Writing in the Digital Age Syllabus Summer 2010

 

Instructor:
	Gary Ryan, phone: 314-985-6100 Extension 4019 OR email: ryang@cbchs.org
Texts
	Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century (Paperback) by David Franklin Warlick, and Ten Easy Ways to Use Technology in the English Classroom: (Paperback) by Hilve Firek..."
	Graduate Students: A New Literacies Sampler, Edited by Michele Knobel and Colin Lankshear, Peter Lang, Publishing, Inc. New York, ISBN 978-0-8204-9523-1 ISSN 1523-9543, 2007 Check out the online version to read the book.
	Supplementary Texts: Writing Space by Jay David Bolter, Growing Up Digital by Don Tapscott, How Teachers Learn Technology Best by Jamie McKenzie and the Writing in the Digital Age Online Syllabus and Readings
Logistics:
	This class meets on Monday and Wednesday from 8:-0 A.M. to 12:00 p.m., June 14– July 19, 2010. 30 hours on UMSL campus and 15 contact hours online
Location: CCB 003, UMSL campus
Materials:
	Flash drives; paper, etc… While at school, we will be working primarily with MyGateway, Microsoft Office (e.g.Word and PowerPoint), DreamWeaver, and the plethora of communication tools on the World Wide Web—blogs, wikis, Twitters, and Nings. Away from UM-St. Louis, you will need to work primarily with a word program and access to the internet. It will be your responsibility to work beyond the class meetings in order to complete your web assignments and upload your materials to the class website, including to your own UM-St. Louis web account. Graduate students will also produce a number of short papers analyzing how new literacies are being researched, from traditional rhetorical and literary perspectives and from a sociocultural perspective
Prerequisite:
	Basic knowledge of computers and word processing, either Macintosh or IBM platforms.
Course Objectives:
	The purpose of this course is to explore how digital tools are changing the nature of teaching writing. Using computer-based tools, which usually include some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music, participants will learn how each step in the digital writing process reflects an increase in techno-literacy, problem solving, collaboration, while honoring traditional writing and reading skills. Participants will learn how to make digital storytelling, multimedia research projects, blogs, Wikis, Twitters and Nings relevant to the teaching they are already doing and also how contemporary literacy has changed the social and political dimensions of the learning environment.

Participants will:
	• Set up their own digital teaching (web-based) environment;
	• Make tech demonstrations relevant to the teaching that you’re already doing;
	• Connect educational theory that advocates contemporary literacy with their own classroom practices;
	• Design research-tested, project-based writing assignments that encourage collaboration and multi-modal composition;
	• Develop lessons that support student inquiry, by incorporating meta-cognitive strategies that follows and models the way the brain constructs meaning;
	• Assess their own educational environment and develop a written plan for incorporating technology into their curriculums and training others in their systems to do the same.

 

Class Activities:

modelling	­ develop lessons that support student inquiry and collaboration, by incorporating meta-cognitive strategies that encouraging students to experiment with ideas; think divergently; speculate, hypothesize; and construct meaning.
multimedia and hypertext	­ learning how to create new ways of creating communicative documents combining different modes and media and new ways of reading them
electronic communication	- not just e-mail but a full array of ways in which communication is developing, while shifting from linear to non-linear communication.
game play	- the ways in which playing digital games exemplifies ways of thinking and working in a digital domain

 

Grading
All grading is done on a point system. Your grade will be based on the successful completion of all assignments, web page critiques, participation in the class online discussion and attendance. There will be three major assignments (Web Page/Multi-Media Presentation, Lesson Plan, and Action Plan). Web page critiques and email postings to the class listserv will be based on course material (class lectures and discussions). We will be using incremental grading on the three major assignments, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F.

Assignments are as follows: (7 total--discussion board entries, teacher website, digital story, lesson plan, action plan, webpage criticiques, and graduate papers..)

Discussion Board Entries (5 points each) –total 20 for undergraduates; 25 for graduates—see special circumstances for social networking on distance learning days and special responsibilities for “websitters”.

Websitters: Each week selected participants from the Writing in the Digital Age class will be web sitters—reacting to posts. Because one person can’t do it all, this effort requires total engagement of all course leaders. Everybody works the course discussion board, wikis, nings or other social networking environments.

 

Teacher Webpage Construction (100 points)
Digital Storytelling and/or Multimodal Composition (100 points).Workshop
Lesson Plan incorporating the use of technology (100 points) Examples
Action Plan (100 points)
Web Page Critiques (10 points each) –total 7 Examples
Graduate Papers—total 2 (50 points each)

Hypertext Abstract
	Graduate students will also write a 1-2 page abstract profiling this project. and how the multimodal presentation or on how the teacher website fits into traditional compositional theories,
	Abstract Examples
Reflections: Graduate short essays will focus on: (Choose One)
1.	How the computer fits into the history of writing technologies, from clay tablets, to codex, to manuscripts, to the printed book, to the electronic page (100 points)
2.	How new literacies are being researched, from traditional rhetorical and literary perspectives and from a sociocultural perspective. (100 points)
I will grade your essays according to the following criteria:
	--writing responds to the assignment, meets composition length, and it is coherent and error free.
	--writing is organized around a main idea, and has an introduction, body, and conclusion
	--writing shows that the student is attempting to develop an original idea, with a fresh writing style incorporating.

