All class activities information will be listed here.
Based on the logo reading for today, spend some time in class using whatever program you wish creating yourself a logo (many options exist - photoshop, illustrator, and fireworks, to name a few).
1) Your logo should be unique to you and represent you and your online persona in this class (i.e. ethos, which we'll talk about as the course progresses)
2) Your logo, for the purposes of this site, should be no more than 85x85 pixels and be 30 kB maximum. You can make it larger and reduce it down to that size (I will show you how if you aren't sure of how to progress).
3) Once you have it finished, go to "my account" and "edit" and upload your logo.
4) Respond to this thread with a comment telling us a bit about your logo.
January 30th: Website Readability Exercise
For this exercise, I'd like you to examine several different websites, paying particular attention to how written content of a site (the "text" in most cases) works with the site's overall form.
As you are browsing, consider the following:
1) Which sites did you find easy to read? Why or why not?
2) Which sites did you find user-centered? What does this concept mean in web design and web content?
3) Which sites did you find that the content worked well with the form?
You might find it easiest to compare a a pair of website in this way, seeing which works better or which one conveys information easier. I've provided some pairs below to get you started, but don't feel you need to limit yourself to these sites.
www.enterprisemission.com
www.nasa.com
http://www.icr.org
http://www.natcenscied.org
http://www.lungusa.org
http://www.forces.org/evidence/index.htm
Intertextuality, Connotation and Denotation
A few definitions from the readings for this week:
Connote vs. Denote: http://www.towson.edu/ows/connote.htm
Denote = actual definition.
Connote = underlying meanings
Intertextuality: "This is how one image relates to another image. Are there similarities? Is it a certain type of image, advertisement, family photo? This is important because the more images that are similar, the more symbols our society comes to know, and the study of semiotics is born. The reason that images can mean something or create emotion in viewers is because of semiotics. Objects in images represent concepts known to our culture, that have a common meaning throughout our society. One example is the American flag. The American flag in an image at least in America, stands for freedom." (Wikibooks, Visual Rhetoric)
Using a site like Adflip: http://www.adflip.com/, examine at least 5 different visual arguments (such as advertising) using the concepts of connotation and intertextuality for a short period in class. What does an audience member need to KNOW in order to understand the connotations and connections to other texts or concepts? How do you know?
You may also want to consider how the concepts of ethos and pathos play a role connected to visual rhetoric.
Last class we briefly discussed the concept of "ethos", also known as credibility, persona, or image. Using that concept, spend some time in your group doing the following:
1) Start by looking at your personal logos. How do they convey a sense of ethos? What do they connote about you?
2) Next, examine a few different podcasts, thinking specifically about persona and credibility. Compare a podcast from www.npr.org with one from podcastalley.com.
3) How is ethos realized in each of these podcasts? What persona is built within it? On the description and site itself? How does that contribute to the message and genre of the podcast?
4) If you have time, consider what type of persona you want to create as a communicator for this podcast. Serious? Schoarly? Entertaining? Knowledgable? How might you go about establishing and building ethos in this medium?
Choose an old argument or issue; something that has been around a long time. For example, the death penalty.
In pairs, I'd like you to spend some time investigating on the web and finding information in the news or other related areas on your topic that is LESS THAN 48 hours old.
Make a list of some of the newest trends.
Now, write a short paragraph that ties the old debate into something happening now. In other words, take this old topic and make it fresh again.
Quick Example: Death Penalty
--Death Penalty = an old debate. How to make it fresh? Some of the latest polls in England reveal that nearly 99% Sun readers think it should be made legal again in the UK: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/article841077.ece
Transform this wordy text on writing for the web into a usable, scannable, concise piece of writing. Each group will be assigned a different type of web audience.
--Teenagers writing for the web
--Visual learners
--Low Literacy users
--"standard" web users
--Business professionals
In small groups, I'd like you to start thinking about what rhetorical situations exist on the web by examining a few different web media and how rhetoric plays out in the content, design, and overall functionality of each.
1) Choose an issue or theme (such as what you are thinking of doing for your podcasting).
2) Find at least four different pieces of communication on the web (persuasive, informative, educational, entertaining, etc) relating to that theme that are in different genres. These can include, but are not limited to, podcasts, news feeds, mailing lists or message boards, websites (personal, educational, corporate), e-documents, video, etc.
3) Compare and contrast the sites using the following questions:
--Who is the audience for each communication? What features of this web communication let you know who the audience is? Is there a secondary audience?
--What is the context? (when was it posted/written? where in the world was it created? etc)
--What is the purpose of the communication?
--Consider the interplay of the message and the media. Does it work? Is there a better format?
4) Be prepared to tell the class what you've learned and share any interesting finds.
Today we will be spending our class time exploring a series of assistive technologies used by persons with disabilities to explore the web.
I would like each of you to get exposed to as many of the following technologies as time permits--a minimum of three different technologies For each of the different assistive technologies, please try to navigate to your favorite sites, your page under development, and such and think about how the experience differs from "typical" web use.
1) For those of you who have brought a laptop computer, install one of the text-only browsers and attempt to use it to navigate the web:
Elinks (for all operating systems):
http://elinks.or.cz/
Webbie (for PCs): http://www.screenreader.co.uk/products/webbie.htm
Lynx (for Mac/Linux): http://lynx.isc.org/lynx2.8.6/index.html
2) For those of you using the computer lab macintoshes:
Under Apple --> System Preferences --> Universal Access, a number of accessibility features exist. These includes:
A) text to speech / screen reading (for those of you who brought headphones, please try this)
B) Screen magnification
C) Hearing alternatives
Again, navigate to some of your favorite sites and see how things work.
In pairs, examine the websites listed below and consider the following questions:
1) How is pathos being used through both writing and text?
2) What specific audiences are being targeted? Are these audiences swayed by pathos?
3) Is this site effective? Why or why not?
4) Are any other types of persuasion being used? (ethos?)
Sites:
http://www.christianchildrensfund.org/