Syllabus
Course Information:
Title: Writing and Technology
Number: ENG 314-001
Location: MO 204
Time: MWF 1:00-1:50
Instructor: Jeremy Tirrell
Office: MO 150
Office Hours: MWF 2:00-4:00 (and by appointment)
Overview:
Students in this course will explore how digital technology shapes composing practices through critical participation in new media formats. Students will have the opportunity to use a variety of software applications such as Facebook, Google Maps, and audio editing programs to analyze and produce multimedia works including data visualizations and podcasts. Much class interaction will take place on a companion website that supplements class meetings with blog, comment, and wiki features. This course includes both individual and group projects, and some student work will take place in public online formats.
All class members are expected to treat each other with appropriate courtesy and decorum, and all coursework is expected to be completed in a thorough, timely fashion. All students must read and understand the policies articulated in this syllabus and sign the course contract in oder to remain in the class.
Required Texts:
- Online readings provided on the course website
- One of several book options to be purchased later (this will be clarified in class)
Course Policies:
Technology Expectations:
- ability to interact with the course website and other websites
- access to word processing, visual design, and web design software
- a suitable email account checked regularly for course-related business
- a Flash drive or other means to backup coursework
Routine work with technology is a component of this class. Students need not be technological experts to succeed in this course, but digital technology interaction is integral, and computer problems are not valid excuses for incomplete work. Practice the core principle of digital data work: redundant backup. Digital technology will fail you; be prepared for that eventuality.
Laptops may be used in the classroom, but please do not answer cell phone calls in class or send texts. Phones should have their ringers turned off, and if a student must take a call, he or she should exit the classroom before doing so. This course takes place in a computer classroom, and because of the nature of this course, you may check Facebook and other sites during class (in fact, I'll be making you do this—that will take the fun out of it). However, all students are expected to contribute to the ongoing maintenance of the course, so their primary focus should be on immediate classroom interactions.
Availability of Online Material:
Because of the nature of the course, some material posted to this website will be publicly accessible through the Web. (A student's grades and personal information will never be shared.) Additionally, any material posted to the course website may be used anonymously for teaching or published research purposes. For these reasons, students are encouraged to select usernames that are different from their real names.
Collaborative Work:
Because one of the most significant features of recent digital technology is its social aspect, teamwork and group projects are required elements of the course. Student teammates are responsible for updating each another and me about project development and progress. In addition, student teams also are responsible for negotiating all aspects of their work, including planning, drafting, revising, file managing, scheduling, and leading workshops and presentations. When a group project is assigned, students will complete activities that foster successful collaboration. After conclusion of group projects, individuals will complete forms to assess the contributions of group members and the global performance of the team.
Attendance and Punctuality:
Because this is a workshop and discussion-driven class, class attendance is crucial. Role is taken shortly after class begins. If a student is not present when role is taken, he or she will be counted absent. If there are extraordinary circumstances that will prevent a student from attending class, he or she must contact the instructor beforehand. There is no separate attendance component of the course grade, but any work missed because of an absence cannot be made up. This includes project assignments. The class abides by the maxim that all members of the class should show respect to one another by meeting at designated places and times prepared to work.
Late Work:
Late work is not accepted.
Grading:
This courses uses the plus/minus grading system. Pluses/minuses will appear on coursework feedback and final grade reports. The scoring breakdown is as follows:
- 92-100 = A
- 90-91 = A-
- 88-89 = B+
- 82-87 = B
- 80-81 = B-
- 78-79 = C+
- 72-77 = C
- 70-71 = C-
- 68-69 = D+
- 62-67 = D
- 60-61 = D-
- 0-59 = F
Grade Components:
Local Mapping Project = 25%
Online Community Advocacy Project = 25%
Individual Writing and Technology Project = 25%
Engagement Assignments = 25%
All projects will go through a drafting and revision process before they are turned in for a grade. I will provide extensive feedback on project drafts, but comparatively less feedback on final versions. This is because the primary purpose of feedback is to improve student work rather than to explain why it earned a particular grade. Students are always welcome to visit office hours to discuss work at any stage, including after it has been graded.
Academic Honor Code:
UNCW students and instructors are expected to adhere to guidelines set forth in the University Academic Honor Code. Students are expected to produce original work in this course. Collaboration and incorporation of external material and ideas into original work is of course acceptable and necessary, but all writers are ethically obliged to document external sources through appropriate citation practices. If you are uncertain if some element of your work constitutes plagiarism or another honor code violation, please speak with me. The point of any class is to educate, not to punish. Nevertheless, the consequences of honor code violations are appropriately dire. Please consult the "Academic Honor Code" information in the Undergraduate Catalogue and Code of Student Life for more details.
Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
I and the university will make every effort to accommodate students with disabilities. If you require special accommodations, please feel free to see me privately during office hours to make arrangements or contact Disability Services directly. According to university policy, students must consult with Disability Services before classroom accommodations can be provided. Please make contact as soon as possible, as accommodations cannot be made retroactively.
Assignments
As described in the Syllabus, the course grade encompasses three projects and many engagement assignments. Engagement assignments include all the work necessary for the progress of the course, such as in-class activities, out of class short assignments, reading responses, blog posts, comments, etc. Most of these assignments are worth two points each. Students must produce professional, thorough, insightful work to receive full credit on engagement assignments. The final engagement assignment grade is a cumulative score based upon how many points a student gained against how many were possible for the semester.
The links below provide details about each of the three main course projects.
Local Mapping Project
Project Summary:
The Local Mapping Project asks students working in groups to communicate aspects of their local environments through the practice of digital mapping. Technological geolocation has become a significant means to revisit our immediate spaces and places and explore how they connect with a shared history, culture, and landscape.
Each group will construct a Google Map about a single theme that identifies and describes at least five significant sites using substantive text, images, and audio and/or video. Examples of similar maps include:
Many other examples may be found through Google Maps Mania, Mashable.com, and Programmable Web.
Topic choice is wide open. Topics need not be overly grandiose, but they should be interesting, useful, and productive for a specific audience. Consider local historical or cultural sites, campus areas, indigenous wildlife and flora sites, health and sport sites, leisure spots, etc. Like all issues of design, topic choice should coordinate with the work's audience, context, purpose, medium, strategies, and arrangement. All maps will be built upon the Google Maps platform, and must incorporate text, images, and audio or video (or both). Students will do readings and activities—including leading training seminars—that will give them the knowledge and experience to produce such maps.
Groups:
Justin
Jeremy P.
Brandy |
Ben
Jeremy S.
Meghan |
Gabe
Lindsay
Temple
Valerie |
Deanna
Alex
Maggie
Sarah |
Project Sequence and Grading:
- Design Plan (10% of project grade—draft due Friday 9/4, final due Monday 9/21)
Each group will construct a design plan based on the rhetorical elements identified in CDA that articulate the goals of its map and how it will accomplish them. Design plans help guide the design process, but they are not static recipes. They are evolving documents that shift to accommodate changes encountered during project development. Because of this, groups will turn in final, revised design plans with their completed maps. Excellent design plans will account thoroughly for all of the rhetorical elements established in CDA and present a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts. Excellent design plans also will reflect the corresponding map, and be in a finished, polished format incorporating appropriate grammar and mechanics.
- Training Seminar (10% of project grade—due Wednesday 9/9 or Friday 9/11)
Each group will lead a training seminar in a subject that will assist the class in the production of Google Maps. Seminars will last half the class period (~20 minutes), and should use Google Presentations as a presentation tool. Seminars should incorporate an interactive element, such as a group activity, a guided walk-through, or a quiz. Excellent training seminars will provide useful information in an engaging and readily-comprehensible way. Excellent training seminars will use Google Presentations for organization, and will not clutter the slides with unnecessary elements. Excellent training seminars will involve all group members, be on time, and be rehearsed and polished.
- Map Draft (engagement assignment grade, not part of project grade—due Monday 9/14)
Each group will produce a draft of its Google Map for a draft workshop. This stage is important for the design process, but drafts are graded as engagement assignments, and are not included in the project grade. Drafts should be as complete as possible so that draft feedback is maximally beneficial.
- Final Map (60% of project grade—due Monday 9/21)
(The class-produced Final Map rubric is available here.)
Each group will produce a Google Map that reveals an aspect of the local area's history, culture, or landscape. Maps should identify and describe at least five significant sites in a chosen theme using substantive text and multimedia. Excellent maps will explicate an interesting, productive subject through insightful, grammatical text and original, professional-grade multimedia. Excellent maps will use icons (placemarks, lines, shapes) appropriately, and will contain enough sites to demonstrate significant engagement.
- Final Map Presentation (10% of project grade—due Friday 9/18)
Each group will present its map to the class, explaining how the map represents its subject. Map presentations will last approximately 10 minutes. Excellent map presentations will incorporate techniques discussed in class readings. Excellent map presentations will involve all group members, be on time, and be rehearsed and polished.
