Introduction to Digital WritingCourse Instructor: Matt Applegatehttp://digitalwriting1@wordpress.com

Course Description:This course is designed to introduce students to a broad range of digital tools and sites of digital composition. We have four explicit goals: 1) To become proficient in using digital technologies with real world applications, 2) To learn and apply professional writing skills in digital contexts, 3) To become aware of the sources and outlets most common to the production of digital culture, and 4) To develop skills in integrating multiple media and text-based digital applications in an efficient method.

Required Texts:Writing for Visual Media by Anthony FriedmanCrafting Original Digital Writing by Troy HicksMLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers by The Modern Language AssociationOnline Tutorials/General Information on Course Website

Required Materials:A USB Drive (4GB Minimum), available online or at the campus bookstore.

Technology: For Introduction to Digital Writing, all assignments will be composed and submitted digitally. You will need regular access to email, DropBox, and Blackboard (or Molloys equivalent). In this course we will focus on developing competency with a broad range of digital technologies and platforms both freely available on the Internet and often used in real world situations. You will be encouraged to develop a basic proficiency with the technologies presented in the course and critically reflect on each particular technologys capabilities. This will require research and practice that extends beyond the course assignments outlined below.

**Note About Privacy and RespectMany of the technologies that we will use in this course are public, i.e., they can be viewed online and can be found via Google search. This includes the content you create and publish on your course blog. Your writing should be professional in form and content.

Assignments:1. Personal EssayWith this first assignment you will be introduced to the mechanics of digital composition and the preferred blog interface for our course: Wordpress.com. This project has two primary objectives: 1) create your blog for the course (following an in-class tutorial) and 2) compose a personal essay (approximately 1,500 words) detailing your skills and experiences using digital technologies as compositional tools. This essay must be in MLA format. You are also required to link to the technologies to which you refer in your essay.

2. Blog CompositionWhile many blogging platforms and technologies are available for free online, you will be required to create and maintain a blog on Wordpress.com for the duration of the course. You will use your blog to write reviews of the assigned course reading, advertise your Meme project, and write original content for your final virtual essay assignment.

3. Know Your Meme Short Essay and CompositionThis assignment requires THREE individual components and requires that you think both practically and creatively. Imagine you are working for a business that wants you to create compelling digital content that will 1) draw attention to the company and 2) advertise the companys flagship product.

First, you will write a short essay (approximately 1,000 words) that describes your product, outlines your advertisement strategy, and describes the technologies you will use to execute your project. You are required to post this essay on your course blog.

Second, following an in-class demonstration, you will create a meme using a free online meme generator. The meme will be the face of your product and primary advertisement tool.

Third, you will create a Prezi presentation that combines your essay and meme. Your presentation must be both easy to use and understandable to a layperson.

4. Know Your App PresentationEach student in the course will be assigned a partner for this assignment. In groups of two, you will choose an application from a preapproved list I provide (please see course website). Using Prezi, each group will develop a short presentation (approximately 15 minutes) describing the app, its popular uses, and its compositional capabilities. Finally, you will give a demonstration to the class that highlights your apps compositional value, i.e., how Twitter functions as a micro-blogging tool.

Each group is required to meet with me prior to their presentation to discuss their app demonstration.

5. Virtual Essay (Final Assignment)The final assignment will require you to incorporate many of the technologies and skills developed throughout the course into a single assignment. You will be required to use Prezi as the primary interface that links each individual component into a coherent project.

Responding to prompts I provide, you will be required to write an essay that incorporates original research, at least THREE digital tools other than Prezi, and images/video (please see course website for essay prompts).

6.Digital VocabularyThroughout the semester you will be introduced to a broad range of rhetorical devices and vocabulary specific to digital composition. Using lists I provide, you will be tested weekly on your knowledge of digital vocabulary.