# DCMOOC
A MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSE ON DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
From an Interview With Katia Hildebrandt , Co- Facilitator of the # DCMOOC
In the winter of 2014 , Associate Professor Dr . Alec Couros and PhD candidate and Sessional Instructor , Katia Hildebrandt were contracted by the Ministry of Education to write a set of digital citizenship policy guidelines to help principals and other administrators throughout Saskatchewan to develop school-based plans to integrate digital citizenship instruction into all grade levels . This work came out of the 2013 report by Jennifer Campeau entitled “ Saskatchewan ’ s Action Plan to Address Bullying and Cyberbullying ,” which included the recommendation that all K-12 students be taught about appropriate online behaviour .
In order to support the upcoming policy guidelines , Joanna Sanders , the Ministry of Education ’ s Digital Fluency Consultant , contracted with Alec Couros to run a Massive Open Online Course ( MOOC ) about digital citizenship , geared primarily towards Saskatchewan teachers , but open to anyone in the world ( see stats on participants at http :// dcmooc . ca / course-stats-3 /). Alec then brought Katia onboard to help co-facilitate the # DCMOOC .
The experience of participating in the MOOC was eyeopening for Katia . She says , “ It allowed for many rich conversations to take place around the idea of digital citizenship and educational technology . However , it also brought to light many of the difficulties inherent in these types of large courses . With over 800 participants registered in the course , it became clear that we needed many supports in place ( various community spaces such as a Google Plus community , blog hub , and weekly Twitter chats ) to ensure that those involved in the course did not feel isolated or lost . The varying degrees of technological savvy brought to the course by different participants was also a challenge — it meant that we had to build in extra supports ( such as an introductory Twitter session and an introductory blogging session ) to bring everyone up to a level where they felt able to participate .” Further , Katia says , “ This lack of technological skills among some educators will be an even bigger challenge as schools attempt to integrate digital citizenship throughout the curriculum — the
“ Digital citizenship isn ’ t just about recognising and dealing with online hazards . It ’ s about building safe spaces and communities , understanding how to manage personal information , and about being internet savvy — using your online presence to grow and shape your world in a safe , creative way , and inspiring others to do the same .” 1
teachers who took part in # DCMOOC were motivated to learn and to acquire the requisite skills , but the bigger challenge will be helping those teachers who are perhaps more reluctant to learn about technology .”
The feedback on the course was quite positive overall . Participants enjoyed the many resources that were shared . Many also commented on the ability they found through the # DCMOOC to build connections with other teachers through platforms like Twitter .
An interesting difference from the 2013 # ETMOOC was that # DCMOOC was sponsored by the Ministry of Education . Katia says , “ We worked closely with Joanna Sanders throughout the duration of the course .” The Ministry also offered a Certificate of Completion for those who completed particular assignments and a summary of learning activity . Katia believes , “ The Ministry ’ s involvement was crucial in bringing in many teachers from across the province and in providing motivation for some reluctant participants , through the Certificate of Completion .”
For Katia , the experience of co-facilitating this MOOC with Alec raised the question of how this type of networked learning might be leveraged in our own Faculty , especially given the increase in online course offerings . She notes , “ The course ’ s use of many distributed tools and open online spaces , rather than a central learning management system , allowed , in my opinion , for a much higher degree of connectedness amongst participants as well as opportunities for serendipitous learning , both peer-to-peer and with complete strangers . In turn , this allowed the instructor to facilitate learning , rather than control it . This type of pedagogical model might provide an interesting addition to some of the existing courses being offered online .”
Katia believes it is also important to think about the implications for our Faculty in light of the government ’ s push for integration of digital citizenship instruction . She says , “ Much like mandatory Treaty Education , if preservice teachers are expected to effectively integrate digital citizenship into their future classrooms , we need to think about how we can best prepare them to do so while they are in the program .”
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From http :// old . digizen . org / about / Faculty of Education Education News Spring / Summer 2014 Page 7