“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” – Alvin Toffler

Dear AUC community, colleagues, and curious readers,

I hope this final blog post finds you all well. Today marks the end of our interesting journey through the Digital Literacies course, where we explored different ideas and activities together. I want to take this moment to reflect on everything we’ve explored and discovered, and to share with you all my concluding thoughts.

Ready? Let’s begin!

Our world today is one that is shaped by technology, as it affects everything in our lives, from our interactions to our identities. It is important to have a deep understanding of technology, how it works, and how it affects us. This understanding doesn’t necessarily have to be a technical one where we ask what and how, but rather a reflective one where we consider the why, when, who, and for whom. We must ask questions that would allow us to fully understand the things that truly matter in life, including technology and AI. Why do we use it? How does it shape and affect our values? When does it connect us, and when does it divide us? These are just examples of the questions we must ask ourselves.

This course has really pushed me to analyze the constantly evolving digital landscape by rethinking not only the things I know but also how I connect, create, and even lead. I came into this course thinking that it would only be about learning new tools but its been a unique exploration journey that went beyond that, it challenged me by to not only learn but to examin how I engage with technology, how I communicate with others and how I define myself as a “digital citizen”. In this reflection, I want to share my journey throughout the course and how I intend to use what I learned in the future.

  • Most Impactful Learning Experiences

Throughout this course, several activities and experiences stood out to me as opportunities that helped me deepen my thinking and gave me the chance to reflect and grow.  Here are some of the most impactful experiences that stood out to me.

This assignment was one of the very first things I did in this course, it challenged me to think beyond the traditional definitions of success which normally would be measured by grades and work experience but this assignment allowed me to reflect on things im proud of and gave me a way to share these things with others. The Alt-CV is a great way to embrace vulnerability and find authentic ways to present oneself, not through titles or GPA, but through passions and lived experiences.

This way of presenting my digital identity will continue to shape how I present myself academically and professionally.

    • The Empathy Toy:

The Empathy Toy exercise was one of the first experiences I had in the course that involved working closely with classmates. I consider this a very powerful activity that taught me how real communication isn’t only about speaking, it’s about listening, trusting, analyzing, and adapting. Working with a blindfolded classmate, one of whom I am close friends with, made me realize how much we rely on subtle cues to communicate and how challenging it can be to communicate in a different way than what we are used to, even with someone you already know. This activity showed me the importance of patience and being precise with my words in order to communicate effectively. Another important lesson to learn from this game is to always consider others’ perspectives rather than just my own, I learned that trust and careful listening are as important as speaking.

These lessons will stay with me as I navigate future teamwork, whether academic or professional.

    • Soliya:

The Soliya program was the most impactful learning experience I had this semester. Throughout this program, I connected with people from around the world, learning new things and gaining insights into how stereotypes shape our communities and perceptions. Soliya allowed me to discuss complex issues with peers from different cultures and backgrounds, which broadened my understanding of how digital spaces can be used to connect people across cultures. I understood the power of dialogue and how interacting with empathy can challenge stereotypes and assumptions. This unique experience taught me how real communication is about creating space for genuine and authentic connection and understanding; more than that, it proved to me the importance of empathy and understanding different perspectives, two skills I’ll definitely carry forward in my social, academic, and professional life.

  • Assignments That Best Represent My Learning

If I had to choose three assignments that truly capture my learning, they would be:

The Digital Narrative Game assignment was one of the most impactful and interesting parts of this course. This was my first experience with creating an interactive game, which challenged me to think of a creative way to simulate real-life challenges that show the daily struggles of students commuting long distances to campus. Throughout the process of creating my game “Campus Commute” I learned how to work with AI tools to design engaging and interactive scenarios that captured the situations I wanted to show and how to refine them based on peer feedback and continuous testing. I also learned how interactive storytelling can be a powerful tool to foster empathy, highlight relatable experiences, and reassure players that they are not alone in their struggles. Finally, this project proved to me how technology can be used in various different ways to not just share information but also create experiences that resonate with people.

