Weekly Report & Reflection Blog Post #8

This week I successfully completed a group presentation with my peers using Google presentation.  It is amazing how easy it was to connect and collaborate with my peers without having to physically get together or communicate via phone.  The technology we have access to today, have truly addressed the many challenges of having to do group work, such as conflicting schedules, managing various emails, not to mention various versions of documents, etc.  Tools like Today’s Meet, Google Hangouts, Google Docs, and Wikis makes communicating and collaborating convenient and improves efficiency.  I came across this Education 1.0 vs. Education 2.0 vs. Education 3.0 article in my Feedly reader that illustrates how much education has changed the way students learn and educators teach.

I have to say I really enjoy the work that I do.  I get to play all day with various tools that contribute to enhancing teaching and learning.  Integrated into our Learning Management System is a Wiki tool that allows instructors to create wikis for individual assignments or collaborative projects.  Wiki assignments can be used to build knowledge bases, write papers, synthesize research, and present information in an organized manner.  Both instructors and students alike have access to using a graphical text editor that enables them to enter text, insert images, create hyperlinks, embed video, and create tables.  If granted the right permissions, students in groups can work collaboratively and can edit each others work.  The wiki also has the capacity to retain version history that show how the wiki has evolved over time and allow students to revert to previous versions.  Instructors can assess student contributions; the activity summary page provides insight as to who has contributed to the wiki assignment and instructors can drill down to a particular student’s level of involvement as well.  Additionally, when using wikis, instructors always stress the importance of maintaining academic integrity, respect, and inclusion.  Sounds like students are learning about the rights and responsibilities of being a digital citizen.

Here is a diagram I put together when reflecting upon what it means to have rights and responsibilities as digital citizens. 

Datoo, S. (cc2013)

We all have rights and responsibilities as citizens of a country, and now more so than ever, as global citizens.  Similarly the same can be said about being digital citizens.  It is important as educators to teach our students these rights and responsibilities.  We all have the right to access information, share our knowledge and experiences with the world, and the right to be protected against identity theft, piracy, copyright infringements, and security breaches.  We also have responsibilities to use technology appropriately and should report cyberbullying, spam, plagiarism, and any activity that are deemed to be unethical, if we want to create a safe digital environment.