Essay-Response Blog Posts (40%)
This semester you will write five essay-responses that will be posted to a public blog that you will maintain. This type of writing is a bit less formal and shorter than typical academic writing, but it should still be well-researched, sensibly organized and relatively polished. The lowest grade you receive on an essay-response will be dropped at the end of the semester.
- Click here for the general assignment guidelines and instructions.
- Click here for a short video tutorial from your professor on creating your own blog through Penn State Sites. NOTE: This was filmed in one take, so it’s not the most amazing video ever published (lol). You can also click here for print documentation.
Students should have their blog created by the end of Week Two and everyone is encouraged to come meet with Zack in person if they need assistance (if you’re a student at Greater Allegheny or living in Pittsburgh). Detailed descriptions of each assignment will be posted here throughout the semester:
Reading Q&A (35%)
Most weeks, students will be asked to submit short answers to questions posted about the assigned readings. These are not formal papers, but answers still need to follow basic parameters for college-level writing, i.e. your thoughts should be organized, proofread, and make proper use of citations & quotes. There will be at least Reading Q&A’s and your lowest grade will be dropped at the end of the semester.
Final Project – Podcast, VoiceThread or Video (15%)
Students will produce a (roughly) 5-min podcast, VoiceThread or video in which they use concepts and terms from the course to critically examine a specific media technology, text, or practice (that wasn’t already covered in one of our readings). This assignment can be completed individually or in small groups. The assignment is due on Saturday, May 5 @ noon. Students do not have to possess a strong background in audio or video production to complete this assignment. In addition to in-person help you can get from your professor, there will also be instructive tutorials for this assignment posted online.
Detailed guidelines for the final project are located here.
Participation – Canvas Discussion Posts (10%)
This portion of your grade consists of your contribution to online class discussions. Discussions will open-ended, but your professor will often organize them around a specific question to keep things focused. If/when a discussion question is drawn from one of our Reading Q&A assignments, you can feel free to copy & paste statements from your Q&A answers in your discussion post (so that you don’t have to rewrite what you already stated elsewhere).
- Each week, I would like everyone to post their thoughts on aspects of the reading, and to also comment on at least one other person’s post.
- Posts & comments are due by Sunday night at midnight, every week.
Extra Credit
Students can use a Twitter account to post relevant, class-related content online, using the class hashtag: #cm251z. Click here for details.