ENGL 460: Digital Authoring Practices, Fall 2017

Course Information

Course

  • Number: ENGL 460
  • Title: Digital Authoring Practices
  • Term: Fall 2017

Instructor

  • Name: Andrew Pilsch
  • Contact: apilsch@tamu.edu
  • Office Hours & Locations:
    • Monday & Wednesday, 1:30-3:00, LAAH 417

Course Description

Analysis and practice of authoring in digital environments, including individual and collaborative approaches, audience concerns, theoretical, ethical and stylistic issues; environments and topics may include web design, content management system (CMS), text encoding, project management, usability, version tracking, content authoring and accessibility.

Assignments

Values

Assignment Due Date Value
Participation Daily 10%
Journal Weekly 25%
Final Project: Proposal November 06, 2017 15%
Final Project: Mockup November 17, 2017 15%
Final Project: Artifact December 13, 2017 25%
Final Project: Group Work Report December 13, 2017 10%

Participation

Participation involves showing up for class but it also involves more than that. To get full credit for participation, you can throughout the semester:

  • Ask a substantive question in class
  • Ask the same question on #01-discussion on Slack during class.
  • Drop by office hours to get help or talk over an issue.
  • Take detailed notes in class and share them on Slack.

Journal

During class, you will keep a weekly journal in which you reflect on course discussion and apply what you have learned.

Journals are due on Wednesdays and you post them to our Slack.

Each week’s Readme.md file contains a journal prompt that asks you to reflect and apply the lessons discussed in class during the week. Your response to the prompt should be shared with me on Slack by the following Wednesday.

Learning Outcomes

This assignment is meant to teach you how to:

  • Document your understanding of course goals by concreate reflection.
  • Identify key concepts from our reading & course discussion.
  • Apply these key concepts to real world examples of digital authoring.

How To Journal on Slack

  1. Find the “Direct Messages” section of the sidebar on Slack. It will list all the users in our course. One link will be to your username (it will also have “ (you)” after the name to make sure you know that it is your account). Click on your name.
  2. You are now direct message with yourself. Click the “+” next to the post box (where it says “Jot something down”). This will open a new post window.
  3. Title the post with your name and the week of the class (1, 2, 3). So, for instance, my title for week 3 would be “Andrew Pilsch Week 3 Journal”.
  4. You can write your journal entry in the editor. Once we learn Markdown, you can use Markdown in the editor. The post will automatically save.
    • If you close the editor without finishing your post, you can get back to it by visiting https://engl460.slack.com/files and click on “My Files” to see the list of posts.
  5. At this point, the post will be private. Hit the green “Share” button in the upper right of the post editor. In the “Share with” dropdown, either select me “apilsch” or type “apilsch” to find me. Click “Share” to let me know you are done with your journal. I cannot give you credit for your journal entries until you share them with me.
  6. (optional) You may also share your journal entries to the 03-journals channel to invite your classmates to read and comment on your posts.

Final Project

For the final project, you will work in groups to produce a digital artifact that uses the theories of digital text we discussed in the theory section and/or the technologies we discused in the tools section (as well as others you identify with your group and with my help). Your artifact must respond to a particular rhetorical situation and make an argument in some way (this argument can be about the nature of digital texts or it can be about anything else).

The final project will be evaluated less on how polished your final artifact is and more on how thoroughly your group completes the scaffolding components and, most importantly, how well your final artifact makes the argument you planned to make.

As to the specific genre or modes you use, this decision will be up to your group, though in learning Jekyll, Twine, and Tracery, we have learned about three tools that could be used to create projects. You may also make a video or investigate another genre or problem space in which you would like to intervene.

Learning Outcomes

This assignment is meant to teach you how to:

  • Formulate an argument that can be made using a digital text.
  • Work as a team to produce a persuasive digital text.
  • Plan and organize a team-driven project.
  • Use project management software to track and organize progress.
  • Design a digital text as a mockup and produce a final text from mockups.

Components

There are four required and one optional component to the final project. Three of the required components and the optional component are to be completed and turned in as a group. The final component, the Group Work Report, will be turned in individually.

Proposal

The first step for creating your final project artifact will be to propose your project. A proposal is a formal statement of intent that is a standard way of inaugurating and outlining a new project, though it is increasingly being replaced in business with the less formal pitch presentation.

Your group’s proposal will have the following elements:

  • Overview: What are you making? How will you make it? What will be the genre of the artifact? What argument is your artifact making?
  • Plan: What is the detailed plan for creating this artifact in support of your argument? Which technologies will you use? How will you share/create/access different assets you will need? What are the specific and detailed tasks you will need to complete to build your artifact?
  • Justification: Why is your proposed design the most effective way of making this argument?
  • Collaboration Plan: Who in your group will be responsible for each task?
  • Timeline: When will each element of the artifact identified in the Plan be completed?

