Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals…Don’t mind if others do not share your convictions. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer…Stop the excuses and procrastination. This is your life! The longer you wait, the more you will be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret because you know you are capable of better. From this moment on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do–now. Epictetus (55 AD to 135 AD)

Welcome to the Site for WRIT 351:Writing for MultiMedia

The course is taught by Robert Danberg, PhD, Coordinator of Campus Wide Writing Support, Binghamton University Writing Initiative

The thrust of the class will be using new media in service of argument and advocacy. You’ll explore ways to use new media to inform, explain and persuade. Another way to think of this is storytelling. A package of media– a podcast, a narrated slide show, a short documentary shot and edited on a phone, a visual essay, an article with graphics–  combine to tell a compelling story of an issue you believe your audience needs to hear about and understand.

The material you are reading now was created on Atavist, a platform you will use in the course. It makes it possible for anyone to create mixed media documents on line.

Some of the details may change, such as the specifics about assignments or the calendar, but overall, you’ll find the course itself as you see it described here. You’ll find out about the design of the course, our course text, and sample assignments. If you have questions, please contact me at rdanberg@binghamton.edu.

A multimedia writer may be asked to contribute to video and audio scripts, captions, narrations for animations, or explainers for information graphics. However,regardless of the platform, format, or story structure, good writing is at the core…

           Jennifer George-Palilonis  

This course is for students who want to enrich their writing with the tools that the digital world offers. Whether you’re a student in the School of Management, Visual Arts, Humanities, or the Sciences and Social Sciences, you’ll find that the tools, principles and practices we work on can be adapted to different disciplinary and professional goals.

Today, in the professional, academic, and nonprofit worlds, digital media plays an important role. Organizations and individuals can use the variety of genres and media texts to craft the story of an organization’s mission for the public. The work we do here will familiarize you with critical, craft and production tools that can help you argue and advocate for issues that you consider significant.

The internet has democratized publishing. You don’t need to have made a website, a digital story, or a slide show before to be a part of the class. In fact, an imporant theme is the implication of access to the “non-expert”. I’ve designed the course to be responsive to different levels of technical skill while helping you develop a clear and concise prose style responsive to different situations. If you do decide to enter the worlds of marketing, journalism, nonprofits or political advocacy, the course will provide you with an understanding of with the principles behind multimedia writing that will distinguish you from others.

If you have a PC that runs Windows or a Mac, you have access to Microsoft Movie Maker, PhotoStory 3, Power Point, Prezi and Imovie to make edit video, create digital stories and slides shows. PC users can use a free program, Audacity, to record and edit a podcast. Mac users can use Garage Band. Your phone will suffice as audio and video equipment. The microphone on your earbuds is enough to help you create clear audio if you don’t like the sound using your computer’s internal mic. You’ll have access to Atavist through class– the program that created what you’re reading now– which is easy to learn quickly.

There well be three assignment threads in our class: critical/analytical, craft, and creative assignments.

You’ll analyze audiences, design media for information access, and plan and write content.

Some assignments will be skills oriented. The central course project asks you to identify an issue or concern you believe is important to you and an audience you care about and want to persuade. It can be a social, political or cultural issue.

Possible genres we’ll work with are:

• Digital Story
• Photo Essay
• Curated Website
• Bibliography Blog
• Multi-Modal Article (Text with charts, graphs and audio)
• Podcasts
• Mixtapes
• Digital Essay

Follow the link below to past assignment material. Assignments are under construction– I’m weighing what to choose and modify to fit Winter Term.

To choose a book for an online class, I want to answer “Yes” to the following:

• Is it interesting?
• Is it accurate?
• Is it useful?
• Is it affordable?
• Is there an online component?
• Will students find it useful when the course is over?

Jennifer George-Palilonis’ “The Multimedia Journalist: Storytelling for Today’s Media Landscape” from Oxford University Press.

While our class is not about journalism per se, the book provides a thorough and practical approach to digital writing that accounts for written texts, images, sound, and video. Morey’s prose is clear and concise. His assignments are challenging and helpful. The book also offers a theoretical background that will develop your critical and analytical skills. This combination of the practical and theoretical is essential: without it, you’re simply following instructions. With it, you learn to solve problems.

The specifics of the grading system are under development– it’ll depend on the final project components. But it will be a version of the problem. Class works on a partial specifications grading system. This means that students have choices about what grade they want to work for, which can help students who are doing multiple courses or have committments like work. You can decide on the level of committment.

To earn a C+ you earn 112 points by doing the following:

Project Folders: 12 points

You submit project folders throughout the term that contain assigned work, such as practice assignments, proposals, research documents, planning material, drafts and peer review activities. You earn three points for each folder. If you complete the work competently, you can expect to earn full points.

Portfolio: 100 points

The majority of the class will be based on a portfolio–roughly 70 percent. You’ll work throughout the term, receive feedback from myself and your classmates, practice using the media, and revise. I grade the final product based on a rubric I’ll share which covers pertinent criteria, such as content, audience awareness, and use of media.If you do the work, you’re bound to improve over time.

To earn a B+, complete the 112 points earned with project folders and a portfolio, plus an additional additional 12 points by doing the following:

The “B Project” asks you do to create specific additional documents that show you can use your skills in challenging ways.

To earn an A, complete the 112 points earned with project folders and a portfolio, plus an additional 24 points completing the “A Project”: 24 points

The “A” Project asks you to create specific additional documents that show you can use your skills in challenging ways.

Participation:

Participation is assigned at the end of the term. I subtract a specified number of points for frequent missed assignments, failure to communicate in a timely way, frequent assignment lateness and so on.

Badges:

You begin class with two badges. You earn one for each complete project folder. You can earn badges for assisting classmates with technical and editing work as well. Badges can be exchanged so that you can turn in an assignment a day late or miss to one missed assignment per project folder.

I have a PhD from Syracuse University in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric specializing in the teaching and learning of writing, an MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and a BA from SUNY Purchase. I am a Professor of Practice on the faculty of the Writing Initiative, where I teach WRIT 111: Coming to Voice, and WRIT 110: Seeing and Writing the World, develop curriculum for WRIT 110 and train graduate assistants to teach. As Coordinator of Campus-Wide Writing Support and Faculty Outreach at Binghamton University, I support Binghamton faculty who want to develop their approaches to writing in the classroom. I have been teaching writing to college students for almost thirty years and and have taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Ithaca College, Syracuse University and Cornell University. My book, Teaching Writing While Standing on One Foot explores the the challenge of designing classes that teach the unique combination of formal and experiential knowledge skilled writers require. It will be published by Sense Press in 2015. My  poetry has and essays have appeared in many journals online and in print, including Writing on the Edge, Composition Studies, Ploughshares, The Sun, The Cortland Review, and Subtropics.

For more information and to register for Winter Session, visit the Binghamton University Winter Session website.