Skip to main content

Introductions

Texts to have read: the course description

Writing to turn in:

  • (at end of class) survey about other coursework, tech comforts and discomforts, etc + a letter to Ben about your habits, expectations, and goals as a composer of digital media

1. Introduction to the course and to each other

I'd like to know more about you! Head on over to bit.ly/cdm2021survey and fill in just the first two pages: I'll give you time to work on the free response later, so please just leave the tab open for now. (And don't worry that the link says 2021! I'm still using the same questions, so there was no need for a new version yet.)

When you’ve done that (or after about 5 minutes), in your own space please:

  1. Make a short list of sounds that you associate with being “at home” (whatever that means to you today). Alternately: instead list sounds you associate with being “at school.”
  2. Write down at least one digital tool, or app, or website, that more people should know about.
  3. When you’ve finished both of these tasks, let me know you’re done by standing up a little tent with your name on it in big letters we can read from across the room.

EXT: If you’ve done all that and you’re waiting, pick one item on each list to write more about. Why these?

NB: I'll often use that EXT notation to signal an "extension activity," i.e. something you can do if you finish before the rest of the class, or if you just want to dig a little deeper. (There is always more to do!)
And when you're all ready... Yup, it's introduction time! Let's share these around the room, as a way of meeting and greeting each other – and picking up some digital suggestions along the way. (Later, I'll ask you to post your recommendations as part of your first contribution to our class discussion forum.) Just one item from each list should do the trick and still give us time to hear from everyone.

2. A letter from Ben

It’s part of the syllabus.

3. Write a short letter back to Ben.

Please do this on the third page of that same survey from the start of class, which you should still have open. If you’ve misread the instructions and already turned it in, email’s a good fallback option: I’m at millerb@pitt.edu.

Some considerations you might address include:

  • What were your expectations for the course coming in? What were your goals? If they’ve changed at all after reading / hearing my letter, how?
  • What, if anything, surprised you in my letter? Why? If you have any questions or concerns, please ask them!
  • If anything in my letter particularly excites you, or helps you, please let me know that, too!
  • What are your habits as a reader, of digital media or otherwise? Do you like to read? What do you like to read? Where do you do your reading? When? Has this changed, that you’re aware of?
  • What are your habits as a writer (again, digital or otherwise)? What assets do you bring to the class that might help you or your classmates? What challenges do you think you’ll face?
  • Consider telling a story or two about a particular experience with reading or writing, multimodal or otherwise, that helps clarify something you want me to understand. Use concrete details to make the story present to me; help me get to know this memory through your eyes.

Don’t feel that you have to answer every single one of these questions, and especially don’t feel you have to answer them in order. Similarly, don’t feel your letter must be limited to only those questions covered in the bullet points.

  • EXT: If you finish early, think about making the letter multimodal. e.g. What images or sounds might you want to add? How might you arrange the images and text?
  • EXT: If you finish that, too, consider audience: how might you want to change this letter for posting an introduction to yourself on the course’s (public) website, vs. just sending to me?
  • EXT: Finally, if you’re still waiting for others, go ahead and read the rest of this page, starting from the URL in the syllabus: https://benmiller314.github.io/cdm2023spring. Then you can start the homework until we’re ready as a class to sync up again.

4. Homework preview

One of the tasks for homework will be to post a brief introduction to yourself on our course discussion forum. We’ll be using GitHub Issues for this purpose; I’ll demo quickly, in case you haven’t seen this before.

But first, an important consideration: what web handle do you want to use for yourself in this course? Will it be the same one you generally use for social media? Will you use your real name, or something more anonymous? There are pros and cons with each choice. We can discuss, if you'd like!

Homework

Before you leave, or by next class if you’re catching up after a late add, please submit the survey and letter, if you haven’t yet

For next time:

  1. Some introductory info-sharing:
    • Log into Canvas and complete the two short syllabus-related modules: one on self- and community-care, and one on the grading contract. There’s a forum at the end where you can sign on to this grading format, ask questions about it, or even propose changes. (NB: I want you to succeed: the contract is generally speaking a collective bargaining agreement, but if you need accommodations more personal to you, please email or speak to me one-on-one about how we can make it work!)
    • Afterward, if you haven’t yet, read the full syllabus, which you should have received by email. (If you don’t have it, you can download a copy on the Uploads page of this site.) It includes the info from Canvas, plus a statement on course outcomes and my commitments to you.
    • Respond to the Tech Comfort Survey if you haven’t done so in class
  2. Some (somewhat) more extended writing
    • Join GitHub if you haven’t yet,
    • and post a brief introduction to yourself on the issue queue.
    • Feel free to excerpt from the letter you wrote me today, or to adapt it for the wider audience, if you want; you should have received a copy of your post at whichever email address you used on the form.
    • If you’d like, feel free to include a link to that digital tool / app / website you wrote down at the start of class!
  3. Finally, you’ll need some software for next class:
    • Download and install a plain text editor with syntax highlighting. If you don’t already have a preference, I recommend Visual Studio Code (or VS Code for short), which works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. (My go-to had been the GitHub-built Atom, but it’s been sunsetted, sadly.) Chromebook users might try Caret.
    • NB: Microsoft Word is not good enough for this purpose. Word files are very much not plain text… as you can see if you replace the .docx with .zip and expand the result.
    • If you already use Notepad++ or SublimeText or something like that, that’s totally fine. At some point I may ask you to share your screen so we can look for similarities and differences. :1
  4. Download and install the GitHub Desktop application.
    • NB: If you super-prefer command-line git, you’re welcome to use it, but we will be talking about the GH Desktop interface on Thursday.