This assignment was very important in showing me how AI has advanced and is becoming a very powerful tool for entrepreneurs. Throughout interviews with an entrepreneurship professor and a practicing entrepreneur, I learned that today, entrepreneurs utilize AI in many different ways, like opportunity identification and marketing, to customer engagement and decision making. An important lesson I learned was that AI can’t replace an entrepreneur’s creativity or vision; it only enhances it. The insights I gained from these interviews made me reflect on how I use technology, balancing authenticity with human connection. One key takeaway from this assignment is that it proved to me how I should keep experimenting with AI tools in my field while being mindful of the ethical considerations of using them.

The final assignment I’d choose to represent my learning throughout this course is my Assessing AI Tools assignment. I evaluated four different AI tools, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Deepseek, and Elicit, by giving them different tasks and then analyzing their summaries, accuracy, and relevance. I learned that each tool is different from the other, each having strengths and weaknesses, which means that digital literacy isn’t about choosing any tool blindly without knowing its use; it’s about choosing the right tool for the task at hand. Comparing these tools made me realize how advanced AI is becoming, proving that critical thinking and adaptability are two essential skills to learn in this digital age, as we explore the new innovations that we see daily.

These experiences are more than just assignments or projects, they’re proof of how this course challenged me to think, feel, and create in new ways.

  • What I would change about this course

While this course has taught me a lot and deeply changed how I interact with technology and AI, I believe that it could be even more beneficial with a few adjustments:

    • More in-class projects:

In-class group activities were a big part of this course, which I believe really helped us learn the topics better and improved our communication skills. Despite this, I believe that if some of the activities we did outside of class were in-class activities that spanned multiple classes, we could have explored topics in greater depth, sharing our insights and building on each other’s ideas. One part of this course where this could be incorporated is the digital narrative game assignment. If we created the games in class, we could share our thoughts and improve each other’s games. Another part of the course that could benefit from this is the Assessing AI tools assignment. We could explore the different tools in class, with each of us commenting on each tool.

    • Introduce digital skills vs. digital literacies sooner:

The distinction between digital skills and digital literacies is perhaps one of the most important aspects of this course, as most aspects of it revolve around those concepts. Introducing this difference to students from the beginning will allow them to make this connection and explore it on a deeper level as they progress through the course and go through all the projects and activities.

    • Play all digital narrative games:

I believe that one big thing we missed out on is playing each other’s games. I think that if one class is dedicated to playing all the games, instead of showing it to one other group would be very valuable. Firstly, the creators of the game would receive valuable feedback to improve their work and fix any issues. Secondly, other students could get fresh ideas and inspiration from the games they play, created by other students, for elements they might incorporate into their own game to improve it.

  • Who should take this course?

This course is perfect for people who want a deeper understanding of technology, not a technical understanding, but a reflective, critical, and human-centered understanding, exploring how it shapes our lives, values, interactions, and understanding how we can use digital spaces with purpose and intention.

  • Reflection on tools:

Looking back on the tools that we covered in this course, I believe that ChatGPT stood out to me as the most versatile tool. I like how it could help me shape my writing, generate ideas, and navigate topics in a conversational format. I see myself using it in the future for my academic projects and to improve my professional communication, especially when I need a quick, organized starting point. 

I really enjoyed Perplexity AI, which proved to be very beneficial for research. I liked how it provided reliable, well-cited information, which proved to be a valuable addition when working on my projects, including essays or presentations. 

Another surprisingly useful tool was Poe. At first, I underestimated it, thinking that it wouldn’t be able to generate the tasks I asked it to do, but then I ended up using it to fully generate my game Campus Commute. Poe facilitated generating several scenarios and refining them quickly, which was most important for developing the game. 

On the other hand, I didn’t really benefit from Google NotebookLM. Although it is useful for summarizing information, it did not really fit into how I prefer to brainstorm and organize thoughts, so I don’t see myself using it anytime soon, when I could use another tool I’m more comfortable with that could do the same tasks as ChatGPT.

Finally, the classroom technology had an important impact on this course. The flexible seating and the interactive boards encouraged collaboration and made our discussions feel much more dynamic and engaging. This taught me that the environment itself has the power to shape learning, which is something I will take into consideration moving forward whenever I am in any collaborative space.

Overall, each tool taught me something different about using technology thoughtfully, balancing convenience and critical thinking while recognizing the continued importance of human creativity and empathy.