Your voice and choice will be evident in a variety of digital spaces. Your critical digital literacy skills will be showcased through your connected and participatory actions in open and sheltered digital places. While the course content is found on this open web site, and mirrored in the D2L content, the online discussions will take place in Desire 2 Learn (D2L). This is done for two reasons. First, the discussion forum capabilities of D2L (threading, nesting, sorting, displaying etc.) are much more sophisticated than what is available in open digital spaces. Secondly, the D2L discussion forums are restricted to registered students so you have a certain degree of privacy. This allows me to keep the course content open to the world, but restrict access to the discussions to allow for more open and candid conversation.
Your engaged learning includes participation in the weekly discussion posts in the Desire 2 Learn (D2L) course forums. In these discussions and activities, you will ‘show what you know‘ to address the learning goals and outcomes. You are required to respond to the main discussion prompt and also comment on a minimum of two of the responses from others in the course, as outlined in the course schedule. This means posting your own thoughts about the weekly topics by Tuesday of the week, then commenting on others’ ideas and submissions from Wed. to Friday and responding to questions about your own postings on a regularly scheduled basis. Discussions will run from Monday to Friday. Posts completed after Saturday at 11:59 p.m. of each week will not count for grades. You are expected to participate throughout the week in the D2L discussion forum for that week. Set a schedule to check into D2L at least 3 times each week – see the suggested weekly work flow found below.
You will also explore and apply digital tools through activities in open digital spaces. Responses and creations of the self-selected creative makes using digital tools should be done each week (see suggestions below). While you will NOT SUBMIT these individually each week, these experiences should be incorporated into your discussion posts, responses or comments, and even be included in the A2 blog posts as evidence of experiences. Select from the suggested list (found on the Creative Makes page of this site and the course syllabus) to explore a variety of digital tools to enhance your critical digital literacies, and through which to showcase your critical digital fluencies.
Consider your time commitment to the online discussions and participation in digital activities to be an important part of your success as a learner, as well as your success in the course. Because ongoing engaged learning is expected, 50% of your final grade will be based on this participatory collaboration and conversations with others. Evaluation will be based on the following criteria:
- Frequency and timeliness of postings done each week – first response by Tuesday of each week, feedback or subsequent responses by Friday evening at 11:59 p.m.
- Content of your postings in the Weekly D2L discussion forums – the thoughtfulness/reflection that goes into your responses and the extent to which they address the topic for the week, connect to the assigned readings, build connections from texts, self, or world experiences, and the experiences with the creative makes. The quality of responses rather than the quantity of words will be a critical factor.
- Adherence to online etiquette as shared on the course site and in D2L; adhering to the OCT standards of practice for teachers e.g. professional knowledge, leadership, care, respect, trust, integrity.
- Participation in conversations using alternative digital tools and resources (e.g. video chat), and feedback comments in both D2L and on peer’s blog sites.
