Welcome to ENGL 3844: Writing and Digital Media. This website will function as the online headquarters for our class this semester. I will use Virginia Tech’s Scholar site to record your grades, but otherwise, everything related to this course will be posted here. You should bookmark this site on your laptop, your tablet, your phone, etc. — whatever you use to get online.
A bit about me: I’m starting my fourth year at Virginia Tech, and I love it here. My research focuses on how people use rhetoric in online environments, and all of the classes I teach have something to do with technology. I love experimenting with new digital tools, and it blows my mind to think about what we can do with technology that we couldn’t do 20 (or 10, or even 5) years ago. When I’m not staring at a computer screen, I love to cook, read, and spend time with my wife, a brilliant freelance writer, and our two daughters.
Each week (typically on Thursday evening or Friday morning), I will add a post to this website that explains what we will be doing in class the following week, and what you need to do to prepare for those class sessions. I’ll show you the Week 2 post next time we meet, but here are a few things you need to do to before class on Thursday:
- Get familiar with your Google Drive account, which is connected to your vt.edu email address. (If you forgot your password for your VT Google Apps account, you can change it here.)
- Set up an account on Medium if you don’t have one already. (If you use Twitter, I recommend creating your Medium account by signing in with your Twitter account. If you don’t use Twitter, you can sign in with Facebook, Google, or your email account.)
- Buy copies of our textbooks, Presentation Zen Design and Program or Be Programmed. We will begin using both books soon, so you’ll want to get them ASAP.
- Read “As We May Think,” by Vannevar Bush. (Be sure to take a look at this PDF scan of a condensed version of Bush’s article, which includes some important illustrations.) Please be ready to discuss this article in class on Thursday.