Course Resources

• Syllabus (PDF)
• Service-Learning Checklist (PDF) | Service-Learning Structured Reflections (PDF)
• Client Project Checklist (PDF) | Client Project Structured Reflections (PDF)
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• Janice (Ginny) Redish Web Site
• Usability.gov
• Articles by Jakob Nielson on Writing for the Web
• Grading Criteria (PDF)
• The Big Seven Grammar and Mechanics Guidelines (PDF)
• Punctuation Pattern Sheet (PDF)
• Loyola Notre Dame Library
• Web Writing and Technology News

Course Schedule

Unit 1 – Week 1 :: Project 1 Assignment Sheet | Service-Learning/Client Assignment Sheet

9/3 :: Course intro.; review syllabus and talk about writing for the web; read the Project 1 assignment sheet and review past students’ online portfolios

9/5 :: Read Redish ch. 1, “Sorry, Young Man, You’re Not the Most Important Demographic in Tech“; set up account with LiquidWeb and activate WordPress – LiquidWeb customer support will help you; watch WordPress Essential Training “Introduction” and “Getting to Know WordPress” from Lynda.com (access Lynda.com through Inside Loyola: “Online Learning from Lynda.com” bottom right link of left navigation bar); Richnor Springs students: read “Who Are We?” and the information on Richnor Springs from News

Week 2 :: Project 2 Assignment Sheet

9/10 :: Read the Project 2 assignment sheet, Redish ch. 2, the first Rhetorical Situations page and PowerPoint slides from the Purdue OWL, and watch “Getting Started with WordPress” from Lynda.com; for fun: sooo 1996 (what not to do with your portfolios); textbook check (please bring your textbook); Richnor Springs students: begin reading the SNAP Plan and the Richnor Springs web site

9/12 :: Read the professional biographies excerpt from Johnson-Sheehan, today’s Evening Edition; Personas from Usability.gov, and begin sketching out personas for your portfolio based on the characteristics from Redish ch. 2 (key phrases, experience, emotions, etc.); watch “Starting WordPress for the First Time” from Lynda.com

Week 3

9/17 :: Read Redish ch. 3 and Smashing Magazine’s pages on designing user-centered, effective web sites; watch “Creating Pages” and “Working with Themes” from Lynda.com; review and save the html code list

9/19 :: Reading quiz 1; watch “The Appearance Tab” from Lynda.com; read the Purdue OWL’s Paramedic Method and the Five Principles of Readability, the Flesch-Kincaid readbility measures, and read-able.com

Week 4

9/24 :: Read Redish ch. 10 and Nielson’s “Writing Style for Print vs. Web”

9/26 :: Read Center for Plain Language and the Purdue OWL’s Effective Workplace Writing

Week 5 :: Project 3 Assignment Sheet

10/1 :: Read the Project 3 assignemnt sheet, Redish ch. 4, and Usability.gov’s “Home” and “Basics” pages; review the Purdue OWL’s resources on email etiquette and email etiquette for students

10/3 :: Read Redish ch. 5, the Introduction from the Purdue OWL Usability Report and skim the rest of the report; read the IRB page and the Informed Consent page at the bottom; remind me to provide you with the Computers and Composition article for next week!; watch “Exporting and Importing WordPress Content” from Lynda.com

Week 6

10/8 :: Reading quiz 2; watch “Getting Readers” from Lynda.com; read Redish ch. 15, past WR305 usability reports, and Usability.gov’s “Methods” pages: Usability Testing, Individual Interviews, Surveys, and Task Analysis. These are your test documents. Please download them and prepare for testing on Thursday

10/10 :: Usability testing; begin reading Computers and Composition article

Week 7

10/15 :: Usability tests continued; continue reading Computers and Composition article

10/17 :: Read the handout on coding and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data; begin coding and analyzing your usability data

10/18 :: Fall break begins after classes; mid-term grades available by 10/20 (S = satisfactory U = unsatisfactory)

Unit 2 – Week 8 :: Project 4 Assignment Sheet

10/22 :: Finish reading Computers and Composition article; continue coding and analyzing your usability data and email me your data results using the Purdue OWL email etiquette resources linked above on 10/1; here are our article response questions and homework assignment for 10/29: C-CArticleResponseQuestions

10/24 :: Meet in Digital Media and Adaptive Technology Lab in LND Library; outline one of the past WR305 usability reports and plan how you’re going to compose your short report; read Redish ch. 6 and Interlude 1; finish coding and analyzing your usability data; quick overview on the IMRaD report: IMRaDPage1; IMRaDPage2

Week 9 :: Project 5 Assignment Sheet

10/29 :: Bring in draft of usability report; VoiceOver homework due; read Plain Writing Act of 2010; write 250 words on connections you notice between the Plain Writing Act and issues of social justice (try to think of one example); review Dr. Redish’s presentation from her lecture at Loyola last year – guest lecturer

10/31 :: Usability report due; read “Should I Become a Web Writer?” and “I’ll Google It“; read the Johnson-Sheehan excerpt on interviews and the Plain Language site from the Federal Government: Plain Language Guidelines, Planning a Plain Language Website, and Plain Language Website Examples – guest lecturer

Week 10

11/5 :: Reading quiz 3; read Redish ch. 7 – guest lecturer

11/7 :: Bring in best example of your showcase genre you can find; read “Using Social Media to Promote Social Justice,” Wikipedia’s Kony 2012 page (please watch the Kony 2012 movie); read the latest on Kony; how might your writing/ideas make a difference?; try to answer: is crowd sourcing mercenaries to kill/capture Kony ethical? And how do we avoid (or use) slacktivism?

Unit 3 – Week 11

11/12 :: Bring in your web writing/tech news – here is an example; here is another example; read Redish ch. 13 and the EyeGuide information; Richnor Springs students: read the Dubinsky article and the Brotzman article

11/14 :: Bring in your web writing/tech news; compelling and creative online activism; read Purdue OWL resources on visual literacy, HATS,  Eyetracking: Is It Worth It?; Eye Tracking and Neurscience; ObamaCare Web Design; FYI: search YouTube for EyeGuide videos

Week 12

11/19 :: Bring in your web writing/tech news; Reading quiz 4; watch the “Eyetracking and Web site Design“; Richnor Springs students please watch Dubinsky’s Hutton Lecture talk at Purdue University from fall 2010; in-class EyeGuide work day; adding some bells and whistles: Squarespace stuff here

11/21 :: Writing showcase due (post to site by midnight); bring in your web writing/tech news; read Johnson-Sheehan excerpt on presentations; use the presentation checklist and workplace attire handout to prepare; you can also use this infographic (thanks, Ashlee!) to help choose appropriate attire; in-class EyeGuide work day; adding some bells and whistles: investigate WordPress widgets and plugins you may want to add to your portfolio

Week 13

11/26 :: Interview due (post to site by midnight); bring in your web writing/tech news; in-class EyeGuide work day; here are the (student-created) instructions on how to screenshot your EyeGuide results; here are the sample outlines you might follow for your presentation; read Johnson-Sheehan on Ethics and complete this in-class assignment

11/28 :: Thanksgiving holiday – no class

Week 14

12/3 :: Read Redish ch. 14 and Tom Jewett’s page on Section 508 and W3C compliance; watch this video as you revise your portfolio for the end of the semester; in-class EyeGuide work day; adding some bells and whistles: investigate how to add video to your portfolio

12/5 :: In-class EyeGuide work day; as you put the finishing touches on your portfolio, read Smashing Magazine’s article on tone and the Wikipedia Redefined page, an article on short-form writing, and the book review of Virtually You

Week 15

12/12 :: Final exam (five-minute project presentation) – 1:00 PM in MD Hall 240; portfolio final draft due by exam time