ENG 407C: Major Project

For the major project in the Advanced Professional Communication course, I wanted students to get a better understanding of different communication platforms, as well as a more complex understanding of audience and purpose. Since the majority of our students are English (literature) majors, I decided to try a transmedia project. Here is the current project page that I plan to use:

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Transmedia Project

Description

Our major project will ask groups of students to contribute content/materials, based on a novel chosen by the class, on at least two different platforms. In short, the project is based primarily on this Nerdist article by Amy Ratcliffe (READ IT NOW!). 

Once you've read through the article, and to better understand what you will be expected to do, we can also use this flow chart designed by Steve Peters:

In short, as a class, we will select a novel and then create content using this novel as a starting point. Some possible novels we might consider include

• The Outsiders
• The Great Gatsby
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• The Shining

Ideally, I would like us to consider a novel that everyone in class has read and that everyone is familiar with. Also, we can discuss if a novel that has already been presented in different mediums would be effective for our purposes.

Each group will select a platform (each group will have a different platform) and then determine how and why they want to deliver the information and the best ways to do it. Each individual must contribute to the final deliverable, and, ideally, all contributions will align to present a complete element to the larger class "story." To help create a complete "story," each group will first present their plans, and then present a preview of the work that they will be submitting (see description of PPT presentations below). Each group will be responsible for delivering information on two different platforms over the course of the semester.

At this point, I am going to leave the rest of the project open for interpretation because I want you all to be as creative as possible. We will have plenty to discuss in our first class meeting (January 25).

Goals

• Understand how different platforms deliver information in different rhetorical contexts
• Find and evaluate different software and platforms for delivering content
• Develop skills using specific software and platforms for delivering content

Readings and Platforms/Software

Some starting points for reading. Each student should do their own background research for this project and contribute resources to the class repository.

Fan Fiction

https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/uthor

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2015/10/what-fanfiction-anyway

http://www.bustle.com/articles/71438-13-things-fan-fiction-writers-are-very-tired-of-explaining

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Fanfiction

http://www.sycophanthex.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=41

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Star_Wars_Universe

Collaborative Novel Writing - Generative Literature

http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/can-you-murder-a-novel-part-1/

http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/can-you-murder-a-novel-part-2/

http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/can-you-murder-a-novel-part-3/

http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/realism-and-closure-in-the-mystery-novel/

Possible Platforms

Blogs

Vlogs

Instagram

Storify
Podcast/Newscast
Historical Timeline

Text Messages

Tumblr

Pinterest

Twitter

Deliverables

Planning Presentation PPT (2)

Final Preview PPT (2)

Final Content on Specific Platform (2)

Evaluation Criteria

Each group will be responsible for TWO (2) sets of deliverables, spaced out over the entire semester. The point distribution (below) is for each project:

• Final Draft for Evaluation + Reflection = 5 Group Points; 15 Individual Points (20 total)
• Group Planning Presentation = 4 Points
• First Draft = 1 point (Individual)
• Peer Review Response = 2 points (Individual)
• Group Final Preview Presentation = 4 Points

The final deliverables will be evaluated based on criteria negotiated as a class starting with the following:

• Presents content effectively based on the specific platform
• Clear connection to other contributions on the specific platform
• Offers new perspective on and enhances the novel
• Provides insight to a specific aspect of the novel
• Captures the style of the novel effectively
• Shows effective revision and editing

Reflection

Create a separate text that answers the following questions:

What was your understanding of the project?

• • An overall statement about your approach to the project
  • Assumptions you made about the background, audience, or purpose of the document
  • Connections that your document makes to other documents in the group
  • Problems, conflicts, or contradictions you faced with missing information
  • Contributions that you made to the larger group effort

How did your understanding of the platform improve through your work on this project?

What other considerations should be understood to accurately evaluate this project?

The Reflection must be submitted as an attachment ONLY (Word or Word-readable document). Please submit the reflection at the Assignment link at the same time that you submit the final draft for evaluation.

Project Timeline

This project will last the entire semester, and there are a number of deadlines that you have to keep in mind.

