Effective teachers are reflective practitioners.
There is one major assignment to be developed throughout the course. Rather than writing one essay or creating a group presentation, your work in this course will be completed individually and digitally. Creating and maintaining a professional blog site for this course will demonstrate your understanding of the course topics and ‘show what you know’.
You are encouraged to select topics of interest, create content to explore those topics, and share your learning using an open, public blog production tool. This blog will explicitly explore and develop critical digital literacies and fluencies. Assessment as, for, and of topics and production will be developed through online discussions, as well as synchronous and asynchronous chats & conversations. Progress and change from the beginning to the end of the course is expected. The Faculty of Education Assessment Rubric informs all the assessment components.
A2: Step ONE – Create a blog site
The first step is to create your blog site. You will review current education related blog sites and blogging tools to guide your creation. This portion of the assignment offers you the opportunity to review, reflect on and explore blogging as a professional and learner. You will reflect on the creation and organizational decisions within the critical digital literacy framework used in this course as you think about digital literacies in education.
http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-choose-the-best-blogging-platform/
Due Date: Week 2 Evaluation: Met / Not Met (Pass / Not yet passed)
A2: Step TWO – Build Your Professional Self Portrait Blog
Complete FOUR blog posts as outlined in the assignment list. Complete FIVE comments and responses. See the suggested topics as described below. See the requirements for effective completion below.
| Blog Post 1: Definitions and Frameworks | Due Week 3, Saturday by 11:59 p.m. |
| · Define ‘critical digital literacy’ How will this information shape your learning in this course, other courses, or in your upcoming professional teaching?
· Share insights from one or two of the frameworks examined in week two. · Why did you select these specific frameworks and how do your current teaching and learning practices ‘fit in’ to these frameworks? What issues or questions do you find with these frameworks? How might these frameworks inform your learning and teaching practices? |
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| Blog Post 2: Code Breaking and Meaning Making | Due Week 5, Saturday by 11:59 p.m. |
| · Share insights about code breaking and meaning making and how did these two CDL impacted your work the past two weeks.
· Which creative ‘makes’ did you try? How did your awareness of these two CDL impact the progress you made with the digital tools you tried? · What resources did you use or find that helped your code breaking and meaning making in new digital spaces? |
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| Blog Post 3: Use, Analyze and Create | Due Week 8, Saturday by 11:59 p.m. |
| · Share insights about using, analysing and creating in digital spaces.
· How did critical digital literacies impact your learning the past three weeks. · Which creative ‘makes’ did you try? How did your awareness of these CDL impact the progress you made with the digital tools you tried? · What resources did you use to help with using, analzying and creating in new digital spaces? |
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| Blog Post 4: Persona, Citizenship, and Reflection | Due Week 12 Saturday by 11:59 p.m. |
| · Share insights about digital persona and digital citizenship. Build connections from these topics to other course experiences as they connect to the critical digital literacies.
· Which creative ‘makes’ did you try? · How did your awareness of these CDL impact the progress you made with the digital tools you tried? · What resources did you use to help to establish your persona and model citizenship in new digital spaces? · Reflect on how CDL has changed or influenced your learning. Reflect on how CLD will shift your teaching practice. |
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| Blog Comments and Responses | |
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| Blog Posts |
| Each blog POST will demonstrate connections to course topics, creative makes, and readings that can be embedded or linked. Blog responses will:● Range from 500 to 800 words and be posted to a professional blog site
● Demonstrate a storytelling style of writing consistent with a first person perspective e.g. “I used… I found…” ● Integrate specific references to digital tinkering from creative makes activities, and/or professional experiences connecting digital literacies to teaching contexts ● Include links to any digital explorations or productions done e.g. avatar image, Mindomo concept map ● Connect and share specific examples and/or substantiating information from research, course readings, in-class discussions, and/or related experiences ● Include in-text citations and a references section where needed, in APA format ● Integrate a minimum of ONE related links (using embedded hyperlinks) – see Hyperlink Pro Tips ● Include a minimum of ONE embedded object (e.g. an image, video, graphic) – see Embedding Pro Tips ● Demonstrate proper spelling, grammar, and journalistic tone ● Evidence of growth, change and skill development over time – perfect is not expected, but improvement will be clearly demonstrated from the first to last posts, actions and adjustments based on feedback |
| Blog Post Comments and responses to comments |
| A Satisfactory blog COMMENT builds connections by asking questions, responds to information or adds additional information to a blog post. Responding to blog comments is a means of engaging in conversations about critical digital literacy topics. Comments and responses will:· Range from 50-80 words – these are not long or extensive
· Be posted to another person’s blog site but can be linked to your own digital self-portrait blog site · Include an open ended question, use key words found on the Q chart (found on course site and D2L) · Include one idea or thought that connects to the blog post that is not evident in the post (will require building direct connections to other sources of information). |
