Strategies Used
- Creating rich media artefacts - Student development of technical and communication skills using multimedia and online tools.
Motivation
In ETL523 Assignment 1: ’Digital Citizenship Learning Module’, Part A required students to work in groups on module design and then Part B asked students to create an individual multimedia artefact. In small teams students collaborated on building an online learning module on a wiki based on a digital citizenship concept. As part of this they selected a sub-topic for an individual digital artefact that needed to ‘fit in’ with and support understanding of the module content. The individual creation of a digital artefact required students to be able to demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of digital citizenship and the social, political, ethical and technological issues affecting digital citizenship development. It also encouraged transliteracy skills and clear communication of ideas through the use of multimedia.
The final artefact was meant to align with the group learning module project and be embedded into the team wiki interface. Students’ ideation and creativity afforded a successful artefact that showed evaluation of certain resources and ideas and brought together a definitive statement and set of information regarding the chosen topic.
Video Explanation
Implementation
Part 1: Team module building and artefact sub-topic selection
Students collaborate on the learning module content and choose a unique sub-topic to build their individual digital artefact.
Part 2: Development of the digital artefact
Once a topic was chosen students then explored a range of digital tools to find one they were comfortable using to create the digital artefact. The digital artefact could be any reliable Web 2.0 tool for audio, video or image/text production such as VoiceThread, Smore, or Slideshare. This was a self-help process - with of course students connecting and collaborating and sharing ideas, resources, and support for tool choice and skill development. It was encouraged, but not mandatory, that students explore a combination of tools e.g. Powtoons and YouTube, to create and deliver the final artefact.
Part 3: Artefact completion, upload and embed
It was a requirement that the artefact be uploaded (if not already online) and in a state where it had a unique URL and could be embedded (not just linked from) the wiki-based learning module.
Part 4: Final outcomes for students
This task provided for expression of ideas and communication of a message using online multimedia as well as exploration of tools that could be used to support learning and teaching beyond the assignment. Although some students found working with digital media challenging, all students gained confidence with online tools and mastered the ability to create a communication piece that could be shared with others. Many students went on to use their artefacts in conjunction with the learning module in their schools and learning environments to support both teacher and student understanding of digital citizenship.
Words of advice for wider implementation
This activity/assignment is a communication task, not a digital tools task, and this is important to remember. It challenges students in many ways and those with a lower ability using digital technology need to be provided with satisfactory examples and suggestions for tools that will allow them to successfully meet the rubric requirements. It was made clear to the students early on that a typical PowerPoint response was not adequate to meet criteria for success. Students are assessed on their ability to ‘express ideas and communicate a message’ and ‘understand key digital citizenship concepts and issues affecting digital citizenship development’.