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Lesson Plan: Wearable Tech and Metadata

[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 50px 0px 10px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”none” src=”https://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/metadata.png” alt=”An image of words jumbled together, some of which are emboldened for effect. Some of the words in bold include “Metadata,” “Information,” “Data,” and “Definitions”.” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”hsl(0, 0%, 100%)” parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-left” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”2/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]The lesson is a simple means to introduce the importance of Wearable Technology into the classroom … without the need to buy Wearable Tech! Instead, students use a wearable technology that many already have access to: a smartphone. The lesson plan focuses on metadata: what it is, its history, and how it affects digital writing. But it also allows for more traditional means of instruction, by assigning articles and giving a short (15 minute) lecture. The reading material suggested for this lesson can be all or any of those listed below:
1. Is bigger better? The emergence of big data as a tool for international development policy. Taylor, Linnet and Ralph Schroeder (2015)
2. No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State. Greenwald, Glenn (2015). (Intro included as PDF above.)
3. Pervasive Citizenship through #SenseCommons. Boyle, Casey (2016).
[/cs_text][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”false”]Learning Objectives[/x_custom_headline][cs_text]These modules introduce the importance of ‘metadata’ to undergraduate students. They create a necessary link between metadata and contemporary ‘Wearable Tech’. Understanding how metadata is created and used helps students realize the ramifications of its existence, including its influence on the process of digital writing.

Learning Objectives
[/cs_text][cs_icon_list][cs_icon_list_item title=”Instruct students about metadata” type=”check” link_enabled=”false” link_url=”#” link_new_tab=”false”]Instruct students about metadata[/cs_icon_list_item][cs_icon_list_item title=”Inform students about its history” type=”check” link_enabled=”false” link_url=”#” link_new_tab=”false”]Inform students about its history[/cs_icon_list_item][cs_icon_list_item title=”Engage with metadata” type=”check” link_enabled=”false” link_url=”#” link_new_tab=”false”]Engage with metadata[/cs_icon_list_item][/cs_icon_list][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;”][x_feature_list][x_feature_box title=”Assignment Length” title_color=”” text_color=”” graphic=”icon” graphic_size=”40px” graphic_shape=”circle” graphic_color=”#ffffff” graphic_bg_color=”rgb(140, 140, 140)” align_h=”left” align_v=”top” side_graphic_spacing=”10px” max_width=”200px” child=”true” connector_width=”1 px” connector_style=”dashed” connector_color=”#272727″ graphic_icon=”clock-o”]One class period, but the lesson is modulated to fit into already existing lessons as the instructor wishes[/x_feature_box][x_feature_box title=”Required Materials” title_color=”” text_color=”” graphic=”icon” graphic_size=”40px” graphic_shape=”circle” graphic_color=”#ffffff” graphic_bg_color=”hsl(0, 0%, 56%)” align_h=”left” align_v=”top” side_graphic_spacing=”10px” max_width=”200px” child=”true” connector_width=”1 px” connector_style=”dashed” connector_color=”#272727″ graphic_icon=”cut”]The articles listed, the link to Project ‘Seen’, a computer and smartphone[/x_feature_box][x_feature_box title=”Skills Necessary” title_color=”” text_color=”” graphic=”icon” graphic_size=”40px” graphic_shape=”circle” graphic_color=”#ffffff” graphic_bg_color=”rgb(140, 140, 140)” align_h=”left” align_v=”top” side_graphic_spacing=”10px” max_width=”200px” child=”true” connector_width=”1 px” connector_style=”dashed” connector_color=”#272727″ graphic_icon=”download”]None[/x_feature_box][/x_feature_list][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”none” src=”https://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Dewey.jpg” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”rgb(250, 250, 250)” parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px 0px 0px 60px;padding: 10px 0px 45px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_feature_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h3″ icon=”globe”]Access and Adaptability[/x_feature_headline][x_gap size=”30px”][cs_text]The lesson is designed to help those with sight problems in mind. All of the articles have been digitized, and can be accessed here: here is the article on big data, a link to the intro of Greenwald’s book and a link to Casey Boyle’s article. These can be viewed on a computer screen or printed, and each is searchable via keywords and accessible to screen readers.

