Comic strip "Suggested methods of presenting your findings" with panels labeled: an article in a peer-reviewed journal, a popular science bestseller, engraved on the walls of a secret chamber, a transmission beamed to our alien masters, a broadway musical, whispered into a hole in an enchanted oak, and an internet meme involving cats

Welcome to New Media Writing

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with 35 comments
David's Posts

Your homework to complete before we meet again on Thursday:

  • Read over this website very carefully as it constitutes the syllabus for this course. Note that the Syllabus page includes a number of subpages, covering such topics as: how to contact me; the course learning objectives; the texts you need to buy; attendance, participation, and other policies; and how you will be graded. There is also a calendar of reading and assignments; and pages describing the major and minor assignments this semester.
  • Add this site to your bookmarks. Make certain that you can find your way back here, because you’ll be spending a lot of time visiting these pages over the course of this semester.
  • Join the class Aula site: simply go to https://app.aula.education/, select “Join a class” and use this class key when registering: 8h6agl
  • Reply to this survey form, which both asks some basic information I’ll need in order to manage communications with you and also asks some questions that will help me get to know you a little bit better.

Once you’ve completed those tasks, you should to sign up for a domain and server space, which you will be using extensively this semester:

  • Sign up for a domain of your own. (But first, see this post first for a note about choosing a domain name.)
  • Create a subdomain and install WordPress on it. (Here’s a post walking you through that process.)
  • Come back to this post once you have signed up for your domain and leave a comment. Enter your name and email, and the address for the subdomain for this class in the “website” line. In the body of the comment, ask one question about the syllabus. If you want to get an email update each time a post is published on this site, which I recommend, you can also check the box labeled “Notify me of new posts by email.”
  • Complete your first sketch assignment by creating a square avatar image for your site. Write a new post and publish the avatar in that post. (If you can’t manage to get your post published before class, don’t panic. Just do your best and we can iron out any problems next week.)

35 Responses

  1. DavidAuthor

    I forgot to underscore this point in class today, so let me reiterate a point I made in the post on choosing a domain name: if you do not want your work to be published under your own name, for whatever reason, that’s fine. Just decide on a pseudonym you want me to use for you on the site and don’t put your own name on the site that you publish (obviously, in that case make certain that you do not use your name as your domain address). There is no requirement that you publish work under your name, though I think it does provide some advantages for you down the road to build an identifiable online presence.

    If you have any concerns along these lines, I’m happy to talk with you about it further. Just let me know.

    • DavidAuthor

      I’ve found that face to face conversation is the most effective method for providing feedback and for helping you to think through challenges in the class. One advantage of having a smaller class like this one is that it’s possible for us to meet individually like this, so I want to take advantage of that possibility.

  3. Benjamin Tenzer

    My avatar shows up next to my link, but it does not show up when I bookmark my website. Is this a common problem? Also, are there any lynda tutorials you recommend to watch before class?

    • DavidAuthor

      It’s not a matter of whether the assignments is a sketch or a major assignment, per se. Your writing style should differ depending on your purpose, the audience you’re righting for, and the rhetorical situation. In general, I want you to pitch your writing in what I sometimes refer to as “academic casual,” which is to say that I want your writing to be reasoned and thoughtful but not overly formal or stuffy. We’ll talk as the semester goes on about tone.

      • DavidAuthor

        Christine, the link you provided in your comment here is broken. Please leave a new comment or email me with the subdomain for this class, thanks.

    • DavidAuthor

      The subdomain you build over the course of the semester will be your portfolio. Some of your work will be posted other places (you’ll build a small hub site on your primary domain, and the class will build another subdomain as a group), but the large majority of your work will go on your own site.

  6. Thomas Kowal-Safron

    I put in an order for the required text “Writing Online” at the bookstore a couple of weeks ago, however the book is still on backorder. Is it alright if we do not have that book yet, or should we look into finagling our way into acquiring it a different way?

    • DavidAuthor

      We’ll talk about this question on Tuesday. I’ll probably get the intro on electronic course reserves tomorrow, so you can read that for Thursday’s class (it’s relatively short), and then there will be time before you need the rest of the book.

  7. Dami Lee

    For the two conferences, will there be a certain given time frame in which we have to set the appointments or is it up for us to decide? For the podcasts series, will each episode be connected to each other? Also in my previous english class, we used audacity to record our podcasts. Will we also be using this program for our assignment?

    • DavidAuthor

      Generally speaking, I’d like you to schedule one conference during the first half of the semester and the other during the second half, but that’s a general rule not set in stone. You can decide when it will be most useful for you, but I’ll probably suggest that you meet with me once you’ve turned in the first major assignment. For the podcast, we’ll spend a fair amount of time in class in the next couple of weeks discussing the guidelines for how that will work, but yes the episodes will definitely be connected to each other — as a class, we’re going to create a weekly podcast series and publish it online. The individual episodes will stand on their own but they’ll also need to cohere as a series. I expect that most of you will use Audacity, but there’s some room for you to use different software if you prefer. Very cool that you’ve got some experience with podcasting already!

    • David

      The podcast series is its own assignment. As a class, we’ll decide on guidelines for the series. Then when it’s your turn to produce an episode, you’ll choose a subject that fits within the parameters, in consultation with you assistant producer and me, and then produce your episode.

    • DavidAuthor

      The link you provided goes to your primary domain. Please create a subdomain (eng221.katiebrousseau.com is easiest, but you can name the subdomain something else if you prefer) and install WordPress a second time, into that subdomain. Just go to the Subdomains app in your cPanel and create a subdomain, then repeat all the same steps you did to install WordPress into your primary domain, except this time on the settings screen, choose the subdomain from the Locations pull-down screen and then delete the “blog” from the subdirectory text box just below the locations selector and leave that line blank.

  9. Olivia Katz

    I know a big part of the course is going to be using reclaim hosting and WordPress for our posts. Is there by any chance going to be some type of class which will help us learn how to use and become familiarized with the website?

    • DavidAuthor

      Yes, we’ll spend time in class and I’ll provide other instructions. WordPress is a very intuitive software — it will be a little confusing at the start but once you have worked with it a bit, it will make a lot more sense.

  10. Anwesha Guha

    I understand that much of this course will deal with working and publishing our work online, primarily through the subdomain of our website. However, will we have any opportunities to work on and incorporate the domain itself into the course?

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