International Communication Management.

Module Guideline Term 4 2021

Name of study Unit Digital Writing

Module Digital Writing (3 ECTS)

Department International Communication Management

Module Manager Robert Freeman Cartwright | r.f.cartwright@hhs.nl

Carlien Schafthuizen (c.schafthuizen@hhs.nl)

Credits 3 ECTS;

ICM Students: CO-ICM-DW-F-18

Exchange: ES-ISCMDWSK-19

Programme / Year / Term ICM: 1st year, term 4

Study load Number of workshops: 7 x 90 minutes (10.5 hours)

Total of 84 hours (3 ECTS x 28 hours)

One individual assignments: 40 hours

Coaching: 4.5 hours

Peer review / editing: 29 hours

Exam: No exam.

Portfolio consisting of 3 components.

Entry level No prerequisites required

Professional Role International Communication Manager

Competencies and levels Competency 1: Analyzing and researching: Level 1

Competency 2: Developing communication policies and advising on them – Level 1

Competency 4: Creating and producing – Level 1

More specific learning objectives for the course are:

1. Developing a persona

2. Developing a style guide (writing)

3. Create a blogplost
 4. Create a social media post for distributing the blogpost

Relation to other modules Digital Writing is a core cluster of skills that are used by international communication professionals. It requires a mixture of both

creative and strategic thinking skills (pertaining to message, intention, audience, and intended outcome) for success. Given that this

course works with brands, it has overlap between communication theory courses as well as introduction to marketing courses.

The module has a hands-on, practical approach rather than an abstract, theoretical approach, in order to offer students immediate and

practical benefits during their studies.

Expectations Students can expect a safe learning environment in which their learning and development is fostered in a manner that encourages

questions (of all kinds!), exploration, laughter, and pushing oneself for success.

Course Communication Course communication will be primarily through email and Blackboard. Classes will be held on Microsoft Teams

Course content Week 1: Introduction to digital writing

- Types of digital content and content formats

-
Digital writing vs traditional writing

Week 2: How to define your audience?

- persona

Week 3: How to find the right tone of voice?

- storytelling

- tone and voice

- style guide

Week 4: How to attract and keep attention of your audience?

- good writing

- reading behaviour

- data analytics

Week 5: How to make your writing more effective?

- How to write headlines, headers and subheaders

- Ethics in digital writing

Week 6: How to present written content effectively?

- Open source vs proprietary CMS

- Types of websites

- SEO (direct traffic versus organic search)

Week 7: How to organize your writing process?

- Steps of a writing process

- Workflow

- Content calender

As mentioned, the module consists of online workgroups via Microsoft Teams

Attendance regulations To ensure completion of the course, please hand in attendance deliverables where specified.

Assignments and assessment. Digital Writing assessment:

Like the digital writing profession, this class is guided by a brief. The brief for this course, and thus the assignment, will be shared

after Week 1 as so students can settle into the course.

The assessment for Digital Writing is a portfolio assignment containing group and individual components.

The portfolio consists of the following elements:

- Persona (written and assessed as a group) - 20%

- A style guide (written and assessed as a group) - 20%

- A blog post (written and assessed individually) - 40%

- A social media post (written and assessed individually) - 20%

Please note that the deliverables have corresponding due dates:

- Persona: Week 3

- Style Guide: Week 5

- Blog Post + Social Media Post: Week 8

To successfully hand in, one member from each group will compile all assignments (individual components are marked clearly; please

use a table of contents and headers) to indicate.

The intention is for students to learn practical techniques that they then demonstrate as an email marketing deliverable. The course

deliverable is a professional piece of writing that they can and should use in their future portfolio; or resume (should students garner

interest in this field as a prospective career path).

A cumulative grade of 5.5 is needed to pass.

th
Portfolio due: June 18 @ 23:59 2022 via Blackboard

Duration of exam No exam.

th
Resit One single resit opportunity is available for the group assignment. Resit: June 29 @ 23:59

Type of assessment (resit) Portfolio

Result Final mark for Digital Writing Skills must be 5.5 or higher.

Literature Additional readings, podcasts, blogposts, and videos are listed in the Microsoft Team’s General channel