Digital Citizenship – GNED 1531

Assignment #2: Case Study Part 1 – Written Case Study

Value: 7.5%

What is the Purpose of this Assignment?

The purpose of this assignment is for you to write a case study based on one of the nine
elements of digital citizenship and to respond to a case study written by one of your peers.

What are the Assignment Requirements?

For this assignment, you will:

1. Sign up for the digital citizenship elements that you will focus on for this assignment.
• In Week 3 you will use the sign-up sheet to select one digital citizenship element
that you would like to write a case study for and one digital citizenship element that
you would like to respond to a case study from (Please Note: You have to select two
different digital citizenship elements).
• The sign-up sheet will be first come, first serve and there are a limited number of
spots for each digital citizenship element. If you do not sign-up for your digital
citizenship elements by the end of Week 3 you will automatically be assigned to
two elements.

2. Write a 350-500 word case study that addresses the element of digital citizenship that you
signed up for
• A case study is a story that presents a realistic situation. It often involves a
dilemma, conflict, or problem that one or more of the characters in the case must
negotiate. The material for your case study can be drawn from actual or
fictionalized real-world situations and can be inspired by your own personal
experiences, current events, historical sources, etc. The best cases are based on
real-life events that are typical of everyday life, ones that everyone can recognize
and to which they can add their own experience or insights. You can see the
Sample Case Study provided at the end of these instructions for an example.
• Conduct some research on the element of digital citizenship selected to provide
some inspiration for your case study. You can look for examples of case studies
already written on your topic, do some research in journals, newspapers, and
magazines for stories related to your elements, or read some online articles about
your element to help you think about what kind of scenario you want to write.
• Write a case study that addresses the element of digital citizenship and includes the
following:
o Case Study Description: Your case study should contain a description of the
setting (time and place), the characters, and a sequence of events that are
present in the problem situation. Cases are usually presented in a narrative
or story format. A narrative is a story of an event. It includes what

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happened, who was involved, when it happened, why it happened, and how
it happened. Your case description should address the element of digital
citizenship chosen.
o Case Study Questions: Your case study should include at least three case
study questions that will guide the reader through the case analysis
process. Your case study questions should be open-ended, allow for more
than one answer, and stimulate discussion related to your two elements of
digital citizenship. You can see the Sample Case Study for some examples
of case study questions
o References: You should support your case study with at least two sources
and cite your references at the end of your case study using the APA
Format. For those who may be unfamiliar with the APA format please refer
to the following: APA Citation Style.

How do I Submit the Assignment?

An Assignment Dropbox called Assignment #2: Case Study Part 1 - Written Case Study has been
created for you to submit your written case study. You will also post your Written Case Study
on the Assignment #2: Part 1 - Written Case Study Discussion Forum so you peers’ can review
your case study.

Your case study response should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document.

When is the Assignment Due?

Your written case study will be due at the end of the week that you signed up for (between
Week 5 and Week 13).

How will the Assignment be Graded?

The assignment will be graded according to the following rubric:

Objective/Criteria Meets All Meets Most Approaches Does Not Meet

Expectations (4) Expectations (3) Expectations (2) Expectations (1)
Case Study The case provides The case The case The case does
Description (3%) a clear and provides a provides a not provide a
detailed description of limited description of
description of the the setting, description of the setting,
setting, characters, characters, and the setting, characters, and
and sequence of sequence of characters, and sequence of
events. The events. The sequence of events. The
description is description is events. The description is
based on a real- based on a real- description not based on a
world situation world situation contains real-world

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that clearly that addresses unrealistic situation. The

addresses one one element of elements that description does
element of digital digital decrease not address one
citizenship. citizenship. credibility. It is element of
unclear how the digital
case addresses citizenship.
one element of
digital
citizenship.

