Learning in a digital age/LiDA104/Assessment/LiDA104 Edubit

Assessable competency

Develop critical media literacy skills and use multimodal communication to express outputs of learning effectively in a digital online environment.

Download print version of Assessment and rubrics for LiDA104 (pdf)

You must complete five tasks for this Edubit assessment:

Task 1	Analyse a press release from a critical media literacy perspective.
Task 2	Investigate how the medium and publisher of a topical news item influences the message.
Task 3	Apply web-literacy skills for online fact-checking.
Task 4	Use multimodal communication to express outputs of learning effectively in a digital online environment.
Task 5	Assess your learning as a reflective digital online learner

Task 1: Analyse a press release from a critical media literacy perspective

Performance indicators

I can do the following:

1. Define the concept of media literacy and what it means for my formal learning context.
2. Analyse a recent press release for a business or topic area of interest.
3. Prepare a summary report documenting my analysis and evaluation of the press release.

Evidence to demonstrate competency

I have provided the following:

1. A definition of media literacy (approximately 150 words) based on your reading of the literature and credible online resources (appropriately referenced using the APA style).
2. A description of what media literacy means for your formal learning (maximum 100 words).
3. A statement highlighting my reasons for selecting the particular news release for analysis (maximum 70 words).
4. A report (400 to 450 words) summarising my analysis of a recent press release, which addresses the following questions:
   • Who created the message and how this is likely to influence the content of the message?
   • Why was the message created, that is, what is the underlying purpose of the message?
   • What creative techniques were used to gain the reader’s attention?
   • How might different audiences interpret the message? (Provide examples)
   • What values and points of view are represented (or missing) from the message?
5. A concluding statement evaluating the press release. (Maximum 70 words).
6. Incorporated hyperlinks and references, These must include:
   • Hyperlink to the press release
   • Additional hyperlinks and supporting references from credible resources referenced using the APA style.

Task 2: Investigate how the medium and publisher of a topical news item influences the message

Performance indicators

I can do the following:

1. Contrast and compare a topical news item published through different mediums.
2. Report on how the medium or publisher has influenced the message for a topical news item.

Evidence to demonstrate competency

I have provided the following:

1. Presented a summary of my findings in the form of a short written report of approximately 400 - 450 words as per task 1 and two above.
2. A list of the sources of a topical news item you selected. This must include each of the following media:
   • Broadcast television news or radio news (provide url link)
   • Hard copy newspaper (submit scanned copy or photograph of the report)
   • Online news report (provide url link)
   • A few social media references (e.g. url links to blog posts, Tweets, Facebook posts)
3. A succinct summary of my analysis derived from comparing and contrasting the reports from these different sources. This must include taking the following questions into account:
   • Does the reporting angle differ? Why?
   • Do the same issues recur consistently across the reports? Why?
4. A succinct summary of my analysis derived from reading laterally. This must include:
   • Who owns and controls the media source?
   • Determining the circulation / market penetration of the publisher.
   • Investigation of the digital footprint of the reporter / author
   • Who is the target audience of the publisher?
   • A review of public comments on the respective site.
5. An investigation into the social media coverage of the news item noting trends and themes. (Maximum 200 words)
6. A conclusion on how the medium or publisher have influenced the message with justifications from your analysis. (Maximum of 200 words).

Task 3: Apply web-literacy skills for online fact-checking

Performance indicators

I can do the following:

1. Apply online search strategies to select an issue of interest published online that is suitable for fact-checking.
2. Apply strategies for online fact-checking published in Caulfield, M. A. (2017). Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers (https://webliteracy.pressbooks.com/).
3. Report on my fact-checking findings.

Evidence to demonstrate competency

I have provided the following:

1. A demonstration of my online search skills by finding an online issue of interest (not published by the mainstream media) that is suitable for fact-checking. Describe the search approaches you used including reasons for your final selection (maximum 150 words). Good candidates for fact-checking include:
   • Stories that have gone viral (Your Facebook or Twitter feed is a good place to start.)
   • Stories published in the blog sphere, i.e. outside the mainstream media.
   • Stories claiming some “fact” in answering questions like:
     • Do speed cameras reduce the crash rate?
     • Is it better to go to university of college?
     • Are e-cigarettes as harmful as smoking tobacco?
     • Does red wine compound kill colon cancer?
2. fact-checking report (approximately 350 - 400 words) demonstrating your application of the strategies for online fact-checking published in Caulfield, M. A. (2017), “Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers” . Your report must include:
   • Reference to the source providing a hyperlink to the online version.
   • Use of the following subheadings for documenting your findings:
     • Previous work;
     • Going upstream;
     • Reading laterally;
     • Circling back (if required);
3. Conclusion on the validity of the fact; and
4. References using the APA style. (Consult APA style published by the University of Canterbury.)

Task 4: Use multimodal communication to express outputs of learning effectively in a digital online environment

Performance indicators

I can do the following:

1. Demonstrate digital skills for creating media.
2. Produce a multimedia presentation that incorporates audio plus a minimum of two additional modalities in a digital online format.
3. Adhere to copyright requirements.

Evidence to demonstrate competency

I have provided the following:

1. A multimedia presentation you created on any topic that expresses the outputs of your learning or a resource to support learners studying a topic of your choice, for e.g: a multimedia presentation summarising the outputs of one of your assessment tasks or learning activities; or a learning resource to support a topic from the Learning in a Digital Age course

to express outputs of learning.

1. The multimedia presentation must include and meet the following requirements:
   • A maximum duration of duration of three (3) minutes.
   • Conveys a logical structure, for e.g. introduction, body and conclusion.
   • Incorporates an audio track you recorded plus a minimum of two (2) additional modalities (for example text, static images, animations, or video).
   • Saved in a video file format and uploaded online (for example, Youtube, Vimeo, file hosting site etc.). This must include a link to a the transcript for the audio track in the description or alternatively embedded as closed captions.
   • Adheres to copyright requirements. There must be no unauthorised audio, images or text not covered by copyright exemptions or open licenses.
   • Embeds attributions (where appropriate) in the credits section.
   • Optional: Applies an open content license for reuse of your creative work with attribution. (Outstanding presentations which are openly licensed will be referenced and used for future courses to support Learning in a Digital Age.)

(Please submit the url to a publicly accessible version of your blog post. Ensure that you have made your post public in the editing settings of your preferred blog software (unlisted or draft posts will not be visible to the public). You can test the blog url link before submitting using your browser’s private or incognito mode to ensure that the assessor can access the resources without login credentials. For more information consult incognito browsing published by Lifewire)

Task 5: Assess your learning as a reflective digital online learner

Performance indicators

I can do the following:

1. Provide evidence of learning through self-evaluation.
2. Demonstrate reflective learning skills.

Evidence to demonstrate competency

I have provided a learning reflection based on my knowledge and experiences with critical media literacies for online learning that:

1. Explains the connections between my experience (what I already knew) and what I have learned from Critical media literacies and associated digital skills.
2. Identifies WHAT I have learned, and also HOW I have learned it.
3. Covers the following aspects in less than 400 words:
   • Description: Provide your reader with comments on specifically what happened during your learning journey.
   • Evaluation: What was “good” and “bad” about the experience?
   • Analysis: What did you learn from it? How do you feel about it now? Did it change you? How?
   • Conclusion: What alternatives did you consider at the time? What else might you have done?
   • Plan: What new knowledge or skills do you now have, and how will this expertise inform your future learning?