“DGST101.net: Building a Collaborative, Open Access Textbook Alternative.”
In this talk I will demonstrate a class website, www.DGST101.net, and explain the pedagogy that informs its modular design. The content of the website is organized into three general areas — digital creativity, digital culture, or digital methodology — and each module is intended to introduce a specific tool, topic, or process while leaving the specific projects that students may create deliberately under-specified. This flexibility allows students to customize their projects to a level of complexity appropriate to their experience and comfort level. Further, the flexibility allows students to create and reflect on their own learning processes because they are prompted to justify their project choices and designs. These are just a few of the reasons that the modular design of this open-access, creative commons-licensed website has proven to be useful in DGST 101 and beyond, and I will argue that the approach we’ve taken here could be useful in other contexts where open educational resources are being explored.