Writing for Digital Media

NMAC 3108.01 MW 9:30a-10:50a H/SS-124 Dr. Gerald R. Lucas

Inside:
Introduction
Writing for Digital Media teaches the writing skills necessary to communicate effectively in the digital age.
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Projects
This course will have several requirements that will hone the students digital writing skills.
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Schedule
The course schedule is an ideal outline of the semester, but must be exible to permit contingencies.
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Writing for Digital Media : Fall 2012

Course Introduction
An Integral Course for the Digital Age
Writing for Digital Media (WDM) is a course specically designed for the New Media & Communications degree. It takes for its foundational premise that digital media diers from that of print in several key ways, and because of these differences, to use digital media successfully, writers must develop specic skills for its mastery. WDM is designed to introduce students to these skills, provide them various projects in which to develop them, and teach them to become savvy producers and consumers of new media.

Course Projects
To Introduce and Develop New Media Writing Skills
WDM will consist of four major projects, all of which must be completed satisfactorily and on-time for a student to pass the course. They are briey outlined here and will be explained in more detail on subsequent handouts.

Daily Writing Practice

Consider this your daily work: both in-class and out-of-class exercises that allow you to practice your skills for writing for the screen. You will be required to keep a self-reexive portfolio that will be submitted at various times throughout the semester.

Focused, Content-Specic Blog

This project will have students developing a blog that focuses on a specic topic. You will choose appropriate topics during the initial weeks of class.

Digital Media FAQ (Wiki)

This is a collaborative project in open-source education. As a class, you will begin construction of a Digital Composition knowledge base.

Digital Folios
You will complete several digital assignments through various web-based services throughout the semester. These will be highlighted in your portfolio; see Digital Writing Practice above. For a tentative schedule of assignments relating to these projects, see the course schedule on page 5. Further specics concerning these projects will be forthcoming in class and on LitMUSE: <http://litmuse.net/>.

Course Details
All the stu you need and need to know Goals
In this course, you will use lectures, texts, and daily practice to improve your digital writing. You will read, write, and workshop (discuss each other's work in the classroom for the purpose of improvement). Though this class teaches you how to gear your writing toward a digital audience and the basics of how to publish that writing on the web, it is not a technology class; it is primarily a writing class, though we will undoubtedly address technology throughout. That said, our primary concern is writing, not the tech.

Pen and Paper

You should also bring an ink interface of some sort, as well as dead trees on which to take notes. Notes should not only reect good listening skills, but individual interest in every topic discussed in class. You should not sit in class like youre watching TV: learning requiresactive participation.

Devices, Etc.
Materials, like cell phones, food, magazines, iPods, etc., should be left in your car. They are not needed for our class and should, therefore, not accompany you. Anything that has the potential to distract you or the class, should not be in class. If I ask you to put away a device, I expect you not to use it and to not bring it to subsequent class meetings. This goes for laptops, too.

Assignments
Your work represents you. Therefore, I expect everything you turn into me to exemplify the very best of your professional self. Work should be proofread, rhetorically appropriate, and illustrate your very best writing and understanding of the course material. Any assignment is not worth doing if if its not going to represent your best work. No late submissions will be considered for a grade; technological glitches are unacceptable excuses for late assignments.

Required Textbook
Carroll, Brian. Writing for Digital Media. Routledge (2010). Lynch & Horton. The Web Style Guide. Online. Please do not come to class without your book: we need it for class activities, in-class writing, and all aspects of our study. If you do not have your texts inclass, you will be counted absent.

Recommended
A Grammar/Style Book College Dictionary Flash Drive

Attendance
The classroom experience is a vital part of college education. Interaction with instructors and other students is an important element of the learning process. Students are expected to attend all class sessions. Students whose number of absences is more than twice the number of class meetings per week may be assigned a failing grade for the course at the discretion of the instructor. Students who have more absences than the number of class meetings per week but less than twice the number of class meetings per week may be penalized at the discretion of the instructor.
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Supplementary Documents
At several points throughout the semester, your reading assignments will entail essays that are not in the above texts. These additional readings will be made available to you as PDFs or links. You will need to download them, print them, and bring them to class with you on the day we are covering them in class. Failure to do so will earn you anabsence.

Writing for Digital Media : Fall 2012

Course Details (cont.)

Conduct
As a Macon State College student and as a student in this class, it is your responsibility to read, to understand, and to abide by the MSC Student Code of Conduct from the MSC Student Handbook, available online.

assignments on-time and to the best of your ability; demonstrate a thoughtful and critical engagement of the course material. Please note: I do not discuss grades via any electronic medium; if you have questions about an evaluation, you must see me during my ofce hours. You will receive your nal grade in this course only through BannerWeb.

dishonesty. Academic falsehood, in any form, will constitute class failure. The professor reserves the right to use the plagiarism detection service Turn It In at his discretion.

Special Needs
Students seeking academic accommodations for a special need must contact the MSC Counseling and Disability Services (478-471-2985) located on the rst oor of the Math Building (formerly Learning Support), Room 110 on the Macon Campus. I cannot accommodate needs requests without the proper documentation.

Grades
A=90%-100% of total points; B=80%-89%; C=70%-79%; D=60%-69%; F=below 60%. Heres how you can excel in this course: avoid excessive absences; view all videos; read all assigned readings; take thorough notes on lectures and readings; complete all

Plagiarism
Willful plagiarism will result in automatic failure of this class and will be pursued to incite the utmost penalty for such

Tentative Course Schedule

W1: 8/20 & 8/22 W2: 8/27 & 8/29 Course Introduction & Overview Reading: Carroll, Chapter 1 (3-22); Writing Practice No class Monday (Labor Day); Reading: Carroll, Chapter 2 (23-54); Digital Writing Practice Reading: Carroll, Chapters 3-4 (55-96) Reading: Carroll, Chapters 5-6 (97-134) Reading: Carroll, Chapter 7 (135-167); Blog Assignment Reading: Carroll, Chapters 8-9 (168-235); Wiki Assignment No class Wednesday (Dr. Lucas out of town) W9: 10/15 & 10/17 W10: 10/22 & 10/24 Reading: Carroll, Chapter 10 (236-251) Reading: Carroll, Chapter 11 (252-297)

W3: 9/3 & 9/5

W11: 10/29 & 10/31

Blog / Wiki Workshops

W4: 9/10 & 9/12 W5: 9/17 & 9/19

W12: 11/5 & 11/7 W13: 11/19 & 11/21

Beyond the Web: Writing for Mobile Devices No class this week for Thanksgiving

W6: 9/24 & 9/26

W14: 11/26 & 11/28

Workshops

W7: 10/1 & 10/3

W15: 12/3 & 12/5

Workshops

W8: 10/8 & 10/10

Exam Week

Final Projects Due

Dr. Gerald Lucas

Web: http://litmuse.net/ Email: prof@litmuse.net AIM: drgrlucas Ofce (H/SS-117) Hours: MW 1-3:30pm; TR 1-2pm; By Appointment The best way to contact me is via email. I make every effort to reply to email quickly. However, please note that I do not reply to emails on the weekends. Thanks for your understanding.