Feb 22: Transmedia Project #1 Group Planning Presentations (5 min. PPT)

Feb 29: Transmedia Project #1 Peer Review (in class)

Mar 7: Transmedia Project #1 Teacher Review

Mar 14: Transmedia Project #1 Group Preview Presentations (5 min. PPT)

Mar 18: Transmedia Project #1 Due for Evaluation

Apr 11: Transmedia Project #2 Group Planning Presentations (5 min. PPT)

Apr 18: Transmedia Project #2 Peer Review (in class)

Apr 25: Transmedia Project #2 Teacher Review

May 2: Transmedia Project #2 Group Preview Presentations (5 min. PPT)

May 6: Transmedia Project #2 and Reflection Due for Evaluation

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Planning and Preview PPTs

For each deliverable, you will prepare two five-minute Ignite presentations for the class. The first one will describe your planning and the goals for each individual contribution. The second one will be a preview of your final deliverables. Each PPT slideshow should consist of twenty-two slides (Title Slide, 20 body slides, Contact Slide), each set to rotate automatically after 15 seconds. Each group will present their slides in class, and, remember, each presentation is only 5 MINUTES!. If you go over 5 minutes, you will be downgraded severely, so make sure you have a script to go along with your slides. Slides should include carefully selected, carefully sized images (i.e., these are visually intensive presentations, not text-heavy slide-documents). Individual slides should not include more than ten words.

We will also discuss this part of the project and look at some examples in class.

ENG 411B: Preparing for the Semester

In order to prepare for creating all of the videos for my grammar course, I watched a lot of tutorials on audio and video editing. I also gave myself a little project to upgrade my skills. I have seen others create course trailers, so thought that I would do the same. Since the Principles of Modern Grammar course has become one that many students fear, I decided to create a trailer as if it was a horror film.

I used the original trailer for Night of the Living Dead (1968) as my model and mashed up from there:

Overall, I was happy with the final clip, seeing it, obviously, as an exercise. But I'll share it with the students (and with all of you). I could do a lot more, and I'm not happy with my voice over (I plan to hire my youngest son, who has done some acting, to do voice overs in future videos), but it did help me get a sense of mix and mash.

My goal for the semester is to create quality videos. I realize the learning curve that comes from this new medium, and I plan to upgrade from semester to semester, but I hope to incorporate a full range of audio, video, image, and text so that they can be as helpful as possible to the students.

If you're interested, here's the original trailer from Night of the Living Dead:

Working Out Loud: Courses for Spring 2016

In an effort to Work Out Loud more effectively, I plan to post many of my course materials for the upcoming semester. To begin, I offer the course descriptions, course outcomes, and project distribution from each course's syllabus.

ENG 407C: Advanced Professional Communication

This is a new course (or at least a revision of a course that I last taught in 2009). Based on our student population, my hope is to introduce them to a wide variety of digital and online publishing platforms. 

Syllabus Material

ENG 407C explores the work of professional writers in digital and multimedia environments. As a required course in the Professional Writing Minor at UNLV, this course offers a rhetorical approach to the social and collaborative nature of digital writing by examining, analyzing, and producing digital genres in professional academic and workplace contexts. Students will be equipped with tools and strategies for a more complex understanding of writing as textual production by studying and creating "texts" for different audiences, purposes, and contexts in a variety of styles and genres.

As a teacher, I am committed to creating the most conducive learning environment possible. Part of this means that you will be expected to collaborate throughout the course, discussing ideas and articulating concepts. In other words, your active participation is crucial to effective learning for everyone in this course. Active and meaningful participation is required, which means that you are invested in the course, in your classmates, your course work, and your education.

Through a variety of activities, the successful student will achieve the following course outcomes by the end of the semester:

1. Analyze and understand rhetorically different digital and professional communication contexts
2. Recognize, learn, and employ appropriate digital and software applications for professional communication
3. Design, draft, revise, edit, and present professional materials based on genre, purpose, and audience
4. Perform effective research and incorporate source materials into professional materials
5. Work collaboratively and productively at all stages of textual production

As a class, we will meet the course outcomes by discussing principles of professional communication (defined broadly, not just as corporatocracy) in a sophisticated manner and build critical frameworks for examining the rhetorical nature of digital and multimedia professional communication. These critical frameworks will serve both analytical and generative purposes, helping us become better consumers and better producers of professional written materials in different rhetorical situations.