This lesson plan uses students’ own smartphones, which will typically have their own personal adaptations in place.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”none” src=”https://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/anatomy-of-a-tweet-scaled1000.png” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”rgb(225, 229, 234)” parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px 0px 0px 60px;padding: 10px 0px 45px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_feature_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h3″ icon=”cogs”]Assignment Description[/x_feature_headline][x_gap size=”30px”][cs_text]This lesson is split into three modules, which can be taught sequentially or singly. They’re designed to take around 15 minutes apiece, meaning that all three can be taught in a single class meeting.

In the first module, students write short narratives about their journeys to class, supporting the narrative with any data available on their phones. The second module is a short lecture providing a history of metadata. In the final module, students use Project Seen to explore the link between metadata and surveillance.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”false”]Instructor Preparation[/x_custom_headline][cs_icon_list][cs_icon_list_item title=”Read Provided Literature” type=”check” link_enabled=”false” link_url=”#” link_new_tab=”false”]Read Provided Literature[/cs_icon_list_item][cs_icon_list_item title=”Write Lecture” type=”check” link_enabled=”false” link_url=”#” link_new_tab=”false”]Write Lecture[/cs_icon_list_item][cs_icon_list_item title=”Review Project 'Seen'” type=”check” link_enabled=”false” link_url=”#” link_new_tab=”false”]Review Project ‘Seen'[/cs_icon_list_item][/cs_icon_list][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”false”]Student Preparation[/x_custom_headline][cs_icon_list][cs_icon_list_item title=”Read Provided Literature” type=”check” link_enabled=”false” link_url=”#” link_new_tab=”false”]Read Provided Literature[/cs_icon_list_item][/cs_icon_list][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”false”]In-Class or Assignment Instructions[/x_custom_headline][cs_text]The lesson is split into 3 modules. Each works with the others (in 15 minute chunks), but they can be used singly, too.

Module 1, Narrative: Prompt your students to write a short story with this Q: How did you get here today? Here’s the catch: they have to prove their story by using information from their phone. Did they stop texting when they started their trip to class? Do they have a pedometer that tells them how many steps they have to take to the bus? Do they have no phone and therefore no means of validating their story? The story should be no more than a page. The point is to get them to think about phone metadata. After, ask students about their stories, focus on metadata.

Module 2, Lecture:
Give a short lecture to students covering the provided literature. The lecture need not be long, but it should give students an understanding of what metadata looked like in the past, how it changed with the introduction of computers, and what it looks like now that phones and other wearable devices are the norm today. End the lecture with a think-pair-share question: Are metadata’s use value worth personal intrusion?

Module 3, Project ‘Seen’:
Give this Project ‘Seen’ link to your students. Instruct them to open a session on their DWRL computer. Have them type words into the word processor. Those words they find redacted are words the NSA seems to track. If they have a hard time finding redacted words, use these to get them started: ‘NSA’ is redacted, but ‘nsa’ isn’t. The name “Marx” is redacted, but the name uncapitalized isn’t. Last, the word ‘manifesto’ will be redacted, but the word ‘doctrine’ will not. [/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”rgb(225, 229, 234)” parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px 0px 0px 60px;padding: 10px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_feature_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h3″ icon=”paperclip”]Assessment Suggestions[/x_feature_headline][x_gap size=”30px”][cs_text]There are two possible means of assessment: the short narrative can be used as a completion grade or as the first step toward a larger project. [/cs_text][x_gap size=”20px”][x_tab_nav type=”two-up” float=”top”][x_tab_nav_item title=”Completion grade” active=”false”][x_tab_nav_item title=”Scaffolded assignment” active=”false”][/x_tab_nav][x_tabs][x_tab active=”false”]If assessing by completion, then the instructor can a) have the students email the narrative to them or b) instruct students to upload the document to Canvas via an already existing assignment link. There instructors can give feedback and a grade, usually based upon completion and effectiveness.[/x_tab][x_tab active=”false”]If this lesson leads to a larger project (such as a term paper, podcast, or interactive deliverable), then the narrative should be delivered to the instructor via email for feedback regarding appropriateness of the interaction with material, ability to understand the repercussions of using metadata, etc.[/x_tab][/x_tabs][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

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