This assignment involves completing online research and writing a mini research paper on your findings.In order to complete it successfully, you will need to choose a narrow, focused topic; research that topic; write a 1-2 page essay, including an image as well as text and citing your sources; and post it to the Research Wiki.
Step 1: Choose a Topic
Your first task is to pick a topic to research. Since digital literacy is the subject of the course, as a broad guideline you should choosea narrowly-focused topic that is related to the digital worldand phrase it as a question. The specific topic that you choose is ultimately up to you. However, topics related to elections should be current. (See notes in "About this Week.")
The followingare some sample topics-- you can use them as a model, but should formulate your own specific, narrow topic:
- In what specific ways is [Politician X] using social networking in his/her/their 2020 Presidential campaign and how does this differ from how other politicians are using it?
- How is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez using Instagram in her role in the United States Congress? How is it effective and how might it be problematic?
- How does the digital divide affect residents in [name of country, city, rural area, etc.]?
Step 2: Research your Topic
First, take some time to work through theBare Bones tutorialfor a great lesson in doing online research. The Bare Bones tutorial is a required step before you move onto completing your actual research.
One approach to the research process is to ask Who, What, Where, When, and Why questions in your search. Put the answers to these journalistic questions into a short piece written as if you were a reporter.
Step 3: Write the Mini-Essay
Once you have completed your research, you will write a 500-word essay (this is the equivalent of 1-2 double-spaced pages). This essay must:
- Include a relevant image in addition to the text of the essay;
- Be based on research you did for this assignment; and
- Attribute your sources and link to them using “nice links” to make it clear where information or quotations came from (seehow to create “nice links”). You can do what newspaper reporters do: if you have an interesting fact or quotation, briefly say where you got it (“According to ..."; "So-and-so reports that...").
Post the essay as a new page on the Research Wiki. You are also encouraged to comment on others’mini research papers, but this is optional.
If you have questions, or want to bounce around topic ideas, come to the “Q&A” forum!