Module 5: Publishing Online – Project-Based Assessment

Students will investigate the challenges and solutions digital media presents in our community and assess the impact that digital media has on the individual and society. This will be a group, project-based assessment to explore the themes and topics covered in the previous modules and will support the assessment element of the short course. 

Students will be able to identify and critique the role of digital media in our society and the impact on the individual.

4.5 publish an item online presenting their views on a subject or topic that is relevant to their lives 

4.6 demonstrate an appropriate method for citing and referencing online-sourced material accurately 

4.7 document the planning and research history of the published work

SPHE Year 2 Influences and Decisions

– have further developed their decision-making skills and be aware of the need for reflection during the decision-making process.

SPHE Year 3 Communication Skills:

– have further developed their communication skills

– appreciate that criticism can be helpful

Inquiry-based learning, discussion, brainstorming, establishing key words and key messages; active learning; group work, project-based learning

Each of the tasks demonstrates engagements with learning outcomes across all four strands. Students are to work in groups of three and chose one of the four tasks to complete. Each of the tasks is based on topics and themes covered throughout the previous four modules. They provide a certain amount of freedom for students to pursue topics that are of interest/relevance to their lives within each of the areas. It is envisaged that students will provide evidence of their learning in a variety of ways, including digital media, audio recordings, video, presentations and written pieces. It is recommended that student work is recorded and captured throughout the programme using digital portfolios through the school VLE or via Google or Office 365. This work will be useful for students when undertaking the project-based assessment. 

Many of the teaching and learning activities outlined in this resource support formative and summative assessment tasks, with opportunities for self- and peer-assessment, as well as opportunities for teachers to give individualised feedback to learners.

“Accommodations which enable all students to access curriculum and assessment are based on specific needs. For example, a student who cannot physically type may use free dictation software to complete ongoing assessments and the Classroom-Based Assessment. Equally, a student who cannot speak may sign/draw/write/type/create visuals and subtitles to present and communicate ideas. A student with a specific learning difficulty may benefit from having learning tasks and activities presented in a different way. Comprehensive guidelines on inclusion in post-primary schools are available here and guidelines for teachers of students with general learning disabilities are available here.” 

While the Connected resource covers a broad range of learning outcomes from each strand of the Junior Cycle Digital Media Literacy short course, it does not cover them all. The assessment tasks outlined in this module are intended as an assessment of the themes and topics covered in this resource. However it is possible that the assessment tasks outlined here can lend themselves to the completion of classroom-based assessment tasks. Please note, as part of the Classroom-Based Assessment, students should encompass an awareness of how to remain safe online, how to respond to potentially harmful situations, the benefits and risks of social networking, and how to be a respectful and responsible online citizen.

If you are intending to use these assessment tasks for the classroom-based assessment of the Digital Media Literacy short course, it is advised you consult the following:

Junior Cycle Digital Media Literacy short course Guidelines for the Classroom-Based Assessment

www.curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/16df81a9-1fe0-43ec-a6b150660f9c612e/DML_AssessmentGuidelines_Feb2017.pdf

Short Course Digital Media Literacy Specification for Junior Cycle

www.curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/71b6b946-971b-40038bfa-028932cc4daa/NCCA-JC-Short-Course-DML.pdf

As the Junior Cycle Digital Media Literacy short course Guidelines for the Classroom-Based Assessment outlines:
“The final project is a significant piece of work presented/published in an appropriate digital format. The student (or group of students) will identify a topic that is of interest to them. This topic can come from within any of the four strands or from something that the students have a personal connection with. The topic might also arise from interests of a cross-curricular nature, e.g. from CSPE, SPHE and Coding. On completion, the project could be presented or published as a web page, a blog, a podcast, an oral presentation with supporting text/images, a wiki, a school resource or any other appropriate digital mode.”

It is recommended that this assessment be completed over approximately six to eight hours of class time towards the end of the course. The early stages of preparation might include researching and establishing the particular area of interest, identifying the aims and goals of the project and the method of presentation or publication to be employed. It may necessitate visiting or interviewing experts from within and beyond the school, and may involve accessing content in different formats to ensure depth of understanding. Where these and other sources are used, it will be necessary to demonstrate appropriate and accurate referencing protocols. Students might be given the opportunity to present elements of their project to a suitable audience and appropriate format on completion of the work.

As part of the Classroom-Based Assessment, students should include reflections and comments on their experience of engaging with and communicating through online activity. For example, this reflection could encompass awareness of how to remain safe online, how to respond to potentially harmful situations, the benefits and risks of social networking, how to be a respectful and responsible online citizen and ways in which you can become an active citizen online.

The student could ask themselves questions such as:

— What personal information was a website/social media site looking for?

— What were the privacy settings for a particular chat site/website?

— How easy was it to navigate the website?

— What level of bias was the website presenting?

— How can I verify the information that I accessed on any website?

— What are the laws in Ireland on publishing content online and how do these laws compare to other countries?

— How do I report online bullying or intimidation?

— Was the content I was looking for easy to access?

While these reflections can be developed over the duration of the course, they should be incorporated into the final project and form part of the final presentation/publication in the format that is seen as most suitable and appropriate for capturing its essence.

For assessing the tasks we recommend teachers use the assessment rubric outline in the Guidelines pgs. 12-13:

“Deciding on the level of achievement”