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by on March 23, 2015

Day 1 of Project 3 Presentations

chucknorrisThis is the post for the Monday, March 23, 2015 class meeting.

Today we begin the five-minute presentations for Project 3. Your job during this session is to pay attention, since you may want to use these tools yourself in Project 3.

Presentations for Today

These are the people and tools scheduled for today’s presentations.

10:10 Class

11:15 Class

Today’s Blog Post

After the presentations, choose the tool you saw today that you are most interested in trying out (other than your own if you presented). State what tool it was, why you found it interesting, and how you might use it.

Homework

  • For Wednesday, 3/25:
    • Check your email by 10 AM on Tuesday, 3/24 to see the status of the water line maintenance for Shanks.

      If class will meet:

      • If you are presenting Wednesday, be sure that you send the URL to your presentation by 9 PM on Tuesday, March 24 so that I can set up Wednesday’s post.
      • Be prepared to listen to each presentations in class; attendance is required even if you are not presenting. You will write a blog posts for each class day.

      If class will not meet:

      • You will work on your web essays independently and write a blog post.
      • I will post alternative instructions for the day on the class website by 7 PM on Tuesday.
    • For Friday, 3/27:
      • If you are presenting Friday, be sure that you send the URL to your presentation by 9 PM on Thursday, March 26 so that I can set up Friday’s post.
      • Be prepared to listen to each presentations in class; attendance is required even if you are not presenting. You will write a blog posts for each class day.
    • For Monday, 3/30 and Wednesday, 4/1:
      • The schedule may change based on the maintenace in Shanks Hall. Details will be posted by 10 AM on 3/24. Currently the schedule is as follows:
        • Monday, 3/30: Project 3 due. We will work on the reflection memo in class.
        • Wednesday, 4/1: We’ll go over Project 4, the remix a story project.
Filed Under: Class Notes Tagged With: , , ,
by on March 22, 2015

Possible Schedule Change

No water. No coffee. No class.Yesterday I got an email message from the English Department Chair letting us know that there will be no running water in Shanks on Wednesday from 6 AM to 3 PM.

I hate to upset the class schedule, but I am not willing to have class under those conditions, especially on a day that we are supposed to do presentations. Sigh…

I would like to ask you to be flexible at this point. If the water outage does occur as planned, here's what we will do:

  • Wed, 3/25 will turn into a independent work day, and I will post details on what you need to do. Office hours will be cancelled that day.
  • Presentations scheduled for Wed, 3/25 will shift to Mon, 3/30. Mon, 3/23 and Fri, 3/27 presentations are not effected.
  • Project 3 due date will shift to Wed, 4/1 (no fooling, on April Fool's Day). You'll work on your reflection memo in class that day.

It is possible that the maintenance will change and we can keep our original schedule. If you are scheduled to present on Wednesday, keep working as if you will do so for now. I will confirm what we will do by 10 AM on Tuesday.  

So, as I mention above, for now, please be flexible. We can talk about the situation in class Monday; but with 8 presentations scheduled, we will need to keep discussion brief. I apologize for the uncertainty in the schedule, but I thought you would all rather have advanced notice of the potential problem (rather than last minute notice).

If any of these potential changes will mess up your world, let me know. We'll figure out how to fix it.

Filed Under: Class Notes
by on March 20, 2015

Project 3 Peer Review

This is the post for the Friday, March 20, 2015 class meeting.

Writer kitteh from http://hoerthstcfall2012.blogspot.com/2012/11/argumentative-essay-peer-review.htmlToday is peer review day for Project 3. You can share whatever drafts you have—your web essay, your presentation, or both.

Presentation Sign-Up

If you have not done so, sign up for a presentation slot for sharing your tool with the class, using the Sign-Up Tool in Scholar. If you fail to sign-up, you will receive a zero for your presentation. Likewise, if you don’t give a presentation, you will receive a zero.

Peer Review Activity

For today’s peer review, you will look at one another’s web portals and use an online form to guide your feedback. You will also provide each other verbal feedback. Please complete these steps:

  • Pair up with someone else in class. You may have to work in threes if there is an odd number of people in class.
  • Share your projects with one another, using whatever method is easiest. You can probably read one another’s screens.
  • AUTHOR: Tell your partner what you have written so far and what your biggest concerns are about the project. Explain what you most want feedback on.
  • PARTNER: Provide feedback on the following:
    • Address the concerns that the author has raised.
    • If you notice any spelling errors, punctuation errors, or typos, point them out, but please focus more on the content rather than editing.
    • Determine whether the project includes all the required elements:
      • Rhetorical situation
      • Design choices
      • Modes of communication
      • Affordances and constraints
    • Point out the positive features and aspects of the project. Tell the author what should not be changed and why it is good.
    • Make any suggestions you can to improve the project.
    • Be sure you end your conversation with a bit of encouragement.
  • Switch places and repeat the process.

