Today you start the setup for Module 2 Key Assignment 3: research one global communication platform and present what you find.
By the end of this lesson you will leave with a short KA3 Inquiry Brief (platform, open question, search phrases, and presentation format). That brief drives the researched presentation that goes in your Communication Portfolio, and it is what the next research sessions run on.
You framed a research question for KA1 in Lesson 36. A KA3 inquiry question passes the same tests (open, not yes-or-no, a scope you can finish) and one more: it has more than one credible side. Use this table as a quick map of your brief, then study the closed-vs-open pair underneath.
| Idea | Why you care | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiry question | It steers every search you do for KA3 | How have class WhatsApp groups changed the way Irish parents share school news, and what worries do people raise about them? |
| Scope | Tight enough to finish in a few lessons; open enough to have real sides | One platform + one audience + one pressure point, finishable in two research lessons |
| Presentation format | Match slides, short video, poster, or podcast script to your strengths and your findings | A podcast script, because most of the findings are what parents, teachers and students say |
Worked example (open vs closed). Closed: Should parents leave class WhatsApp groups? (yes/no, no real research path). Open and workable: How have class WhatsApp groups changed the way Irish parents share school news, and what worries do people raise about them? Specific, multi-sided, answerable from public sources. You lock the presentation format on the brief itself once the question is set.
By the end of this step you will have named the platform you are taking into KA3. Rate the four options on the same research criteria, edit any starter notes you disagree with, fill the 'You care enough' row yourself, and set how much each criterion matters. Change a rating or a weight and watch the totals update: use that to pressure-test your choice.
Main job first: draft an open inquiry question about the platform you just chose (use a stem if you need one: How does [platform] …? or What do [group A] and [group B] argue about …?). Then check two sample drafts beside it so you can see the tells in action. Capture your open rewrite in the working notes so it is ready for the brief.
This is your Portfolio piece, the only one from today. Write your KA3 Inquiry Brief in short structured lines (not a long essay): the platform you chose, one open inquiry question, four to six keyword phrases you will search, and the presentation format you will use (slides, short video, poster, or podcast script) with one line on why it fits.
Keyword phrases are multi-word search strings, not single vague words. From the WhatsApp worked example, a researcher might search: class WhatsApp groups parents Ireland; parents WhatsApp group school news; class WhatsApp group rules; WhatsApp group pressure parents; school group chat misinformation.
Save a copy into your Communication Portfolio as m2_l54_ka3_inquiry_brief_<your-initials>.
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