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August 10, 2005
Course Syllabus
SUNY-CORTLAND ENGLISH DEPARTMENT PWR 209: Writing in Cyberspace I
Course Information
Credit Hours: 4
Semester/Year: Fall 2005
Meeting Time: TR 1:15-2:30
Lab: W 10:20-12:20
Room: OM G-17
Professor Information
Prof. Alex Reid
Office: Old Main 115A
Phone: 753-2069
Office Hours: TR 12:00-1:00
E mail: reida at cortland.edu
Website: web.cortland.edu/reida/cyberspace
Required Texts
David McFarland : Dreamweaver MX 2004: The Missing Manual O'Reilly
Eric Meyer : More Eric Meyer on CSS New Riders Press
Available free online: Lawrence Lessig : Free Culture http://www.free-culture.cc
Other readings may be made available online and on reserve.
Course Catalog Description
Introduction to the relationship between traditional conceptions of writing and contemporary theories of new media. Three lecture hours and a two hour lab. Prerequisite: CPN 101 or 103. (4 cr. hrs.)
Writing Intensive Course
As a writing intensive course, you will be required to write a minimum of 15 pages (or equivalent) of graded work. There will be opportunities for you to revise this work.
Additional Course Description
Writing has always been both a threat and a foundation of civilization. Writing allows us to organize complex, abstrat thoughts and share them with others across time and space. At the same time, writing predates history , science, and philosophy--obviously, since it was necessary to invent writing before inventing these forms of knowledge. As philosophers have observed, this fact places writing outside of the bounds of civilization. Technological developments such as better paper and binding, printing techniques, and later the typewriter have all expanded the effects of writing on society.
Today, of course, we deal not only with writing, but with a range of recorded media: sound, image, video. We not only exchange massive volumes of printed work but communicate via electronic, often wireless, networks.
This class examines the technology and practice of writing. This examination includes learning the basics of contemporary web design (html, css), as well as the latest web applications (blogging, rss, podcasting). Understanding these technical matters is important to understanding new media rhetoric, just as our implicit, often unexamined, understanding of the limits and functionality of print informs our practice of print rhetoric (writing linear prose). The course will also include an introduction into the topics surrounding rhetoric and composition: how do communities form online (in the blogosphere for example) across cultural differences? how do we balance the demands of commerce and security with the possibilities of creativity and privacy?
Course Goals
• To learn basic web design, including:
o An introduction to Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 (web design software)
o An introduction to Adobe Photoshop CS (image editing software)
o An introduction to XHTML (eXtensible Hypertext Mark-up Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
o An understanding of networks, file transfer, and file management
• To learn to write for the web, including:
o Writing for web audiences
o Writing in a non-linear, user-directed environment
o Writing on blogs
o Conducting web-based research
• To investigate cultural issues surrounding web-based technologies, including:
o Copyright and fair use
o Ubiquitous computing and privacy
o Internet as a global, democratic commons versus the internet as a private, commercial enterprise
o Implications of the internet for the production and distribution of cultural knowledge
Organization of Course
This course will be organized as a hybrid of an online and a traditional course. On Wednesdays, we will meet and have our lab time. During our labs, you will learn various elements of the technical side of web design. Doing this together in a common physical location is advantageous as you will all be doing similar work and will benefit from my being present to see what you are doing.
Our Tuesday and Thursday regular meeting times will function as extended office hours. That means that your attendance is not required. However, I will be available during this time to work with you on your projects. I will also use this time to schedule individual meetings to discuss your writing assignments.
In lieu of meeting during our class times, you will participate actively on our course blog. You will be expected to post three times each week on the various topics we are discussing. If you wish, you can come to class during the regularly scheduled time and use it to read other people’s messages and respond in kind. Or write at some other time that is convenient for you.
NeoVox.Cortland.edu
NeoVox is a web-based magazine produced by students at Cortland in collaboration with students at several universities around the world. The magazine addresses current events, college culture, and a monthly theme, as well as publishing fiction, poetry, and visual art. NeoVox provides an excellent opportunity for Cortland students to learn about new media, to develop a professional portfolio of published writing, to work with other students around the world, and to visit our international partners through our Study Abroad programs.
Through this course, you will be participating in NeoVox. You will be introduced to the magazine’s publishing practices, research and write articles, work with editors and designers, and finally see your work published. Of course, you will also be reading the magazine.
Grading
Online discussion 30%
Personal Homepage 10%
Personal Blog 10%
Professional Portfolio 20%
NeoVox Articles 30% (15% each)
Online Discussion
As noted above, the online discussion is a substitute for regular class meetings. On our course website, I have noted several blogs that I would like you to read regularly. I will also assign various readings over the course of the semester. I expect you to respond to these and to one another in your blog posts. We will meet during the semester so that you can receive feedback from me on your performance on this portion of the course.
Personal Homepage
This will be our first web design assignment. As a personal homepage, you will be free to determine the content of your page. You will be evaluated on your use of web design principles and practices.
Personal Blog
You will establish a free blog at blogger.com and you will post to it three times a week. As a personal blog you are free to write about anything you wish. The posts do not need to be long. However, if all your posts are only two or three sentences, I will wonder if you are keeping to the spirit of the assignment. The purpose of this assignment is for you to gain some experience with the basic challenges of writing for the web. Essentially, if you meet the expectation of writing on a regular basis, you will receive full credit.
Professional Portfolio
This will be your second web design assignment. The purpose of the portfolio assignment is for you to create a professional identity and presence online. You will be evaluated in your ability to this, as well as your use of web design principles and practices.
NeoVox Articles
You will write two articles for NeoVox. Each of these articles will 1200-1500 words in length. The purpose of this assignment is for you to gain experience writing for the web and for a web-based audience. You will work with NeoVox editors and designers in the publication of your article.
Policies
1. Late paper policy:
a. You must inform me prior to the due date of a given assignment (e.g. during the class before, in my office hours, leaving a message on my phone or email) that your assignment will be late. At that time, you will give me a revised due date, which will be FINAL. I will not accept your assignment after this revised due date and you will receive a zero on that portion of your grade. Generally I will give you an extra week without question.
b. Assignments handed in late without prior warning will be reduced in grade according to the following formula. Assignments handed in within one week of the original due date will be reduced one full letters. Assignments handed in within two weeks of the original due date will be reduced two letters. Late assignments will not be accepted more than two weeks past the due date and will receive zeros.
2. Attendance Policy
The college attendance policy in the College Handbook states “Penalties for excessive absences … shall not exceed one-third of a letter grade per class hour of absence” (53). You may miss one meeting without penalty.
3. Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism, the act of claiming another’s writing as your own, is a serious form of academic dishonesty. Students found guilty of plagiarism may expect to face the consequences described in the College Handbook.
4. Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services located in B-40 Van Hoesen Hall or call (607) 753-2066 for an appointment. Information regarding your disability will be treated in a confidential manner. Because many accommodations require early planning, requests for accommodations should be made as early as possible.
Posted by Alex Reid at August 10, 2005 4:32 PM