ATCM 3301_S19

ATCM 3301 Overview

The internet is a strange place, and this course is designed to ask the question: “what is the internet and how do I create content for it?” The internet contains the collision of culture, technology, and content — which all come together with unexpected consequences when billions of people are networked together. This class is an opportunity to poke at the internet and explore some of the oddities that make up one of the most significant technological advances in the last century.

We’ll learn how to create things for the internet through a (relatively) simple webpage. My hope is that students will leave this class with the ability to create digital content and develop a website (blog) they can show potential employers, friends, or some other yet-to-be-determined audience. Mostly what I’d like students to develop is a healthy sense of curiosity about the internet and express that curiosity through writing, design, video, and audio content.

Here’s the full syllabus with policies, procedures and such.

Helpful Writing Tools

These are the writing and organization tools that I will mention during the semester. Most are either free or low cost. I’ll add to this list as we go through the semester.

Class Links

Graded Assignments

Grading Matrices

Schedule

Section 1: Defining the Internet

1/14/2019: Introductions

1/16/2019: History of Internet Design

1/21/2019: No Class

1/23/2019: Web Infrastructure

1/28/2019: Web Infrastructure – Creative

1/30/2019: Developing Content

  • Read: Handley Part 1: Writing Rules
  • Due: Reading Response 3

Section 2: Finding an Audience

2/4/2019: Project Management + Writing

  • Read: Handley Part 2: Grammar & Usage
  • In Class: Kanban Project Plan

2/6/2019: Personas

  • Read: Handley Part 4: Publishing Rules
  • Guest Speaker: Ben Newell, VP Product with rewardStyle

2/11/2019: In Class Persona Assignment I

  • In Class Assignment: Persona
  • Read: Handley Part: 5 Things Marketers Write

2/13/2019: In Class Persona Assignment II

2/18/2019: Digital Marketing  Introduction

  • Read: Krug Chapters 1-4

2/20/2019 : Building a Marketing Plan

  • Read: Krug Chapter 7, 8
  • In Class: Create Your Marketing Plan

2/25/2019: Site Architecture 

  • Read: Krug Chapters 9 – 10
  • In Class: Create an Outline of your site

2/27/2019: User Interface (UI) / User Experience & the Audience

Section 3: Creating Digital Content

3/4/2019: Short Form: Interviews

  • Due: Content Plan + Marketing Analysis Due
  • In Class: Interviews

3/6/2019: Short Form: News & Reviews

3/11/2019: Peer Review Short Form

  • In Class: Review your classmates short form post
  • Due: Short Form Posts

3/13/2019: Long Form Blog Posts

3/18/2019: No Class – Spring Break

3/20/2019: No Class – Spring Break

3/25/2019: Long Form: Essays

  • In Class: How do we judge long form content online?

3/27/2019: Peer Review Long Form

  • In Class: Review your classmates long form post
  • Due: Long Form Posts

4/1/2019: Video Posts (YouTube)

  • In Class: What makes short videos effective?

4/3/2019: Video Posts II (Found versus Produced Content)

  • In Class: Examples of Making a Video Viral

4/8/2019: Peer Review Videos

  • In Class: Review your classmates video post
  • Due: Video Posts 

4/10/2019: Retrospectives: A Quick How To

4/15/2019: Photo Essays + Infographics & Other Visual Posts

  • In class: Planning & Plotting Your Visual Post

4/17/2019: Peer Review Visual Post

  • In Class: Review your classmate’s video post
  • Due: Visual Post

4/22/2019: Audio (Podcasts)

4/24/2019: Bonus Lecture (7:30pm @ Johnson Performance Hall)

  • Ed Finn: “The Promise and the Peril of Artificial Intelligence” click here for details.
  • Question posted to eLearning (15 bonus points)

4/29/2019: Peer Review Audio

  • In Class: Audio Post Peer Review
  • Due: Audio Post

5/1/2019: No Class (Work on your own to finish products)

  • Due: Retrospective

5/6/2019: Final Assignment (Completed Blog) posted to eLearning