Digital Media Production | Spring 15

Course:

Holmes

English 8123 / CRN 15093

Thursdays CLSO 303 11:00 12:15 + Significant online content

Websites:

http://d2l.gsu.edu (syllabus, readings, and assignment submission)

http://eng8123sp15.wordpress.com/ (syllabus, assignment descriptions)

Office Hours:

In-Person: By appointment only. Email or see me before class to

schedule.
Virtual Office Hours: Wednesdays 9:30 11:30 AM
During virtual office hours, I will be available online or for phone
conferences. I will be logged-in to my GSU email account to respond
quickly to emails, and I will also be available for instant message chatting
or video conferencing (via Google+ or Skype). Email me if youd like to
coordinate a virtual chat or video conference.

Please note that the course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be
necessary.
Course Description & Goals
In this production-intensive course, you will learn about best practices for Web design and
development, and you will produce digital, multimodal texts. My hope is that the course
assignments will serve your needs as an emerging scholar, a mindful pedagogue, and/or an
academic professional. We will explore issues such as how to cultivate ones academic digital
identity and best practices for designing a professional website for academic purposes.
Depending on your selected project, you may also work to transform a traditional scholarly
essay into an online webtext or design a digital pedagogical project. All of our discussions will
be grounded in rhetoric in terms of our attention to audience, purpose, and context but also in
terms of visual rhetoric and Web design. In addition to analyzing and producing digital texts, you
will work collaboratively to practice editingboth design- and copy-editingwebsites that your
peers have produced, following some of the editing practices of a leading online journal in
Rhetoric and Composition, Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy.
Course assignments will require that you work with new technologies and practice new digital
writing and publishing skills. My approach to digital production values experimentation and
problem-based learning. I tend to encourage you to dream big with your ideas for digital texts,
and then address specific issues and challenges that may arise in terms of logistics and
technological know-how on an as-needed basis. One of the challenges of this course is that
though we will spend some of class time discussing how to of Web development, we will not
be able to cover all of the technical skills you will need to successfully complete course
assignments. This means you will need to be self-directed, seeking out answers through online
tutorials, workshops on campus, or simply troubleshooting issues.
You do not need to have any previous experience or technical skills in digital writing and
publishing. However, you may not be happy in this course if you do not have basic computer
knowledge and if you are not willing to spend time online and take the initiative to experiment
with and learn programs that are new to you.

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Hybrid Course Design

This course is designed as a hybrid, which means instead of meeting face-to-face for 2.5 hours
each week we will meet face-to-face once weekly for 75 minutes and the material that we would
have completed during the remainder of class will be completed through online assignments
that do not require you to meet in our classroom. The production-based nature of the course is
complemented by allotting time for independent and collaborative research, writing, and
technology practice.
Textbooks
You are required to purchase (or rent) the following textbooks, which are available at GSUs
bookstore or online. You may choose to purchase digital copies of these books, as long as you
can access the material during class discussions (via website or mobile device).
Arola, Kristin L., Jennifer Shepherd, and Cheryl E. Ball. Writer/Designer. New York:
Bedford St. Martin's, 2014.
Whittaker, Jason. Producing for Web 2.0: A Student Guide. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge,
2009.
Recommended Book (available for free as an e-book through GSUs library):
Carroll, Brian. Writing for Digital Media. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.
Course Assignments
Philosophy of Digital Identity as an Academic
15%
Compose a statement about your beliefs, goals, and values in terms of digital identity,
online presence, and social media engagement as an academic. After first studying the
online presence of scholars in your field, you will draft and revise your statement. (2 to 4
pages)
Website Analysis
20%
Choose a website or scholarly webtext to analyze and critique for layout, visual design,
and content. (4 to 6 pages)
Production of Digital Text (Scholarly, Pedagogical, and/or Professional)
25%
Select a project that you could revise or create as a digital text. The project should be a
scholarly project (revision of a scholarly essay into a webtext, creation of a digital
archive, etc.), a pedagogical project (a website or digital project to be used for
pedagogical purposes), or a professional project (a website for your academic or
professional profilewhat you might use on the job market).
Design- & Copy-editing Participation
20%
Using the texts produced in the previous unit, we will conclude the semester by working
through a design- and copy-editing rotation using stages similar to those used by the
journal Kairos in revising webtexts prior to publication.
Technology Walkthrough

10%

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You will lead a brief (5-10 min.) demonstration that walks your peers through a specific
technology task or program. See sign-up sheet for topics and dates.
Online and Out-of-Class Production Assignments
These are short assignments you will complete out of class.

