This course requires students to compose digital media while exploring the rhetorical, poetic, and political implications of multiple writing platforms. Students will learn how to compose a range of critical media objects using web-authoring languages, text, sound, and images, primarily in open-source software. Classes will focus on theories of writing, composing, design, critique, delivery, and networked distributions; critique and analysis of digital media produced by professional and amateur digital media practitioners; and analysis and revisions of digital media composed by the students themselves.
This particular section will focus on the core concepts of layers and versioning, applying them in the context of sound editing; image editing; and web design. We'll be using primarily free and open-source software and platforms.
This course can be used to meet the general education requirements for DSAS Creative Work; DSAS Writing Intensive; SCI Expression: Technical, Business, or Research writing; and SCI Polymathic Contexts: Humanistic.
Students in this course can expect to...
- compose frequently, building a habit of reading and composing as reciprocal activities
- respond orally and in writing to the ideas in texts about digital media and composing
- build familiarity with principles of copyright, fair use, and open licensing, so as to incorporate source materials ethically and cite where appropriate
- develop shared criteria for assessing multimodal compositions in particular genres and/or media, in consultation with the professor
- respond orally and in writing to the ideas and strategies in their peers’ texts
- revise, using a variety of modes, in response to their own reflections and feedback from peers and the teacher
- develop proficiency with a number of digital tools for composing in aural, visual, and hypertext modes
- develop proficiency in one popular tool for version control and collaboration
- employ various learning strategies for extending knowledge in practical and theoretical aspects of digital media composition
- assess one’s own developing skills and interests so as to communicate what you could offer a collaborative digital composition team
- complete a portfolio containing, at a minimum, three revised multimodal pieces, one set of drafts, and an introductory reflection
Students in this course can expect their professor to…
- respond orally and in writing to students’ ideas and the ideas in texts about digital media and composing
- provide exercises for generating, analyzing, and revising multimodal texts
- provide links to extensive online resources for further individualized study
- discuss with students rationales for what each exercise is designed to do, and why it ought to help with the goals above
- encourage students to retry earlier exercises in later contexts, to support the development of mastery
- choose assigned texts that balance accessibility for novices with constructive challenges that allow for learning
- provide background context and guidance in understanding difficult texts or genre features
- structure in-class time, especially time spent working in small peer groups, so there is meaningful work to be done (even if we finish early or run out of time)
- build flexibility into per-class and semester-long schedules, recognizing that the complexity of writing – including digital writing – means insights and lessons do not follow a linear order of development, but leap from teachable moment to teachable moment
- guide the class in developing shared criteria for assessing multimodal compositions in particular genres and/or media
- provide a detailed grading contract that outlines criteria for participation and success in the course
- communicate about students’ successes, setbacks, and possibilities