This proposal can take any form you want, though I will need an artifact. If you are most comfortable writing stuff, you can create a standard technical report. If you would prefer to try your hand at a pitch presentation, you can pitch it in class or to me in my office hours, or submit it as a narrated PowerPoint presentation (though we would need to chat on Slack afterwards).

Group Contract (optional)

If you would like to set standards of accountability for your group members, please draw up a contract that will outline specific consequences for what happens if deadlines are not met, meetings are missed, or items in the plan are not completed. Draft this contract as you see fit and include it in the Proposal and I will provide feedback and suggest revisions before the contract becomes binding.

If you choose to complete a group contract, we (your group and I) will be bound by its contents.

Mockup

After your proposal has been approved by me (and been evaluated by your peers, if you like), your group can start building a mockup. This can be at any level of sophistication you want and must conform to what you are proposing to build.

For instance, if you are making something using Twine, your mockup could be a collection of note cards that map out the space of your story. If you are making a website, you might create a wireframe or a series of rough drawings to outline how the site will work. If you are creating a video, you might create a storyboard. How you do this is up to you, but the mockup needs to give some sense of how the finished product will work.

Some other ideas for genres and forms of proposal can be found on the notes for Day 28

Artifact

This is the central focus of the project. You will need to create the artifact you described in your proposal and have demoed via your mock-up.

Plan to do a demonstration of your project during the final two weeks of class. In this presentation, you outline your argument, show us your project, discuss the process of creating the artifact, reflect on how you would do the project differently, and

Group Work Report

How did everything go? Write me a roughly one page reflection on:

  1. How you worked as a collaborator
  2. How your team members worked as collaborators
  3. What you did that worked
  4. What you did that did not work

This document will be individually authored by each team member and will help me evaluate everyone’s projects for the final course grade.

Course Policies

These are the policies that govern our class. You are responsible for knowing the information on this page before contacting me regarding policy questions.

Email

I am available to answer email from 9:00am until 5:00pm Monday through Friday. Emails arriving outside of that time will be answered at my earliest convenience, but do not count on a quick answer to emails sent late at night or on the weekends.

Grading

Per university policy, I cannot discuss grades via email. Please visit my office hours if you would like to discuss your grade on an assignment.

Grade Values

  • A 90-100
  • B 80-89
  • C 70-79
  • D 60-69
  • F 59 or less

Feedback and Assignment Points

Before each assignment, I will provide you with a copy of my grading rubric for the assignment to give you a sense of what I will be targeting in each assignment. This sheet will break down each component of your grade and add up to 100 points. I will read each assignment, mark up a rubric, and provide a few paragraphs of comments on your assignment.

These points will be weighted according to the point breakdown described on the Assignments page, which will determine your overall final grade.

Absence / Tardiness

Students are expected to attend all classes. Failure to do so, as part of a larger pattern of chronic tardiness and lateness, will result in consequences for your final grade.

Tardiness is defined as an arrival after the first five minutes of class. This behavior, while sometimes unavoidable, is disruptive. If you are running late, please do your best to enter the classroom quietly and find the first and most easily accessible seat available.

Tardies count as one half an unexcused absence. Your grade will be lowered after you have reached the equivalent of two unexcused absences.

Excused Absences

Student Rule 7 covers the cases in which absences will be excused and in which late work will be tolerated. The following conditions will be excused:

  • Participation in an activity appearing on the university authorized activity list. (see List of Authorized and Sponsored Activities)
  • Death or major illness in a student’s immediate family. Immediate family may include: mother, father, sister, brother, grandparents, spouse, child, spouse’s child, spouse’s parents, spouse’s grandparents, stepmother, step-father, step-sister, step-brother, step-grandparents, grandchild, step-grandchild, legal guardian, and others as deemed appropriate by faculty member or student’s academic Dean or designee.
  • Illness of a dependent family member.
  • Participation in legal proceedings or administrative procedures that require a student’s presence.
  • Religious holy day. (See Appendix IV.)
  • Injury or Illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class.
  • Required participation in military duties.
  • Mandatory admission interviews for professional or graduate school which cannot be rescheduled.
  • Mandatory participation as a student-athlete in NCAA-sanctioned competition.
  • In accordance with Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Texas A&M University shall treat pregnancy (childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy and recovery therefrom) and related conditions as a justification for an excused absence for so long a period of time as is deemed medically necessary by the student’s physician. Requests for excused absence related to pregnancy should be directed to the instructor; questions about Title IX should be directed to the University Title IX Coordinator.

