Hi John, thanks for your input. I'm finding this to be really fun!

Although I do not and cannot require my students to use Adobe products, it is extremely unlikely that they complete this project without using an Adobe product. At the minimum, the brochures must be in PDF and their essays are typically turned in this way as well. All of my documents are presented to them in PDF. The more common uses of Adobe products, however, tend to include things like Flash, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and InDesign.

They learn about and use these products—and more, most likely—during their time in the Digital Composition Studio at UAA, but they aren’t the focus of the assignment—merely the vehicle that helps them in the process of focusing on the content. Does that make sense? I should note that they use other types of software too, to complete the project, as well as completing research in the library and completing readings from a handbook. It’s a multi-modal, multi-faceted approach to research, writing, and persuasive rhetoric.

I find the "esssence" of the message super. But I do not "feel" the immense creative possibilities of the software from Adobe such as the Master Collection and other software.

Hi Louise,

Thanks for the friendly comment. In reference to your question as to whether the students "wrote more," do you mean in comparison to their preparation for the other papers in the class or in comparison to the way I used to present the final paper? In either case, they did write more, but they wrote differently. They had to complete the "game plan" and there were weekly Discussion Board posts related to their progress on the final project. That way I could check in with them outside of class and make sure everyone was actually making progress. Aside from that, though, they tended to write less in terms of the final project. When I first began teaching as a graduate student TA, I gave them an 8 page research paper. Now, they usually write between 5-6 pages of text and present the persuasive portion in one (roughly) paragraph within the essay portion and then they present the media portion. Unless they choose the brochure option--which many do--they don't write very much.

In reference to your question about the "ideas/thinking side of things" we have one class where I present the assignment and explain it, which is a lot for them to take in and kind of exhausting for me. Then I allow them to take the last 10-15 minutes of class to research potential topics. I provide a list of ideas but they are free to choose something else as long as I approve it, which is a must, because I once had a student do his persuasive portion on the eco-terrorist group "ELF" and scared the hell out of me and the class as burning effagies of US political figures and anarchy symbols flashed behind him as he read a threatening letter to President Bush. That was my first semester as a full-timer and I learned that lesson quickly.

Anyway, I encourage them to choose something meaningful to them personally and then post about it on the DB. After that, we have the weekly check ins, but I also dedicate a later class to storyboarding for their persuasive aspect, a class where we actually go to the library and learn about research and what constitutes a scholarly source, and at some point, I give a lecture on different methods of brainstorming.

Let me know if you have other questions!

Erika

Thanks for sharing this. I have just come from a conference where Jason Ohler was discussing this very same sort of thing and thought I would like to try it. You have just cemented that idea. Thanks also for the generous sharing here. I just wanted to ask, do you think that students wrote more throughout this project? and how did you assist students who had difficulties, I don't mean with the technical aspects, I mean the ideas/thinking side of things. I sometimes find that students hand in quite shallow pieces of work and I wondered how you got yours to really delve deeply into a topic that perhaps they didn't choose?

Thanks for your help

Louise

At UAA, we have the newly instated Digital Composition Studio (DCS). It is housed in the English Department but open to all. It has four dual-boot Macs loaded with the necessary software, and it checks out flip cams and audio devices to students with ID cards. It is staffed by student tutors. I usually send them to the DCS for a work shop day when they first start thinking about the media aspect.

However, the DCS is a new addition to UAA. In the past, I would give them an overview of the media options but give them the option of writing a persuasive letter to a political official if they didn't feel like they could attempt the video audio aspect. Surprisingly, the technical aspect seems time consuming and daunting, but they generally find it easier than they expected--and enjoyable too!

Erika

Dear Ellen, dear Erika,

This is a legitimate concern Ellen's), and I am interested in hearing the answer, Erika. Thank you.

Daniela.

Hi Erika,

I think this is a great project! I'm sure your student loved it. I was wondering, since this is in an English class how do you support your students with the multimedia aspect of the project? Do they just figure it out, do you work with a tech coordinator?

Thanks again - love the project!

~ellen