What's an Online Article(s) page?

Think of the "online article(s) webpage as a space to showcase your subject knowledge and skills, which will be supported by a digital artifact (graphic, video, and/or audio). The purpose is to:

• inform others and 

• showcase your authority and credibility about one or more course concepts. 

As with each page of the e-portfolio, you’ll orient your visitor to the page – tell them what’s below.

Your Purpose

To Inform

The purpose of a content webpage is to inform. As you think about this purpose as an author and content creator, be intentional about synthesizing course content and citing your sources using in-text citations.

When you inform others by supporting your claims with solid evidence, you showcase your authority and credibility about one or more course concepts. 

For this reason alone, you may have more than one "content" page to inform your audience, each with a specific and meaningful title (webpage name). 

Must Haves (Requirements)

On this page, you'll write at least one informative online article about course content (different from your blog), with one digital artifact such as a graphic, video, or audio resource that you've created. 

You’ll include the following requirements:

1 - Descriptive Webpage Title, Article Title(s), Headings and Sub-headings

1. One of your first edits will be to give the webpage itself a descriptive (specific, meaningful) title. In other words, do not use "content" as the webpage title (1-min. video tutorial) and 

2. Your online article(s) will also have a descriptive title, with equally meaningful headings and sub-headings.

2 - Credibility and Trustworthiness

You're informing others, so your work must be credible and trustworthy. Your audience should immediately recognize that your online article is research-, fact-, or theory-based.

How?

Start with the claim, evidence, reasoning (CER) framework and include plenty of in-text citations. The online article must:

1. 1. synthesize from at least two sources

   2. draw only from our course materials

   3. avoid using language related to your course work (e.g., "In Week 7...")

   4. in your written work and any digital artifact you create, follow Best Practices for Citing Sources in a Digital Assignment from Seneca College for all in-text citations

3 - Expository Communication

Informing others requires expository communication.

According to Mendez and her team (2021), when we create expository content, it's essential that we 

1. introduce your topic with clarity

2. explain concepts, ideas or processes that may be difficult to understand

3. use plain, jargon-free, readable language (and if we do use jargon, we clearly define it for our audience)

4. be objective and unbiased and avoid sharing our personal opinions. 

5. be concise

4 - Structure

For all content - images, text, video, etc. follow these tips to design your information with the audience in mind. In particular, you must:

1. orient our audience by following the BLUF principle (see Get to the Point!) and with powerful topic sentences

2. lay out your content a logical order

3. avoid centering text other than your titles, headings, etc.; instead justify your text to the left

4. mix short, tightly focused paragraphs with lists (bulleted or numbered)

5. ensure title, headings, sub-headings, and media are accessible and formatted for screen-reader technology

5 - Relevant, Original Digital Artifact

Your online article must include at least one relevant and original digital artifact such as a graphic, video, or audio product. By original, I mean created by you, using information from our course materials.

Requirements for the Digital Artifact

Introduce the Digital Artifact to your Audience

To incorporate the digital artifact in your online article, 

1. refer to the digital artifact before it appears - explain the information you’re presenting - don’t expect it to speak for itself

2. provide a title or caption to identify the digital artifact and explain its significance for the topic (of your online article)

Credibility and Authorship

The digital artifact will:

• clearly cite your sources (course materials only) and follow Best Practices for Citing Sources in a Digital Assignment 

• include your name (as author / creator)

Accessibility

Provide alternative text, described text, a transcript (for video and audio), and/or closed captions (for video) to ensure accessibility.

Examples of Digital Artifacts

Graphic - Examples 

• table and/or graph

• diagram

• flow chart

• infographic

Video

Videos must be short (less than 3 minutes) and well-structured, starting with telling us what the video's about, including visuals, and recapping at the end. Examples include:

• presentation style, providing an example of the concept you're writing about

• screencast, explaining a process or illustrating a process

Audio

A podcast or interview. The podcast must also be short (less than 3 minutes) and like the video, be well-structured, telling us what the podcast is about, and recapping at the end.

What to keep in mind.

• How about sharing my projects and assignments?

• Note: instead of "projects" use terms that describe the project, for example, policy development, learning design, etc. No one really wants to read someone's assignment, right? A powerful and effective way to introduce important content is with a STAR statement, especially if you're sharing a project (e.g., in a PDF or other form). You'll find guidance on STAR statements in my article, Are you career ready?.