Part 1

This discussion will have two parts.

• For the first discussion, talk about your feelings about digital literacy skills.  How would you rate yourself in digital literacy?  Where do you feel you need to improve?  Where are you the strongest?
• For the second part of the discussion, what are your feelings about digital identity?  What was the most important thing you learned while reading this unit’s materials?  Why have you chosen to highlight this particular idea?

Part 2

Before you begin creating your own professional PLE, you will explore the online identities of several people you admire professionally.  

This week you will complete Project 1 – the first part of a two-part project.  The assignment for this week is designed to help you look closely at how other people in your industry or academic discipline represent themselves online. Once you have identified two representative examples of professional online identity, you will study their online presence and analyze their use of social media and other electronic tools to shape their professional personalities. As a foundation for this project, keep in mind the Zwilling (2015) article presented in this unit's materials.

One of the people you observe should qualify as a professional member of our field (e.g., a faculty member and one person should be your peer (e.g., another graduate student). If you have trouble identifying appropriate individuals to use as the professional member of your field, consider analyzing any of these education professionals for your project:

• Angela Maiers
• Dr. Curtis Bonk
• Christopher Pappas
• Connie Malamed
• George Couros
• Steven W. Anderson
• Dir Ken Robinson
• Tom Whitby
• Richard Byrne
• Kathy Schrock

You will be submitting a project proposal for this Project 1

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249053

Part 3

As you work to set up your first PLE site this week, discuss your opinions about PLEs and respond to these questions:

• What tool did you decide to use for your PLE site and why did you select it?
• What benefits do you see in creating a PLE for your program? Why are we using them as assessment tools?
• What drawbacks, if any, do you foresee?
• Have you had any problems in getting started with your PLE?  If so, please explain so we can help!
• How do you envision using a PLE-type project in your own professional context?

Part 4

Now for the fun stuff – setting up and designing your PLE that will represent all of the hard work you have accomplished throughout the program!   You will have assignments using this PLE in each course and your PLE website will become a major component in the assessment of your final Capstone project. You will be using this PLE for reflective blogging, content curation, and displaying final projects.

Please let me know if you need my information to set up this site.

Part 5

Your first project is due at the end of this week by Sunday night.  As explained in the initial instructions, you are being given the opportunity to share your rough draft of your project with your peers for feedback before submitting it. So, for this discussion, please post a rough draft of Project 2 as an attachment to this discussion forum. Then respond to the following questions:

• What are your thoughts on the value of this assignment?
• What things surprised you about your findings so far?
• What has been your greatest challenge with this assignment?
• What is the most important thing you have learned by doing this assignment?

Part 6

In this unit, you learned some things about blogging: what it is, different applications, how to be a reflective blogger. This may very well be your first attempt at blogging. If it is, then take this opportunity to try out your new blogging voice!

For this next blogging assignment, you will:

• Reflect on what you have learned so far in this course and write your thoughts about the topics.
• Talk about online identities, perceptions of online personalities, etc.
• Apply the blogging concepts you have learned in this unit when writing this first blog post.
• Also, as part of the blogging process, you should do some additional research on your own about the topics and include external sources in your post by way of in-text citations. Citing additional external sources gives support to your ideas and is an important part of academic writing.

Part 7 

Let's finish what we began In Unit 1!  As a refresher – in Unit 1 you identified two representative examples of professional online identity and studied their online presence.  For the conclusion of this Project 2 you will be providing the analysis of your findings.  Your paper should be roughly 2,500 words (page numbers will vary depending on the number and size of the data examples you include), double-spaced, and should incorporate specific social media posts, screenshots, and other evidence to support your analysis.  

VERY IMPORTANT:  Remember, this paper should focus on professionalism. What is it about each individual's online presence that makes them appear professional to their audience? Give specific examples of professionalism that you are able to see. You should explain specific characteristics about their profiles that make you think they are true professionals. This could be images they share, their profile image, the design of their professional websites, interactions with peers in various social media applications, etc. This is not a paper on the thoughts, ideas, opinions, or content of their websites. This is not a report on the people themselves. It is an analysis of the methods they use to make themselves appear professional.

This assignment is due on Sunday at the end of Unit 3.

Project Outline:

• Describe the two individuals you have observed.
• Why did you select these subjects as positive examples when it comes to professional online presence and identity?
• What makes them stand out to you as being professional?
• What sites did you find your subjects were regularly using?
• What data were you able collect?
• How did you collect, store, and analyze your data?
• Discuss your findings and your analysis of these two individuals’ professional online presence. Include your impressions of their online presence.
• What impact does this information have on your own plans for your online identity? How will you apply what you have learned to the development of your PLE? Discuss some specific strategies you will incorporate.

Part 8

In this unit, you will begin the process of working in a collaborative group project. For this discussion, review the unit materials and discuss reasons why it is important to build community and encourage collaboration in an online learning environment.  In your response, suggest some additional ways in which you might work to build a sense of community and collaboration in your educational environment.

Part 9

On to the next project – creating a collaborative wiki site focused on Digital Citizenship!  

Download and save the attached document for complete instructions and project timeline.  For this project, you will work with a team to collaborate on a single wiki site. You are beginning this project now in Unit 4 and will continue to work with your team over the next four weeks on this one project. You will be assigned to a group of your peers that will consist of 2-4 members depending on the number of students enrolled in your particular course. Group membership will be posted on Blackboard at the beginning of Unit 4.

To complete this week's assignment it is crucial that you begin very early in the week.

Due by TUESDAY of Unit 4:

Step 1:  Submit your Google Account Information to the above link.

The remaining steps are required to be completed by the team by Sunday 11:59 p.m. at the end of Unit 4:

Step 2:  Access Your Wiki Site

Step 3:  Group Communication

Step 4:  Assign Roles

Step 5:  Select Topics

Part 10

• First, present some of the concerns that individuals seem to have with regard to public vs. private information. How would you respond to these concerns?
• Next, provide some resources you have found where you could access and use OERs for your projects. Provide the URL for these resources and give a brief summary of what will be found at the site.

Part 11

As a member of the professional cybersphere, you should take a stand on your own beliefs and actions in the digital world. For this next blog assignment, consider your thoughts, opinions, and beliefs about Digital Citizenship and craft a personal statement to which you will adhere going forward.  

Part 12

This week you will continue to work on your team's wiki site.  For this unit, you will be building wiki pages, collecting content and multi-media!  Each group member will submit the link to their wiki to the assignment submission link above.