This is the post for the October 17, 2014 class meeting.

Today we continue the five-minute presentations for Project 2. Your job during this session is to pay attention, since you may want to use these tools yourself in Project 3.

Important Dates

• October 20: P2: Interrogate the Interface web essay due
• October 27: P2: Interrogate the Interface deadline (end of grace period)

Presentations for Today

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

• 10:15 Ariana M on Piktochart
• 10:20 Leslie M on Dipity
• 10:25 Reece P on Pixton
• 10:30 Stephanie S on Infogr.am
• 10:35 Joe L on Popcorn Maker
• 10:40 Zack C on Prezi
• 10:45 Hannah A on Easel.ly
• 10:50 Dan N on Storify

Today’s Blog Post

Your post today is just like Monday’s. After the presentations, choose the tool you saw on Friday (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/Schedule

M, 10/20: Web essay and reflection memo due. National Day on Writing activity.

This is the post for the October 15, 2014 class meeting.

Today we begin the five-minute presentations for Project 2. Your job during this session is to pay attention, since you may want to use these tools yourself in Project 3.

Important Dates

• October 20: P2: Interrogate the Interface web essay due
• October 27: P2: Interrogate the Interface deadline (end of grace period)

Presentations for Today

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

• 10:15 Nick A. on CodePen
• 10:20 Ashley K. on Slipp
• 10:25 Brooke W. on Draft
• 10:30 Ali B. on Storybird
• 10:35 Maggie V. on Sumopaint
• 10:40 Celsea C on Cowbird
• 10:45 Rebecca R on Canva
• 10:50 Emma W on Pixlr

Today’s Blog Post

Your post today is just like Monday’s. After the presentations, choose the tool you saw on Wednesday (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/Schedule

F, 10/17: Presentations in Class. You will write a short blog post for each day, based on the presentations that took place that day. Remember to send me the URL to your presentation by midnight the day before you present so that I can set up the presentation links for the session.

M, 10/20: Web essay and reflection memo due. National Day on Writing activity.

Important Dates

• October 8: Draft of P2 due in class for Peer Review
• October 13, 15, or 17: Presentation Days (no grace period)
• October 17: P2: Interrogate the Interface web essay due
• October 24: P2: Interrogate the Interface deadline (end of grace period)

Today’s Work

Today, again, you will have most of the class session to work on Project 2. I’ll visit with each one of you to see where you are in the project and answer any questions that I can.

At the end of the session, please write a blog post that talks about the work you have done on Project 2 so far. Use the “What I Did” and “Why I Did It” headings.

Additional Navigation Techniques

Some of you asked about navigation among the pages for your web essay, so I wanted to provide some additional techniques you might use. Check the Project 2 Navigation Options for more details.

Homework/Schedule

W, 10/8: You’ll exchange Project 2 drafts and complete peer review in class.

F, 10/10: Fall Break. I’ll be at the 2014 Maryland Conference on Academic and Professional Writing, so response to your emails may be slow.

M, W, F 10/13–10/17: Presentations in Class. You will write a short blog post for each day, based on the presentations that took place that day. Remember to send me the URL to your presentation by midnight the day before you present so that I can set up the presentation links for the session.

Important Dates

• October 8: Draft of P2 due in class for Peer Review
• October 13, 15, or 17: Presentation Days (no grace period)
• October 17: P2: Interrogate the Interface web essay due
• October 24: P2: Interrogate the Interface deadline (end of grace period)

Today’s Work

Today you will have most of the class session to work on Project 2. My goal is to move around the classroom and visit with each one of you to see where you are in the project and answer any questions that I can. If we run out of time before I visit with everyone, we will continue on Monday.

At the end of the session, please write a blog post that talks about the work you have done on Project 2 so far. Use the “What I Did” and “Why I Did It” headings. If you filled out the Writer/Designer Analysis Questions, include a share link in your blog post so I can see what you’ve done so far. It can be a link to your working file. It doesn’t have to be completely finished.

Reminders on Taking Screenshots

You’ll need screenshots of the interface you are evaluating in your web essay and presentation. Here’s a reminder on how to take them.

On a Mac: Use Command + Shift + 3. The screenshot usually shows up on your Desktop, with a name like “Screen Shot 2014-10-03 at 9.29.31 AM.” You can edit the image (crop it, etc.) if you like. You may also have an app called Grab, which will let you select a specific portion of the screen (rather than the whole page). Look for Grab in the Applications folder and then in the Utilities folder.

On Windows 8: Use Windows Key + Print Screen. You can also use the Snippings Tool (also on Windows 7), which will let you select a specific portion of the screen (rather than the whole page).

Homework/Schedule

M, 10/6: You will have time to work on your second 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 Monday.

W, 10/8: You’ll exchange Project 2 drafts and complete peer review in class.

F, 10/10: Fall Break

M, W, F 10/13–10/17: Presentations in Class. You will write a short blog post for each day, based on the presentations that took place that day. Remember to send me the URL to your presentation by midnight the day before you present so that I can set up the presentation links for the session.

Today we will look at some resources for Project 2, assessment guidelines for the project, and some examples for the web essay portion of Project 2.

