Assessment 1 – Part C

The process of writing Assessment 1 was intense and challenging, but also served as an effective extension of the course content.

At first, the sheer scope of ‘digital citizenship’ made selecting a focus topic an overwhelming task, but I happened to be reading Tracey Spicer’s 2023 book, Man-Made, which helped me connect at a human level. I hadn’t made the connection before, but deepfakes are a significant element of misinformation and disinformation, which is currently ranked #2 (after extreme weather) in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2024 report.

In fact, one of the challenges I had with this assignment – which I don’t normally have – is the sheer multitude of articles about deepfakes to wade through. There is so much! And all of it so recent, too. The same information kept coming up, though, so it took time to parse through it all and select the more reputable sources.

I hadn’t used Wix before, but I have a lot of experience with WordPress (same as Thinkspace) and decided I would be able to pick it up easily enough. However, I spent several days figuring it out and trying to find a template that would work (the first one I had to delete) – more complicated than I expected! I enjoyed writing the website but it used up the better part of two weeks, leaving me with very little time to spend on the digital artefact.

For Part B, I considered making something simple and within the skillset I already had, but was very uninspired. I have never made this kind of video before and learning to use Powtoon in a short amount of time is not ideal. It’s a bit rough, but the main challenge was simplifying things and finding a ‘hook’ for a younger audience, as my intention was to make something a teacher could use in a classroom setting. I’m glad I did the video as I’ve now learned some video making skills!

I’ve come to consider digital citizenship far more important than the Australian Curriculum acknowledges. Issues like deepfakes are new and best tackled through hands-on workshops with students. Because of the lack of laws and regulations, and the speed at which technology is developing, education is really the only tool we have.