New America Resources:
New America Resources has created an OER list to provide people with an easy way to search and discover free and publicly available resources. Educators can use this tool to determine what students need to know in grades and content areas and search for learning resources. New America Resources provides students and teachers with personalized learning options. The website is classified according to Site Description, Grade Level, Content Area, Resource Type, Tags and Notes, which is very convenient. These materials have a scope and order. You can use original materials or edit and modify these materials according to the open license of the websites based on your own requirements.
Digital Literacies Website:
Digital Literacies: Resources is maintained by Edmonton Public Schools and its collection of resources was created by Alberta learning experts to support the development of Alberta education research programs and digital literacy. This website contains resources for all grades and provides a wide range of resources and links, including digital safety and security, digital literacy, digital commerce, digital communications, digital rights and responsibilities, etc. This website is divided into multiple pages according to key themes, and each key topic contains learning resources that will be updated regularly. Just use the top of the website page to search for topics, and then click on the page to see related resources. Compared with New America Resources, this contains more about the digital literacy education framework at all stages of k-12.
Activity: Wikipedia editing
“The free Encyclopedia that everyone can edit” -Wikipedia
That is literally what Wikipedia advertises on their website. While it is a great feature that people in every part of the world with an internet connection can edit and implement their knowledge on the information for a certain topic, it is in my opinion a double-edged sword in which the information can not always be guaranteed to be indefinitely correct. Although there are other editors as well and advisors to check over new given information, this becomes an issue where educational facilities will not take Wikipedia as an effective and concrete way of obtaining correct information. However, Wikipedia has come a long way from information that could be wrong to the current Wikipedia which has become a significantly more accurate source of study. Overall, Wikipedia is easy to use and register to edit as well as the most popular information obtainment for virtually everybody in the world.
Activity: Visitor & Resident Map
When I made my own Visitor & Resident Map, I found that I had a better understanding of my relationship with the Internet. And the production process of the Visitor & Resident Map is also exciting. I need to calm down and think about the software and websites that I usually use and analyze my behavior on these softwares and websites. Through the process of making Visitor & Resident Map, people can sort out how they use technology and the Internet and understand their usual online behavior.
Activity: Twitter Chat
Twitter is an excellent academic network, which provides a platform to exchange ideas with other scholars from all over the world. Students can use Twitter as a research tool by using the search bar. Students can follow related hashtags, search for people and keywords to get the information they want. This time Dr. Roberts used Twitter in class, and we can all post answers or comments on Twitter and get real-time feedback from the professor and classmates. We can ask questions and get answers in real-time on Twitter. But the only defect of Twitter is that it has a 140-word limit, so sometimes it has to be divided into several tweets to write. Sometimes, if you accidentally mistake the order, it will be difficult to read.
Summary with group members:
These activities I have finished allowed me to understand further and distinguish the difference between online learning and open learning. Online learning refers to education through technology and the Internet and its characteristics are geographic distance and time separation. Students can choose their own study time according to their work and living arrangement. Open learning refers to a learning method that allows students to choose the learning method flexibly according to their needs. Through the activities of Twitter Chat, I saw the characteristics of online learning that no matter when and where we are, we can use the Twitter platform as a study tool to share and exchange our views. By learning about K-12-related websites, I think I have realized the advantages of open learning, no matter who I am, I can freely choose what I want to learn, and I can use many learning methods and content choices based on what I need.
It’s very essential for a group to discuss their thoughts after activities because we have different thoughts and thinking logics, when we complete tasks independently, the feelings and experiences we have in the process are also different. But when we come together to discuss and compare each other’s ideas, we can learn from others and bring all of our ideas together. If we do the tasks and summaries by one person, we may be paranoid and stuck at a certain point.
Study group discussion evidence:
