Learning in a digital age/LiDA102/Introduction to digital citizenship/Rights and responsibilities

The concept of citizenship encompasses the rights and responsibilities of individuals. We need to consider what rights and responsibilities come with digital citizenship. In this mini challenge, we explore this topic with particular emphasis on the rights and responsibilities associated with learning in a digital age.

Following the hype of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and the New York Times declaring 2012 the "year of the MOOC", a small group of educators convened to draft "A Bill of Rights and Principles for Learning in a Digital Age." This document will form the basis for a course discussion on the rights and responsibilities of digital citizens.

Challenge summary

Summary:	Rights and responsibilities that come with learning in a digital age at tertiary level.
	1 hour
	Linked to the digital citizenship learning challenge

Start here

Stimulus resources

Note
Learners are invited to add or reply to annotations on the Hypothes.is when reading the folowing documents. Remember to tag your posts using the course code: LiDA102. (Consult the OERu support site for help on using the Hypothes.is annotation tool.)
Bill of rights and principles for learning in a digital age

• Udacity version of the bill of rights (Direct hypothes.is link.)
• 'Bill of Rights' Seeks to Protect Students' Interests as Online Learning Rapidly Expands, published by The Chronicle of Higher Education. (Direct hypothes.is link.)
• Critique of 'Bill of Rights and Principles for Learning in the Digital Age' published by Inside Higher Ed. (Direct hypothes.is link.)
• Twitter designated hashtag for the conversation on the bill of rights: #learnersrights

Purpose

The purpose of this mini challenge is to review and identify the primary rights and responsibilities for tertiary education learners in a digital age and to participate in a discussion of topical issues.

Tasks

1. Read A proposal for rights and responsibilities for citizens in the digital world with particular reference to identifying rights and responsibilities appropriate for tertiary online study. Note that the publication is almost a decade old. Is this list still relevant today? What would you amend or add to update this proposal.
2. Conduct a general search for rights and responsibilities of digital citizenship to assist in refining your own list for tertiary online study. Your search is likely to generate many results developed for the school sector, so you need to evaluate if these rights and responsibilities are appropriate for tertiary.
3. Udacity version of the bill of rights
4. Read the the following news editorials on the bill of rights:
   • 'Bill of Rights' Seeks to Protect Students' Interests as Online Learning Rapidly Expands, published by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
   • Critique of 'Bill of Rights and Principles for Learning in the Digital Age' published by Inside Higher Ed.
5. Prepare a table summarising the primary rights and responsibilities for tertiary learning in a digital age.
6. Remember to annotate and comment on the Hypothes.is and tag your contributions using the course code: #LiDA102

Outputs

Topical issues - Rights and responsibilities for learning in a digital age

Drawing on your knowledge and experience, please join the discussion on topical issues regarding rights and responsibilities for learning in a digital age at the tertiary level. You can discuss the topical issues listed below, or add new ones to the forum. In each case, justify your position taking opposing views into account.

Topical issues

1. Should higher education institutions have the right to determine what software applications learners should use for their studies?
2. Data generated by learners belongs to the learners, therefore should they have the right to access their data (for example forum discussion contributions) even after the course has completed?
3. Should higher education institutions reserve the right to ban disruptive learners from their learning platforms?
4. Where legally permissible, should learners have the right to access all course materials without the need to register a password?
5. Should higher education institutions have the right to limit the time required for completing a course?
6. Others?

We encourage learners to reply and "Like" good posts. (Remember to tag your posts using the course code: LiDA102).