As a class, we will use the following guiding questions to frame our discussions:

• Has the relationship between text and visual shifted?
• How do visuals and written text work together to influence readers/viewers?
• How do different disciplines and professions read, make meaning from, and compose "texts"?
• What influences do screens, hypertexts, and multi-modality have on “professional texts"?
• How do cultural and social contexts influence viewers' responses to "professional texts"?

Workload

Each module will include a variety of in-class collaborative, online, and out-of-class activities, a process for understanding the material, and the submission of formal deliverables for evaluation. You will receive detailed explanations of the requirements, formats, and strategies for completing each module. Specifically, each of you will be responsible for the following work:

• Transmedia Project (Individual/Group) = 62% (31 points x 2)
  • Group Planning Presentation (4 points x 2)
  • Peer Review (Draft Submission) (1 point x 2)
  • Peer Review (Response) (2 points x 2)
  • Teacher Review (Optional)
  • Group Preview Presentation (4 points x 2)
  • Final Deliverables (5 points – group; 15 points – individual x 2)
• Podcast Review (Individual) = 11% (8 + 1 + 2)
• Usability Screencast (Individual) = 11% (8 + 1 + 2)
• Infographic Project (Individual) = 11% (8 + 1 + 2)
• Final Reflection = 5%

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ENG 411B: Principles of Modern Grammar

This is a course that I've taught numerous times over the past few years, but this is the first time in a long time that I've taught it as online only delivery. My goal is to create a variety of videos (mini-lectures and walkthroughs) to supplement the course materials and free online textbook that we've developed.

Syllabus Material

English 411B will introduce you to the patterns of English grammar and their influence on sentence structure, punctuation, and style. You will be equipped with analytical methods to understand its structure and explore the relationship between grammar and writing, reading, and thinking.

By the end of the semester, students in English 411B will be able to:

1. Describe fully English words, phrases, and clauses
2. Distinguish between the form and function of words, phrases, and clauses
3. Analyze a sentence for grammatical elements
4. Recognize how phrases and clauses function in a variety of sentences
5. Understand rhetorical choices for sentence structure and punctuation

Through a variety of activities, students of English 411B will achieve the five course outcomes by exploring the complexity of the English language, discussing the grammatical structure of English in a sophisticated manner, and learning to reach consensus on grammar-related problems in different rhetorical situations.

Textbook

Analyzing Grammar in Context (Free Online Textbook): https://faculty.unlv.edu/nagelhout/AnalyzingGrammarInContext/index.html

Workload

Each module will include a variety of individual and collaborative activities, a process for understanding the material, and the submission of formal documents for evaluation. You will receive detailed explanations of the requirements, formats, and strategies for completing each module. Specifically, each of you will be responsible for the following work:

• Quizzes = 10% (10 x 1 pt. each - two quizzes each in Modules 1-5)
• Online Exercises (OLEs) = 8% (8 x 1 pt. each - 2 OLEs each in Modules 2-5)
• Discussion Posts = 10% (10 x 1 pt. each - two posts in each Module )
• Group Analysis = 8% (4 x 2 pts. each - one group analysis each for Modules 2-5)
• Proficiency Worksheets = 32% (4 x 2 x 4 pts. each - four proficiencies each in Modules 2-5)
• Module Exams = 18% (3 x 6 pts. each - one exam each in Modules 2-4)
• Final Reflection = 3% (1 x 3 pts. each - one final reflection in Module 6)
• Final Exam = 11% (1 x 11 pts. each - one final exam in Module 6)

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As I prepare for the beginning of the semester, I plan, over the next two weeks, to post all of the project descriptions for ENG 407C, as well as samples of the videos that I plan to use in ENG 411B. 

I have discussed in some detail our approach to project design in our Professional Writing Minor at UNLV here. Based on this approach, I will also offer other thoughts on the design and implementation of the projects and supplemental materials in future posts.

Stay tuned!