Case Study Includes at least Includes at least Includes one or Does not include
Questions (2%) three well-written three questions two questions any case study
questions that that challenge that encourage questions, or
challenge the the reader to the reader to questions do not
reader to analyze analyze the case analyze the case encourage
the case study and study and relate study and analysis of the
strongly relate to to one element somewhat case study or
one element of of digital relate to one relate to one
digital citizenship. citizenship. element of element of
digital digital
citizenship. citizenship.

References (2.5%) Includes at least Includes at least Includes one Does not include
two relevant and two supporting supporting supporting
strong supporting sources. The source. The APA resources. The
APA format is
resources. The APA format has a APA format has
mostly accurate.
format is accurate. few errors. many errors or
is not present.

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Sample Case Study

The following case study addresses the digital etiquette element of digital citizenship:

Case Study Description

Jack is a second-year student in the Business Administration program at a local community

college. He is a very contentious student and would like to transfer to a Business Commerce
degree at a university when he is completed his studies, and in order to do so he has to maintain
a “B” average. Jack is taking an Accounting course as part of his course load this semester and
has an assignment due in this course at the end of Week 7. He also has two mid-term tests and
another assignment due in his other courses the same week. On Sunday evening of Week 7, he
realizes that he almost forgot about his Accounting assignment as it was such a busy week.
Luckily, he still has some time to complete the assignment so he opens up the assignment
instructions and begins working on the assignment. Jack gets to the second question on the
assignment and realizes that he does not fully understand what the instructions are asking for.
So, he decides to email his Accounting Professor, Diane for some clarification. In his email, he
asks Diane to please email him back immediately and answer his questions about the
assignment. After about an hour, he has still not received an email response back from Diane so
he starts to get concerned as it is getting late and time is running out for him to complete the
assignment on time. He does not want to get a late penalty on this assignment, as he needs a
good mark in this course to maintain his average. Jack decides to send another email to Diane,
explaining that time is running out and that he really needs her help. It is close to midnight and
Jack is getting very frustrated, as he really needs to complete the assignment, but cannot move
forward with out getting clarification from Diane. He remembers that some of his other
professors have Facebook accounts, so he looks Diane up on Facebook to see if he can find her.
He successfully locates her Facebook profile and decides to send her a Facebook message asking
for help in case she is not checking her college email and might be checking her Facebook
account instead. At this point, it is getting late and Jack is tired so he simply writes “NEED YOUR
HELP ASAP TO FINISH THIS ASSIGNMENT!” After another hour, he still does not get any
response from Diane via email or Facebook. He is very upset as this means that he will have to
take a late penalty on the assignment. Before going to bed for the night, Jack updates his
Facebook status to vent his frustration and writes, “If you need help with Accounting, don’t ask
Professor Diane as she is useless and doesn’t reply to messages”. When Jack wakes up in the
morning, he checks his email and finds a response from Diane that provides a detailed
explanation to his assignment questions. He feels bad, as in hindsight, he realizes that it was his
fault that he left the assignment to the last minute and that he should have contacted Diane
sooner if he wanted a timely response. He decides to delete his Facebook status, but notices
that a few of his Accounting classmates that he is friends with on Facebook have shared his post
and have started making negative comments about Diane as well.

Case Study Questions

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1. What digital etiquette issues are highlighted in this case study? What are some
potential implications of this scenario for both Jack and Diane?

2. Identify 3-5 possible courses of action that Jack could have taken to prevent or remedy
the digital etiquette issues presented in this case study. For each of the possible courses
of action you have identified, discuss the likely consequences (both positive and
negative).

3. Based on the considerations in Question 2, what should Jack do? Briefly summarize why
your choice is the best option.

References

Malesky Jr, L. A., & Peters, C. (2012). Defining appropriate professional behavior for faculty and
university students on social networking websites. Higher Education, 63(1), 135-151.

Fuller, M., & Pittarese, T. (2012, June). Effectively communicating with university students using
social media: a study of social media usage patterns. In 45th Annual Conference June 10-14,
2012 (p. 46).