Note About Excused Absences

In the event of a chronic illness or other sudden condition that will result in significant time away from class, please inform me of the situation before you return to class, so that we can work out how to handle the situation before it becomes an issue.

Late Work

Under Student Rule 7.4, I am under “under no obligation to provide an opportunity for the student to make up work missed because of an unexcused absence.” However, I do accept late work and will take off 5 points for every day late. These points are removed after the paper is graded, such that a paper that would have received an 85% that was 3 days late will receive a 70%.

Additionally, if you are falling behind on a project and feel that you are not going to finish on time, email me 24 hours before the assignment is due to request an extension. In this email, propose how many additional days you will need to finish the assignment. Requests for extension that do not contain this information will not be honored.

Technology

In the 21st century, it is unreasonable to accept “my computer died” as an excuse for late work. If you are working on assignments on a computer, please back up your work offsite. Sites such as Dropbox and Google Drive provide space for storing copies of your work; even a USB drive can be enough. I have recently started using BackBlaze and found it to be a great and inexpensive online, automated backup. Save multiple times throughout each work session to both your backup and your computer’s copy. In this class, I hold you accountable for making sure your technology is working correctly.

Academic Integrity

Aggie Honor Code. “An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.” It is the student’s responsibility to know the Aggie Honor Code and to understand what constitutes scholastic dishonesty and to avoid it all costs. Anything (particularly plagiarism and cheating on quizzes or projects) that appears to be a violation of the Aggie Honor Code will be reported to the appropriate authorities. For additional information please visit: http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu/.

Also, the following is a helpful resource for describing kinds and severity of plagiarism. Note this graphic is not from A&M, where rules may differ: http://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Infographic_Did-I-Plagiarize1.jpg

American with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact Disability Services, in Cain Hall, Room B118, or call 845-1637. For additional information visit http://disability.tamu.edu.

Journal Entries

Here is a list of each journal entry along with the date on which they are due on Slack.

Journal Entry 1 – 09.06.2017

Part I: Reflect

How does Slack compare to the Memex? More generally, how does your experience of computers compare with what Vannevar Bush is talking about? Do you think Bush helps us think about digital writing?

Part II: Apply

Where else do you see yourself using Slack? Has it or Bush’s essay changed the way you think about writing on a computer? What have you learned to do cool on Slack that we haven’t talked about yet?

Journal Entry 2 – 09.13.2017

Part I: Reflect

Are all texts multimodal? What if I told you they were. Would you believe me? Why or why not? Given that this syllabus is mostly a block of text written in a style roughly corresponding to a technical document, how would you describe it’s multimodality? How would an essay be multimodal? If everything is multimodal, why is “multimodal” a useful concept?

Part II: Apply

Find a Twitter or Tumblr account you enjoy. Use the five modes to analyze how that user is making arguments about who they are as a person. Include a link to the account in question in your journal entry. You may also write about Slack, if you prefer.

Journal Entry 3 – 09.20.2017

Part I: Reflect

Do Lanham and Manovich’s optimism about the ability for computerized writing to reshape and extend learning, inquiry, and creativity seem born out now that we are reading this years later? Why or why not? Where do you think this optimism comes from? Is there any new technology today that you see people being similarly excited about?

Part II: Apply

Thinking about Manovich and Lanham, what kinds of texts could you imagine making with the affordances of the computer? What do Manovich and Lanham leave out?

Journal Entry 4 – 09.27.2017

Part I: Reflect

Are video games art? Are they writing? Why or why not? Use the texts we have been discussing in this unit in your discussion as evidence in your argument.

Part II: Apply

What is a video game you have encountered that seems to make a particular argument? If you have a favorite game that you think does not make an argument, can you consider it more in depth and analyze its argument?

Journal Entry 5 – 10.04.2017

Part I: Reflect

Do you find that collaborative writing does or might imply different strategies for writing? If so, what do you do to manage collaborative writing? If not, why not?

Part II: Apply

How do you imagine using collaborative tools for your final project? How have you used these tools in the past? What projects could you imagine doing with them?

Journal Entry 6 – 10.11.2017

Part I: Reflect

Markdown does two things:

  1. Simplifies document structure
  2. Abstracts HTML

The first thing makes the structure of a document more apparent. The second makes the materiality of the document more abstracted. Is this a good trade-off? Does it matter?

