Writing Online
Course Description:
Increasingly, writing activity takes place online—with people writing and distributing documents solely on the web, using template-based services to create blogs and social networking materials, and working with HTML and CSS to create websites. Other forms of digital composition have moved online as well: from Flash-based animations leading the way years ago to the more recent explosion of video on the web. The goal of this course is to increase your familiarity with the wide variety of tools and environments available for writing activity online, and to gain proficiency in using these tools. Along the way, we'll implement several methods for adopting new technologies and reflect on the merits of each. Since web technologies change rapidly, writers face choices every day regarding learning new versions of software packages, trying out new web services, and trusting these services to store and distribute critical written work. Without a set of flexible criteria for judging and implementing writing tools, it can be difficult to know which ones to take on and which to ignore. Throughout the course, then, we'll propose and revise a heuristic for writing technology adoption.
Throughout the semester, you'll be creating an online portfolio to display all your assignments. In addition to the slideshows, wikis, and other new media projects you'll create, the portfolio itself will constitute a major assignment. No prior HTML or CSS knowledge is necessary--the course will function part of the time as a workshop, providing you with opportunities to try out the techniques demonstrated in class. Students already familiar with the basics of web design will have opportunities to extend their knowledge through more individualized instruction during these times, and will also benefit the class as a whole with their expertise.
Assignments:
Web tools wiki:
In class we'll create a wiki space about web technologies. Your assignment is to write a tutorial for a web technology of your choosing (Facebook, Google Docs, Myspace, LinkedIn, Del.icio.us, CiteULike, Flickr, etc.). The tutorial should focus on the unique features of the site as opposed to common procedures such as setting up an account. The tutorial should both inform readers about the site's features, and indicate some common scenarios or tasks in which the tool can be used. Furthermore, if the tool/site helps to re-design a task, or reconfigure common work practices, provide some analysis of the drawbacks and benefits. Be sure to use the affordances of wikis to include images, links, etc.
Part 2: Use someone else's tutorial to learn and use a technology new to you, and add changes with the wiki function or comments in the talk section regarding your experience.
Slideshow response:
After looking at Lawrence Lessig's, Edward Tufte's, and Steve Jobs' slideshow designs (and advice) in class, construct your own slideshow as a response to the readings on the history of new media. The presentation should do more than describe the readings or summarize them; instead, your response should engage the ideas and technologies presented.
Part 2: Using Google Docs, create a presentation as a group that responds to the readings. This time, work within the constraints of the Pecha Kucha style (20 slides, 20 seconds per slide).
Mini-assignments:
As part of the HTML/CSS workshops, you'll be asked to create web pages and style sheets that demonstrate your familiarity with each lesson. These pages will then form the foundation for your portfolio.
Readings:
- John M. Carroll & Mary Beth Rosson: "Paradox of the active user"
- Dan Cederholm: Bulletproof Web Design (2nd Edition)
- Zen CSS Garden site
- Selections from the New Media Reader
- Selections from Writing New Media