[624 FALL 2012, COMMENT GUIDELINES] 1

Digital Citizenship & Blog Commenting Guidelines

Participation is a key component of digital citizenship. In this class, digital citizenship is assessed by your engagement with your colleagues postings and work. So, in addition to writing your responses and posting your content and article reviews, you also need to post comments on your colleagues blogs. Instead of using an online forum for discussion, our discussion will take place in a public forum. Public blog discussions have several implications. First, other, noncourse people may land on, read, and comment on your blog. Second, this material will contribute to your online profile. Third, employers and colleagues may eventually see you content and/or comments during or after the class. Thus, it is important to keep in mind what you are writing takes place in the public sphere. Although there is some flexibility because it is an online course, discussions and posts should take place in a regular and timely manner, otherwise the discussions and learning are not as effective. Here are the rules for posting comments: By November 19th, you should have posted a total of 20 different comments on at least 10 different blogs (this will be adjusted if the class is smaller than 10 people). Post at least one and a maximum of four comments per week on different blogs. Do not wait until week five to get started. Start in the very first week. Your comments/engagement must be supported and documented in this course. Each week you should comment on a minimum of 1 other students post and a maximum of 4 other students posts. By the end of Week 8 (11/19), you need to have left and documented (on the appropriate form) 20 intelligent and engaging comments for at least 10 different peers. By 11/19, you will submit the documentation. To keep the discussions as effective and as lively as possible, please follow these guidelines: Be sure to read, view, and follow-up on the course material before you post or comment. It is a good idea to review all of the material so that you can identify relevant themes throughout the content.

[624 FALL 2012, COMMENT GUIDELINES]

Respond to posts within seven to ten days of the original post. Doing so will help make sure that the content and ideas are still fresh in both of your minds. Unlike other courses in the MS:EdIT program, all materials, content, posts, and responses are due on Mondays at 11:55 pm. There is no specific due date for your comments/responses to others work. However, you need to keep the limits (up to four comments per week) in mind. To earn full credit for your comments, each comment should: Be at least 100 words in length; Address two points the author made; Clearly agree, disagree, or offer another perspective to the authors position; Use concrete, specific support for your comment. Best Practices/Suggested Process Read all of the course material for the week; Write your own post; Read several colleagues posts; Think about their posts; Comment on two or three posts; Immediately document your post on the Blog Comment Rubric.