Writing for Digital Media, Summer 2019/Week 1: May 28

Syllabus

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58774 & 59513	NMAC 3108.01–.02	Online	Summer, 2019

Audio introduction.

Welcome to our first week’s study in Writing for Digital Media. This week, we will set up our needed accounts and begin with some basics of writing and editing for the screen. Each week’s assignments will have a similar set-up. Work your way through each point below. As you read, take notes, as you will want to apply your reading to your assignments — especially your writing. Keep track of any questions you have, as you’ll have the opportunity to ask them this week.

Read

Your understanding of weekly readings should be apparent by your writing. In other words: be sure to use what you learn in your reading each week in what you write.

• “Writing Today” discusses the differences between traditional academic writing and writing for digital media.
• Carroll, chapters 1 (“Writing for Digital Media”) and 2 (“WDM Strategies”) — pay close attention to these foundational chapters. All writing for digital media begins with strong writing and an understanding of audience.
• “Writing Top Ten” offers ten strategies to keep in mind when writing for digital media.
• “Editing Wikipedia” (pp. 1–5) will introduce you to editing Wikipedia.
• “Writing on a Wiki” gives an overview of Wikipedia editing. You might go through the links at the end of the article.

Do

Be sure you do these assignments during the first week of the course — the sooner, the better. Failure to do so will result in your being submitted as a “no-show” and dropped from the course.

• Make an account on Wikipedia and follow the directions for setting up your journal. Post a link to your journal on my Wikipedia talk page. Also, be sure you verify your Wikipedia account by confirming your email address. Much of our communication will be via Wikipedia this semester, and an email will make sure you see notifications in a timely manner.
• Join our course on WikiEdu. This site supports our class by offering training and keeping track of your edits on Wikipedia. You will use it throughout the semester.
• Wikipedia training: Wikipedia Policies and Sandboxes, Talk Pages, and Watch Lists.

Write

• For your first journal entry, introduce yourself. You might talk about why you’re taking this class, what you hope to get out of it, and the most interesting thing about yourself.
  • Comment on someone else’s introduction using the proper Wikipedia talk page conventions. You should use these conventions throughout the semester for journal comments and discussion posts.
• For your second journal entry, discuss any aspect of what you have learned so far. Try to stay positive in this and all of your other writing this semester. You’ll likely be a bit overwhelmed at first, but just take a deep breath and reflect on the possibilities, challenges, and potential outcomes of the course. What have you learned so far that you didn’t know before?
  • Comment on someone else’s post.
• Optional: post any questions you have about the course so far in our class help page. If are are confused about anything, be sure to speak out. This will be the best place to get help; please consider posting all questions to this forum instead of emailing so everyone can benefit by the answer.