apps snoop on your location way more than you think’, Wired, 25
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how-writing-is-taught-in-schools/ (Accessed 17 January 2020).

Acknowledgements

Week 2
Figure 1: image from: http://techxb.com/ (trademarks held by various companies
depicted)
Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: Derived from: http://www.tagxedo.com and licensed under a
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Week 3
YouTube video: What is a digital identity? (2015). Added by Teaching & Learning
Innovations CSUCI [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJzuD-
cyR0WM (Accessed 9 July 2020).
Youtube video: Maria's digital identity (2017). Added by McGraw-Hill Higher Education
[Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2_JrgEzDlg (Accessed 9
July 2020).

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Acknowledgements

Settings cog icon: CCO Public Domain Source OpenIcons on Pixabay.com

https://pixabay.com/en/options-settings-preferences-98390/
Blog icon © valentint on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/101433093
Forum icon © valentint on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/101432600
Facebook icon © facebook.com https://www.facebookbrand.com/
LinkedIn icon © linkedin.com https://brand.linkedin.com/downloads
Twitter icon © twitter.com https://about.twitter.com/company/brand-assets

Week 4
Figure 1: © pearleye/iStockphoto.com
Figure 2: ©StuartMiles99/iStockphoto.com
Figure 3: Yuri-Arcurs/iStockphoto.com
Figure 4: hh5800/iStockphoto.com
Video: Wanna Work Together? https://creativecommons.org/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/
Video: How to pick a proper password (including transcript) © Sophos
https://www.sophos.com/
Video: Improve your digital well-being
Balance: CC0 Public Domain Source: ClkerFreeVectorImages on pixabay.com
https://pixabay.com/en/scales-balance-symbol-justice-36417/
Online offline © Marco2811 on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/80275562
Time management concept pointing finger © Mikko Lemola on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/65562103
Network © vege on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/100121697
Switch On Off Phone Icon © Reservoir Dots on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/83510515
Tablet PC with mobile phone © Tsiumpa on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/98249327
Mail box menu © muuraa on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/94187699
Colourful calendar © sumire8 on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/79709763
Desktop tablet job application © georgejmclittle on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/93127891
Events writing on paper © Tiko Aramyan on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/102009724
Live and Learn © momius on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/91644330
Communication: CC0 Public Domain Source Peggy_Marco on pixabay.com
https://pixabay.com/en/internet-laptop-computer-notebook-1028794/

Week 5
Figures 1, 2: Derived from: http://www.tagxedo.com and licensed under a
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Figure 3: National Park Service. Photo: D W Peterson in Flickr
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Figure 4: ©anafcsousa/iStockphoto.com
!Warning! Calibri not supportedFigure 5: iStockphoto.com

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Week 6
Figure 1: photograph by William Hook on Unsplash
Video: Useful apps and tools
Woman sitting on the sofa using a laptop computer at home © undrey on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/101685769
Businessman Working Dashboard © Rawpixel.com on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/99905770
3D white people. New technologies. Digital Library concept © Texelart on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/69754968
Photography © Anna Khomulo on fotolia.com https://en.fotolia.com/id/82453868
Young man using modern mobile phone to watch video © sdecoret on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/100359530
Social Networks. Internet communication © Nataliya Yakovlevaon fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/71776384
Social media: CC0 Public Domain Source: geralt on pixabay.com
https://pixabay.com/en/hands-smartphone-social-media-1167618/
Social media network concept © danijelala on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/80300869#
Calendar Contemporary Digital Device Concepts © Rawpixel.com on fotolia.com
https://en.fotolia.com/id/72964602#
Social networks/Friends and family: CC0 Public Domain Source: geralt on pixabay.com
https://pixabay.com/en/social-media-laptop-notebook-blog-550778/
LinkedIn icon © linkedin.com https://brand.linkedin.com/downloads
Twitter icon © twitter.com https://about.twitter.com/company/brand-assets
Hotel reception: CC0 Public Domain Source: geralt on pixabay.com
https://pixabay.com/en/hotel-reception-entrance-hall-595587/
National Trust property: CC0 Public Domain Source: Maumburygal on pixabay.com
https://pixabay.com/en/stately-home-national-trust-home-1003271/

Week 7
Videos (2): ‘What is LinkedIn?’ and ‘Getting started in LinkedIn’ courtesy of LinkedIn
https://uk.linkedin.com/

Week 8
Figure 2: © photo soup/iStockphoto.com
Figure 3: © Devon Yu/iStockphoto.com
Figure 4: © JL Gutierrez/iStockphoto.com
This course was written by Katharine Reedy, Natasha Huckle and Wendy Mears.
Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see FAQs), this content is made
available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence.
Course image: © Sakonboon Sansri/Shuttterstock.com.
Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been inadvertently
overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the
first opportunity.
Don't miss out:

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1. Join over 200,000 students, currently studying with The Open University –
http://www.open.ac.uk/choose/ou/open-content
2. Enjoyed this? Find out more about this topic or browse all our free course materials on
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Week 1: Your digital life

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