Assignment Descriptions

Discussion Questions & Reading Reflection Worksheet  (5 points)

 icon-calendar Due 9 a.m. every class meeting on Padlet

Before each class meeting, each student must submit one discussion question per reading. Answers to submitted questions will be explored during class time.

Discussion questions are due every class meeting day by 9 a.m. Submit questions to Padlet by 9 a.m. the day of class. Failure to submit questions on time will affect the “Engagement” portion of your grade.

In addition to discussion questions, a Reading Reflection Worksheet must be emailed in at the start of  class every Friday. One worksheet must be filled out for all readings for the previous week. The worksheet is an editable PDF. Worksheets may be emailed to Professors Abdoney and Teaff by the start of class.


Student Led Discussions (10 points)

On the second day of class, will sign up for a student led discussion, scheduled throughout the term. Each student will facilitate discussion about the day’s readings for 15 minutes. For each discussion, the students leading will submit:

  • 5 discussion questions

Submitted questions are due 48 hours prior to scheduled discussion via email to Professor Teaff.

When is my student led discussion?

Why are we doing this assignment?*

Assignment Purpose

    • Leading class discussion will insure you have mastered course material and can convey course themes to your peers.
  • Creating a meaningful in-class activity that will help peers understand class readings and course themes.
  • This assignment should help you practice the following skills essential to your success in this course and in life beyond school:
    • Working in small groups;
    • Public Speaking; and
    • Time management.

Individual Student Conferences by Appointment

After choosing a topic for the multimedia narrative, students will meet with Professors Abdoney and Teaff via Zoom during pre-scheduled times to discuss the project’s scope and form. Not attending these conferences will affect the “Engagement” part of your grade.

  • Student Conference 1

    Be prepared to discuss your topic and what articles/book chapters etc. you have found to support your research.

Sign Up for Your Conference Date/Time

When is my conference?

  • Student Conference 2

    Bring an outline of your multimedia narrative to discuss any questions or difficulties you may be having.

Sign Up for Your Conference Date/Time


Blog Posts (10 points each)

You will write 6 blog posts over the course of the semester.  Each post should be 500 words. 

How will we grade this?

Blog Post 1: One Day of Web Interactions

 icon-calendar Due: 9-4-20 by 10:59 a.m.

For one day, log every interaction you have with the Internet (including the “Internet of Things” and sharing economy apps). How do you use the web for your coursework? Communication? Personal fulfillment? After reviewing your interactions, explain how our networked world makes these activities easier or more difficult for you.

 icon-camera Multimedia Element: Embed an image into your blog post that supports your blog post (for example: a screenshot from your phone, a selfie, a picture of your desk or laptop).

Only use images that you have created yourself, are in the public domain, or that you have permission from the copyright holder to use (for example images from Wikimedia Commons)

icon-lightbulb-o WordPress Tip: How to add multimedia elements: Go to Media >> Add New >> drag image from your computer into WordPress or use the Select Files button

Why are we doing this assignment?*
Assignment Purpose
  • Determine the motive of informational web platforms and content, and how those motives influence coursework, personal life, and professional life.
  • Be aware of various levels of information privilege.
  • Creating and promoting web content sustainability.
  • Implementing best practices for content management and preservation.
  • This assignment should help you practice the following skills essential to your success in this course and in life beyond school:
    • applying knowledge and skills in order to create and publish a blog post using WordPress and add one embedded multimedia element (image);
    • applying basic knowledge of US Copyright law; and
    • analyzing your personal web interactions.
Blog Post 2: Stalk Your Professor

 icon-calendar Due: 9-9-20 by 10:59 a.m.

Google Professors Mary Abdoney AND Elizabeth Anne Teaff to investigate their digital presence. Describe each of them demographically, politically, culturally, etc. In what ways do you imagine their filter bubbles influence their lives? Reflect on how this exercise may or may not change your online habits.

 icon-clock-o Multimedia Element: Create a timeline of Professors Abdoney and Teaff’s lives using TimelineJS.

 icon-lightbulb-o WordPress Tip: Install the TimelineJS plug-in to make this easier to embed on your blog post.

Why are we doing this assignment?*
Assignment Purpose
  • Creating awareness of various levels of privacy when using the Internet and when curating your personal online identity.
  • Reflecting on what your digital footprint conveys to the world about you and how you may or may not change your online habits based on your experiences with this assignment.
  • Implementing best practices for content management and preservation.
  • This assignment should help you practice the following skills essential to your success in this course and in life beyond school:
    • applying knowledge and skills in order to create and publish a blog post using WordPress and add one embedded multimedia element (image).
Blog Post 3: Privacy

  icon-calendar Due: 10-2-20 by 10:59 a.m.

