Blog Post #1, about me
Hello everyone! My name is Dylan Bentley and I am going into my fourth year at Uvic studying sociology. I was born and raised in White Rock, BC, which is where I spend my summers and breaks when I’m not living in Victoria. I enjoy spending my spare time socializing with my buddies, playing and watching pretty much any sport (especially hockey), going to the beach, and just living life. I decided to go into sociology as I hope to follow the footprints of my father’s career who also studied sociology and has worked for the Vancouver Police Department for 35+ years.
What interests me about social media is the fact that we are able to use our devices to share, upload, watch, and interact with all kinds of different media and people from all around the world. It’s crazy to think about how society was so different before the creation of the internet as well as social media. I am a very social person, to begin with, so the fact that I am able to connect with and meet others online or even just play games and send videos to my friends and family is really cool to me.
What I find interesting about personalized learning is its ability to cater to individual needs and preferences. I find it really fascinating as well as useful how personalized learning can adapt to each person’s pace of learning, allowing learners to delve deeper into topics that interest them and move more quickly through them. It seems like a great way to make education more engaging and effective by focusing on individual strengths and areas where one might need more support.
I use digital tools in my personal and professional life whether it’s using apps like Google Calendar where I can see what my boss has scheduled for me on that given day. Another example is Google Docs which I use for the majority of my school papers and assignments. Overall, I find that using digital tools to get things done whether for school, work, or my everyday life, really enhances my production and makes things easier to accomplish and organize.
From my understanding, digital literacy seems to be about knowing how to use the internet and our devices to get things done and to understand how to find information online and how to use different apps and software to do so. So much of our lives and work are digital now, so being literate in this area helps with everyday tasks and staying informed. As far as its importance in education I would again say that it is a key element in modern education and learning. We are able to use technology to do all sorts of things that can help us better understand things and learn more about the world.
In the past, I have taken EDCI 337, so I am relatively familiar with how to use WordPress and I have also used PLNs such as Microsoft Teams and as we are all familiar with, brightspace. Throughout this course, I want to build and use my Personal Learning Network by actively engaging with my fellow learners. I’ll participate in discussions and online communities related to the course topics, aiming to exchange knowledge and ideas. I also plan on staying updated with the latest information related to technology and PLNs, helping me grow personally and professionally.
I am excited to be a part of EDCI 338 and I hope to get to know each and every one of you throughout this course!