Paper/Digital Prototyping as Multimodal Composition
Makeademia
Student Expectations of English Classes
Student Expectations of English Classes
"So to come back to that question of who are makers? Who gets showcased in these making venues? who gets showcased in Make Magazine? Whose work is rewarded and given a platform and celebrated? Who are the people coming to these events? If I wanna be really flippant, and kinda jerky about it, I would say rich white guys, that’s who makers are, they’re rich white guys.”
Jody Shipka. Toward a Composition Made Whole. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011.
Writing is Making: Maker Culture and Embodied Learning in the Composition Classroom by Maggie Melo @marijel_melo
Who am I?
Makeademic. Background in Digital Media
English and Digital Humanities Certificate
What do I do?
Make & digitize nonstandard book objects
touch-and-feel>touchscreen app
interactive/movable books>4D scans/GIFs
artist’s books>virtual simulation
treasure bindings>3D printing
How do I teach?
Challenge students creatively
Encourage students to find their strengths
Scaffold assignments from easy to difficult
Why incorporate making into a composition classroom?
Writing is making. You are creating something new by arranging words in a sequence that has never quite been done before.
Writing is invention, innovation, and has always been multimodal.
How does making enhance student writing?
Students do their best writing when they write what they know. (Little Golden Book, Fanfographics)
If students make something, and then I ask them to explain the process to someone else, they are the experts. (Instructables)
When presenting an argument, the visual spatial organization can reflect the logical organization. (Unpopular Opinion Infographic)
Students learn to modify their rhetorical decisions for different audiences. (Tumblr posts, Twine, Instructables, Little Golden Book)
How does making help my students?
Students tap into their creativity and consider design.
Students reexamine their assumptions about media.
Tinkering helps students get reacquainted with problem-solving.
Students appreciate the difficulties of making everyday objects.
Students feel proud of their accomplishments
How does making help you as the professor?
The originality of the assignment prevents plagiarism.
Students are less bored/traumatized and more likely to actively participate.
Students share with friends (free word-of-mouth publicity).
Grading is more enjoyable.
How do we make?
S: Take chances, make mistakes, get messy
Brainstorm, research, experiment, work
T: Assuage fears of “not being good enough”
Define expectations for aesthetics
Show examples
Provide tutorials and references
What do we make and make with?
Analog- Paper: hexaflexagons, star books, post-it note flipbook
What do we make and make with?
Analog- Paper: mini-zines, graphic memoirs, Little Golden Books*(#s509)
What do we make and make with?
Analog- Paper circuits (adhesive copper tape,
battery, LED)
“I have gained skills that I never would have expected from
an exposition class including introductions to 3D printing,
coding, and circuitry. Every time I would bring home a
project or talk about what we did in class, my friends would repeatedly question that I was still talking about my English class. My engineering friends couldn’t believe we were doing 3D printing and were very impressed with the paper circuit craft.” -KS
“From more basic assignments like utilizing LED lights to more advanced assignments like creating our own light-sensitive circuits, I was able to familiarize myself more with technology and incorporate this extra dynamic to my creative abilities.” -WE
What do we make and make with?
Analog- Paper circuits (adhesive copper tape,
battery, LED)
What do we make and make with?
Analog- Embroidery Floss: Quipus
“My next favorite project was the quipu making project. I was able to use my full creative powers while making my quipu.” -RC
Cord #1: 72589 symbolizes my birthday July 25, 1989. The blue & orange symbolize that I was born in Shands and I am EXTREMELY proud to say that I am a Gator by birth.
Cord #2: 61007 symbolizes the date I walked across the stage at my high school graduation as the very first in my family to graduate high school. June 10, 2007. The colors Garnet and Gold are the colors of my high school, North Marion High School in Marion County.
Cord #3: 1068 symbolizes the distance between the home I grew up in and Navy Bootcamp in Great Lakes, IL. White represents the snow that was on the ground that January night when I stepped off the bus to a whole new world that changed my life forever.
Cord #4: 44782 represents DDG-82, which is the designation of the ship I served on, USS Lassen. I converted the letters, “DDG,” into the numerical position they represent in the alphabet, i.e. D=4 because it is the 4th letter in the English alphabet. The colors Blue and Gold represent the Navy’s colors which are presented on the ship’s crest and grey represents the ship itself. We call it Haze Grey and Underway.
What do we make and make with?
Analog- Embroidery Floss: Quipus
My quipu was made with coffee stained twine, the lighter strands signify numbers that have been with me for longer and the darker ones are more recent or more influential in my life. From left to right they are:
17: the number of lives lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in February. I grew up in Parkland and went to Douglas and now I carry that number.
7564: The number of the house I grew up in. I’ve lived there since I was 4 months old
0: The number of times I’ve finished reading Pride and Prejudice. Hopefully this changes by the end of summer (it wont).
42: My lucky number (as told to me by a fortune cookie and I listened)
5: the number of times I’ve been able to go to South Africa and visit my family.
What do we make and make with?
Analog- Playdoh
“At first, I didn’t understand how these activities had anything to do with writing, but I slowly came to realize how significant they were. Emily used the fun, hands-on activities to gage our interest and make the information user-friendly. For example, she had us create something with Play-doh and write instructions on how to re-create it. This gave us the ability to take something familiar and easy and effectively commit our writing to it without
worrying about other technicalities or
obstacles.” -AS
What do we make and make with?
Digital- 3D printing
What do we make and make with?
Digital- stop-motion video
http://emilyfbrooks.com/videos/Scubed.mp4
What do we make and make with?
Digital- animated GIFs
Who are the makers?
Everyone can make (offer accommodations)
Students assess their own strengths and weaknesses
Help will always be given to those who ask for it
State expectations for kindergarten-level aesthetics
Stick-figures are excellent at telling stories
“One thing that pushed my boundaries was all the crafting! I love words and I love playing with words, but as is evident in my final project, I came to enjoy (slightly) working with my hands to craft an interesting and memorable experience for my reader.” -SS
Who are the makers?
Everyone can make (offer accommodations)
Students assess their own strengths and weaknesses
Help will always be given to those who ask for it
State expectations for kindergarten-level aesthetics
Stick-figures are excellent at telling stories
“3D printing especially seemed like a very scary, high-tech thing that I was way too inexperienced with to even think about trying. But with this class there was a quick turn around from not knowing a thing to teaching others how to make it. ” -ML
Where do we make?
Special Collections
-animated GIF (free Tumblr app)
Computer lab
-3D printing (free for UF students)
-Twine (free)
-Instructables (free to students)
-Canva (free with paid options)
-Adobe (free for UF students)
Classroom
-paper/bookmaking activities
(low-cost materials)
Site-specific
-stop-motion video (free iPad
checkout for 3 days)
When do we make?
Make during class and for homework
How do we make? Any way.
What do we make and make with? Anything.
Who are the makers? Anyone.
Where do we make? Anywhere.
When do we make? Anytime.
@Emily_F_Brooks #makeademia
Student Reflections
“English is about so much more than just reading books by dead white guys (or reading books in general), and this class was both a reminder and proof of that.” -EH
“My ideas behind writing and humanities have changed to the point where I became an English minor while taking this course.” -JV
“I’ve never taken anything like this class before, and the odds are low that I’ll end up finding another that offers such a unique approach to writing. Ultimately, I’m glad that I was forced out of my comfort zone and had to change the way I approach writing and creating.” -WE
Student Reflections
“I also enjoyed writing for an audience. This class has been the first time that I’ve consistently written for someone other than a professor. It raises the stakes, and it truly makes you rethink how you present information. Subsequently, completing the projects throughout the course has shifted my idea of how to write with regards to who I write to since each audience necessitates specific requirements; one writing sample will not work for different audiences.” -HC
Student Reflections
“At times when I still felt very uninspired, I was forced to write. Which, in the long run, has been the most beneficial part of this semester. This class not only pulled me out of a long period of writer’s block, but made me think more critically about writing and books in general, as well as think more critically about my own writing.” -EL
“Well, now I am here and I can say that taking this class this semester has made me a more confident writer, increased my ability to digest scholarly papers and boosted my confidence for treading in sensitive areas when telling a story.” -SS
Student Reflections
“This class was the first time in a long time that I have enjoyed my homework and have been motivated to put in effort. My favorite project by far was creating my own book and after the countless hours that I put in I could not be more pleased with the result.” -BH
“Even though this class is a writing requirement and we have to write a whole lot, the assignments were framed in such a creative way I was so invested in the assignment and not aiming for a word count for over half of them, and that’s usually not the case. I even found myself going over the word count (I’m so sorry Emily I know thats a lot to grade) but this also showed me what I was really interested in and would want to continue.” -ML
Thank you!
Emily Brooks
Twitter: @Emily_F_Brooks
emilyfbrooks@gmail.com
Emilyfbrooks.com
makeademia.tumblr.com
Makingmediameta.tumblr.com
Codexposition.tumblr.com
#MLA19 #s151 #makeademia
MAKEADEMIA!
Paper/Digital Prototyping as Multimodal Composition
Makeademia