Describe Google, Facebook, Twitter, University Library, or another company’s/institution’s privacy statement and annotate/interpret for your peers.

 icon-music  Multimedia Element: Embed an audio file into your blog post (for example, interview a family member, students, or professors with your phone). Be sure to have the person you interview sign a Release and Consent Form. Return the signed form to your professors by assignment due date.

If you cannot interview someone and capture their voice it is fine to email them your question and record your reading of the question as your multimedia element. Keep the audio clip short (less than 60 seconds) and make sure to anonymize the interview subject (e.g. a current first year Washington and Lee student or a 46 year old woman).

Type a printed transcript of your interview and post it below the multimedia element to help with ADA compliance.

 icon-lightbulb-o WordPress Tip: Remember that you can embed the audio anywhere in your post. Be sure it makes sense and don’t forget to label your audio element to give it context.

Why are we doing this assignment?*
Assignment Purpose
  • Interpreting the privacy statement of an online company or institution to determine if this statement easy to understand or requires specialized knowledge (e.g. training in U.S. privacy laws).
  • Investigating the knowledge/familiarity/awareness of online privacy of others outside this class.
  • Creating and promoting web content sustainability.
  • Implementing best practices for content management and preservation.
  • This assignment should help you practice the following skills essential to your success in this course and in life beyond school:
    • applying knowledge and skills in order to create and publish a blog post using WordPress and add one embedded multimedia element (audio file).
Blog Post 4: Historical Remix

 icon-calendar Due: 10-19-20 by 10:59 a.m.

What would a pre-Web 2.0 event (for example, the Cuban Missile Crisis or Watergate) look like in the age of digital media?  Using at least one primary, secondary, or tertiary source create a blog post that synthesizes the event through the lens of social media.  Give a basic timeline of the event and include fake social media posts to enhance your description of the event. This assignment may be written in the style of a BuzzFeed article, subreddit conversation thread, Twitter conversations, etc. Remember to cite your source(s) at the bottom of your post.

Past DCI180 student work for inspiration (used with permission):
 icon-instagram Multimedia Element:Use a social media generator to enhance the remix

Example below from @queenmarie_93

Historical Tweet

Why are we doing this assignment?*
Assignment Purpose
  • This assignment will help you to think critically about how social media affects your perceptions of current events. 
    • By “remixing” a historical event, you will determine how current events were perceived differently throughout history
    • You will learn to use a social media generator to fake content
      • by doing this, you will gain skepticism about social media content you encounter daily
  • This assignment will help you learn basic HTML coding skills to embed your content.
Blog Post 5: Choose Your Own Adventure

 icon-calendar Due: Wednesday 10-28-20 by 10:59 a.m.

Pick a fictional piece of media (a book, movie, TV episode, series, graphic novel, comic, cartoon, etc.) that you think should be added to the course. Why should it be added? How does it incorporate the themes of the course? What type of assignment would you assign with it?

Why are we doing this assignment?*
Assignment Purpose
  • This assignment will help you bring all of the concepts discussed in class together. 
    • By choosing new content for the course, you will draw upon themes discussed in class to provide context for your suggestion.
    • This metacognitive exercise prompts you to think about what you have learned during the term and how it applies not only to popular culture, but to real life.

Current Events Presentation (15 points)

 icon-calendar Due 10-28-2020 through 11-6-2020

(15 minutes)

Each student will pick a current event that addresses one or several of the topics discussed in class. Choose an article from a newspaper, magazine, or even a scholarly journal, and use the hour of class to present the information to your classmates. Create some sort of media to enhance your presentation, such as, but not limited to:

  • Slide deck
  • Video
  • Podcast/audio
  • Infographic
  • Digital game
  • Anything else you can think of

How will we grade this?

Multimedia Narrative Project (20 points)

  icon-calendar Due at noon on 11-20-2020 (last day of final exams)

For your multimedia narrative, the final project, select a topic or issue we have discussed in class or in the readings and tell a story with spoken and/or written text and at least two of the following elements: moving or still pictures, graphics, or interactive data. You will need to have 3 to 5 sources for the project. At least one of them should be a scholarly source (e.g. peer reviewed article or chapter from an academic book).

This project will require a written script and some HTML skills. The resulting product will live on your website. The audience for your story is other Washington and Lee students. This project will be bench marked throughout the term along with individual student/faculty conferences, and peer review.

How will we grade this?

University Library’s camcorders and the Video Editing Suite (M39) in Leyburn will be available for student use.

There are great resources at the following links, which we will discuss in class:

*adapted from work by Mary-Ann Winkelmes © 2013

css.php