EN 241 - Writing in Digital Spaces

1. Explain what digital writing means, what tools are used to create it, and how it can be used. (Translate or explain what written information means and/or how it can be used)
2. Describe the role of context, audience, purpose, and ethics when communicating digitally. (Understand that there are different perspectives on community, national, and international issues)
3. Identify the ways in which digital writing shapes and reflects cultural values.
4. Apply rhetorical, visual, and design principles associated with digital/multimedia writing and document design. (Use visual representations such as graphs, charts, or graphics to enhance the meaning of the message that is being communicated)
5. Write to, for, and within complex digital communities as a way of interacting with and extending the writing that already exists. (Create and/or organize data and information into meaningful patterns in order to interpret and draw inferences from it)

I. Digital Rhetoric

A. How digital environments impact reading and writing practices​

B. Visual literacy: interpreting, negotiating, and making meaning from an image; images are cultural artifacts

C. Technological literacy: the ability to effectively use technological tools to understand and communicate information; technological tools are cultural artifacts

D. Digital artifacts reflecting and shaping cultural values

II. Design Principles

A. Proximity

B. Alignment

C. Repetition 

D. Contrast

E. Color

III. Audience Analysis

A. Language

B. Tone

C. Style

D. Cultural Discourse

IV. Content and Context

A. Identity theory (gender, race, class, and more) 

B. Subjectivity 

C. Representation

D. Various Spaces & Associated Community Cultures

E. Universal Design

F. Ethics of Authorship

Technology use: 20-50%

Team work: 20-50%

In-class writing: 10-30%

Oral reports/short presentation: 10-30%

Lecture/Modeling: 0-20%
Mandatory Course Components:
Over the course of the semester, students will compose on average 8,000-12,000 words of formal and informal writing. As a demonstration of their learning, students will produce a final project, composed digitally, in which they apply the concepts explored throughout the course. Students will also present, in some form, a defense of their digital writing choices, focusing their presentation on how they applied course concepts.

Projects may include:

• a digital portfolio/blog
• digital storytelling
• varied compositions for assorted digital spaces
• a final project or presentation that analyzes how one of the following concepts is revealed, complicated, and/or brings meaning to a digital community: identity, subjectivity, representation, community culture, universal design, and the ethics of authorship
• a service learning project in which students use digital writing