Part II: Apply

Slack has Markdown enabled in the post editor. Write your entry in Markdown. Try to incorporate some links, lists, and images. How do you like writing in Markdown? Does it change how you plan your entries?

Journal Entry 7 – 10.18.2017

Part I: Reflect

Many blogging platforms, such as Wordpress, are powered by what is called a relational database system. These databases are industrial-strength tools for sorting, storing, and finding information. Jekyll is an important piece of software in that it allows blogging without the need for a DB to be maintained as part of the writing process. This is why Jekyll is referred to as a “static site generator.”

However, I’m wondering as you start using Jekyll, maybe even playing around with blogging on it, does Jekyll still end up conforming to Manovich’s ideas of “the database” as a cultural form. If so, does this help you better understand online writing?

Part II: Apply

What have you done on Jekyll? What do you want to investigate further?

Journal Entry 8 – 10.25.2017

Part I: Reflect

We’ve worked with two very different digital narratives this week: Keep Tradition Secure and games made with Twine. Compare and contrast the two approaches to digital narrative, paying special attention to the way both use the affordances of the digital and whether these uses are effective.

Part II: Apply

We saw the educational example on Wednesday, but do you imagine other contexts, beyond games, in which Twine might be useful? If so, what would those be? If not, why do you think Twine is mostly about making games?

Journal Entry 9 – 11.01.2017

Part I: Reflect

Now that we have studied several different digital technologies, which do you prefer and why? Do you find that this preference is due to having a specific final project in mind? Or because you think in a particular way?

Part II: Apply

What kind of argument do you want to make with your final project? What kinds of technologies will you use to do this? What kind of technologies will you have to investigate, that we have not covered, that you might need? Consider this a first draft of your project proposal. This journal entry may be particularly useful for finding a group for your final project, as well.

Schedule

Unit 1 – Theory

Week 1 – [Getting Started](#foobar)

Mon 08/28

  • Course Overview

Wed 08/30

Fri 09/01

  • Writing Modes

Week 2 – Computerized Knowledge

Mon 09/04

Wed 09/06

Fri 09/08

  • Modes & Affordances

Week 3 – Forms of Digital Texts I

Mon 09/11

Wed 09/13

  • Lev Manovich, “The Database” from The Language of New Media

Fri 09/15

  • Case Study

Week 4 – Forms of Digital Text II

Mon 09/18

  • Ian Bogost, “Procedural Rhetoric” from Persuasive Games

Wed 09/20

  • More Bogost + How Can a Digital Artifact Make an Argument?

Fri 09/22

  • Case Study / Brainstorming

Unit 2 – Tools

Week 5 – Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub

Mon 09/25

  • Sharing is Caring

Wed 09/27

  • What is GitHub?

Fri 09/29

  • Activity / Field Reports

Week 6 – Markdown

Mon 10/02

Wed 10/04

  • Where Can I Use Markdown?

Fri 10/06

  • Advanced Markdown Writing

Week 7 – Jekyll

Mon 10/09

  • The Lazy Web Developer

Wed 10/11

  • Working w/ Jekyll

Fri 10/13

  • Advanced Jekyll

Week 8 – Twine

Mon 10/16

  • What is/was Hypertext?

Wed 10/18

  • Working w/ Twine

Fri 10/20

  • Deploying Twine

Week 9 – Tracery

Mon 10/23

  • Composing with Grammars / Writing for machines

Wed 10/25

  • Advanced Tracery

Fri 10/27

  • Making Twitter Bots

Unit 3 – Practice

Week 10 – Finding a Project

Mon 10/30

  • Planning a Digital Artifact

Wed 11/01

  • Rubric Design Meeting

Fri 11/03

  • Work in Teams

Week 11 – Sharing Digital Work

Mon 11/06

  • Work in Teams
  • Proposal Due

Wed 11/08

  • Revising from Feedback

Fri 11/10

  • Work in Teams

Week 12 – Working With Groups

Mon 11/13

  • Work in Teams

Wed 11/15

  • Work in Teams

Fri 11/17

  • Work in Teams
  • Mockup Due

Week 13 – Thanksgiving

Mon 11/20

  • Work in Teams

Wed 11/22

No Class

Reading Day

Fri 11/24

No Class

Thanksgiving Break

Week 14 – Finishing Up / Project Demo Days

Mon 11/27

  • In-Class Consultations

Wed 11/29

  • In-Class Consultations

Fri 12/01

  • Demos!

Week 15 – Project Demo Days

Mon 12/04

Redefined Day

  • Demos!

Wed 12/06

  • Demos!
  • Revised Final Projects & Group Work Reports Due 12/13