Important Dates

• October 1: Sign up for a presentation time slot
• October 8: P2 draft due in class for Peer Review
• October 13, 15, or 17: P2 presentations
• October 17: P2 web essay due
• October 24: P2 web essay deadline

Choosing Your Interface

If you have not yet done so, go to the Project 2 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).

Gathering Details for Project 2

I have a slideshow that includes short definitions of the major components of your evaluation that you can use as you work. You can make a copy of a blank version of the Writer/Designer Analysis Questions that we used to analyze WordPress.com by following these steps:

1. Open the blank version of Writer/Designer Analysis Questions. (If it asks you to login, use your vt.edu email login.)

2. Under the File menu, choose Make a Copy command. Give the file a new name if you like in the box that pops up:
   

3. Click the OK button, and Google Docs will open a version of the document with the name you have chosen.

You can probably find the file later by going to the top folder in your Google Drive (in other words, My Drive). If you have trouble, use the search tool to look for the file on your drive. Once you find it, you can find the name of the folder that it is in after the filename (indicated by the mouse pointer in the example below):

Examples for Project 2

The assessment guidelines for Project 2 outline what you need to do in your projects to earn the grade you are aiming for. Essentially, the movement from a C to a B to an A has to do with increasing sophistication with how you integrate the different modes of communication, the design of the web essay, and the balance on text and images in your oral presentation.

The example web essays included in the Project 2 assignment demonstrate how some students worked on the assignment in the past. Note, however, that the students did not have exactly the same assessment guidelines that you do. I will arrange the class into four small groups.

1. The Video Star Verdict
2. Haiku Deck
3. Editorially
4. PowToon

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?

Have one group member take notes online and email your group’s notes to me by the end of the session. I will compile all the advice into one document and share it on Friday.

Homework

For Friday, the 26th, read the Introduction to Memes and explore some of the links on the page. We’ll discuss memes and make some in class. Be aware that some memes are in questionable taste and/or offensive stereotypes.

For next week, we’ll talk about the expectations for the oral presentation (and how to avoid bad PowerPoint presentations), and perhaps talk about working with screenshots as well as maybe do some more work with memes.

You will sign up for your interface for Project 2, and then we will return to the analysis we were working on Friday.

Important Dates

• October 1: Sign up for a presentation time slot
• October 8: Draft of P2 due for Peer Review
• October 13, 15, or 17: Presentation Days
• October 17: P2 web essay due
• October 24: P2 deadline (end of grace period)

Choosing Your Interface

Once 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 Docs too and can comment on 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.

Analyzing WordPress.com

We will go back to the Writer/Designer Analysis Questions on WordPress.com from Friday, and work through the details. My goal is to model the process of gathering information that you can follow as you work on Project 2.

Today’s Blog Post

Write a post for today that talks about the tool you will focus on for Project 2. 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 Wednesday, the 24th, read all of the example web essays included in the Project 2 assignment. Be ready to talk about how they work, what they do well, and lessons you can take away as you work on your own project.

For Friday, the 26th, read the Introduction to Memes and explore some of the links on the page. We’ll discuss memes and make some in class.

It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day. Get started by brainstorming some thoughts about WordPress.Com on Padlet. Once everyone has had a chance to have a say, we will move to a more structured analysis of WordPress.com. At the end, I shall have some pirate booty for ye!

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 (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 make things a bit simpler, I have created a form based on the Writer/Designer Analysis Questions that you can use to gather ideas and make sure you cover everything. We will try to collaborate in one document today. I’ll have a blank copy of the form for you to copy and use next week as you begin analyzing your tools.

Homework

For Monday, the 22nd, go through the options for Project 2 and have at least three choices ready for the beginning of the session on Monday. The selection is first come, and only one person per tool. If you would like to choose a tool that is not on the list, email me the name of the tool by noon on Sunday, September 21 (to give me a chance to make sure it will work for the project).

For Wednesday, the 24th, read all of the example web essays included in the Project 2 assignment. Be ready to talk about how they work, what they do well, and lessons you can take away as you work on your own project.

For Friday, the 26th, I hope to talk about memes and meme generators. More information next week!

Project 2 Overview

Today we’ll begin work on Project 2. You will be looking at an web-based tool as an example of a digital, multimodal text in a web essay that analyzes how the tool works.

Affordances and Constraints

We will get started with a discussion of autocorrect, autocomplete, and one of the recent articles about Grandmaster Flash and Grandmas. We’ll use these questions and gather our ideas on Padlet.

1. What are the affordances of autocorrect and autocomplete? 
   In other words, what do autocorrect and autocomplete allow or encourage you to do? What do they make easy for you?
2. What are the constraints of autocorrect and autocomplete? 
   In other words, how do autocorrect and autocomplete limit your ability to do things you want to do? What do they make difficult for you? Think about which features of autocorrect and autocomplete are intuitive and which features are “hidden” or only available to advanced users. What shortcomings are there to autocorrect and autocomplete?

Overview of Project 2

We’ll read through Project 2. You’ll use information from chapters 1 and 2 of Writer/Designer to help you write your analysis.

Homework

For Friday, the 19th, read Chapter 2 of Writer/Designer, and think about how you would analyze WordPress.com if you were writing about it for Project 2. I will ask you to apply the information from Chapter 2 to WordPress.com and to talk about the affordances and constraints of the site in class.