Student Work

A large portion of our class is dedicated to independent, self-directed student work that takes the form of several posts on our Learning Blog. You’ll be given time to explore class-related topics and resources that interest you while building skills that allow you to communicate effectively online.

This work is intended to help you practice learning new skills independently. Your teacher is your coach, cheerleader, and guide, but the learning and development of your content will be achieved through your own work. Please do your best to manage your time wisely, and seek help as soon as possible if you find yourself running behind.

Posting Overview

There are six different types of posts you’ll be able to create, some of which are optional:

  1. A Recommendation Post that allows you to share a favorite site while you become familiar with the WordPress interface.
  2. A Review Post in which you choose an online resource or tool to learn about and review.
  3. A Research Post in which you choose a topic that relates to our class, learn about it, and then create a post sharing your research.
  4. An Online Learning Post in which you featuring your reflections on an online learning experience.
  5. A Search Strategy How-to that documents how to successfully execute an assigned search strategy.
  6. Leadership Posts that are created to fulfill the Class Reporter and/or Class Explorer leadership roles.

For review, research, and online learning posts, there are 6 stages of development:

Stage One: Selection

  1. Explore your chosen topic
  2. Choose a post format
  3. Read, listen to, and/or watch materials related to your topic
  4. Read, listen to, and/or watch materials related to your post format (if necessary)

Choosing a Content Candidate

  • Take your time, check out the materials, and find something that interests you. The more interested you are in your candidate, the more you’ll enjoy the experience. You’re also more likely to end up with a result you’ll be proud of!

  • Try to challenge yourself. Pick something you don’t know much about, or that you’d like to explore in more detail. If you already know all about the candidate, it may be difficult to learn new things, and you might become bored or create a lower-quality post.

Choosing a Format

  • Try to pick a format that will challenge you to build new skills. This is the perfect opportunity to try new things without worrying about failure — you can always try another approach, and the project isn’t finished until you choose to submit it for publication.

  • If things aren’t working out with your format, talk to your teacher. There may be approaches you haven’t considered, or alternate ways to succeed without giving up on your choice.

Stage Two: Approval

  1. Submit your choice to the teacher along with the required rubric
  2. Get approval to continue, or if asked to make adjustments, modify your request and return to the previous step

This stage simply makes sure that you’re on-track to create a post that meets the requirements of the assignment, and helps the teacher to clarify what you’ll be working on.

Stage Three: Learning

Learn about your resource, research topic, or online course subject

While you’re learning, keep in mind the following questions:

  • How are you going to make sure you’re meeting the post’s requirements?
  • What sources do you already have?
  • What additional sources do you need?
  • What tools are you going to use?
    • How will you evaluate your sources?
    • Where will you keep your notes and materials?
    • How will you track your citations?
  • What equipment do you need?
  • What web sites are you going to use to find what you need, and how will you use them?
    • Where will you go to conduct research?
  • Where can you turn when you get stuck?
    • Who can help?
    • What materials would help?

Stage Four: Drafting

  1. Create a first draft of your post
  2. Use the post rubric to ensure your post meets standards, then submit it when everything’s ready
  3. Submit your post for review online
  4. Get feedback from your teacher and/or peers

Providing Feedback

For your Research Post you’ll be asked to provide feedback to your classmates to help them identify things that they can do to get their posts ready for submission. Please keep in mind the following things during the feedback process:

  • Be supportive. Identify and recognize something positive, and provide constructive support rather than criticism. When there are things that need improvement, ask your classmate to consider things that you think will help them succeed rather than telling them what to do.
  • Be thorough. Look through the requirements carefully and identify anything that can help your classmate improve.
  • Be specific. Make sure that your classmate has specific action items that they can use to move forward. Avoid general statements that are difficult to understand or act upon.

Stage Five: Editing

  1. Use feedback to identify things to improve
  2. Modify your post as needed
  3. Get additional feedback from your teacher and/or peers
  4. Repeat prior three steps until your post is ready for submission

Editing Your Work

Take the feedback you receive from your draft and use it to create action items that will help you improve upon your project. Now is the time to take your work and make sure that every requirement is met, every component meets standards, and any issues are identified and addressed.

When you’ve developed your project and think it might be ready for publication, ask for another round of feedback from your peers. There’s almost always something we miss that another brain and pair of eyes will catch.

Use that additional feedback to improve your project, and keep going through the process until you and your peers can’t identify further room for improvement.

Stage Six: Publication

  1. When accepted, your project is published on the public class web site
  2. You’ll receive your Scholarship badge for successful completion of all required posts