Today’s Blog Post

In today’s blog post, talk about what happened in your peer review conversation. Write a post that uses these two headings:

  1. What I Heard in Peer Review
  2. What I Need to Do

Your goal in this post is to summarize what you heard from your partner in class, and then to detail the things that you still need to do before you present and turn in the project. You can use a list for the second part of your post if you would like.

Homework

  • For Monday, 3/23 through Friday, 3/27:
    • If you are presenting Monday, be sure that you send the URL to your presentation by 9 PM on Sunday, March 22 so that I can set up Monday’s post.
    • Be prepared to listen to each presentations in class; attendance is required even if you are not presenting. You will write a blog posts for each class day.
  • For Monday, 3/30:
    • Project 3 due. We will work on the reflection memo in class.
  • For Wednesday, 4/1:
    • We’ll go over Project 4, the remix a story project.
Filed Under: Class Notes
by on March 18, 2015

More Work on Project 3

This is the post for the Wednesday, March 18, 2015 class meeting.

Work? I iz on top of it.Today, first you will sign up for your presentation time slot. After that, I’ll talk about how to embed your presentations in WordPress.com, and then you can continue your work in class.

Presentation Sign-Up

Sign-up for a presentation slot for sharing your tool with the class, using the Sign-Up Tool in Scholar. The slots open at 10:15 AM for the 10:10 class; they open at 11:20 AM for the 11:15 class. Go ahead and log into Scholar and be ready to click sign-up when the form opens.

Embedding Your Presentation

Most of you are using PowerPoint:

slideshowuse

You need to embed your presentation slides on your WordPress site. Essentially, there are three options to consider, which I think will cover all the possible scenarios:

Burning Questions

Do we need to continue posting screenshots of our progress to our WordPress blog, or was that only necessary for the independent work last Friday?
No. That was just for the independent work. That said, if you want your posts to show more of the effort you are putting in or illustrate something special, you can add images, screenshots, links to your notes, and so forth.
On Friday, when you say have a draft ready to share would you like to have both the essay and presentation drafted?
Share whatever you have. Focus on what you most need to know. For instance, if you have spent all your time on the essay and want to make sure it’s set before you pull out pieces for your presentation, that’s fine. It’s also fine for you to show just your slideshow or to show both. You decide what you most need help on.
How many points will be deducted for using more than 5 words on 1-2 slides?
It doesn’t work that way. Remember that there are three levels for your work: 

Unsatisfactory The web essay, slideshow, and oral presentation are incomplete, have errors, were submitted after the deadline, or were not submitted/presented at all. There may be significant errors in content, design, style, and/or organization. The work shows that the writer didn’t put in much effort and wasn’t doing her best work.
Satisfactory The web essay, slideshow, and oral presentation are complete and generally error free. They meet the requirement of the assignment fully, and it shows strong effort on the writer’s part.
Exemplary The web essay, slideshow, and oral presentation meet and go beyond the requirements of satisfactory work. It is strong, amazing work that dazzles. Exemplary presentations use the 1/1/5 organizational strategy (using no more than 15 slides) to present the information to the class. The web essay integrates screenshots and examples well, and the navigation and design of the web essay are effective, user-friendly, and well-chosen.

 
There is one grade for the whole project, so doing exceptionally on one part can help balance out problems on the other part.

Working on Your Projects

You will have the rest of the class session to work on Project 3. I will meet with each one of you briefly and ask you to show me what you have done on the project. If you have a question you need immediate help with, let me know and I will come help you first.

Today’s Blog Post

Write a blog post with the usual headings: (1) What I Did, and (2) Why I Did It. Include whatever work you have done since your last post.

Homework

  • For Friday, 3/20:
    • Have a draft of your work ready to share in class for peer review.
  • For Monday, 3/23 through Friday, 3/27:
    • Presentations in class; attendance is required even if you are not presenting. There will be blog posts to write for each class day. Be sure that you send the URL to your presentation by 9 PM the day before you present so that I can set up the post for the day
  • For Monday, 3/30:
    • Project 3 due. We will work on the reflection memo in class.
  • For Wednesday, 4/1:
    • We’ll go over Project 4, the remix a story project.
Filed Under: Class Notes Tagged With:
by on March 15, 2015

Working on Project 3

This is the post for the Monday, March 16, 2015 class meeting.

