Spring 2007
Instructor: Dana Lynn Driscoll
Office Hours: Wed 9:30 – 11:20
Office Location: Heav 207A OR Heav 228 (OWL Office)
Contact: driscodl@purdue.edu
This course helps students practice and understand the principles of multimedia design and implementation, with emphasis on writing in multimedia contexts. Students propose, plan, and develop a number of individual and/or group multimedia projects using a variety of technologies that support and enhance the presentation of content in multimedia forms.
This semester, our focus will be on web authorship in its various forms. Over the course of this semester, we will use a number of technologies and software, possibly including but not limited to: digital cameras, photo-editing software (Fireworks and/or Photoshop), digital video, digital video editing software (MovieMaker and Adobe Premiere), audio editing software (Garage Band, Pro Tools), web-authoring software (Macromedia Dreamweaver), and even, perhaps, powerful animation software (Macromedia Flash). Of course, we'll use Word and Powerpoint, too. And chances are many of you will become far more intimate with the features of your web browser (which will not be Internet Explorer).
Despite that list of technologies, I stress that this course is intended for the novice. I do not expect any student to be familiar with all (or any) of the programs on this list. I also realize that there are advanced users of these programs in this course. I will do my best to adapt the course to your needs regardless of your ability level.
While the course goals are detailed below, put simply this course aims to introduce students to multimedia writing technologies and teach them to make self-aware rhetorical choices when composing with those technologies. A more thorough articulation of these goals looks like this:
Readings will be provided online in PDF format or linked to the course website. Students are responsible for downloading texts, reading them, and bringing them to class for discussions. Additionally, there are two recommended texts for this course.
Be aware that routine work with technology is a major component of this class. Students need not be technological experts to succeed in this class; the class's purpose is education and improvement. Nevertheless, be aware that digital technology exposure is integral to the class, and computer problems are not valid excuses for incomplete work. Learn and practice the core principle of digital data work: redundant backup. Digital technology will fail you; be prepared for that eventuality.
Project 1: Podcast Project = 15%
Project 2: Web-Based Resume and Portfolio= 30%
Project 3: Creative or Professional Project = 40%
Project 4: Course concepts handout = 5%
Technical Talks (1 per student) – 5%
Homework, participation, and in-class activities = 5%
As a team, plan, develop, produce, and a short podcast (3-10 minutes) on a topic of your choice. Podcasts should be cohesive, fun, and interesting.
Develop a professional, standards compliant Web-based portfolio consisting of a Web resume and samples of professional projects or coursework (including work from this course). This project may involve conducting individual research into the professional world of your chosen area of study (including job ads and other employment-related documents), developing a complete hypertext resume, and designing a website and navigational system that best represents your work and appeals to prospective employers, professionals, other students in your major area of study, and general readers. Successful Web portfolios will be showcased at the Professional Writing Program's Student Portfolio site and may also be presented at the Program's annual Teaching and Technology Showcase.
Working individually or in small groups, students will develop existing or new content for a creative or professional multimedia project that can be showcased on the web. Examples include interactive hypertext fiction or poetry with multimedia components, essays or research projects incorporating substantial multimedia components, newsletters or other publications, multimedia presentations and demonstrations on a selected topic, a digital film, flash animations, or photographic essay. Early in the semester, you will be asked to write a formal proposal and will begin your work on this project after receiving instructor feedback.
Short (2 page) PDF handouts for course concepts based on readings will be created by students in this class. These handouts should combine information on design and rhetoric.
Short presentations on technical web-related topics will be presented to the class during our web development project, podcasting project, and individual projects. Examples of talks include: RSS feeds, Integrating PHP to create a dynamic navigation, SQL basics, Using Alt-Text and other accessibility options, CSS tricks and tips, etc. Each group must propose their topic to the instructor prior to the date their talk is due.
Late work is not accepted.
Collaborative work is a required component of the course. Your project team will be responsible for its own management and progress. A Collaborative Evaluation Form will be completed by all group members to assess the contributions of group members.
Because of the nature of this course, student work may be accessible to a wide audience through the Web. A student's grades, of course, never will be shared. Students in this class must explicitly allow their work to be viewed by a wide audience on the WWW. If this is a problem for a student, the student should withdraw from the class.
Attendance in this class is vital and mandatory. Role is taken shortly after class begins. If a student is not present when role is taken, that student will be counted as late, which counts as half an absence. Students may miss three class meetings without direct grade penalty. Every absence thereafter lowers a student's final grade. Officially sponsored university-related activities (such as being part of a sports team) are not counted as absences with documentation.
Purdue students and their instructors are expected to adhere to guidelines set forth by the Dean of Students in "Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students." If you are uncertain if some element of your work constitutes plagiarism, please speak with the course instructor. The point of any class is to educate, not to punish. Nevertheless, the consequences of plagiarism are appropriately dire. Plagiarism simply should never be an option for any student.
I and the university will make every effort to accommodate special needs students. If you require special accommodations, please see me privately within the first week of class to make arrangements. According to university policy, students must register with Adaptive Programs in the Office of the Dean of Students before classroom accommodations can be made.