Writing and Publishing in Digital Environments, Spring 2020

CRN 26149	nmac 5108.01	online	Spring 2020

This section on NMAC 5108 centers around the most successful online writing environment ever conceived: Wikipedia. This semester, you will engage your fellow students and the Wikipedia community with group-based writing projects that focus on your area of expertise, the creation of a brand new article from scratch, and your overall attempts to improve the wiki and your own skills in writing for the screen.

NMAC 5108 expands the definition of writing through the theory and practice of digital writing. It examines the ongoing evolution of writing and publishing in digital environments and its impact on personal, professional, and community-based projects. It prepares graduate students to analyze and solve design problems related to rhetorical delivery and content management in digital and online contexts. Individual and collaborative projects will require students to work flexibly across various digital platforms.

Introduction

Welcome to NMAC 5108, Writing and Publishing in Digital Environments. The document you’re reading is your syllabus. Everything you need for this class is on this page, in one of the tabs above, or linked off of them. Bookmark this page now and return here if you get lost or confused.

Please read this document (including the tabs) and those it links to carefully at the beginning of the semester. There is much information to process, and it can be somewhat daunting — especially if you read cursorily. If you are confused, do your best to work through it by (re)reading this document carefully and completely, searching this site, or consulting the FAQ. I promise, there is an answer to your question. If all else fails, you may contact me. Trust yourself to follow directions and find the answers. Be careful and deliberate.

For a head start on how to approach all work in this course, see “How to Do Well in My Class” and “Research & Response.”

Since you are graduate students, I expect that you are all veteran users of new media. I’m assuming, since you’re taking this course, that you are comfortable with working by yourself and have a basic Internet fluency. Much of what we do in this course will involve using digital media, but also challenging our conventional uses and attitudes toward them. Please enter with an open mind. NMAC 5108 is also designed to let you — the students — discover and create your own knowledge using the powerful digital devices we all have access to. You will learn more about my approach shortly. If you’re curious to know more right now, you might want to read my teaching philosophy and peruse the articles under HackEdu.

Again, read this syllabus through carefully before beginning. You might want to take notes as you go, jotting down questions you have. I bet they are answered by the time you’re ready to begin the first lesson. If you end up still having questions, post them in the help forum when you’ve made your Wikipedia account.

Student Learning Outcomes

Develop rhetorically appropriate writing, organization, and design skills for publishing in electronic environments;
Apply best-use writing conventions in differing digital environments; and
Practice collaboration as an integral practice for publishing in electronic environments.

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