We were asked by our lecturer to provide a critique on our own knowledge network artefact that I had to create and submit for Assignment 2. We were also asked to critique our peers so I have included those here as well.
I have used the rationale and learning opportunities from the Subject Outline to help guide my critique.
Through the creation of the Knowledge Networking Artefact I should have been able to demonstrate:
The life-cycle of information, its history and its future:
I think I did this in a broad way. My artefact was about digital content curation and was aimed at senior students. Creating the video for the students demonstrated that I am aware that the information space online is vast and deep and thus why content curation is an essential skill in managing this.
Be able to locate and evaluate a range of innovative online tools and spaces for creative knowledge production and learner engagement and be able to use a suite of new media tools for information management, content creation, content curation, collaborative work, and connecting social networks and communities of practice within and beyond the school.
I think this was one of the stronger aspects of my artefact. I took guidance from my lecturer as I really wasn’t aware of what was current in this area. I am reasonably confident with webtools so using the various sites such as Powtoon, Vimeo, Pexels, Pixabay, CCMixer, Screencastify etc did not scare me. They certainly frustrated me at times as I was trying to put the video together but it came together in the end. I learnt that I didn’t know everything about the tools and that I needed to ask help earlier. I didn’t love the overall aesthetic that the stock images and sound created but it served its function. I tried to let my perfectionist tendencies go and just try to accept that what I was producing was OK. I’m not sure that it would be the most visually appealing or engaging for my students but I would still put it out there for them to watch and give me feedback on. I think my level of narration was a little general and probably needed to go into a little more depth to really capture an understanding of knowledge networking and content curation.
Be able to describe and critique the interplay between formal and informal learning in physical and digital venues, and approaches such as the flipped classroom.
The artefact was in many ways a resource for the flipped classroom. It was an opportunity to teach a concept in a formal setting and to then have it be referred to informally when the students were at home studying or content curating themselves. It could be used in the physical classroom or only used online. The fact that it crosses classroom boundaries makes it a successful tool.
Be able to build on knowledge networking to strengthen school-based classroom engagement and learning through intentional and reflective online instructional design.
I tried to use Gagne’s 9 steps for instructional design but I’m not sure how successful I was at providing students with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills. I think much of that would come later, after the video had been shown. The first steps of the process were clearly established in the aretfact. I think if I had to make the video again I would refine the second half to have more direction on getting the students to do their own curation. I would include more detailed narration overall as I’m not sure that I effectively captured my understanding of knowledge networking.
Karen’s Knowledge Networking Artefact
Karen’s artefact was also on content curation. She utilised creative commons images and music and a range of tools to convey the concept of content curation to vocational educators. It was clear who her audience was throughout the video. Her narration was quite detailed and I could tell that it evidenced readings from the course. It was well paced and clear. It covered a range of skills required to be an effective curator and showed this through a range of different platforms. The visuals were engaging and dynamic so that I felt compelled to follow along with what she was saying.
Tanya’s Knowledge Networking Artefact
Tanya’s artefact was an introduction to Twitter. It used Powtoon and Screencastify to explain how to use this to an audience. A bit like my own artefact, the audience wasn’t always clear throughout. She explained each step and shared some interesting hashtags that I had not heard of before (#ditchbook). Her narration was clear throughout and was an accessible video for those new to Twitter.