Interrogation cat wants answersThis week we will spend time in class working on Project 3. Today I will talk about navigation options. On Wednesday, I’ll talk about how to embed your presentations in WordPress.com.

Presentation Tools

I need to know what software you will use for your presentation so that I can be sure to cover everything on Wednesday. Please complete the two-question survey for me before you leave class today.

Additional Navigation Techniques

Remember that breaking up your web essay into several pages makes it easier for readers to find the information they are looking for. It also avoids the tl;dr effect by chunking out the information.

See the Project 3 Navigation Options for details on how to add navigation to your project.

Working on Your Projects

You will have the rest of the class session to work on Project 3. I will meet with each one of you briefly and ask you to show me what you have done on the project. If you have a question you need immediate help with, let me know and I will come help you first.

Today’s Blog Post

Write a blog post with the usual headings: (1) What I Did, and (2) Why I Did It. Include whatever work you have done since your last post.

Homework

  • For Wednesday, 3/18:
    • Presentation time sign-up will take place in class on Wednesday, 3/18, starting about five minutes after class begins.
    • Be prepared to work on your project in class. I’ll share some additional resources on embedding your presentations, and have a quick conference with each of you to answer any questions.
  • For Friday, 3/20:
    • Have a draft of your work ready to share in class for peer review.
  • For Monday, 3/23 through Friday, 3/27:
    • Presentations in class; attendance is required even if you are not presenting. There will be blog posts to write for each class day. Be sure that you send the URL to your presentation by 9 PM the day before you present so that I can set up the post for the day
  • For Monday, 3/30:
    • Project 3 due. We will work on the reflection memo in class.
  • For Wednesday, 4/1:
    • We’ll go over Project 4, the remix a story project.
Filed Under: Class Notes
by on March 6, 2015

Project 3 Online Work Day

This is the post for the Friday, March 6, 2015 class meeting.

GET-BACK-TO-WORKWork for March 6

Today you will spend at least 50 minutes working on Project 3, your Interrogate the Interface project. Publish a blog post about your work by 11:55 PM on Sunday, March 15. See the Wednesday, March 4 class post for more details on the requirements for your work.

Homework

  • For Monday, 3/9 through Friday, 3/13:
    • Celebrate. You will be on Spring Break!
  • For Monday, 3/16 and Wednesday, 3/18:
    • Be prepared to work on your third project in class. I’ll share some additional resources, and have a quick conference with each of you to answer any questions.
    • Presentation time slow sign-up will take place in class on Wednesday, 3/18.
    • Please be sure to check email before class on Sunday evening just in case there are additional instructions.
  • For Friday, 3/20:
    • Have a draft of your work ready to share in class for peer review.
  • For Monday, 3/23 through Friday, 3/27:
    • Presentations in class; attendance is required even if you are not presenting. There will be blog posts to write for each class day.
  • For Monday, 3/30:
    • Project 3 due. We will work on the reflection memo in class.
Filed Under: Class Notes
by on March 4, 2015

No Boring Presentations

This is the post for the Wednesday, March 4, 2015 class meeting.

Today, we’ll talk about screenshots, Project 3 presentations, and plans for Friday’s session.

Spring Break Alpaca!Taking Screenshots

Find options for Mac or Windows in the new FAQ: How do I take a screenshot?

Details on the Five-Minute Presentations

Why? The goal of these presentations is to share details about the tool you are analyzing with the class. By the end of the presentations, everyone in class should know enough about all 22 tools to be able to decide whether the tools will would work for other projects.

How Long? Five minutes, strictly enforced. Please practice at home to make sure that you fill the time without going over.

How? You can use a Google Drive Presentation, PowerPoint, or some other readily available presentation tool. No matter what tool you choose, it has to be available online to everyone in the class. You can embed it or upload it to your WordPress site. Remember to send me the link to your presentation by 9 PM on the day before you present so that I can set up the presentation links for the session.

What? Review the information in the assignment on the content for the presentation. Generally speaking, I expect your slideshow to include the following:

  • A title slide with your name, the name of the tool, and the URL to the tool site.
  • Overview slides that show what the tool is, who would use it, and what it does.
  • Analysis slides that demonstrate the affordances and constraints and that offer general recommendations on using the tool.
  • A concluding slide that pulls your thoughts together.
  • Image credits and other bibliographic information as needed. Credit slides are not limited to 5 words. Screenshots from the tool you are reviewing do not need to be cited.

If you are working toward an exemplary presentation, remember that your presentation needs to use the 1/1/5 organizational strategy (using no more than 15 slides) to present the information to the class.

