462/682 Digital Literacies

T 4:30-5:45 LA 144 FALL 2013

Digital technologies have changed the way we create, consume, and engage with information. Our worlds have become smaller and more complex all at once. In this course, we will examine critically how these tools arent merely passive implements we use and how these tools mediate our activities.

Digital media again offer us an opportunity for equality, for letting everyone be producers as well as consumers. With digital media people can often bypass official institutions and oversight to produce their own media, knowledge, products, services, and text. Gee and Hayes, p.3

PARTICIPATE COLLABORATE SOCIALIZE

ACCESS

The term participatory culture contrasts with older notions of passive media spectatorship. Rather than talking about media producers and consumers as occupying separate roles, we might now see them as participants who interact with each other according to a new set of rules that none of us fully understands. Jenkins, p. 3

When practices of technological literacy are studied closely, they reveal complex sets of cultural beliefs and values that influence and are influenced bycollective, individual, and historical understandings of what it means to read, write, make meaning, and communicate via computers and within on-line environments. Selfe, p. 12

Information sharing produces shared awareness among the participants, and collaborative production relies on shared creation, but collective action creates shared responsibility, by tying the users identity to the group. Shirky, p. 51

COURSE OUTCOMES Students will: Understand and articulate their own digital literacy Survey and critically investigate research on the interconnectedness of writing, culture, and technology Describe and assess how the current disciplinary understanding of digital literacy informs and challenges societal perspectives about culture, technology, and knowledge Be able to engage in meaningful, informed analysis of digital tools, spaces, and practices READINGS Gee, J. P and E. R. Hayes. (2011). Language and learning in the digital age. New York: Routledge. Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: New York Press. Selfe, C. (1999). Technology and literacy in the 21st century: The importance of paying attention. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP. Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody. New York: Penguin. Additional readings located in Blackboard PEDAGOGICAL STRUCTURE This course will have a seminar structure. We will read a significant amount of material: academic and popular works, online articles, and peer drafts. We will dissect, discuss, question, and challenge our reading materials.

ENGAGEMENT Expectations for engagement in a seminar are different from lecture classes. In this course, you can expect that you will engaged in whole class and small group discussion, that you will be asked to do analysis and reflection individually and in small groups, that youll do several formal and informal presentations, and that youre asked to speak in class each session. This level of participation requires you to digest readings and ideas level than you might be used to because youre doing to be asked to apply the ideas during class. You will find it difficult to participate in a meaningful way if you do not adequately prepare for class. Do the readings. Take notes. Keep detailed and organized notes. Read what youve written from time to time. Follow leads. Look up terms you dont know. Bring something to the table.

PROJECTS We will work on a variety of projects this term that may introduce you to new genres and approaches to media, technology, and writing. All projects and grading criteria are detailed in Blackboard. LITERACY AUTOETHNOGRAPHY: 20 POINTS Reflecting on how your writing practices are informed by your personal digital literacies. PROJECT PROPOSAL: 10 POINTS Proposing a project that addresses a concept related to digital literacies. RESEARCH PROJECT: 30 POINTS Presenting the findings of your proposed research topic. DISCUSSION LEADING: 20 POINTS Engaging your peers in a discussion of course concepts. BLOG WORK: 20 POINTS Interacting with your classmates and others about course concepts. POLICIES Academic Honesty In order to establish your ethos, you must cite your sources. Deliberate plagiarism will not only be difficult in this course, but it also will be pursued to a horrific end. Attendance You are expected to attend all f2f sessions on time. Missing more than 2 classes will deduct one letter grade from your final grade. Consistent absences and tardies destroy your academic ethos. The Writing Center The IPFW Writing Center, located in the Learning Commons, is open Monday-Friday, as well as Sunday (summer hours vary). It offers all writers free one-on-one help in writing papers for any class. Students may come at any stage of the writing process. Appointments are required; to sign up for a consultation, sign up via Tutor Trac at http://www.ipfw.edu/casa/wc/default.htm. You should bring your syllabus and assignment to your consultation. The Writing Center also offers online consulting, free handouts, and workshops on a variety of topics. Military Service Are you active-duty military, or a member of the reserves? Are you a veteran of military service? All of us in the IPFW Writing Program value your service, and will work with you to allow you to meet your military obligations, while fulfilling the course requirements. If you have special needs in this area, let me know. A great resource for current and former members of the military is the Military Student Service.

Services for Student with Disabilities If you have a disability and need assistance, special arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs. Contact the Director of Services for Students with Disabilities (Walb Union, Room 113, @ 481-6658) as soon as possible to work out the details. Once the Director has provided you with a letter attesting to your needs for modification, bring the letter to me. For more information, visit the web site: http://www.ipfw.edu/ssd/ INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION Jennifer Stewart Office: LA 137 Office Hours: Wednesday 12-1, and appointment Appointment Scheduling: http://jennstewart.youcanbook.me/ Phone: 481.6073 E-mail: stewartj@ipfw.edu Twitter: @JennLStewart