This learning community includes one-credit of experiential learning, which will require you to undertake independent field research during the semester through one large collaborative project. One-credit of experiential learning typically requires 45 hours of out-of-class work, including preparation and reflection on each project/assignment. Additionally, you will be required to create and maintain an online collaborative space (whether that be a wiki, blog, or facebook page, etc.) - so you can collaborate online, but also where I will be tracking your progress. You must pass the experiential learning component to pass the learning community as a whole. The experiential learning assignments will cumulatively be worth 30% of your final grade. 

The two main components of the experiential learning project include research and the use of a digital tool or set of tools that reflects your project research. For this project, I encourage a lot of creativity and outside-of-the-box thinking. Because each project will be designed by the group members - and because I want to give you the latitude to be creative and come up with projects that might even surprise me - I will give you general guidelines, rather than more specific requirements and discuss each project proposal with your group in advance, checking in along the way to offer suggestions, advice, and feedback. 

For the experiential learning project, you will be required to do the following (in groups): 

1) Research a topic of interest that deals with digital literacy in greater depth. You may choose a topic that we touched upon in class, but your research should go beyond class readings and discussions. You must consult (and utilize) at least ten outside sources, five of which must be scholarly sources. 

2) Use a digital tool (or set of tools) to publish your research - in a creative and interesting fashion. 

DUE DATES:

March 2nd: a preliminary proposal outlining your group project; this proposal should be available to me electronically (and you should provide me with a link and any necessary access/passwords), whether via a group wiki page, a blog that your group creates, or any other electronic forum you decide upon. This space (whatever you choose) should be updated throughout your project and serve as a forum for you and your group members on which to collaborate, share information, post articles, etc.

You should address the following within your proposal:

• What primary question or issue are you trying to address and why?
• What type of research do you plan to do? For instance, what articles do you think you'll be referring to? What other type of research will you do? Interviews? Qualitative data (statistics)? 
• How do you plan to present your project? Using what digital tools? (Keep in mind that however you present your project, it MUST be publishable on the web) How does your choice of digital tools for presentation reflect your actual project? (i.e. if you are doing a research project about Facebook, where will you publish your results, and how does this reflect your choice of research?)

I will respond to your proposals before spring break - giving you feedback and comments, asking whatever questions I think still need to be resolved, etc. This preliminary proposal will be worth 20% of your final project grade. Please make sure that you provide as much information as possible, not only for a good grade, but because the more information you provide, the more feedback I will be able to give you - ensuring a better project in the end. 

March 30th: evidence that at least 50% of your project has been completed. This should include approximately 50% of your research to date (not just links to articles, but an actual synthesis of the information you have collected) and can include transcripts from interviews, data collected and synthesized, and any progress you've made on the actual mode of presentation (whether that be footage you've taken for a YouTube video, editing done, or whatever). The actual evidence will, of course, vary from project to project - but feel free to email me with questions. 

April 13th: FINAL PROJECTS DUE / you should send to me, via email, a link to your collaborative work space (be it a wiki page or blog, where you actually collaborated and shared information, notes, etc.) AND the actual final project, which should be made available online via a link (whether to YouTube, FB, a blog site, etc.). You will be graded on the following: 

1) thoroughness of research

2) synthesis and analysis of research 

3) variety of research

4) online presentation of research (style and content)