Digital Literacy in Higher

Education and Beyond

By Brendan Barry
A little bit about me

● Originally from Scituate, Massachusetts

● Attended college at Stonehill College in
Easton, Massachusetts where I studied
Spanish and Education Studies
● Currently pursuing my Masters degree in
Higher Education at Merrimack College.
● I am also serving as a Graduate Resident
Director at Merrimack College where I
oversee one of the College’s residence
halls.
A quick opening question!

What do you think professional digital

literacy is?
Today’s Objective

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to create their

own professional email address, add a professional photo to
their email account, craft a professional email that could be
sent to a faculty or staff member, and create an organized
cloud server.
Creating a Professional Email Address

What do you think a professional

email address should look like?
Creating a Professional Email Address

When creating a professional email address, it is important that it identifies

how you are to the people who are receiving your emails!

Your email address should include some combination of your first and last
name. Numbers are okay if all other combinations are taken from the email.
The key is to make sure that it identifies who you are.

Example:

bbarry1@students.stonehill.edu
Would you consider the following email
addresses to be professional?

● barrb@gmail.com
● soccerstr5666@yahoo.com
● bbbarryfisherman38@comcast.net
● brendanbarry2020@gmail.com
Linking a Professional Photo to your Email
Account

Although this is not a requirement by any means, linking a professional email

address to your email account is a nice touch and can help others identify you
based on your account.

A good photo should capture you from shoulders up. In an ideal world, you
should wear some professional clothing, but this is not a requirement.

Although this is not a requirement, a nice background adds a great visual to

your headshot!
Example of the Type of Photo to Link to your
Email Account
Crafting a Professional Email

What do you think are the most important

elements to include in a professional email
that could be sent to a college professor or
future employer?
Elements of a Professional Email

● Proper greeting such as Dear, Hello, Hi, Good morning, etc

● Addressing the recipient with the proper title such as Ms., Mrs., Mr., Dr., or
Prof.
● Starting off with a nice introduction such as “I hope that you are doing
well” or “I hope that this email finds you well”
● Clear and conscience phrasing of what you are trying to express to the
recipient
● Nice closing that includes your name such as Thank you, Sincerely, or Best
Activity!

In each of the next two slides, I am going to provide

examples of emails. As a group, we are going to
decide whether the email is professional or not.
Email #1

Hello

What is the homework for tomorrow’s class??? I couldn’t find it anywhere

-Bill
Email #2

Hi Prof. Glenn,

I hope that you are doing well and had a nice long weekend! I just had a question about the current event posts. On the syllabus,
it said that the blogs were due by Thursday at 5:00 PM, but it said that they were due by Wednesday at 5:00 PM on Blackboard. I
was just curious as to which day they are actually due. Also, do we need to comment on other students' current events? Thank
you for all of your help and I am looking forward to being back in class on Monday!

Sincerely,

Brendan Barry
Practice

If you would like, feel free to send me an

email to practice the skills that you learned
today. My email is barryb@merrimack.edu
(nice and professional, right?)
Organizing your Online Cloud Service

● With everything going virtual for the first part of your school year, you have
no doubt used some cloud service like Google Drive to store your files.
● It is super important to keep this drive organized so that you can easily find
your files when you need them!
● Everyone organizes differently so do what works best for you.
● Personally, I like to use a lot of folders so that everything is easy to find. I
start off with one big folder and then organize them into subfolders. I’ll
show you on the next few slides how I do it.
Start Off by having a General Folder for the
School Year or Program
Once Inside your folder for the year, I like to
organize by semester or time of year
Within each part of the year, I create a folder
for each individual class
For each class, I create folders for each type
of class material
Any questions?
Thank you!