Learning in a digital age/LiDA Course specification - Microcourse 2

'''Note: Course specification is based on Kanban board for micro-course 2.


 * 1) Working micro-course title:  Digital citizenship
 * 2) Notional learning hours: 40 notional learning hours
 * 3) Format: To be offered as cohort based open online learning course comprising approximately 25 hours and 15 hours for preparing the assessment.  Course will be designed to support the open boundary delivery model where OERu learners can participate in parallel with full-fee registered students on campus.

Brainstorm ideas not covered in the outcomes

 * Identify digital media, technologies, and communities
 * Evaluate appropriate technology use
 * Recognize that different audiences require different types of communication and online etiquette;
 * Imagine the motivations, feelings,     and intentions of others as they relate to a variety of online exchanges.

Micro course topics

 * Privacy and security
 * Relationships and communication
 * Cyber bullying
 * Digital footprint and reputation
 * Self-image and identity
 * Information literacy
 * Website terms of reference (relating to rights, privacy and restrictions).
 * Adopting a proactive approach to digital citizenship

Proposed learning pathways

 * 1) Introduction to digital citizenship (contrast and compare online definitions to develop own definition of digital citizenship)
 * 2) Digital technologies for learning (identify. explore and evaluate a range of digital media, technologies _
 * 3) Rights responsibilities and risks of a digital citizen (Risks and benefits of free services, Academic integrity, Privacy, security, catfishing, identity theft etc.)
 * 4) Interacting online (Netiquette, internet trolling, skills and constructive solutions to online interpersonal dilemmas that exemplify ethical behaviour)
 * 5) Positive digital identify (Explore the digital identities of well known academics, consider personal versus professional identify, Activity for Learners to populate a new identity.)

Learning outcomes

 * Be able to define the concept of digital identity and digital citizenship and its importance
 * Be able to define the different ways digital identity and digital citizenship are defined
 * Understand the importance of digital identity and digital citizenship in relation to learning

Learning challenge
 * Be able to adopt a proactive approach to digital identity and digital citizenship
 * Understanding the pitfalls and potential of social media
 * Developing positive digital identities
 * Explore the literature on digital identity and digital citizenship
 * Write a blog post summarises the key concepts associated with each term
 * Watch the short videos by Bonnie Stewart and Alec Couros on the hazards of social media - both have agreed
 * Read the blog post on 'The hazards of online dating' http://e4innovation.com/?p=782
 * Reflect on your own positive and negative experiences of social media and write a blog post
 * Read and comment on at least two other blog posts by your peers of their experiences

Suggested resources - Suggest moving this to the overview section and have this section just with links to relevant resources
The term media literacy is often used interchangeably with other terms about media and media technologies.

Media literacy is a repertoire of competencies that enable people to analyze, evaluate, and create messages in a wide variety of media modes, genres, and formats. Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms (1992 Aspen Media Literacy Leadership Institute). Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy (http://www.medialit.org/media-literacy-definition-and-more).
 * Media refers to all electronic or digital means and print or artistic visuals used to transmit messages.
 * Literacy is the ability to encode and decode symbols and to synthesize and analyze messages.
 * Media literacy is the ability to encode and decode the symbols transmitted via media and the ability to synthesize, analyze and produce mediated messages.
 * Media education is the study of media, including ‘hands on’ experiences and media production.
 * Media literacy education is the educational field dedicated to teaching the skills associated with media literacy. (https://namle.net/publications/media-literacy-definitions/)

Media literacy enables people to have the skills,knowledge and understanding to make full use of the opportunities presented traditional and new communications services. Media literacy also helps people to manage content and communications, and protect themselves and their families from the potential risks associated with using these services. (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/media-literacy/)

To be a successful learner you need to develop an expertise in using digital media to support your learning, in terms of finding and evaluating the effectiveness of resources, planning your learning, communicating with peers and tutors and demonstrating your achievement of the earning outcomes.

Digital technologies communicate with us through a powerful combination of words, images and sounds. We need to develop literacy skills that help us understand the message and effectively utilize the tools to design and distribute our own messages.