How many? I’m leaving the exact length up to you; however, you may not have more than 15 slides. Plan to spend no more than 20 seconds per slide (15 slides * 20 seconds each = 300 seconds/5 mins) to avoid exceeding your allotted five minutes.

What to wear? You need to wear clothes for your presentation, but you do not need to wear your job interview clothes. The regular clothes you wear to class are fine. Just use common sense, and avoid anything that may be distracting or somehow undercut your credibility.

How about an example? Here’s a slideshow for Pixlr that fits the 1/1/5 strategy. Here’s a slideshow for Storify that doesn’t fit the 1/1/5 strategy.

Today’s Blog Post

Create a schedule with projected dates for yourself that outlines everything you need to do to have a rough draft on Friday, March 20 (and a presentation for the next week). You can set up your schedule to fit however you work. My hunch is that you will need to do the following things, but adjust this list to fit your workflow:

  • Create a login for the tool (if necessary)
  • Research what the tool does and how it works
  • Fill in the Writer/Designer Analysis Questions
  • Outline your web essay (think though the different parts)
  • Take screenshots to support your analysis
  • Draft your web essay
  • Draft your slideshow

The goal is to leave class today with a plan for what you need to do and when you will do it. Ideally, you’ll head off to Spring Break confident that you will be able to get everything done by the 20th.

Independent Work for Friday, March 6

Please spend at least 50 additional minutes of your time after our session ends on today working on your project in lieu of attending class in person on Friday. You can work on whatever pieces of your project you need to.Use the schedule you created for today’s blog post to guide your work.

As part of your work for Friday, I would like you to write a blog post about what you did and why you did it along with some concrete, visual evidence that you were working on your project even though you were not in the classroom. Your evidence can take many forms, such as the following:

  • a selfie of you with your project in the background
  • a photo someone else takes of you working on your project
  • screenshots of a section of your project before you worked on it and then after

Be creative and use what you know about multimodal composing to demonstrate that you used your 50 minutes wisely. Be sure that your blog post is published by 11:55 PM on Sunday, March 15.

Homework

  • For Friday, 3/6:
    • Class will work online. You will provide a summary and related evidence of working at least 50 minutes on Project 3 (see above). No office hours on Friday.
  • For Monday, 3/9 through Friday, 3/13:
    • Celebrate. You will be on Spring Break!
  • For Monday, 3/16 and Wednesday, 3/18:
    • Be prepared to work on your third project in class. I’ll share some additional resources, and have a quick conference with each of you to answer any questions.
    • Presentation time slot sign-up will take place in class on Wednesday, 3/18.
    • Please be sure to check email before class on Sunday evening just in case there are additional instructions.
  • For Friday, 3/20:
    • Have a draft of your work ready to share in class for peer review.
  • For Monday, 3/23 through Friday, 3/27:
    • Presentations in class; attendance is required even if you are not presenting. There will be blog posts to write for each class day.
Filed Under: Class Notes Tagged With: , ,
by on March 1, 2015

Examples for Project 3

This is the post for the Monday, March 2, 2015 class meeting.

Today we will look at some resources for Project 3, assessment guidelines for the project, and some examples for the web essay portion of Project 3.

Choosing Your Interface

What group work teachesIf you have not yet done so, go to the Project 3 Sign-Up and choose one of the remaining tools for your project. Remember you are governed by the Honor Code (so don’t remove someone else’s name to add your own).

Examples for Project 3

These example web essays included in the Project 3 assignment demonstrate how some students worked on the assignment in the past:

Web Essay Topic Notes for 10:10 Notes for 11:15
The Video Star Verdict 10:10 class notes 11:15 class notes
Haiku Deck 10:10 class notes 11:15 class notes
Editorially 10:10 class notes 11:15 class notes
PowToon 10:10 class notes 11:15 class notes

We will explore the sites in groups. Each group will answer the following questions for the essay and prepare to share their findings with the class as a whole at the end of the session:

  • What are three good things about the project? What should not be changed? Why is it good?
  • What three suggestions do you have to improve the site?
  • What three lessons can you take away from the example as you work on your own project?

After all the group have gathered their notes, a spokesperson for each group will present the findings.

Today’s Blog Post

Write a post for today that explains at least one specific thing you found in one of the example essays that you will apply to your own Interrogate the Interface project.

Alternately, you could look at the blog post from the opposite perspective and write about something specific you will do in your Interrogate the Interface project that was missing from one of the example essays or would be an improvement on one of the example essays.

