Working towards my Master’s, I have taken several courses that require the same activity: an annotated bibliography. The basics of the assignment are all the same, to find a resource on the subject and explain why I have chosen it. However, one of the courses required slightly different resources, which greatly impacted my digital literacy.
For this assignment, I needed to find both academic and non-academic references. This included an online journal, a book, a video or podcast, a blog, and news articles. While I am comfortable looking up academic references, I struggled to find videos, podcasts and blogs. I do not listen to podcasts or read blogs on my own, let alone one on particular subjects. Where could I find reputable sources? When I used Google, using my subject and video or blog as the search parameters, I found many resources, but which ones were reputable? Which ones would I want to use on an academic assignment? I had to narrow it down. As I continued to work on the assignment, I realized the value of it. The assignment helped increase the students’ digital literacy. It had the students research the resources they were using to understand the value and if they were appropriate to use. In hindsight, I realized… What a clever assignment.
September 16, 2024
Zoe Manson
September 16, 2024 — 11:03 am
Hi Christine,
I understand how it can seem difficult to find reputable videos, podcasts, and blogs. One thing that I have realized with a bit of time going down rabbit holes on the internet is that there are numerous highly qualified PhDs or experienced professionals who have comprehensive websites dedicated to educational tech. Many of their websites have blogs, videos, and podcasts as well! This allows you to check their credentials on the website before going to their content. Of course, you can never be 100% certain, however, with a bit of time and a short background check you can determine how reputable the person is producing the content.