Course Reflection

Photo credit: Reflections by Mikko Saari, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareALike license. 

Fall 2013 was my first semester at CUNY and when signing up for my first set of courses, I assumed that Digital Literacy would be a no-brainer. Flash forward to the last day of the class and I'm in awe at how much I've learned over the past few months. I've taken something away from every unit covered in this class, from blogging to citing images to the digital divide and everything in between. Learning how to correctly cite creative commons licensed media is something that I've used in other courses, my Research Method course in particular. The information required to correctly cite images has even made its way into a binder I've been keeping since 9th grade which holds especially useful handouts that I've received from various teachers and professors over the years. This information is something that I'm sure I'll refer back to going forward. 

Additionally, all of the various scholary articles that have been required reading throughout the semester have undoubetly expanded my ability to think critically and more successfully evaluate information. Those articles have also done their fair share to expand my vocabulary and given me plenty of fodder for engaging in interesting conversation within varied topics in media. 

Another invaluable skill I learned is how to properly assess information. This is something that I will use in every aspect of my life: personally, professionally and academically. It is the skill that young Internet users routinely score lower on when evaluating skills needed to succeed in using the Internet and I want to avoid that pitfall, especially in a professional setting. 

I'm thrilled that CUNY makes this course a requirement. It's progressive, enlightening, practicle, relevent and interesting. It engages the student in accurate usage of the the small details of the Internet and digital culture. The topics covered in this class are as important as knowing how to properly read and write, but yet they are topics that I have never been exposed to in any other college courses. This type of class is definitely something that all colleges and universities need to offer as time goes on and the Internet only penetrates deeper into society.