Homework

  • For Wednesday, 3/4:
    • We’ll talk about the expectations for the oral presentation (and how to avoid bad PowerPoint presentations), and talk about working with screenshots. Read the ProfHacker article on  the 1/1/5 organizational strategy.  
  • For Friday, 3/6:
    • Class will work online. You will provide a summary and related evidence of working at least 50 minutes on Project 3. No office hours on Friday.
  • For Monday, 3/9 through Friday, 3/13:
    • Celebrate. You will be on Spring Break!
  • For Monday, 3/16 and Wednesday, 3/18:
    • Be prepared to work on your third project in class. I’ll share some additional resources, and have a quick conference with each of you to answer any questions. Please be sure to check email before class on Sunday evening just in case there are additional instructions.
  • For Friday, 3/20:
    • Have a draft of your work ready to share in class for peer review.
Filed Under: Class Notes Tagged With: , ,
by on February 27, 2015

Project 3 Sign-Up and Analysis Techniques

This is the post for the Wednesday, February 27, 2015 class meeting.

You will sign up for your interface for Project 2, and then we will talk about analytical techniques and analyze WordPress.com

Choosing Your Interface

yay_its_friday_kitten_memeOnce everyone appears to have settled in, I will ask you to log into your VT Gmail account. Doing so will mean you’re signed into Google Drive too and can view the sign up sheet. Once everyone is logged in, I will open up the Project 2 Sign-Up, and you will add your names. Remember you are governed by the Honor Code.

Analysis of WordPress.com

You all have experience with WordPress.com. For our purposes today, you need to think of WordPress.com’s interface and how the site works. Remember that you are looking at the WordPress site, and not at your particular blog. As you think about WordPress.com, try to separate what the overall site does and what the particular theme you chose does. They are different things.

We will consider these ideas:

  1. Think through the rhetorical situation for WordPress.com: Audience, Purpose, Context, Author, and Genre.

  2. Analyze the design choices for the tool: Emphasis, Contrast, Organization, Alignment, and Proximity.

  3. Identify the modes of communication that WordPress.com uses as part of its interface: Linguistic, Visual, Spatial, Aural, and Gestural. You can also identify modes that WordPress.com enables you to use.

  4. Determine the affordances and constraints of WordPress.com.

To simplify data gathering, I have created a form that you can use to gather ideas and make sure you cover everything. We will collaborate, in groups, in one document today.

I have a slideshow that includes short definitions of the major components of your evaluation that you can use as you work. There is also a blank copy of the form for you to copy and use as you analyze your tool. Use the FAQ instructions if you are unsure how to make a copy.

Today’s Blog Post

Write a post for today that talks about the tool you will focus on for Project 3. Explain what tool you will work on, and why you chose it.

Please focus on why it was one of your choices, what drew you to it, and why you want to explore it. Please do NOT spend this post whining about how it wasn’t your first choice or similiar misfortunes.

Homework

  • For Monday, 3/2:
  • For Wednesday, 3/4:
    • We’ll talk about the expectations for the oral presentation (and how to avoid bad PowerPoint presentations), and talk about working with screenshots.
  • For Friday, 3/6:
    • Class will work online. You will provide a summary and related evidence of working at least 50 minutes on Project 3.
  • For Monday, 3/9 through Friday, 3/13:
    • Celebrate. You will be on Spring Break!
  • For Monday, 3/16 and Wednesday, 3/18:
    • Be prepared to work on your third project in class. I’ll share some additional resources, and have a quick conference with each of you to answer any questions. Please be sure to check email before class on Sunday evening just in case there are additional instructions.
  • For Friday, 3/20:
    • Have a draft of your work ready to share in class for peer review.
Filed Under: Class Notes Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
by on February 25, 2015

Choosing Your Interface

This is the post for the Wednesday, February 25, 2015 class meeting.

WednesdayPlans have changed for today. Instead of talking about Chapter 2, I’m going to give you the bulk of the class session to explore the various tools you can choose for the assignment.

As You Look at the Options…

Keep these tips in mind:

  • It’s easier to analyze a tool that you have never used before.
  • Look for a tool that you might be able to use on your Remix project or elsewhere.
  • Keep an open mind.

No Blog Post

You get a free day today! If you want to write about Project 3 and your process of searching for the right tool to analyze, you may, but it’s optional.

Homework

  • For Friday, 2/27:
    • Go through the options for Project 3 and have at least three choices ready for the beginning of the session on Friday. The selection is first come, and only one person per tool.
    • Read Chapter 2 of Writer/Designer. We will analyze a text in class using the information from Chapters 1 and 2.
Filed Under: Class Notes Tagged With: , ,