Assignments
A1 - Engaged Learning
Voice and Choice
A1 – Engaged Learning
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 an open web site, the online discussions will take place in Desire 2 Learn. 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 a weekly discussion posts in the Desire 2 Learn course forum. In these discussions and activities, we will address the learning goals and outcomes. You are required to respond to the main discussion prompt and also comment on ONE of the responses from others in your small group in the course. This means posting your own thoughts about the weekly topics before Wednesday of the week, then commenting by Friday. Discussions will run from Monday to Friday. Posts completed after Friday at 11:59 p.m. of each week will be evaluated as NOT MET YET. Set a schedule to check into D2L 2- 3 times each week – see the suggested weekly work flow found in this syllabus.
Your engaged learning includes participation in Ontario Education Mentors Connect (OnEdMentors Connect) where you will be matched with an Ontario educator currently working in the classroom. This is an opportunity to share, collaborate, participate and learn from professionals in the field. First, you will complete the registration and entry survey. In week 3 you will meetup with your chosen mentor using one of the suggested digital tools (Skype, Google Hangout, Facetime, other preferred way to conduct video chats). You will continue to meet up in week six and week 8 and provide information using Google forms. Completing a survey in week nine will provide important feedback for the OnEdMentors Connect organizers. This course component will be evaluated based on self-assessment and responses, with a MET / NOT MET YET assessment strategy. You can also follow OnEdMentors Connect on Twitter.
You will also explore and apply digital tools through activities in open digital spaces. Responses and creations of the weekly collaboration activities should be done before Friday. Do not delay completing these tasks and share the creative results in your discussion posts. The instructor selected tools include Slack, Flipgrid, Google Slides, Mindomo, Padlet, Kahoot and Zoom. By participating, tinkering and sharing with these digital resources, students will reveal course outcomes and showcase critical digital literacy skills.
Consider your time commitment to the online discussions and participation in digital activities to be critical to your success as a learner, as well as to the success of the course. Because ongoing engaged learning is expected, including weekly collaborations in digital spaces, 60% of your final grade will be based on this participatory collaboration with others.
MET / NOT MET YET Evaluation scores will be based on the following criteria:
Useful resources for consideration
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 an open web site, the online discussions will take place in Desire 2 Learn. 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 a weekly discussion posts in the Desire 2 Learn course forum. In these discussions and activities, we will address the learning goals and outcomes. You are required to respond to the main discussion prompt and also comment on ONE of the responses from others in your small group in the course. This means posting your own thoughts about the weekly topics before Wednesday of the week, then commenting by Friday. Discussions will run from Monday to Friday. Posts completed after Friday at 11:59 p.m. of each week will be evaluated as NOT MET YET. Set a schedule to check into D2L 2- 3 times each week – see the suggested weekly work flow found in this syllabus.
Your engaged learning includes participation in Ontario Education Mentors Connect (OnEdMentors Connect) where you will be matched with an Ontario educator currently working in the classroom. This is an opportunity to share, collaborate, participate and learn from professionals in the field. First, you will complete the registration and entry survey. In week 3 you will meetup with your chosen mentor using one of the suggested digital tools (Skype, Google Hangout, Facetime, other preferred way to conduct video chats). You will continue to meet up in week six and week 8 and provide information using Google forms. Completing a survey in week nine will provide important feedback for the OnEdMentors Connect organizers. This course component will be evaluated based on self-assessment and responses, with a MET / NOT MET YET assessment strategy. You can also follow OnEdMentors Connect on Twitter.
You will also explore and apply digital tools through activities in open digital spaces. Responses and creations of the weekly collaboration activities should be done before Friday. Do not delay completing these tasks and share the creative results in your discussion posts. The instructor selected tools include Slack, Flipgrid, Google Slides, Mindomo, Padlet, Kahoot and Zoom. By participating, tinkering and sharing with these digital resources, students will reveal course outcomes and showcase critical digital literacy skills.
Consider your time commitment to the online discussions and participation in digital activities to be critical to your success as a learner, as well as to the success of the course. Because ongoing engaged learning is expected, including weekly collaborations in digital spaces, 60% of your final grade will be based on this participatory collaboration with others.
MET / NOT MET YET Evaluation scores will be based on the following criteria:
- Frequency and timeliness of postings – first post by Wednesday of each week, secondary responses by Friday, at 11:59 p.m.
- Content of your postings (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). The quality of responses rather than the quantity of words will be a critical factor. These posts can include links to additional self-selected readings and URL links to resources or blogs.
- Adherence to online etiquette and OCT standards of practice for teachers – e.g. professional knowledge, leadership, care, respect, trust, integrity.
- Participation in digital collaborations (e.g. Padlet, Flipgrid), group conversations and feedback to inquiry project elements in both D2L and other digital collaboration spaces.
Useful resources for consideration
- Rubric for assessing discussion forums While this will not be used to evaluate your progress in demonstrating your engaged learning in the D2L discussions, this can be a guide to expected behaviours when contributing to online learning spaces.
- Online Discussion Tips for Students from the University of Waterloo (also linked at the bottom of the KNOW and DO page).