10%

Course Policies
Attendance Policy & Expectations for Participation
Daily attendance and participation are essential to your success in this course, and I expect you
to attend all class sessions, be on time, and arrive prepared having completed required
readings. I will take attendance daily at the start of class. However, in the event that you cannot
make it to class, please be sure you understand the course attendance policy as follows: If a
student misses more than 2 classes (2 weeks), he or she may risk failing the course. The
midpoint for the semester is March 3rd. Students wishing to withdraw should do so before this
date in order to receive a grade of W for the course.
Late Work
Course assignments are due at the specified time on the date stated on each assignment sheet.
After that, the grade drops one third of a letter grade per calendar day, which includes days that
we do not meet for class. If there are extenuating circumstances that warrant an extension,
please ask for approval from me in advance of the due date.
Submission Policies
You may be asked to submit your work in print or electronic forms, either in-class or at a date
and time out of class. Please follow all stated instructions for how, when, and where to submit
your assignments for this course.
Grading Scale
A+ 97 - 100%, A 93 - 96%, A- 90 - 92%, B+ 87 - 89%, B 83 - 86%, B- 80 - 82%,
C+ 77 - 79%, C 73 - 76%, C- 70 - 72%, D+ 67 - 69%, D 63 - 66%, D- 60 - 62%, F 59% - 0%
Academic Honesty
As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold
standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The university assumes as a basic and
minimum standard of conduct in academic matters that students be honest and that they submit
for credit only the products of their own efforts. According to GSUs handbook, dishonorable
conduct includes plagiarism, cheating, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, and multiple
submissions of your academic work. For specific examples and definitions of each of these
forms of conduct, please see the Policy on Academic Honesty, section 409 in the Faculty
Handbook: http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/fhb.html.
Course Assessment
Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at
Georgia State. Upon completing the course, please take time to fill out the online course
evaluation.
Accommodations

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I am happy to accommodate any student who has a documented disability registered with
GSUs Office of Disability Services. If this applies to you, please plan to make an appointment
with me during the first weeks of the semester so we can make a plan for the best way to
accommodate your needs. Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do
so by registering with the Office of Disability Services. Students may only be accommodated
upon issuance by the Office of Disability Services of a signed Accommodation Plan and are
responsible for providing a copy of that plan to instructors of all classes in which
accommodations are sought.
Campus Resources
The Writing Studio
25 Park Place, Room 2420, http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/
The purpose of the Writing Studio is to enhance the writing instruction that happens in academic
classrooms, by providing undergraduate and graduate students with an experienced reader who
engages them in conversation about their writing assignments and ideas, and familiarizes them
with audience expectations and academic genre conventions. We focus on the rhetorical
aspects of texts, and provide one-on-one, student-centered teaching that corresponds to each
writers composing process, especially invention and revising. We do not provide editing or
proofreading services. We aim to create better writers, not perfect papers, so we address
works-in-progress in tutorials, and not finished texts.
Counseling & Mind-Body Health Resources
404-413-1640, http://counselingcenter.gsu.edu/
Life in graduate school can get complicated. Students sometimes feel overwhelmed, experience
anxiety or depression, and struggle with relationships or family responsibilities. GSUs
Counseling & Testing Center offers counseling, crisis, and mind-body health resources to help
students cope with difficult emotions and life stressors.
The Digital Aquarium
Student Center 390, Phone 404-413-4730, http://www.gsu.edu/aquarium/
The Digital Aquarium is an open-access multimedia computer lab, providing high-end
workstations for all Georgia State University students, regardless of their academic major.
Resources include 3D, video, audio, graphic design and animation tools that allow students to
develop music, movies, interactive media, web sites and virtual worlds and to replace traditional
Word documents and PowerPoint presentations with interactive websites, DVD videos, audio
CDs, and podcasts.
Instructional Technology Center
College of Education Building, 2nd floor, http://itc.gsu.edu/
The Instructional Technology Center (ITC) is designed for faculty, students, and Pre-K-12
educators to encourage and support technology confidence and expertise in the areas of
teaching, collaboration, and consultation. Open to all GSU students; check website for hours.
Computer Labs on GSUs Campus
http://technology.gsu.edu/technology-services/it-services/labs-and-classrooms/computer-labs/
A listing of public and open computer labs on GSUs campus with hours and locations.
The Exchange Technology Training Workshops

