Attached is the correct way the blog should be posted.
- Access at least six listservs and at least six active blogs in order to follow topics and trends. These can be those listed in your weekly Learning Resources or those chosen on your own. Make weekly notes in your blog to capture topics and developments in the field. Your blog should include periodic reflection on the content.
- The purpose of a scan is to read and reflect on many sources of information. Realistically, however, you will not be able to reflect on all topics. Create your own heuristic technique for a simple tally of all topics that emerge; and in addition to that, select several topics to actually report on. Your report may take the form of synthesis of comments on these topics, or the report may compare and contrast the treatment of those topics on the different listservs and blogs.
Quality of Work: A scan such as this should include your synthesis and interpretation at the professional level. You may want to refer to your bookshelf on research methodology to review standards for content analysis and discourse analysis. (Computer-mediated communication permits discourse between individuals and thus the research methodologies around discourse may be appropriate.) While this Assignment does not require that you identify a method, your written product should reflect research standards of validity, reliability, and fairness.
Your blog should also reflect the evolution of your thinking across the term. Thus, the assignment is constructed for observation and reflection across time. The Environmental Scan is not a snapshot of issues to be compiled at a single point in time. Rather, it will be the gradual accumulation of blog posts that will permit your interpretation of your topic to mature.
