The purpose of this mini challenge is to:

• Review social media technologies and how they can support or inhibit learning in a digital age.
• Reflect on engagement in online communities.
• Consider the relationship between sharing learning online and your digital footprint and online identity.

1. Read: Using social media for learning. A guide to becoming strategic published by Sheffield Hallam University.
2. Explore: The conversation prism developed by Brian Solis.
3. Reflect on what social media technologies you use for learning and how this impacts on your digital footprint and online identity.

Share what social media technologies you use to support learning and how you use them by posting a WENote, for example:

• I use <insert tool> to <describe purpose and how it supports your learning>
• In the future, I plan to use <insert tool> to <describe purpose and how it will support your learning>

Read the following article and add or reply to annotations using on the Hypothes.is focusing on how the research might apply to your own behaviour. Remember to tag your posts using the course code: LiDA102. (Consult the OERu support site for help on using the Hypothes.is annotation tool.)

• Honeychurch, S., Bozkurt, A., Singh, L., & Koutropoulos, A. (2017). Learners on the Periphery: Lurkers as Invisible Learners. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 20(1). (Direct hypothes.is link.)

1. Read Derek Wenmouth’s blog post: Participation online – Four C’s (How does this apply to your own online engagement?).
2. Watch the following video based on Ross Mayfield’s power law of participation. Note how low threshold engagement on social media leaves a bread crumb (digital footprint) and generates a form of collective intelligence. Higher forms of engagement result in collaborative intelligence (note that Cheryl Reynolds refers to Yammer in the video, but the framework also applies to other social media platforms). When viewing the video, think about how you engage in different online communities.

Join the discussion on social media, online identity and learning by sharing your personal views and thoughts. Choose one or more of the following questions as a catalyst for your contributions to the forum:

• How much of what you learn should be open and transparent (i.e. public) and how much should be kept private? Why?
• In a digital age, how important is it for you to build a digital footprint of your learning?
• What are the challenges and opportunities for building your online identity?
• What levels of online engagement do your feel are appropriate for your own learning on this course? Does this differ from your engagement in other online communities?
• Other?

Please “Like”, share and reply to posts. These are forms of engagement and a contribution to your online learning identity. Remember to tag your posts using the course code: LiDA102.