P21 cite the following aspects of media literacy.
 * Analyze media: Understand both how and why media messages are constructed, and for what purposes. Examine how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points of view are included or excluded, and how media can influence beliefs and behaviors. Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of media
 * Create media products: Understand and utilize the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions. Understand and effectively utilize the most appropriateex epressions and interpretations in diverse, multi-cultural environments

Courso (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S-KRiRiQo1jhIxp7ZlfG3POH3w_iYxbMA_GmDZnnaNU/edit) argues that today’s learners live in a world where technology and social media are enmeshed in and inseparable from their everyday lives. Despite their frequent use of digital tools, however, learners often do not possess the higher-level critical thinking skills needed to use technology safely and to leverage digital devices for powerful learning. Additionally, teachers are often ill-equipped to teach these skills. which means that we need to provide support to teachers to enable them to help learners develop these skills.

As increasing numbers of learners come to tertiary education with their own personal devices, teachers can no longer ignore these powerful tools. Instead, it’s more important than ever that educators step up to take an active role in preparing students to thrive in our digital reality by teaching them to participate safely, responsibly, and productively in online spaces: to become active and capable digital citizens. Digital citizenship goes beyond the simple concept of cyber-safety and helps students understand both their rights and their responsibilities as online participants.

DIgital citizenship usually focus on the dangers of digital technologies and therefore protection. However, Courso (https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=748&category=ISTE-Connects-blog&article) argues that it is time to move digital citizenship to the activism stage. "This is the idea that we can use digital tools to improve the world around us to support causes, empower others or create better environments", To achieve this he suggests the following activities.

Learning Challenge 

Cybersleuthing: Students are assigned to “cybersleuth” a well-known person who has an online identity. Students search for information on the web and then analyze how the details they share about themselves shape their image. Older students can choose to sleuth each other, while teachers might search for a well-known figure in education to see what kind of sharing they might want to be doing online. Impact: By asking students to reflect on the way we use bits of online information to generate an opinion of another person, teachers can help students recognize what their own digital footprints say about them.

Learning Challenge

Digital detectives. In this activity, students must determine whether particular websites or other sources of online information are accurate. Students act as detectives to identify the signs of a reliable (or unreliable) online resource to construct their “detective kit” of digital literacy skills that will help them to be critical online readers. This exercise can be adapted for various grade levels. Impact: Misinformation spreads rapidly on the web, and the ability to find and identify accurate information online is a necessary digital age skill. This exercise allows students to use real-life examples to practice being critical readers.

Learning Challenge 

Social activism projects: This multi-part workshop takes students through the process of developing an online social activism project. Students identify social issues in their communities, evaluate examples of social action campaigns to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and develop their social action project’s timeline, platform and other information. Impact: There are many examples of successful student-led social action campaigns and this activity helps students develop their own. The overall impact of such campaigns can be hard to gauge, but the use of social media allows students an authentic audience and increases engagement with young audiences.

Learning Challenge 

Are you being catfished?

A catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they're not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities. Work through this activities (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z69jbhxOdZwhCm5cdVy3ktgxA2jfJJFSjdCeobXGwXs/edit).

Learning Challenge

Digital identity and digital citizenship. This activity will enable you to explore your digital footprint and to reflect on how you are perceived by others online. Work through these activities (https://docs.google.com/document/d/18b_xtOxBYE7Bbox91oEDbVXSdqvDHg_mf-KfUqpBmhk/edit).

Resources 
 * Nine elements of digital citizenship (http://digitalcitezenship/Nine_Elements.html
 * NCTE position statement for 21st Century literacies (http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition
 * It's complicated - dana boyd (http://www.dana.org/books/itscomplicate.pdf
 * What is digital literacy - Doug Belshaw (http://neverendingthesis.com.doug-belshaw-add-thesis-final.pdf)
 * Trolls more hostile when using their real names

Possible micro-course assessment

 * Write a blog post reflecting on this microcourse. Read two blog posts written by your peers and leave a comment.
 * Write a blog post with at least three useful resources on digital citizenship.