The Group Project

 

In your designated groups, look carefully at the Webrary that is part of the class Website.  As a group, generate categories that these items could be divided into.  Make that division.  Then, choose one of the categories (this will take a little negotiation, as ideally each group should pick a different category; we’ll see how this works out), and, bu using BOTH the items provided from the Webrary from your categorization AND resources you locate (or generate) on your own, construct a multimediated group project that is or can be Web accessible (website, Blog site, Wiki site; you’ll discuss these potentialities with me), and that uses traditional text with the resources and multimedioation you engage in order to form a unified whole.  This project (and the final project, below) should NOT contain simple lists of links; rather, the resources should, at the least, be substantially annotated* and critiqued; another option would be to construct a textual frame that incorporates these resources as “embeddings” within the text.  Or , you can try something else—as long as I know about it before you try it, and as long as it avoids a simple list of links.

 

*Substantial in this case means more than a few sentences—more like a full paragraph—at the least.

 

The Impact Project (Final Project)

 

In a multimediated, digital format (Blog, website, PowerPoint, Wiki, podcast, etc—you choose), engage a literacy technology (a partial list is below) of your choice, and illuminate us (your class is your audience) as to its nature, its history, its impact, and the ethical/moral implications of it. 

 

Here is a  suggested template.

 

Your project must be grounded in text, but include multimediation of some kind; it must have at least 10 external hyperlinks.  Inasmuch as you use traditional text, you should ad here to the rules that govern such texts; insofar as you engage multimediation, adhere to standards of appropriateness, general aesthetic good taste, and document design (which we will talk about in class and workshop).

 

--Incomplete Technology list

 

Scholes' typewriter
Electric typewriter (including correcting typewriters)
Graphite pencils
Antique non-paper writing systems clay, wax, etc.)
Quill pen
Steel nibs
A specific software program or type of program (e.g., word processors)
A specific type of television program
The telegraph
Motion pictures
The Mergenthaler Linotype machine
the newspaper
Cheap newsprint

Blogs

Wikis
the personal computer
Laptop Computers
Electronic mail (specify reader program)
HTML
Java
.gif, .jpg, .bmp, etc.--graphic formats
Search engines

Google

Yahoo
Web portals
"Push" technology
FTP
Portable Document Format
E-zines
The World-Wide Web:

Liquid Paper (TM)
IBM Selectric typewriter
erasable or corrasible bond typing paper
Illuminated manuscripts
Incunabula
Low rag-content paper
High rag-content paper
Small presses
University presses
Samizdat
Computer viruses

Instant Messaging
Spam
Listservs
Chat rooms
AOL
Online classes
Western Governors' University
VCR
Wireless radio

Public Television
Cell phones
Pagers
Cable television
MOOS and MUDs
Books-on-tape
Amazon.com
The Gutenberg Project
Distributed computing
Palmtops and PDAs
Educational software (specific title)
Browsers (in general, but mention elements of both graphical and text-only)
Ballpoint pens
Net radio
Napster
Net TV
WebTV
Intercast TV