Your grade in this course will be determined by your performance on the following assignments. (Detailed descriptions for the assignments will be added as we discuss them in class.)
Unit #1: Video Narrative (15%)
This assignment asks you to tell a story—a narrative—about yourself or another member of the Virginia Tech community. Rather that writing a traditional essay, you will develop a digital narrative that combines your spoken voice with video clips or timed still images. In class, we will experiment with several tools for creating videos, but you may choose to use any software program that suits your goals for this project. Whatever approach you take to composing your narrative, the finished product should be a short video (3-5 minutes) that you can share on YouTube or Vimeo. Read more…
Unit #2: Tap Essay (15%)
Touch-screen devices like smartphones and tablets enable new ways of interacting with digital media. Where we once clicked and dragged with a mouse, we now tap and pinch with our hands. Recently, several writers have embraced the affordances (and constraints) of touch-screen devices by writing short essays and stories that are read (viewed? experienced?) by tapping through a linear series of screens. For this assignment, you will develop and disseminate your own tap essay using a software platform called Tapestry. Read more…
Unit #3: Interrogating the Interface (20%)
With the rise of web-based applications for productivity and social interaction, we have become immersed in user interfaces, and most of us have grown adept at switching from one interface to the next without skipping a beat. In fact, we use so many different systems on such a regular basis that the design of these interfaces becomes invisible. This assignment asks you to step back and take a critical look at the interface of an application designed for composition, document your findings in an analytical essay, and present your conclusions to your classmates in a short, rapid-fire oral presentation. Read more…
Unit #4: Scholarly Webtext (20%)
Toward the end of the semester, you will select a topic we have studied (ideally one you have explored in your blog posts) and create a web-based essay that incorporates outside research and makes a specific argument designed to be read by an academic audience. You may choose to present your argument in the form of an online article, a podcast, a video, an interactive website, or some other format that you negotiate with me. This project will include multiple “checkpoint” assignments to help you find the right balance between academic writing standards and the conventions of the online format and genre you choose. Read more…
Personal Blog (15%)
Fifteen percent of your grade in this course will be determined by your efforts to create and maintain a personal weblog. That percentage might be intimidating, especially for those of you who have never blogged before, but here’s the good news: the guidelines for the blogging assignment are intentionally broad, and I’ve designed them so that everyone in the class can get full credit for their blogging work. Read more…
Class Participation and Short Exercises (15%)
You should come to each class session ready to contribute to our discussions, and your comments should show that you have completed the reading assignments and done any necessary outside research to understand and apply what you’ve read. In addition, I will occasionally ask you to complete small assignments, such as submitting drafts, responding to blog posts, or collaborating with your peers in class. All of these efforts will contribute to your participation grade. I will assign tentative participation grades at midterm, which will let you know where you stand and, if necessary, give you the opportunity to adjust your class participation efforts before the end of the semester.