This course involves a series of Community Updates (in addition to “Admin Updates”) that will help prepare you for your course project and reflect on the peer review process.
You are encouraged to use the scholarly sources you find for your individual community updates in your project submission.
Basic Details
What to Include
In addition to the specific Update Prompts provided below, your updates should include the following:
- Title: The Update title should include the related project update # and a brief, yet descriptive title.
- Words: Each update should be 250 words or more that address the update prompts outlined below
- Scholarly Sources: Refer to the update prompts below
- Media: Include at least one media element (e.g., images of figures or tables, embedded video with captioned source), and web links to relevant sources. If you have a PDF of the academic article or book, include that in the update.
When to Post Them
Refer to the Weekly Course Schedule page for specific dates
- In preparation for your project to be submitted for peer review, you will complete four community updates (not admin update responses) in the course community.
- After you finish your work and complete the peer review process, you will submit one additional community update in the course community.
Where to Post Them
- Post the community updates in the Course Community of CGScholar, not on your personal profile page. You will find the ‘Updates’ menu behind the name of the community.
- Notice: Updates on your personal profile page are not captured by the Analytics, whereas updates from the community page go to all community members and contribute to your Analytics score for the course.
Community Update Prompts
Project Update 1: Select a topic for your major peer-reviewed project in this course (Due end of Week 1)
Project Update 1: Select a topic for your major peer-reviewed project in this course. Look ahead through the future weeks of the course as laid out in its learning module. Your topic must connect with the concerns of the course. In this update, describe your project focus to the other participants in the course community, explain why you have chosen this particular topic, and provide an introduction to what you consider to be the leading literature on this topic including citations of three key texts, and connect if possible to the Kalantzis and Cope texts provided in Update 1B and other Kalantzis and Cope texts provided at newlearningonline.com. Be sure to cite the works you have reviewed formally. Give at least two other peers feedback on their chosen topics, with a focus on constructive suggestions.
Before you start, see “Choosing a Topic and Project Type” on the Educational Theory and Practice page.
Project Update 2: Education Theory (Due end of Week 2)
Project Update 2: Education Theory: Researching your topic, what are you finding about its education theory? Provide references with formal citations to at least three pieces of scholarly work, as well as videos, infographics and other media you might find. Comment on at least two other peers’ updates whose topics may connect with yours, directly or indirectly. How is your thinking developing? Feel free to allow your topic to evolve, even into something quite different from what you originally intended!
Project Update 3: Education Theory, The Critics (Due end of Week 3)
Project Update 3: Education Theory, The Critics: Researching further into your topic, who are the critics of this education theory? Provide references with formal citations to at least three pieces of scholarly work. Comment on at least two other peers’ updates whose topics may connect with yours, directly or indirectly. How is your thinking developing? Feel free to allow your topic to evolve, even into something quite different from what you originally intended!
Project Update 4, Education Practices (Due end of Week 4)
Project Update 4, Education Practices: How do the key ideas in your chosen topic translate successfully into education practice? What are the challenges facing those who try to translate the ideas you have been addressing into education practice? Provide references with formal citations to at least three pieces of evidence-based research, as well as videos, infographics and other media you might find. Comment on at least two other peers’ updates whose topics may connect with yours, directly or indirectly. How is your thinking developing?
Update 5: The Canvas of Feedback – A Visual Reflection with Peer and AI Reviews (Due end of Week 6)
Update 5: The Canvas of Feedback – A Visual Reflection with Peer and AI Reviews: Following your engagement in both the peer review process and the AI Review within this course, reflect on your experiences as both a reviewer and a recipient of feedback. Based on your reflections, create a prompt and generate an image using an AI image generation tool that will visually represent your reflections about your experience with AI and Human reviews.
Think about the emotions you want the image to convey and the elements that represent your experiences with both types of reviews. Consider what elements, colors, or symbolic elements can best convey your thoughts. If you need guidance on crafting an effective prompt, explore the following web resources for tips (in no order):
Here are some platforms that allow AI image generation, some of them are free, some are freemium, and most of them might require a sign-up/account creation: Leonardo AI, Lexica, Stable Diffusion, DeepAI, Bing Image Creator, Canva/Picsart, Playground AI, CivitAI, DALL-E. Alternatively, feel free to explore other AI tools not listed here that might suit your preferences.
Please ensure that your update in Update #5 comprises at least 150 words, including (a) your prompt – remember to list all the prompts you experimented with prior to deciding on your final prompt, (b) which AI platform you used, (c) the generated image, and (d) a brief explanation of your thought process. Additionally, we encourage you to comment on at least two other community members’ experiences. We understand that some students may encounter difficulties during the process and if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us for assistance.
Update 6: Peer Collaboration and AI Review Reflection (Due Week 8)
Update 6: Peer Collaboration, AI Review, and Self-Reflection: After participating in the peer review process and the AI Review in the current course, both as a reviewer and as a creator who has received feedback, what was your experience? What went well? What could have gone better? How did the peer review process impact your revision? What lessons will you take for your own peer review practice about the most effective forms of peer collaboration? Comment on at least two other community members’ experiences.
We would like you to create and post a self-review update as update #6 in the course community about four aspects (Work Enhancement, Knowledge Gain, and AI and Peer/Human Review Reflection) and their accompanying questions as follows:
Work enhancement (at least 200 words):
- How did the reviews you received help you to improve your work for this course based on each of the rubric’s main areas?
- How you have incorporated the feedback you received (AI reviews, peer reviews, and annotations)?
- What changes you have made to your work based on the AI and peer/human feedback you received? Why?
- How does the final version of your work align with the rubric?
- How did your thinking evolve from version to version?
- What are some robust examples of revisions you made in your work based on the reviews you received?
- Please provide at least 3 specific examples from your work where you used the AI review feedback and at least 3 specific examples from your work where you used the peer review feedback and revised the corresponding parts of your work.
Knowledge gain (at least 100 words):
- Did the review and revision process help your knowledge gain? How?
- Provide examples specific based on the five main rubric categories (Experiencing, Conceptualizing, Analyzing, Applying, and Presentation) or other examples that may not fall under the rubric categories.
AI and peer/human review reflection (at least 200 words):
- Reflect on your experience receiving reviews throughout the course.
- What are the main differences between AI and peer/human reviews based on your experience?
- How do you think that you benefit (or not) from each type of review (AI vs peer/human)?
- Which type do you prefer the most and why?
- Provide specific examples and screenshots to support your reflection.
AI competence reflection (at least 150 words): Reflect on your competency in using AI tools for academic and professional reasons through the AI review tool in this course, as well as through the AI image generation for your reflections in Update #5.
- Do you feel more or less confident in using AI tools after taking this course and why?
- Do you trust the AI outcomes or not? Why?
- After taking this course, will you use AI tools in your everyday and professional life more or less? Why?
- After this course, do you feel better prepared to use AI tools in your everyday and professional life? In what ways do you feel better prepared or not?
- Looking into the future, how do you think that you can be better prepared to use AI tools?
Note: Please be advised that the four aspects and their accompanying guiding questions provided in the admin update serve as mere prompts to guide your thinking, but they are not exhaustive.
Update #6 should be 650 words or more, including specific examples from your works, and illustrating with screenshots, when needed. Completing these tasks is an important part of the CGScholar learning experience. We understand that some students may encounter difficulties during the process and if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us for assistance. Our team is always available to help you navigate any challenges you may encounter while using this new feature.