Posted: November 17th, 2015

Digital Literacy

Digital Literacy

research and analyze a topic related to digital information. It is a major investigation that should provide

a full and detailed examination of its subject. It also calls for you to present your research and analysis

in a format that includes at least one digital medium in addition to text (such an audio recording or

images, etc.).
The main stages of the project are:
Identify a topic to research.
Submit a project description and research questions.
Read feedback and submit revised description and questions.
Submit outline and at least three sources for research.
Read feedback and submit revised outline and sources.
Receive approval for the proposal (descriptions, questions, outline and feedback). Approval is required for

full credit.
Research! Find information. Read it, think about it, write about it. Repeat.
Report on your research so far.

Submit a description of your proposed research project, including 2-3 research questions, according to the

specifications below, under “The Proposal.”  Make sure it has all the necessary components, and is in

accordance with the guidelines given. After posting a project description, you will receive feedback from

me. One or more rounds of revisions may be required before your project is approved.
After your description is approved, submit an outline of the project, and at least three research sources

that relate to your topic.  These must conform to the specifications under “The Proposal”. Your sources also

have to be approved, and may require revision before they are.
Post a research update. Tell us, informally, what answers have you found to your research questions, and

what new questions have emerged.
Submit completed digital media research project.
Topics
Your first step will be to identify a topic. Taking into consideration the reading, writing, and discussion

that have occurred in the course, find a subject that is of particular interest to you. It will probably be

helpful to look at past assignments and ReadMe! entries to generate ideas.
Your subject does not have to be one we’ve addressed in the course, but it does need to relate to digital

literacy. It also should be a subject of importance in the sense that it affects the lives of individuals,

groups, or communities, and has implications for how our culture and society are developing.
You have the option of working with a partner, and obviously if two people are working together, they will

have to consult very closely on what their topic will be.
In order to be able to successfully research and write about your topic, you need to be very specific about

what aspects of your subject you are addressing. You will see that the amount of information you find can

quickly become overwhelming, so it’s important to develop a narrow focus so that your investigation can be

detailed, rather than generalized and superficial.  A narrow topic allows you to determine easily what books

or articles will not be relevant for you.  And importantly, a narrow topic will allow you to delve deeply

into your subject to create a final project that is well-thought out and informative, not superficial,

boring, or cliched.
Creating a formal proposal will help you focus your topic. A formal proposal that is approved is required.

Details are below.
The Proposal
Your proposal will describe the specific topic you want to investigate, including research questions, an

outline, and some of the sources your will use for your research.
After you have submitted each part of  your proposal (the description and questions, and then the outline

and sources), they must be approved. You will know your submission has been approved when I respond with the

words, “This is APPROVED.” If you have not seen those words in response to your proposal, that means it has

not been approved yet.
The approval process will probably involve some revisions, and may require a few rounds of feedback and

revisions before it is complete.
The first part of each proposal must include:
A general description of your topic (about a paragraph).
Specific question(s) your research will address (between 1 and 2, most likely).

The second part of your proposal should include:
The approved description and questions (part 1)
An outline of your project
At least 3 sources that relate to your research questions, 1 of which must be a scholarly source (include

full citations)
Here are some suggestions that will help your proposal to be approved:
Make your questions as concrete as possible. “What is good and bad about Facebook” isn’t a good research

question. “What are some of the uses grandparents have made of blogs?” is a much better question.
The sources also need to be specific. An entire website isn’t a source for the purpose of this proposal. A

particular journal article is a source you could include. The scholarly source can come from a peer-reviewed

journal, or an essay or chapter from a book published by a university press, for example. If you’re not sure

what a scholarly source is, please raise that question.
Provide full citations for your sources using either MLA or APA style.
Here are 3 ways to guarantee that your proposal will NOT be approved:
Any description or research question that compares the “benefits and risks,” “positive and negative,” “pros

and cons,” “good and bad,” and so on of any subject, technology, or activity will need to be revised. A

proposal that contains anything similar will not be approved.
A description or research question that involves the future of any subject, technology, activity, people, or

organization. The future hasn’t happened yet. It is possible to speculate about it, but it is not possible

to research it. A proposal with questions about the future will not be approved.
A research question that is capable of being answered with a single word will not be approved. “Can Facebook

be harmful to teenagers?”  “Can Facebook help teenagers study?” It’s possible to respond Yes, No, or even

Maybe. However, there is no single-word answer to the question, “In what ways can teenagers use Facebook to

help them learn?”

Complete Project
Your final project is your opportunity to demonstrate that you have mastered the content, tools, and skills

necessary to be digitally literate. It should be detailed enough and large/long enough so that you discuss

your topic in depth, and are able to showcase the research you’ve done.
There are many elements of this project which could be like a traditional research paper, but there is a

requirement that you make use of at least one digital medium, such as video, or more simply, images. These

cannot be merely “window-dressing.” All the material you include should be in the service of a point you are

trying to make, a phenomenon you are illustrating or analyzing, or a counter-example to someone’s argument.

This applies equally to quotations of text or embedded multi-media. Everything in your project needs to have

a reason, and you need to explain to your reader (and/or viewer, auditor, etc.) what that reason is.
To that end, make sure you that you carefully select what part of an article, video, news report, etc. you

will include. Just as  you wouldn’t dump an entire scientific study in your own work, don’t put an entire 3

-minute recording in when the part that is important to you is only 90 seconds long. If you aren’t able to

edit your source, then provide directions for where the relevant portions are. For example, you could tell

people to watch from 12:06 (twelve minutes, six seconds) to 14:32 (2 minutes and 24 seconds later) to see what you are about to discuss.

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