Online Students: Blog Posts and Reflections—Due April 19 plus 7-day grace period (100 Points): Instead of a large class discussion forum in Canvas, you will create a Weblog (i.e., a blog) to reflect on your personal article readings and ideas related to class. We will have around 6 groups and around 4 people in each blog group. What concepts and ideas resonate with you? What do you disagree with? What do find intriguing? And so on. Send me your blog URL after you set it up.

A minimum of 13 posts or around 1 blog reflection per week and feedback to your teammates each week—posting in Week 15 is optional and you can skip any other week (50 points). I want you to reflect and blog post each week on at least three of the assigned articles for the week (or one long article if it a technical report, white paper, or educational technology plan). The length of each post will vary. Let’s go with a 200 word minimum blog post for now (this could change). I also want you to give feedback each week to at least two members of your team. Peer feedback can be short or long. Send me your blog URL after you set it up. You might create a blog using WordPress or some other blogging tool. Please share the URL of your blog with me. My TAs and I will be giving feedback on these blog postings. You will also give feedback to two of your peers each week; I will assign you all into four teams of four or five people to give feedback to. Please give your groupmates feedback by the end of each week (by Saturday night or Sunday). Peer feedback should be at least five sentences per post. This is a weekly task.

At the end of the semester, I want you to draft a 2 (maybe 3) page single-spaced reflection paper on your blog postings plus any appendices (i.e., a super summary of what you learned this semester) (50 points). What issues and controversaries does the field of IST/educational technology face? What has the field contributed thus far? Where is it headed? Based on your readings, what scholars in the field of IST have you resonated with and why? What or who has really opened your eyes? This task is the last one due on April 19th. Please post it to Canvas.

Brave Blogger Option: You might ask ChatGPT, ChatPDF, or some other generative AI tool to create starter text for your blog posts. You might rely on Generative AI tools for wording or a comment, quote, critique, comparison, or other means that you deem relevant. Or you might create two weekly blogs, one is yours and one for what a generative AI tool creates. Or you might alternative between your blog reflections and a generative AI post and your reflections on it. Or you might be really brave and have a generative AI tool blog each week and you add to it or modify it as his/her writing partner. The purpose is to experiment and see what happens.

Your blog posts might do the following:

1. State reactions, questions, and suggestions for the weekly readings.

2. Recommend, critique, discuss, share, and potentially demonstrate specific emerging technology tools, platforms, and resources.

3. Post author pictures, quotes, figures, tables, etc., from the articles for the current week.

4. Recap or briefly summarize key parts of the assigned articles for the week.

5. Spark discussion by pointing out controversial points in the field.

6. Offer feedback to peers on their posts. Or post AI feeback on your blog posts.

7. Add resources and links to resources to peer blog posts or your posts.

8. Connect discussion to experts in the field.

9. Connect or synthesize comments within the week.

10. Point to counter points and inaccuracies in the blog postings of other students that week.

11. Be creative or offer creative insights when needed.

12. Point out the relationship of upcoming week topic or articles to past lectures or readings.

13. Reflect on the blog posts from past weeks; repost prior quotes from others.

14. Discuss the position of a researcher or pioneer in the field (or perhaps even write to him/her and list his/her comments if he/she responds or ask his/her to chat with our class).

15. Discuss a recent speech or colloquium you attended related to the week or a visit to a technology center or exhibit.

16. At the end of the week, you might react and reflect on the class discussion that transpired as well as the questions and concerns raised. You might also link to the next week’s readings.

Blog Postings and Reflection Paper considerations:

Diversity (some variety in ideas posted, and some breadth to exploration).
Perspective taking (values other perspectives, ideas, cultures, etc.).
Creativity (original, unique, and novel ideas).
Insightful (makes interesting, astute, and sagacious observations).
Relevancy (topics selected are connected to course content).
Learning Depth/Growth (shows some depth to thinking and elaboration of ideas).