What does it mean to know something and be able to demonstrate it? In education we are always wanting to set outcomes or goals and measure how well students meet them. Another approach is a competency framework that lists out different things that a person should be able to do or demonstrate.
Here at the Tech Bar we have been talking a lot about how all the skills that you are building are great for when you go to look for a job, present your work for graduate school, demonstrating what you can do to attract clients, etc. All the stuff we learn through domain projects, video editing, coding, image manipulation, understanding how to appropriately license images, etc. are great and in many instances the work will speak for itself but you also need to be able to specifically state what you are doing and why it is important.
Our friends at Bryn Mawr College have a framework that many of us in the field of digital literacy have been talking about and we thought it would be a good idea to introduce it to the Tech Bar. The framework is articulated in a few different ways – there is a long document that lays it all out and then also a website that incorporates video and infographics and such.
To engage with one another around the framework I’d like to introduce you all to a little tool called hypothesis which will allow you to annotate any webpage. Check out this video for an overview of what the tool does (it is a bit idealistic but their hearts are in the right place):
To engage with the framework I would like us to engage in some collaborative annotation of it using hypothesis. A few months ago I was working with some faculty and had them do the same thing on a copy of the framework and I think it would be fun just to continue that work.
So what do you need to do?
- Visit my website copy of the framework where I have hypothesis linked at https://via.hypothes.is/http://snc.digpins.org/for-annotation-bmc-digframework/
- Look to the right side of the screen – do you see that little toolbar sticking out? Click on the part that looks like the < symbol.
- You should see all the annotations by professors here at SNC and some of the folks at Bryn Mawr
- To add your own annotations you need to create an account then highlight some text and choose “annotate” from the pop up
- What would be a good annotation? Well any of your thoughts are welcome but consider:
- Any experiences you’ve had at the Tech Bar or elsewhere where you feel you have gained one or more of the competences – comment on it and let us know where and how that happened. We would love to know where people are gaining these skills.
- Comment on the framework itself – does anything seem redundant or not clear to you? Others might be able to make it clearer, so say something.
- Reply to an annotation that someone else left to add depth to what they are saying or ask a question.
And of course if you have any questions about this process then reach out around the ironing board.
Author: Autumm Caines