- Postmortem (10% of project grade, individual to each group member—due Monday 9/21)
(The postmortem form is available here.)
Each student will produce a reflective postmortem that provides insight into the contributions of group members and the global performance of the team. Postmortems will be used to assign group members individual grades for this project component. Excellent postmortems will account thoroughly for all sections of the postmortem form, thereby providing valuable insight into project development, successes, challenges, and lessons learned. Excellent postmortems will be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics.
Online Community Advocacy Project
Project Summary:
The Online Community Advocacy Project asks students working in groups to produce a campaign to make a tangible, beneficial change in the local environment through online advocacy. The capacity of online networks and digital technologies to change social spaces is burgeoning, and (as we will see) has become a salient popular, commercial, and academic topic.
Groups will have the opportunity to incorporate multiple technologies into their advocacy campaign, including Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs, YouTube, blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, iPhone and other smartphone apps, etc. Choice of technologies will be determined by groups based upon the rhetorical potentials of the situation, however at least three separate technological deployments are required. Advocacy topic choice is wide open. Topics need not be overly grandiose, but they should be interesting, useful, and productive for a specific group. Topics also should not replicate existing advocacy campaigns. If an existing campaign is in place, the group must find a way to extend it to a new audience, context, or purpose for the topic to be viable.
Groups:
Justin
Brandy
Gabe
Valerie |
Meghan
Jeremy P.
Alex
Ben |
Temple
Maggie
Lindsay |
Deanna
Jeremy S.
Sarah |
Project Sequence and Grading:
- Individual Topic Pitch (individual bonus points on project grade)
Students will individually research and produce pitches for specific advocacy topics. Pitches should last approximately five minutes, and provide a general overview of the proposed topic's goals and how it will accomplish them (it would be a good idea for students to structure their pitches using the rhetorical elements of audience, context, purpose, medium, strategies, arrangement, even though the campaign will encompass more than one kind of document). The class will vote on a limited number of topic pitches to pursue, and those whose pitches are selected will receive individual bonus points on the assignment. Excellent topic pitches will outline a workable, interesting advocacy topic, and provide a clear understanding of project goals and means. Excellent topic pitches will reveal personal investment, be on time, and be rehearsed and polished.
- Proposal Report (10% of project grade)
Once groups have formed, each will produce a proposal report that explicates the goals of their advocacy project and how it will accomplish them (this report will likely be based in part on one of the individual topic pitches). Essentially, this report uses rhetorical elements (audience, context, purpose, medium, strategies, arrangement) to establish why the group's approach will be effective. This is a form of design plan, and as such it will guide the formation of the advocacy campaign, but it will also evolve to reflect changes in it. Each group will produce a draft version of the report early in the project and a final version when the final advocacy materials are due. Excellent proposal reports will account thoroughly for all of the rhetorical elements established in CDA and present a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts. Excellent proposal reports also will reflect the components of the corresponding advocacy campaign, and be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics.
- Technology Seminar (10% of project grade)
Each group will lead a seminar covering an technological product or service that responds to the question: "how can we use this to foster local community change?" Groups will select their own topic, which may include Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs, YouTube, texting, blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, iPhone and other smartphone apps, or something else (pending instructor approval). Seminars will last half the class period (~20 minutes), and should use Google Presentations as a presentation tool. Seminars should incorporate an interactive element, such as a group activity, a guided walk-through, or a quiz. Excellent technology seminars will provide useful information in an engaging and readily-comprehensible way. Excellent technology seminars will use Google Presentations for organization, and will not clutter the slides with unnecessary elements. Excellent training seminars will involve all group members, be on time, and be rehearsed and polished.
- Critical Resource Seminar (10% of project grade)
Each group will lead a seminar discussing how one critical, book-length text might inform and shape our production of the Online Community Advocacy Project. Each book may be selected by only one group. Book choices are:
• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks
• Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, The Starfish and the Spider
• Howard Rheingold, Smart Mobs
• Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody
• Bill Wasik, And Then There's This
Each group will provide an overview of the book, but the main issue driving the seminar is how it can help us with this project. What applicable information, strategies, or techniques may be drawn from it? How does it change the way we view the topic? Seminars will last half the class period (~20 minutes), and should use Google Presentations as a presentation tool. Seminars should incorporate an interactive element, such as a group activity, a guided walk-through, or a quiz. Excellent critical resource seminars will provide useful information in an engaging and readily-comprehensible way. Excellent critical resource seminars will use Google Presentations for organization, and will not clutter the slides with unnecessary elements. Excellent critical resource seminars will involve all group members, be on time, and be rehearsed and polished.
