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.