The Level-Up Track

Students who wish to challenge themselves beyond the usual class learning experiences can opt for taking Digital Citizenship with the Level-Up Track. Like the regular class, this track also requires additional work to level-up core badges, but the work is performed across all badges and is completed on a more independent basis as described below. The work is still designed to be completed within regular class time.

Successful completion of the Level-Up Track results in automatic leveling-up of all core badges, receiving a special badge designation, and earning permanent placement on the Digital Citizenship Hall of Fame.

Why would I want to do this?

• You’re completing your regular work quickly. You may find yourself finishing up your work early and are wondering what else you can do. Why be bored when you can stay engaged, learn more, and gain more skills?
• You like having greater autonomy and choice. This track allows you to do a significant portion of work at your own pace, and you’ll have more say in what you learn and do in class.
• You want to make a greater impact. Much of your extra work will add to the overall quality of the class — you’ll get to decide on discussion topics, create class resources, and develop learning experiences for the benefit and enjoyment of your classmates. You may even find your work incorporated into our regular curriculum.
• You strive to excel. All of this track’s extra work is designed to promote greater growth of your knowledge and skills. If you want to get the most out of your time in Digital Citizenship and work at the very highest levels, this is the way.

What do I need to be successful?

Students who successfully complete the Level-Up Track demonstrate the ability to:

• Stay motivated. Additional work is required to complete the track, much of it at a deeper and more challenging level.
• Work independently. Students taking the Level-Up Track are allowed to move ahead at their own pace for most of the work. This results in greater feedback and instruction via email, which requires independence and initiative.
• Follow directions. Class work is likely to be initiated before the rest of the class has been introduced to it, and so it is crucial to read, understand, and ask questions about directions before proceeding.
• Take initiative. Level-Up Track assignments require students to take an active role in conceiving and executing what they want to learn and contribute. Passive engagement will not work.

How does it work?

First, Make Sure You Know What You’re Getting Into

Read this entire page carefully, address any questions or concerns with your teacher, then decide if it’s for you. If you decide to go for it, that’s fantastic! Email your teacher with your decision within the first two weeks of class. If not, that’s also just fine! You can also have a great, meaningful learning experience with the regular coursework. The Level-Up Track is simply an option for students who wish to do more.

Stay Connected

Make sure that you can access the class website, LMS, and your school email account, and check each regularly. Feedback and further instruction will often be delivered via email because of the individualized pace of this track, and details about various assignments are listed online.

Meet Basic Core Badge Requirements

Meet the basic requirements necessary to earn your core badges as described on the Badges page. For independent work (blog posts, Research Analysis Reports, etc.) you may complete the work at your own pace, and do not need to adhere to the regular work schedule as long as you submit work and complete requested edits before class deadlines.

Meet Level-Up Requirements

Also fulfill the level-up requirements for all core badges as described below. The work is designed to promote a deeper level of content engagement and skill-building.

Provide Feedback

Complete the Level-Up Track feedback form at the end of the trimester in addition to the regular class feedback form.

What if I try, but it doesn’t work out?

This track certainly isn’t for everybody. If you find that it isn’t working for you, first check with your teacher to see if there are strategies that might help make your experience better. If you ultimately decide it’s best to leave, however, there is no penalty.

At any time you can email your teacher to request a return to regular coursework. Please keep in mind, however, that once you leave the Level-Up Track, you should not expect to return. Regular level-up opportunities will still be available for each core badge, and any badge level-up work already completed will also count toward regular level-ups.

Your teacher may also, after consultation with you, ask you to leave this track. Factors contributing to such a request can include a noticeable reduction in the quality of your work, how much of the extra work is completed outside of class, and seeing signs of stress or anxiety related to the extra work.

Earning Level-Up Track Core Badges

To successfully complete the Level-Up Track, students are required to fulfill the following requirements to earn their core badges:

To Earn the Level-Up Track Citizenship Badge

• Fully participate in at least 90% of all class discussions, in-person and online (including your own) to earn the basic badge.
• Create two additional online class discussions for the class to engage in if they choose (participation will raise their averages as well), and inform the class about them.

Components of a successful online discussion include:

1. An informative, thought-provoking video that relates to our online lives (YouTube or Vimeo preferred)

2. A discussion prompt that is open-ended, promotes depth, and allows for varied viewpoints. For more information about crafting high-quality online discussion prompts, please read Tami Strang’s article for Cengage.

When you have a new online discussion to submit, please email the video URL and discussion prompt to your teacher for review and feedback.

To Earn the Level-Up Track Scholarship Badge

Successfully post your Recommendation, Review, and Research Posts before requested deadlines to earn the basic badge.

Within one week of starting the Level-Up Track, choose, get teacher approval, and enroll in a self-paced Online Learning course at an accredited institution (colleges, universities, etc.).

As you post each of the three regular blog posts, include a second post that details your ongoing online learning experience. Content across all three posts should seek to address questions like these:

General Online Learning

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of online learning?
• What traits and capabilities contribute to successful online learning?
• What kind of student would benefit most from online learning? Who would benefit least?
• What should students look for when considering an online course?

Your Course Choice(s)

• What do you think of the course you chose? It is a valuable experience? Would you recommend it to others?
• How do you see yourself as an online learner? Can you see this type of learning working for you in the future? Why or why not?
• Did you stick with the first course you chose? If so, what helped you stay with it? If not, what made you stop?
• Did you try any other courses? If so, how do they compare?

To Earn the Level-Up Track Search Badge

Successfully complete the requirements necessary to earn the basic Search badge.

Create an additional, detailed resource to share on the class blog that is related to locating, discerning, collecting, and/or properly attributing high-quality sources. The format of your resource is up to you, as long as it is easy for us to use and understand. Format ideas might include a cheatsheet, an FAQ, a How-to, a curated collection of links/videos, or an original screencast/video.

Submit your resource for further review on the blog, and choose the “Other Resources” category.

To earn the Level-Up Track Leadership Badge

Successfully complete three Leadership Roles to earn the basic badge.

Successfully complete one additional regular Leadership Role, plus use Google Slides to create two original start-of-class Challenges two of four different categories (described below). Challenges are single-slide activities in which include instructions and links for use at the start of our class. Activities should be brief (5–10 min.), fun, free (no paid services) and help build Digital Citizenship skills. Please see the current challenge for an example.

• Design Challenges feature creation of visual media. Existing challenges including creating avatars, social media images, and other graphic elements.
• Explore Challenges feature an online hunt for high-quality websites that relate to various themes. Participants are asked to describe the site, their search strategy to find it, and why they think it is of high quality.
• Connect Challenges ask participants to use the power of the Internet for good by connecting with others in a positive way.
• Search Challenges are online scavenger hunts that ask participants to find answers to challenging search questions. For examples, see the A Google a Day online “scavenger hunt” game.

Create your Google Slides document within your Digital Citizenship folder and share it with your teacher when it is ready for review and feedback.

Level-Up Track Feedback

When you’ve completed or exited this track, please help us improve it by providing your opinions on the Level-Up Track Feedback Form.