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 (20%)
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 (2–4 minutes) that you can share on YouTube or Vimeo. Read more…
Unit #2: Slide Deck Redesign (20%)
As a student in 21st century America, you have seen more than your fair share of electronic slide presentations. Some have been impressive, but many others have been disastrous. This assignment asks you to find, analyze, and improve an ineffective slide presentation. Building on the principles we have studied in Presentation Zen Design, you will experiment with at least three different tools for creating presentations, then select one of them to redevelop a portion of the slide deck you’ve chosen. Along with your finished slide deck, you will submit a short memo that analyzes and justifies your design decisions. 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 digital media production, then document your findings in a multimodal analytical essay published online. Read more…
Unit #4: Scholarly Webtext (20%)
Toward the end of the semester, you will select a topic related to one (or more) of our course readings 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…
Class Participation and Short Exercises (20%)
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.