#Journey: Digital Empowerment
We envision this Journey of Digital Empowerment as a series of 5 quests that begin with the personal relationship to the internet, moving into geographical and online communities, encouraging the creation of new community narratives, and then exploration of personally relevant topics supported by newly formed community connections. Rather than a strictly linear progression, these quests are designed to allow for increasing agency for the player as they move through, with the final quests facilitating a number of possible threads that the woman can choose to continue on her own personal journey.
narrative: We journey through an urban landscape having separate Quest experiences, each an encounter with different individuals who share their stories about new things they’ve done using the Internet. Each shared story represents an unlocked possibility. Together with them we proceed through challenges, eventually finding our way to the next Quest, where they hand us off to our next Quest companions. Movement towards the center of this landscape should represent movement towards power our lives (rather than moving from traditional to modern).
narrative themes: rewriting the narrative of the self/community/world, the seamlessness (vs. conflict) of the traditional and the “modern”, discovering new landscapes both dangerous and exciting/promising, connecting to others (who in many ways are future/current versions of yourself), reinventing/expanding the reach of your voice/language/text, movement from the margins to the center (we have to be careful there - so should be more in the sense of having power over your own life)
critical engagement outcome: Capability and desire to design an online self into their current lives using digital tools to opportunistically construct and pursue future possibilities.
dispositional threads: digital literacies (Internet/online and apps/offline), critical media literacy, building and representing selves, connecting with and leveraging communities, building future possibilities, rewriting the narrative of the self, enhancing or limiting opportunities
The prequel is a brief introduction to the program. The main goal is to overview the skills that will be acquired, the connections made, the possibilities they can unlock within various life areas, and very simply how to access the platform.
[narrative: Portal outside password wall, possibly a website with similar look/feel, meant to drive traffic to the platform itself. One inspiration, in the sense that it dramatizes Minecraft and gives some sense of the experience. Or a low bandwidth version of Big History Project portal]
role: Curious adventurer (potential participant seeking connection)
consequentiality: Understands generally the importance of the Internet, what it can do for them, and where SWC can take them.
target skills: internet and technology awareness, platform awareness, gaining access to a computer, computer basics
Notes
Perhaps we present the question - Why does this matter to me?
Group of images of girls and women - click on them to see/hear/watch their stories about how SWC helped them.
Note: This document is out of date, go here for the most up to date:
Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/a/asu.edu/document/d/1PVMYJLVJCi4ZmLuWFOpknA87X-_2nndprJyMyVxf3GU/edit#heading=h.1kg5h51ek1pe
[This Quest focuses on development of an online identity, beginning with the player’s Self. How do I relate to the digital world? What does it mean to create a profile, how does my real-world identity differ or remain the same as my online identity? What are the safety issues I need to be aware of when sharing my personal information?
narrative: We are in the outskirts of a nameless metropolis. We encounter a pal who guides us through the streets of the city to various locations, providing us a safe but exciting onramp into the digital world. She hands us off to a group of women in the end.]
role: Internet initiate, traveller’s apprentice
target skills: basic search, basic information literacy, navigation, online ethics, personal safety/ sharing, digital composition
consequentiality: Ability to appraise the ways digital tools act as accelerators and decelerators of my life goals.
consequential deliverable: Assemble and reflect on toolkit that will help you grow a happy and healthy digital self in productive ways.
This quest invites the you to explore real-world and virtual communities to understand the commonalities, differences, and ways communities can help you achieve your goals. You will investigate a variety of web resources with a focus on critically evaluating informational sources, building community connections, and connecting your interests to online communities.
narrative: We are handed off to a group of women who introduce us to the idea of being part of a community in a digital world. They take turns explaining concepts to us and walking us through deliverables. Each represents one of the life areas from Q4 in terms of the ways that digital media has helped them to accomplish their goals and they take turns for each of the missions in this quest.
role: Internet explorer
target skills: information literacy (identify credible sites, using maps, encyclopedic research), Internet apps, intro to word processing
consequentiality: Ability to differentiate among online communities and appraise their value for furthering my goals.
consequential deliverable: Utilize Community Toolkit to join the World Pulse community and make a posting about the place of online communities in furthering your life goals
So far we have been mostly consuming and examining others’ stories, and now it is time to tell our own community’s stories; these might support, add to, our counter narratives of our community we encountered in the previous Quest. Communicating a story can take a number of forms from a simple text or email to a story, video, or song. Players will explore the process of creation, the tools available to them, and how to share their story with others. Players are now familiar with the World Pulse Community and will use the community as a source of inspiration and collaboration in sharing their story.