- Final Advocacy Materials (50% of project grade)
(The class-produced rubric is available here.)
The final advocacy materials include all of the works produced for the advocacy campaign, including Facebook groups, Twitter feeds, YouTube videos, etc. Although these materials are called "final," groups should think of them as the launchpad for the corresponding campaign rather than its end. Excellent materials will be thorough and appropriate to the goals and means defined in the proposal report. Excellent materials will incorporate several technological services and media. Excellent materials will be polished and professional, incorporating engaging, grammatical text and original, professional-grade multimedia.
- Final Advocacy Presentation (10% of project grade)
Each group will present its final advocacy materials to the class, explaining the campaign's goals and how they will be accomplished with the corresponding materials. Presentations will last approximately 10 minutes. Excellent final advocacy presentations will incorporate techniques discussed in class readings. Excellent final advocacy presentations will involve all group members, be on time, and be rehearsed and polished.
- Postmortem (10% of project grade, individual to each group member)
(The postmortem form is available here.)
Each student will produce a reflective postmortem that provides insight into the contributions of group members and the global performance of the team. Postmortems will be used to assign group members individual grades for this project component. Excellent postmortems will account thoroughly for all sections of the postmortem form, thereby providing valuable insight into project development, successes, challenges, and lessons learned. Excellent postmortems will be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics.
- Results Presentation (group bonus points)
At the end of the semester, each group will deliver a final, 10 minute presentation discussing the outcomes of its advocacy campaign. The class will vote on the various campaigns' effectiveness, and bonus points will be awarded accordingly. Excellent results presentations will highlight the successes of the corresponding advocacy campaign. Excellent results presentations will involve all group members, be on time, and be rehearsed and polished.
Individual Writing and Technology Project
Project Summary:
The Individual Writing and Technology Project asks students to develop an independent multimedia project that incorporates writing and technology. This project gives students the opportunity to pursue their own intellectual interests in this area.
Project options are wide open and highly individuated. Past projects have included:
- podcasts
- data visualizations
- critical research articles over aspects of video gaming and human/computer interfaces
- interactive Flash texts
- and many others...
All projects must be approved by the instructor early in their development. All students must locate and analyze at least three critical works applicable to their topic during the course of the project.
Project Sequence and Grading:
- Design Plan (20% of project grade)
Students will construct a design plan based on the rhetorical elements identified in CDA that articulates the purpose and function of the corresponding multimedia text. Design plans help guide the design process, but they are not static recipes. They are evolving documents that shift to accommodate changes encountered during project development. They are also crucial for understanding the goals of the corresponding documents and how they are accomplished. This makes them indispensable for assessment purposes. Because of this, students will turn in final, revised design plans with their completed multimedia texts. Excellent design plans will account thoroughly for all of the rhetorical elements established in CDA and present a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts. Excellent design plans also will reflect the corresponding finished multimedia text, and be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics.
- Annotated Bibliography (10% of project grade)
Each student will produce an annotated bibliography covering the three or more critical works he/she analyzes during the course of the project. Each annotated bibliography entry will contain three components: a citation of the work in a standard format (MLA, APA, Chicago, AP, etc.); one solid, well-written paragraph summarizing the work; one solid, well-written paragraph explicating how the work shaped the production of the student's project materials. Excellent annotated bibliographies will use one citation format consistently and correctly, and include useful, correct summaries and insightful, clear explications of the works' impacts on the project.
- Final Project Presentation (10% of project grade)
Each student will present his/her final multimedia text to the class, explaining its purpose and function. Presentations will last approximately 10 minutes. Excellent presentations will incorporate techniques discussed in class readings. Excellent final presentations will be on time, and be rehearsed and polished.
- Final Multimedia Text (50% of project grade)
Students will complete individual multimedia texts. Texts are highly individuated for each student. Because of this, each student and the instructor will collaboratively determine how the corresponding project should be assessed. Excellent multimedia texts will fulfill the requirements established by the student and instructor.
- Postmortem (10% of project grade)
(The postmortem form is available here.)
Students will produce a reflective postmortem that provides insight into their process of creation. Excellent postmortems will account thoroughly for all sections of the postmortem form, thereby providing valuable insight into project development, successes, challenges, and lessons learned. Excellent postmortems will be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics.