Participate 1.1.3 Ideal Digital Learning Community Quest

In order to design the ideal digital learning community, many aspects of learning must be taken into account. Just like in the traditional classroom setting, there should be various types of learning opportunities using a plethora of teaching techniques. Students should feel comfortable completing the assignments or tasks, while being challenged at the same time. Timely feedback should be given by the teacher, providing students with ample opportunities to master the content.

The ideal DLC would not only provide students with quality learning experiences, but it would also be user friendly for the teacher. An easy-to-use platform with a clear and precise grade book would help teachers to utilize student data to inform their teaching and guide their lessons.

Finally, a link with a wealth of resources and links to help students understand the content would be a major requirement for the ideal DLC.  The illustration below is a great example of how the ideal digital learning community should bring together many of the most important aspects of education. 

Participate 2.1.1 Collecting Reputable Digital Resources Quest

After exploring the links in this quest, I discovered some websites that I feel are the most useful resources for the online learning platform. My favorite websites were: 

http://www.goorulearning.org/#home

In the website above, students are given lessons, activities, reviews, etc for all topics and subject areas in k-12 grade. This quote comes straight from the Gooru website, "We believe that with the right set of tools and applications, teachers and students can use the web to positively impact learning outcomes."

http://sciencenetlinks.com/

As a science teacher, I LOVE sciencenetlinks.com. It gives lessons, tools, science news, and experiments that students can do at home. This website is amazing for the face-to-face classroom setting and the digital learning setting. 

www.zondle.com

Of all the websites I explored, zondle.com is my favorite. This website allows teachers and students to create review games that can be used as formative and summative assessments, as well as review for tests and quizzes. There are thousands of pre-made topics in the database. Students can simply search a topic and begin studying. This program also allows teachers to set up their classes and have access to immediate feedback. 

Finally, to teach students to safely collect tools and resources online, it is important for students to understand that the following domains are the most reputable sites:

• .edu (education)
• .gov (government)
• .mil (US military)
• .org (may be a non-profit organization)

Participate 1.1.2 Joining a Digital Learning Community Quest

I researched several DLCs before joining Wikiversity. I looked at Khan Academy, Open Yale Courses, Connexions, Open Learning Initiative, and Wikiversity. While the different digital learning communities each had their own impressive traits, I joined Wikiversity because it is a scholarly version of Wikipedia. Being a science teacher who assigns research projects to advanced middle school students, I am continually asking my students to double check the information they receive from Wikipedia. Wikiversity has actual scholarly information with resources for all types and ages of learners. I think students would be more likely to use this DLC since they are already very familiar with Wikipedia. Using Wikiversity would not force them outside of their comfort zone. 

Participate 1.1.1 Character Traits Quest

As digital learning progresses in schools around the world, it is important that students possess the skills, understanding, and responsibility to work in an online environment. To me, the three most important aspects of digital citizenship are safety, integrity, and responsibility.

1. Safety - The Internet is a vast forum for all sorts of information: good and bad. Students must be aware of the lasting impression of everything they put on the Internet. It never goes away. A child's whole world can be tracked at the click of a button, so students must keep in mind that their personal information should never be shared on the World Wide Web. Safety of our children should be every educator's number one priority.

2. Integrity - Honesty plays a major role in the digital learning community. Everything on the Internet can be copied, edited, and shared. Being part of an online class requires integrity and honesty in all assignments and tasks. Students must understand that using other people's work without consent is cheating.

3. Responsibility - In order to be successful in online classes, students must be responsible. In the face-to-face setting, students have teachers reminding them over and over again to turn in work and are able to answer questions immediately. In the digital classroom, students must be organized and self-aware. If they do not know how to do an assignment, then they must advocate for themselves and be responsible enough to ask.