[Despite Alan’s feedback, I still like using the concept of a story to refer to al kinds of messages. The point is that every message and interaction online tells a story of some kind, so someone who is digitally empowered should have the agency to construct and manage those stories. That’s at the heart of digital media in may ways. The lasting message is to ask yourself “What story does this tell” about every aspect of your presentation of self, online and offline.]
role: Storyteller
target skills: research, story writing, revising, communicating with an audience, digital photography, word processing, blogging, social media
consequentiality: Ability to leveraging digital and personal resources to create creative content to advance an agenda.
consequential deliverable: Toolkit for creating and broadcasting a story/message safely and effectively.
The quest brings the newly connected players back to their own lives/selves with new eyes. Players will explore ways applying their current and future digital skills and connections - and digital media and the Internet more generally - to specific aspects of their lives in transformative ways. This quest is a series of moments illustrating through user stories how these skills can be taken forward. The connecting thread is building the ability to imagine, build, and advance the agendas of their various selves; players will document these possibilities throughout the Quest.
[note: How can we better relate what is introduced in Q4 into Q5? Reorganization? Possibly the content diving trajectory and mostly a good narrative will create continuity. The NPCs that appear in here have been introduced throughout the previous Quests and these life areas were introduced in Q1 and reinforced along the way. By now the user has done quite a bit of thinking around the areas and specific goals within them.]
narrative: As we near the city’s center after a journey through new places, we reach places that feel more familiar; a health clinic, a school, market, etc. NPC’s from previous quests appear again to tell stories of digital empowerment.
role: Time traveller
target skills: General domain specific literacies, networking, intro to PowerPoint, intermediate application literacy, critical thinking and problem solving
consequentiality: Examine using digital skills and literacies in different aspects of their lives to advance their own agendas.
consequential deliverable: Goals map with different life areas, strengths within them, and how to advance agendas within them through digital tools.
This final designed quest serves as a springboard to partner content. Starting with a reflection on the journey thus far as a way to examine growth and new skills developed, we then encourage exploration of additional content areas (new threads) created by partners and eventually including community created content. These are intended to inspire Future Possibilities and achievable goals that you can accomplish with your new skills and literacies.
narrative: We arrive at the main city square and encounter (or are guided there by) the woman from Q1. There are many streets that branch out from there and we are free to choose one. She guides us down the one we choose and introduces us to the partner organization/NPC we will focus on.
role: Digitally empowered explorer
consequentiality: Evaluating ways to leverage digital literacies in our life through a deep dive into a specific area of digital literacy.
consequential deliverable: Roadmap/toolkit for leveraging learning within your own life, in SWC or your own community as a mentor, and to connect with additional content.
target skills: Intermediate domain specific literacy, networking, application literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving
Note: This should happen as soon as the quest is begun.
Join the platform and get started
concept: Demonstrate ability to utilize best practices in account creation for beginning this Journey
conceptual deliverable: Membership in SWC platform/community
concept: Introduction to the opportunities digital media presents in your life
conceptual deliverable: Chart of types of digital media and their potential benefits to different life areas
narrative notes: NPCs: I felt like I was stuck in my roles, realized I could use this place to gain new possibilities and opportunities
So far, you have explored digital tools, the ways they can be used to improve your life, and your own life goals. Part of the lesson is that, in the end, computers and the Internet are just tools we use to further our goals. Next you will look at the paths people take to accomplish goals online. You will use this knowledge to plan one path for yourself to follow in pursuit of your own goals.
Mandisa felt like she was stuck in her roles as student and mother without opportunity to advance herself, then realized she could use digital tools to gain new possibilities and opportunities.
concept: Explore what someone’s life looks like online and reflect on what yours can look like.
conceptual deliverable: Digital self/footprint roadmap
[NPC] had to think carefully about the choices she made along the way. She found out from small mistakes and also successes that making smart and careful decisions is important to access the opportunities of the Internet.
concept: Demonstrate principles of online safety
conceptual deliverable: Digital safety checklist + make posting in SWC community summarizing work so far
concept: Explore possibilities of online interests and communication
conceptual deliverable: Create an email about ways digital media can connect you to your interests
Assemble and reflect on toolkit that will you grow a happy and healthy digital self in productive ways, avoiding pitfalls and leveraging opportunities.
Create a convincing story of what you will be able to accomplish using digital tools and showing how you will safely represent yourself online
consequential realization: Appraise the ways digital tools can act as accelerators and decelerators of your life goals.
concept: Examining the utility and credibility of online sources about user’s community
conceptual deliverable: Post about using searches and maps to understand the place of your physical communities online
concept: Discovering other geographical communities as life possibilities
conceptual deliverable: Create a possibilities journal around communities than can further life goals
concept: Opportunities and issues of participation in online communities (and online communication generally)
conceptual deliverable: Create an Online Community Member checklist
concept: Discovering online communities as life possibilities
conceptual deliverable: Create a table of online communities and how they can further your goals.
Join World Pulse and post about specific ways World Pulse and other communities can further life goals
consequential realization: Appraise the value of online communities for furthering life goals
Stories are explicitly understood as anything from a quick tweet to a StoryCorps style story
concept: Identifying community messages that are important on the Internet
conceptual deliverable: Create and use chart/checklist to choose a topic then vet with SWC/WorldPulse community.
concept: Engaging in the process of digital creation.
conceptual deliverable: Revised message/story
concept: Enhancing and publishing stories through digital photography, video, and blogging.
conceptual deliverable: Optimized and published story
Media Campaign (Social Media and World Pulse)
concept: Leveraging social media to extend the reach of stories.
conceptual deliverable: Stories posted around the central story
Reflection on the takeaway lessons from this Quest about online (and offline) sharing and creation.
consequential realization: Appraise the value of well constructed messages and creative content for furthering goals.
note: This whole quest needs to be more dynamic and varied, connecting to SWV community more - but there is so much content to cover, it needs to be thought through carefully]
concept: Understanding key life areas that can be impacted through digital literacies/tools
conceptual deliverable: PowerPoint to serve as tool for documenting digital media within life areas throughout Quest
concept: Revisiting and expanding ways the Internet can connect to personal interests and needs
conceptual deliverable: PowerPoint section on personal interests
concept: Exploring ways to leverage technology to generate income and careers
conceptual deliverable: PowerPoint section laying out work possibilities and general pathways
concept: Exploring ways to benefit family/household well-being through technology
conceptual deliverable: PowerPoint section with plans for improving home management
concept: Exploring ways to leverage technology to better connect with your immediate community
conceptual deliverable: PowerPoint section on community
Finalize PowerPoint by linking strengths and opportunities in life areas to the skills/literacies acquired throughout this journey and beyond.
consequential realization: Appraise the value digital tools for furthering specific agendas within your life.
concept: Reflecting on learning throughout the Journey and making a plan for a deep dive.
conceptual deliverable: Plan and timeline for a deep dive into a track
concept: Demonstrate new literacies through stories, commit to becoming a mentor, and explore new opportunities
consequential realization: Commitment to leveraging literacies in your lifeworld
Logging in and using the computer (technical basics)
How do I make the most of computers and the Internet? How does who I am in the real world differ or remain the same as who I am online?
Being online is a journey that is part of your life journey. It opens possibilities that you may not have otherwise. At this point, you may do little online or you may do a lot online, but who you are online is always growing and changing. This is your online identity: the online profiles you create, the way you communicate, everything you do that others see. In this quest, you will think about who you are in online communities and start planning out who you want to be. How will you use the Internet to improve your life?
[Mandisa] is a 26-year-old woman from KwaMashu, near Durban, South Africa. Like her parents, she attended secondary school but never completed. Several years ago, she was a student at a computer training centre, worked part time, and had a young son. She felt overwhelmed by her household responsibilities combined with her work and trying to finish her certification, but she completed her computer certificate and decided to open a business with her skills. She was able to connect with the right people online, find funding, and start a hair salon, which she continues to run and make a living from.
NPC talks about making sound and intentional decisions to leverage the opportunities of the Internet:
process: Making a choice to take safe and intentional action on the Internet
narrative note:
NPC guide for this section is a little older, a mentor.
Need a cast of characters spanning our target age range - each from a different country?
Narrative from NPC:
process: Learn basics of digital security and importance of good password
narrative note:
Narrative with younger girl who is trying to protect her online identity by creating a password. User chooses the girl’s actions and watches the outcome — “What do you think GIRLNPC should do?” etc.