Note that this course schedule is highly compressed and relies on group response and interaction. Final grades will be calculated by dividing your total amount of points by the total amount of points possible.

*** Very Important: Attendance is required! You should notify me before class if you know you will not be able to attend, and as soon as possible if something unexpected arises. Missing more than one class meeting will require makeup work, or it might result in a failing grade. Also, because of our heightened online learning commitment, class participation on “distance learning days” will require vigorous participation and contributions on required discussion boards, blogs, Twitter, Nings, Google docs and wikies.

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES:
Web Page/Multi-Media Presentation	Day #6
Lesson Plan	Day #10
Action Plan; Final Presentations and Papers	Days #11

 

SYLLABUS
	This syllabus will be revised as we include new readings from this semester's texts and on online (distant learning) component.
Day #1 Monday, June 14
	Introduction of the course; icebreaker activities; discussion of syllabus, website, class listserv and assignments explained; time to explore TWWT/GWP website; ASSIGNMENT: Write a short biographical paragraph for inclusion on the class web site; Integrating Writing and Multimedia; Read Chapters 1 in Warlick and write one web page critique for Day #3; make entry on class discussion board. Graduate Students: Read selections from A New Literacies Sampler, and "You Won't Be Needing Your Laptops Today: Wired Bodies in the Wireless Classroom" by Kevin M. Leander
Day #2 Wednes, June 16
	Class discussion of reading; Introduction to Hypertext; Introduction to basic web design, gaming, and social networking; Glossary of web page design support; discussion of hypertext documents and demonstration of PowerPoint and Dreamweaver; Explanation of how to download files from the Internet; discussion of plagiarism and copyright; troubleshoot MyGateway problems. Introduction to composition theory and how contemporary “texts” now include additional media such as voice recordings, music files, animation, video, and also invite additional authorship. Work on creating a digital story.
	ASSIGNMENT: Create your own hyperlinked document, webpage or Powerpoint (Digital Storytelling) presentation for use with your class due Day #6; time to work; Read Chapters 2 and 3 in Warlick and make entry on class discussion board. Read
Day #3 Monday, June 21
	Class discussion of reading; Discussion of the connection between literacy, technology and critical thinking; Discussion of digital composition and storytelling; time to work on assignment; Read Chapters 4 & 5 in Warlick and make entry on class discussion board.
Day #4 Wednesday, June 23
	Class discussion of reading; Troubleshoot web page design; Links to web page design on Internet; critique aesthetics of others' web page designs; explanation of web page templates on Microsoft Word and DreamWeaver, and how to borrow design elements from shareware sites; Web page critiques due; class discussion of critiques; Chat rooms, bulletin boards, newsgroups; time to work; read from our Online Syllabus (selections may be specified at a later date) and make entry on class discussion board.
Day # 5 Monday, June 28--Distance Learning Day
	Class discussion of reading; Discussion of professional Class discussion of reading; Discussion of professional collaboration on the web; introduction of OWLs. Blogs, Wiki, Twitter, Ning and Multi-modal composition resources; Continue working on assignment; read from our Online Syllabus (selections may be specified at a later date) and make entry on class discussion board.
Day # 6 Wednes, June 30
	Class discussion of reading; WEB PAGE, DIGITAL STORY/POWERPOINT PRESENTATION DUE; peer group edit of assignment; read from our Online Syllabus (selections may be specified at a later date) and make entry on class discussion board; introduction to uploading digital stories to the internet; Podcasting and Google.docs.
Day #7 Monday, July 5--Distance Learning Day
	Class discussion of reading; Web page critiques due; class discussion of critiques; Introduction to the Internet; Searching the Internet using Boolean operators; ASSIGNMENT: Create a lesson plan incorporating the use of different technologies due Day #10; Begin reading Firek and make entries on class discussion board; read from our Online Syllabus (selections may be specified at a later date) and make entry on class discussion board.
Day #8 Wednesday, July 7
	Class discussion of reading; Presentation of different multi-modal writing software and environments; the pros and cons of Powerpoint, Blackboard, Sharepoint, blogs, wikies, ning, Twitter, Gogo Frog, social networking, etc.); time to search for products online; read from our Online Syllabus (selections may be specified at a later date) and make entry on class discussion board.
Day #9 Monday, July 12--Distance Learning Day
	Class discussion of reading; discussion of multimedia compositions. Advanced class discussions and visit to social networking environments (such as Second Life and Online Writing Communities); read from our Online Syllabus (selections may be specified at a later date) and make entry on class discussion board.
Day #10 Wednesday, July 14
	Review Class discussion of reading; LESSON PLAN DUE; presentations; Read from our online syllabus and make entry on class listserv; Special Projects and Concerns; Action Plans Due; class wrap up. ASSIGNMENT: Create an action plan for your educational environment due online. Graduate students—Abstract of one of the studies in A New Literacy Sampler, concentrating on how research can be focused through a sociocultural perspective.
Days #11, Monday, July 19 Distance Learning Day
	Online class discussion of reading; Integrating Writing and Multimedia; Special Projects and Concerns; Action Plans Due; class wrap up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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