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Phone # 404-413-4700, http://technology.gsu.edu/technology-services/it-services/training-

and-learning-resources/technology-training-workshops/
Students arent permitted to use the computers in the Exchange, but they can attend the
workshops offered in the Classroom South building. See their website for details.
GSU Help Center http://www.gsu.edu/help/
The IS&T Help Center provides Georgia State University faculty and staff with support for
software, hardware, telecommunications and network issues. If we cannot resolve your
issue, we will assign it to the appropriate IS&T department.
Online Training & Lynda http://www.gsu.edu/ist/training/index.html
Online tutorial videos on various software programs; free to GSU students. When off-campus,
you will need to connect via the Virtual Private Network (VPN)see below.
GSU VPN http://www.gsu.edu/help/25697.html
Use the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to connect to the university network from off campus and
access resources only available from within the network, including library applications such as
GALILEO and technical resources such as Georgia State accounts for lynda.com.
Course Schedule
This course schedule is subject to changes. Please check the calendar on the course website
for the most up-to-date version of the schedule of readings, assignments, and due dates. Also
check the news feature on D2L for announcements of changes. I will provide a more detailed
calendar with assignments due in advance of each unit.
Day

Topics

Thurs.,
Jan. 15th

Course Introductions & Syllabus

Assignments Due

Unit 1: Digital Identity & Social Media for Professional Purposes

Thurs.,
Jan.
22nd

Thurs.,
Jan. 29th

Discuss digital identities and

Read: How to Curate Your Digital Identity
using social media for
as an Academic, by Kelli Marshall (D2L)
professional purposes.
Introduce Philosophy of Digital
Identity as an Academic
assignment.
Online Assignment: Monitor your academic heroes online and social media
presence (see details on D2L).
Discuss examples from hybrid Skim: Whittaker, Chapter 6 Web 2.0 Tools
assignment.
Be ready to report on findings from online
Discuss the genre of a
assignment.
philosophy statement.
Online Assignment: Investigate social media networking sites (D2L) & begin
drafting philosophy statement.

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Thurs.,
Feb. 5th

Discuss social media

networking sites.

Holmes

Bring an early rough-draft of your

philosophy statement.

Online Assignment: Revisions to philosophy and final submission.

Due Sunday, Feb. 8th by midnight: Philosophy of Digital Identity due as an
upload to D2L dropbox by
Unit 2: Website Analysis
Thurs., Feb. 12th

What makes an effective website?

Thurs., Feb. 19th

Analyzing Design Choices

Thurs., Feb. 26th

Drafts of website analysis

Guest panel of speakers on digital archives: Drs. Eckert, Harker, and
Wharton

Website Analysis Due

Unit 3: Web Production
Thurs., Mar. 5th
Thurs., Mar. 12th

Choosing a Genre & Assembling Technologies

Proposal for digital text
Mockups & Storyboards

Spring Break
Thurs., Mar. 26th

In-class Production

Thurs., Apr. 2nd

In-class Production

Draft of Digital Text Due

Unit 4: Design- & Copy-Editing Rotation
Thurs., Apr. 9th

Pre-production Check

Thurs., Apr. 16th

Design Editing

Thurs., Apr. 23rd

Copyediting & Proofreading

Final, Revised Digital Text Due

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