read:
- DTC 101 Textbook: 01 Digital Media
- McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage (just a quick overview)
- Lev Manovich – Chapter 1: What is New Media? (focus on 5 principles)
blog prompt:
Describe how the multimodal design of “The Medium is the Massage” expresses the ideas in McLuhan’s text. What is McLuhan saying about the difference between print culture and the new electric culture of television and mass media? In what ways do Manovich’s 5 principles of “new media” extend McLuhan ideas about how media shapes us? What about these principles have an effect on social interaction and/or cultural production? In what ways are media and culture being reshaped and transformed by the logic of the computer?
video lecture:
*the beginning of my talk was cut off – I just say “Marshall McLuhan was….”
zoom class
For discussion…
Manovich’s Principles of New Media
Hot and Cool Media? (medium is the message)
Mosaic Probes?
How has texting shaped us? What part of the body is it an extension of? Is it Hot or Cool?
How has the smartphone shaped us? What part of the body is it an extension of? Is it Hot or Cool?
Other digital devices and tools?
Multimodal communication. Multimodal expression. Multimodal learning…
creative activity (post to blog):
Digital Media Chapter unit exercise:
A meme is an idea, image, joke, phrase, gesture, recorded act, or a style that spreads from person to person within a group. A meme usually conveys a particular point-of-view, theme, or meaning that connects with others and gives a reason for them to pass it on. Because internet memes, as digital media, can circulate very rapidly and widely from one user to another, they have been used to get activist or poltical messages to spread “virally.”
Create your own “post-pandemic” meme. Think of an important message you want to spread about the world opening up after this difficult year and create a meme that you can post to social networks.
- Create or find an image (in the public domain) that expresses your idea.
- Add a caption to the image that will get across your message.
- Share your meme with the class and/or with your social networks.
Project 1: Mosaic Probe / Due Tuesday July 13th
Write a visual or multimodal essay in the “mosaic style” of The Medium is the Massage. You may expand one or more blog post(s) or start in a new direction.The topic is open. It can be personal, argumentative, exploratory, evidence-based or creative nonfiction. However, the essay, should reference at least two readings and it should “probe” a single idea or aspect of digital culture and should address how digital media changes human interaction, communication, identity or community.
Digital Tools:
- Powerpoint
- Keynote
- Google Slides
- Pages
- Word
Guidelines:
- Do not approach this as a linear college essay with an introduction, development and conclusion. This a mosaic. Start by writing in fragments or as a mind map around your central idea. Integrate quotes from the readings, design and media elements (you may use images from google search) and put these into play with your written fragments. Then edit/refine the writing.
- Experiment with typography, color, imagery and sound, but try to make meaningful juxtapositions of text and design elements. You will not be graded on your design skills, but on the thinking you put into these relations
- Always check spelling and grammar. Always proofread your writing.
- Reference/quote from at least two readings
- 500-1000 words
- Include a notes section where you properly source any text, image, video, or sound file that is not your own
Idea suggestions:
- A reflective personal essay about how digital media has changed you
- Pick a social network and “probe” how the medium shapes social interaction and personal identities
- Expand a blog post or connect ideas from two blog posts
- Reflect on the consequences or implications of the reproduction, storage and distribution of digital media
- Speculate about the future of digital media 10, 50, 100 years from now