Project 3: "Plan Something" (Projects 3 and 4 can be connected)
Develop a plan for a multimedia presentation or a use of new media for a purpose of your choice. Your idea might pertain to ways in which content is presented and/or delivered; ways in which interactivity is structured; ways in which new tools can be applied to an existing idea, or ways in which existing tools can be used in new ways. Whatever you ultimately choose to do, projects take thought and planning. The course website includes various resources to help with that.
Considering the nature of this class, you may want to plan a web-based presentation; however, you are free to plan for other delivery modes. Whatever you choose must make sense; don't throw a media into the mix if it doesn't serve your purpose.
You should take advantage of this assignment and Project 4 to work in an area or with a tool that you have wanted to but haven't had the time. If you have no experience with web development but want to learn, you could plan a website. The "Hyperthinking" section of this class (look for the link under Notes or Resources) provides a lot of information about planning and developing websites including a very basic tutorial on developing websites from scratch using css and HTML--you don't need a special program. Or you might find another web-development tool online. Check the links in the resources section for options.
You might want to plan a document using Adobe InDesign. You might want to plan a short film (see the "Filmic vision" for related materials). Or a game; a YouTube series; art; a self-published book (one student did that through Amazon the last time I taught this course--he learned how to create, design, edit, format, and work with the technology used to publish for Kindle at Amazon. I read the book on my Kindle).
Social Media application. You can use this project to think about how you might use or combine social media to achieve a purpose, create a new use for social media, or how you might implement social media to meet a need or particular goal.
The materials you submit should include
- A description of the project including the media, purpose, audience, and context for the presentation. Explain how the media you've chosen is appropriate for the message, how the media meets the needs of the audience and context, and how you plan to make the presentation accessible for people with varying needs, tools, and skills (we'll be talking about accessibility).
- A list of the materials, tools, locations, people, and other resources that would be needed to complete the project (note any of these for which you would need to acquire permissions)
- A script, story board, layout, architecture (whatever is relevant for your project)
- A plan for executing the project (Remember, you WILL NOT actually execute this project unless you do some part of it for Project 4)
Examples and discussion of all of the above elements--with some "how to" material--are available from the website. We'll also be talking about the planning process. You might also want to check the course Resources page, which include a number of explanations of new media, with links to examples; examples of implementations of new media, and tutorials.
I'm not setting any particular page-length or word limit on this assignment. Make sure that you choose an idea complex enough to require all the elements above; on the other hand, don't choose a project that overwhelms you given the time we have.