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Integration Interaction Collaboration Introduction

Work to have done: Submit final-for-now website, with source files, and reflection

Plan for the Day:

  1. Breathe; reflect. (5-10 min)
  2. Collaborative Unit goals and proposals so far (10-15 min)
  3. Brainstorming (5-10 min)
  4. Marketplace of ideas (forming groups)
  5. Group proposal in writing, with goals and roles

1. Breathe; reflect. (5-10 min)

Congratulations on reaching the end of the web unit! Over the weekend, you wrote a reflection on your individual website project; now, take a few minutes to write a broader reflection (as we’ve done before) about the course as a whole.

One goal I have, overall, is to help you feel more empowered to learn new digital skills across contexts, not just for particular applications or tools. One way to think about that is through metaphor (or, more specifically, simile).

  1. What was it like to compose a website? To what other activities might you compare it? Let your mind wander for a minute, and see what comes to mind when you start off thinking about the process of working with html, css, etc.
  2. Would you use the same metaphor for the other kinds of digital composing you've used this semester? If not, what other metaphor would you propose?
  3. Within the metaphors you've come up with, what strategies would help you continue improving? What strategies might that suggest in real life, i.e. outside of the metaphor?
Take 3-5 minutes to think on the page. I won't collect this, but I will suggest that you return to these when writing your end-of-semester reflection, and I will ask for some volunteers to share in a few minutes.

EXT: What personal skillsets do you feel like you now possess, that you might offer to a team of digital media composers?

Let’s hear at least 2-3 of these before we move on; they might spark some ideas for others!

2. Collaborative Unit Goals (5-10 min)

This is the first day of our very short (two-week) unit on Collaborative Composing! We’ve spent the semester practicing this “version control” thing, in one form (git) or another (Box), but only working with files and folders we controlled individually. But if you think way back to the video series “Git and GitHub for Poets,” one reason to work with GitHub (as opposed to just git) is to share files, and communicate about what’s been changed, and when.

In this unit, you’ll need to share a repository with partners as you build something different than what any of you would have done on your own (and, ideally, even better).

The unit goals, then, are:

  1. to practice managing a complex project involving multiple team members
  2. to assess your own skills as a digital media composer, to find ways you in particular can best contribute to a joint project
  3. to integrate and consolidate the skills you’ve practiced across the semester

Ideas so far

  • visual design,
    • perhaps interactive / web-based
    • perhaps animated
  • collaborative soundscape / radio narrative
  • Foley art (adding sounds to video)
  • web-based game with images and sound

But the most agreed-upon sentiment was that we need to hash out specifics of the project with the specific people in our groups. We’ll group up in a minute.

3. Brainstorming / self-assessment (5-10 min)

First, I’d like you to think about goal two, above. Think about the following roles:

  1. project manager (organize schedule, keep everyone on task)
  2. visual designer (plan layout and visual hierarchy)
  3. experience designer (plan interactivity, spatiality)
  4. programmer (get into the weeds of code)
  5. researcher (find materials and assets, quickly grasp tutorials)
Take some notes:
  • Where do you see your strengths, within these categories?
  • Where are you on the cusp of leveling up?
  • Where would you like more help from a teammate?
EXT: Do you have a specific project idea you'd like to explore? Jot down some notes now.

4. Marketplace of ideas (forming groups)

I don’t have a particular strategy for group formation today, other than to let you sort it out!

That said, you should have between 2 and 4 people per group.

You don’t have to have every role above represented, but it would probably be good to diversify your skillset where possible.

  1. Group proposal in writing, with goals and roles Download the file “group-proposal.md”: from that link, you can right-click the “Raw” button and Save Link As.

Then, working as a group, follow the instructions in the file.

You may also want to look at this excerpt from Writer/Designer, on ways to facilitate group collaboration.

Lots of people seem interested in Twine! What kinds of things can we make with it? (15 min)

Choose-your-own-adventure fiction is one way to think about it. But it’s not always adventure, not always fiction… and not even always choice.

Let’s look at some examples!

  1. The Tiniest Room
  2. The Griffin and the Minor Canon
  3. Conquering Cathy: A trial of fortitude & vitality at the University of Pittsburgh

Homework for next time

Get started on your plan! We’ll have mostly studio time for the next three classes, though I’ll try to schedule an opportunity or two to check in across groups – and, if possible, to discuss some shared baseline goals that work for all the projects.