DGST101 // Fall 2020 // Schedule

@Jessifer // onlinedgst101.slack.com // jstommel@umw.edu

Here’s what we’ll spend our time doing this term (and space for us to fill with other stuff we decide on together.) This schedule will evolve as the term proceeds. Watch for more details. You can annotate any Medium page. Feel free to make comments or ask questions right on this page (or any other within our course site).

[/] WEEK 1: August 24 — August 30

First, read:

Ray Bradbury, “The Veldt” (About the Book)
Ray Bradbury, “There Will Come Soft Rains”

Then, do some stuff:

1) Sign up for Medium (all you’ll need is a free account), create a profile, making sure to upload a picture (either you or something that represents you), and write an initial post, responding to either of the Ray Bradbury stories. Tag your post with #Dgst101. Don’t forget to do this last bit, as it’s one of the main ways we’ll be able to find each other’s work. You can also share your posts in the #our-work channel on Slack, so folks can find them.
2) Sign up for our Slack channel by going to onlinedgst101.slack.com/signup (you’ll have to use your UMW e-mail for this to work), say hello in the #open-forum channel, start getting your bearings, and share a link to your Medium post in the #our-work channel.

Note: If you run into trouble with these or any of your digital work this term, you can make an appointment with the Digital Knowledge Center.

[/] WEEK 2: August 31 — September 6

First, read and watch:

Clay Shirky, “Does the Internet Make You Smarter”
Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”
“A Vision of Student’s Today”

Then, do some stuff:

1) Search #Dgst101 on Medium (search orders by “top stories” by default; choose “archive” or “latest” to see everything). You can also check the #our-work channel in Slack. Read a handful of posts by other folks in the class and add comments or annotations.
2) Make a short (less than a minute) video introducing yourself to us. This can be super simple (shot on your phone, no editing, etc.). Share your video in the #who-are-we channel in Slack.

• Don’t tell us your major, unless you have a story about it
• Don’t tell us what you did over the Summer, unless it involves giant snakes, parachuting, a unicorn, a flash flood, or it was documented in a viral video
• Don’t tell us where you grew up, unless you’re going to show pictures
• Do tell us what moves you, what you care most about
• Do tell us what you hope to get from taking this course, but only if you can do so in a limerick
• Do tell us where you are
• Do give us random facts we can come to know you by
• Do click here and answer the first would you rather question that catches your eye

Hint: To share a video in Slack, go to the #who-are-we channel, click the little + next to the message box, select the video file you created, then add a title/subject before you hit the upload button. You can also upload a video to YouTube (or any other site where videos live) and share it with a link.

[/] WEEK 3: September 7 — September 13

First, read:

Preface and Ch. 1 from Small Pieces Loosely Joined (It looks like chapter 1 on the site is hacked, so if that feels impossible to read, try chapter 2, which is also useful/interesting. The point is to get a sense for how folks were thinking about the Web 20 years ago. The fact that this site has been hacked and is no longer maintained says something about the ephemeral nature of the Web.)

Then, do some stuff:

(1) Publish a post to Medium using #Dgst101 with a tentative response to the question, what is the internet? Draw on the various stuff you’ve read so far. Some stuff to consider: where is the internet? what is not the internet? how many internets are there? what is the internet becoming? is the internet alive? what do you love about the internet? what scares you?
(2) Medium likes pictures (makes your posts look snazzy when you share them on Slack or other social media). Add at least one picture to this post and all your other posts. My favorite tool for finding free pictures is Unsplash. Check out their open copyright license. I also like Pixabay.
(3) Search #Dgst101 on Medium, or check the #our-work channel on Slack. Read a handful of posts by a few other folks in the class and add comments or annotations. Respond to comments.
(4) Begin working on Rebuild the Internet due October 11.

[/] WEEK 4: September 14 — September 20

First, watch:

The Social Network (Netflix) ($3.99 on prime) ($3.99 on YouTube)
Live screening (optional): We’ll watch together on Thursday, September 17 at 8pm Eastern. Jump into the #social-network channel on Slack. Find the film wherever you can, we’ll all hit play at the same time just after 8pm, and then chat synchronously as we watch.

Then, do some stuff:

The art of the animated GIF
(1) Instructions for making a GIF.
(2) There are also apps and some online tools you can use to make a GIF. Just Google something like “make a GIF.”
(3) Publish a response to The Social Network to Medium incorporating at least 5 GIFs (that you made yourself). Don’t forget to tag your post with #Dgst101.
(4) Share a link in the #our-work channel (and include your favorite GIF that you made).

[/] WEEK 5: September 21 — September 27

First, read and watch:

Zeynep Tufekci, “We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on ads”
Dorothy Kim, “The Rules of Twitter”
Howard Rheingold, “Smart Mobs”

Then, do some stuff:

(1) Find at least one other piece (an article, work of art, video, etc.) about social media that you think would be useful for our group to look at. Share a link in the #open-forum with a sentence saying why folks should read it.

Either:
(2) Publish a post to Medium (in any genre: text, video, sound, image). Respond in some way to one or all of the readings for this week. Feel free to respond to one of the pieces shared by your peers. Share a link to your post in the #our-work channel in Slack. Then highlight and comment on the posts of several of your peers. Look for posts with no comments. And continue the discussions started on your own posts.

Or:
(3) Join an optional live discussion in the #social-dilemma channel on Slack on Monday, September 28 at 6pm Eastern. We’ll chat about social media broadly while watching The Social Dilemma together (available on Netflix). If you can’t watch together with us, feel free to pop into this channel and share your thoughts about the film any time.

[/] WEEK 6: September 28 — October 4

First, read and watch:

NPR, “Do You Read Terms Of Service Contracts? Not Many Do, Research Shows”
Inside Edition, “Social Experiment Proves That No One Really Reads Terms and Conditions”
Terms of Service; Didn’t Read
Pick one or two things to read/watch here: Digital Privacy Module

Live Screening (optional): Join an optional live discussion in the #social-dilemma channel on Slack on Monday, September 28 at 6pm Eastern. We’ll chat about social media broadly while watching The Social Dilemma together (available on Netflix).

Then, do some stuff:

(1) Read the Medium Terms of Service.
(2) Find and read the terms of service and/or privacy policy for one or more of the following: Canvas, Slack, Twitter, Instagram, Zoom, or whatever else you’re interested in.
(3) Publish a post to Medium (in any genre: text, video, sound, image). As usual, tag with #Dgst101 on Medium and share in the #our-work channel in Slack. Then highlight and comment on the posts of several of your peers. Look for posts with no comments. And continue the discussions started on your own posts.

Some options for your post this week:
* Respond in some way to one or all of the readings for this week.
* Write a parody Terms of Service or Privacy Policy.
* Follow some or all of the steps here or here. Write a Medium post about what you did, why you did it, and what you discovered along the way.

Note: Rebuild the Internet is due October 11. This is the “midterm assignment” for this course and is meant to be more ambitious, creative, reflective, so make sure you’ve started thinking about what you’ll do (and how you’ll do it).

[/] WEEK 7: October 5 — October 11

First, read:

Craig Mod, “Books in the Age of the iPad”
Weing, “Pup Ponders the Heat Death of the Universe”

Then, do some stuff:

(1) By end of day on October 11: Publish Rebuild the Internet Assignment. Use the #Dgst101 tag, and share a link in the #our-work channel on Slack.
(2) (Optional): If you’ve missed a required post this semester, or if you just have something you can’t not say about Craig Mod or Pup, you can publish a post to Medium (in any genre: text, video, sound, image). Then highlight and comment on the posts of several of your peers.

[/] WEEK 8: October 12 — October 18

We’ll take a bit of a breather this week from required reading, viewing, and blogging, so you can take time to think about and work on your midterm self-reflection. But there’s some recommended reading that might help as you think about how to evaluate your work for the course.

First, read some or all of this:

Nancy Chick, “Metacognition”
Audrey Watters, “The Web We Need to Give Students”
Alfie Kohn, “The Case Against Grades”

Then, do some stuff:

(1) Go to the #our-work channel and respond to a few of the Rebuild the Internet posts there from your peers. If you see something that inspires you, write a longer response in a Medium post.
(2) Click here to submit your self-reflection

[/] WEEK 9: October 19 — October 25

First, submit to our course publication:

Submit one (or two) revised post(s) to our course publication. Feel free to use your rebuild the internet post and/or whatever else. Anything you submit will have a broader audience (it will appear on the front page of our course site), so keep that in mind as you pick what piece(s) of your work to feature. If you follow the steps linked above and find that you don’t have access to our course publication yet, make sure you’ve submitted your midterm self-reflection. I’ve added everyone who submitted their self-reflection as a writer.

Then, read and do some stuff:

Click here for all the instructions you’ll need for this week: What’s Behind Door Number 10101? (The instructions are longer than usual, so I didn’t want to clutter up our schedule.)

[/] WEEK 10: October 26 — November 1

First, read, watch, and play some stuff:

Ted Trautman, “Excavating the Video-Game Industry’s Past”
Play LIMBO for at least an hour (it’s on multiple platforms for $4 to $10)
Kevin Wong, “The Most Depressing Theories On What Limbo Means” (lots of spoilers, so you may want to play the whole game first)

Then, either:

Watch and add annotations to both of these videos:
Gaming Can Make a Better World
LIMBO Gameplay Walkthrough (play first cause spoilers, then analyze)

Start by clicking on the link and logging in via Google. You’ll have to create a quick account in the tool we’re using to collaboratively annotate. Then, you can add comments as you’re watching. If you run into trouble, click the big pink “help” button in the lower right and search “commenting on a video” or something else.

Or:

Join a one-hour optional live discussion in the #gaming channel on Slack at 8pm Eastern on Thursday, October 29. We’ll chat about gaming more broadly, but we’ll focus on LIMBO, so make sure you’ve played before the discussion. And feel free to continue playing as we’re chatting :)

[/] WEEK 11: November 2 — November 8

First, vote.

Then:

Read some stuff like “The Supply of Disinformation Will Soon Be Infinite,” “Who Needs the Russians?,” “Digital Threats On 2020 Elections,” or “You watched ‘The Social Dilemma.’ Read these 11 books next.”

And:

Look to next week and start making a game.

[/] WEEK 12: November 9 — November 15

First, read and watch:

Veli-Matti Karhulahti, “Defining the Videogame”
New York Times #Gamergate Retrospective
Anita Sarkeesian, “Body Language & the Male Gaze”

Then, do some stuff:

(1) Make a Game. An interactive or collaborative narrative. Even just a simple prototype for a game. Use ink, Construct, Sploder, Scratch, Twine, PuzzleScript. Or draw the game out on paper. Or use Twitter to make one like A Dreadful Start. Link to your game in a Medium post. Here are some more ideas for how to get started.
(2) Publish a post to Medium using #Dgst101 with a link to your game, screen shots, a narrative of your construction process, and/or an invitation to potential players. Share a link to your post in the #our-work channel on slack.
(3) Spread the word and get folks to play your game.
(4) Search #Dgst101 (or go to #our-work channel) and play the games of your peers. Comment. Root each other on. Share your high scores.

WEEK 13: November 16 — November 22

First, read and watch:

Daniel Miessler, “The Internet, the Deep Web, the Dark Web”
Juan Sanchez and Garth Griffin, “Who’s Afraid of the Dark? Hype Versus Reality on the Dark Web”
Kris Shaffer, “Visualizing the network that connects mainstream and extremist news”
The WIRED Guide to Your Personal Data (and Who Is Using It)
(Optional): “The Dark Web: What is it exactly and how do you get there?”

Then, do some stuff:

Publish a post to Medium (in any genre: text, video, sound, image). Then highlight and comment on the posts of several of your peers. Look especially for posts with no comments. And continue the discussions started on your own posts.

And: Begin thinking about the final project, which has a deceptively simple prompt, do something on the Web about the Web. You can work on your own or with a group. Join the #final-project Slack channel to brainstorm or refine your ideas. And, of course, DM me if you want to touch base.

WEEK 14: November 23 — November 29

First, this is officially a vacation week, so rest as much as possible:

Then, if you want to, look ahead to our final two weeks.

WEEK 15: November 30 — December 6

First, finish work on your final project:

The final project is due this week (see below). If necessary, use the #final-project Slack channel to confer with your peers as you’re working.

Then, look forward to next week:

Next week, we’ll do final self-reflections. Those are required. We’ll also have a few more optional activities, including one last optional live-chat about Blade Runner (1982). You can rent it on quite a few platforms for as little as $2.99.

December 6: Work as an individual or group with a deceptively simple prompt: do something on the web about the web. Publish a Medium post with your project, a link to your project, or pictures of your project. Also, document your process (with a short video, text, and/or a series of images). Share your work in the #final-project channel on Slack.

WEEK 16: December 7 — December 13

First, a few optional activities this week:

Either: Join an optional live discussion of Blade Runner (1982) in the #blade-runner channel on Slack. You can rent it on quite a few platforms for as little as $2.99. We’ll hit play at 6pm Eastern on Monday, December 7.

And/or: If you’ve missed a required post this semester, or if you just have something you can’t not say about Blade Runner, watch the film on your own and publish a post to Medium (in any genre: text, video, sound, image, series of GIFs). Then, highlight and comment on the posts of several of your peers.

Optional: If you’re willing to share your final project with a broader audience and future students in this course, submit it to our course publication, as you did with your work at the midterm. (This will be the first thing future students see when they enter the course next semester, so you will become one of their teachers.)

Then, complete your Final Self-reflection:

December 11: click here to submit final self-reflection

Note: Hopefully, by this point, you feel able to fairly evaluate your work for the course, but don’t hesitate to reach out to me (via DM on Slack) if you have concerns.