Based on this resource
process: Create a strong password
process: Create account using best practices knowledge
process: Assure/gain minimum skills to navigate curriculum
note:
Mandisa’s hair salon story - full screen dialog
process: Develop organizer to input benefits of digital tools
process: Take survey on digital media while learning about it as needed
process: Document social media sites and examples of how they can act as accelerators to goals
process: Document different life areas where agendas/goals can be advanced and some pathways that can be followed
process: Create template for mapping a digital footprint
process: Craft a good search to map a celebrity’s digital presence
process: Determine most likely outcome of an online action.
process: Create their own digital roadmap
process: Take a pledge to act as a good digital citizen
process: Create digital safety checklist
process: Add ways to verify it online deceit (a fake profile) to digital safety checklist
process: Add elements of proper online conduct to digital safety checklist
process: Add appropriate sharing principles to digital safety checklist
process: Post on the SWC platform using principles of digital safety
process: Sorting/ranking game around on ways social media connect me to interests
Q1M4C2: Email /IM
process: Create an email address
process: Create Skype account (?)
process: Send an email - as authentic as possible, depending on Intel comfort level
Q1BossP1
Take a look at your work from this Quest and assemble them into a toolkit (placed into toolbox) for leveraging the Internet and keeping you safe.
[Some meaningful action that has them conceptualizing tools as items to carry with them on their Journey, placing the deliverables completed into a “toolkit” resource folder.]
Q1BossP2
Give three examples of different ways you will represent yourself online with these questions in mind:
Q1BossP3
Share this work in the SWC community and respond to two other members postings.
process: Create rubric for assessing website credibility
process: Complete rubric assessing online sources’ credibility generally and specifically compared to insider perspective
process: Explore possibilities of using Google Maps
process: Research other geographical communities.
process: Connect visiting other places to life goals
process: Start possibilities journal with work from this mission - and personalize if possible.
process: Create an Online Community Member checklist [could be a sorting game]
process: Add ways to communicate effectively and safely online to checklist
process: Create tool for envisioning/planning participation in online communities
process: Explore and list relevant online communities
process: Add WorldPulse campaign into their table
process: Add WP resources to table
process: Use table to plan connections with new communities
Q2BossP1: Assemble your deliverables into a digital connection toolkit
Q2BossP2: Sign up for a My Pulse account and create your profile
Q2BossP3: Navigate to the online forum and introduce yourself
process: Create tool for choosing a message/story seed.
process: Determine elements of good messages and types of messages.
process: Record stories important to your community
process: Identify message/story seed that’s important to your community and online.
process: Vet story seed with WP/SWC community and respond to others
process: Outline/plan story using online and offline sources.
process: Develop a draft of your story
process: Get and give feedback on draft
process: Revise draft based on feedback
process: Document risks, rewards, and rich examples of creative publishing
process: Learn about digital photography and video
process: Add digital photography to story
process: Explore different ways to share stories and engage around them
process: Share your story on a website/blog
process: Expand on ways specific platforms are used to advance stories
process: Choose and join 2-3 platforms
process: Strategically direct traffic to your story through social media platforms
process: Create and post a YouTube video extending your story
Q3BossP1: Assemble the digital sharing toolkit from deliverables
Q3BossP2: Possibility journaling (and on SWC or WP website) on messages/creative content creation.
process: Create PowerPoint to serve as tool for the Quest
process: Add strengths and areas of growth in each life area
process: Add network connections within life areas to PPT
process: Setup PPT to lead into argument for advancing an agenda
process: Integrate previous work on social media into PPT
process: Map out ways to leverage network resources through digital communication on PPT
process: Add self-care possibilities to PPT
process: Expand digital roadmap and integrate into PPT
process: Create employment Venn diagram in PPT
process: Generate list of business possiblities
process: Create usable resume for PPT
process: Chart of goals, how to accomplish, ways to document
process: High level plan for improving home finances
process: Create high level plan for leveraging health resources
process: Map of education goals and pathways
process: Post in network about giving back
process: Document pathways to becoming a community mentor
process: Document community needs, relevant government entities, and how to connect the two through technology
Q4BossP1: Finalize & share PPT
Q5BossP0: Continuing your Journey
Q5BossP1: Post about your experience.
Q5BossP2: Creating and planning a goal (through Goal Planner)
Q5BossP3: Making it happen
optional activity:
find three other people who are: