R.C. Miessler (Systems Librarian) and John Dettinger (Assistant Director of User Services) deliver a 30-minute workshop on how to design digital projects for your courses. They provide a model for digital project assignment design, including planning, instruction, and assessment strategies, as well as address how to successfully negotiate copyright concerns

Dettinger, John

Miessler, R.C.

English

Gettysburg College

Musselman Library Staff Publications Musselman Library 6-16-2020 Designing Digital Projects for Your Courses R.C. Miessler Gettysburg College John Dettinger Gettysburg College Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/librarypubs  Part of the Digital Humanities Commons, and the Library and Information Science Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. Recommended Citation Miessler, R.C. and Dettinger, John, "Designing Digital Projects for Your Courses" (2020). Musselman Library Staff Publications. 138. https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/librarypubs/138 This open access presentation is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact cupola@gettysburg.edu. Designing Digital Projects for Your Courses Abstract R.C. Miessler (Systems Librarian) and John Dettinger (Assistant Director of User Services) deliver a 30-minute workshop on how to design digital projects for your courses. They provide a model for digital project assignment design, including planning, instruction, and assessment strategies, as well as address how to successfully negotiate copyright concerns. Keywords digital pedagogy, digital projects, digital humanities Disciplines Digital Humanities | Library and Information Science Comments This presentation was included in the Gettysburg June 2020 Pedagogy Institute. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License This presentation is available at The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/librarypubs/138 Designing Digital Projectsfor your Courses-or-How I Learned to Stop Worryingand Love the Digital HumanitiesR.C. Miessler, Systems LibrarianJohn Dettinger, Assistant Director of User ServicesGettysburg College June Pedagogy InstituteJune 16, 2020, 2pmbit.ly/jpi-digitalThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.HelloR.C. MiesslerSystems LibrarianCoordinator of the library'sDigital Humanities initiativesJohn DettingerAssistant Director of User ServicesChair of the library's copyright committeeTakeaways• There are no "digital natives," never assume your students know how to use technology or learn it quickly• Digital projects take a lot of planning, so be ready to spend time preparing and thinking of contingencies• Scaffold everything … and be willing to adjust mid-stream• Process is just as valuable as product, allow your students to experiment, fail, and reflect (and grade accordingly)• Copyright kills dreams, so teach your students how to find media they can useWhy Digital Projects?Students will …• Develop digital literacy skills• Negotiate creating scholarship for different audiences• Have a public-facing piece to show off work• Have something extensible to keep working on• Articulate the value of process alongside product• Value and understand copyright and intellectual propertyThere Are No "Digital Natives"• Students must be taught how to write a scholarly paper, and they need to be taught how to create a scholarly digital project• Students are competent with smartphones, Word, social media• No hard-wired fluency or fearlessness when learning new technology• Make no assumptions, make lots of plansValues of the Digital Humanities• Openness• Collaboration• Collegiality and Connectedness• Diversity• ExperimentationSprio, Lisa. "This Is Why We Fight: Defining the Values of the Digital Humanities."What Can We Build?• Websites• Maps• Timelines• Data visualizations• Analysis (network, text, etc.)• Exhibits• Digital booksExample Design Model• Planning• Instruction• Support• AssessmentPlanning• Directly connect learning goals for the course• Select methods and tools based on what you want students to learn• Determine how much help you will need with technology• Establish project management plan and library/IT partners• Request digitization of physical materials• What is your technology policy in the classroom?Scaffolding - DesignExample assignment: Build a website with a map and a timelineModule 0 Module 1 Module 2 Module 3 Module 4Introduction- What is DH?- Copyright- Attribution- InventoryCreate timeline with 5-7 eventsCreate map with 5-7 markersWrite 2 contextual essaysBuild a website and ingest contentScaffolding - SpecificationsModule 1: Create a timeline with 5-7 eventsSpecification 1 Specification 2 Specification 3 Specification 4Plan timeline to select and place 5-7 events in proper chronological orderLocate and include images from Special Collections on each event, with appropriate attributionWrite and include 50-75 words per eventRevise based on feedback and resubmitBuilding Walled Gardens• Building takes a lot of time – limiting choices focuses students• You don't need a full-blown website for everything• Require certain digital tools and collections for use• Digital + analog approach• Project management model – class as "client" and librarian + student worker as "managers"Instruction• Inventory of student skills, technology, interests, and fears• Critical evaluation of tools and methods• Use familiar tools to introduce new technology• Post-Its, pen+paper, whiteboards• "Buttonology"• Follow the trainer or flipped model• Experiment and troubleshootCritical Evaluation of Tools and Methods• What does a digital tool or method do well? Not do well?• Can you live with the problems and address them?• Encourage students to poke holes in the technology, not just accept itAffordancesExample: Black Lives Matter protests in May/June 2020Data & Primary Sources Timeline MapLinks to news articles, Tweets, images, videoYes - Usually easy to embed and link out toYes - Usually easy to embed and link out toMedia coverage of multiple protests in Minneapolis over a weekYes - Time-based, covers progression that is not focused on spatial changeMaybe not – there may not be enough disparate physical locations for a map to workData showing police presence during a protest in MinneapolisMaybe not - More spatial in nature, may not have good representation of change over timeYes - Can be used to analyze spatial relationships of how police have been deployed (and not)Interviews about how a protest in Minneapolis evolved in one 24-hour periodYes - Temporal component of telling the story of events and how the protest changed over timeYes – Spatial component of telling the story of how a protest engaged with the cityPerformative Buttonology• "Click here, then here …"• Show, then have students try with help at the ready• Live performances can show errors, glitches – use problems as teaching moments• Do NOT ask students to do the demo unless you let them prepare• Consider flipped model for remote sessions – students watch tutorial, class combines critical evaluation and labSupport• Physical or Zoom-based workshops• Digital project toolkits• Library guide with videos, walkthroughs, examples• Peer support (Digital Scholarship Fellows)• Regular office hours or by appointment• Special Collections• Primary sources, digitizationRemote Learning and Digital Projects• Students may or not have reliable Internet connections or technology• Include available technology as part of pre-assignment inventory• Use trained students with office hours for technology help• Assume they will not speak up in Zoom sessions with problems• Troubleshooting individual issues during group sessions is disruptive and can be embarrassing• Web-based tools tend to work better because they generally work the same for most usersAssessment• Include reflection elements as part of final grade• Stick to the rubric, don't make arbitrary grading decisions• Provide visual feedback – Zoom or Screencast going through the assignment• Allow for revisions to improve grade• After grades are assigned, deliver a post-assignment inventoryDigital Project Rubric ExampleWhat About Group Work?• Same pitfalls doing group work with digital tools as with traditional assignments• Not all technology is collaboration friendly• Consider organizing groups based on skills and interests• Emphasize reflection paper and incorporate self-gradingCopyright• Copyright can be complicated – introduce students to the basics• Using copyrighted materials – permission vs. Fair Use• Attribution should be part of the project assessmentCitation vs. Attribution• Include attribution in the assessment rubric• Citation – tracing an idea back to a source• Attribution – incorporating someone else's work into your own and giving them credit"panda" by Mathias Appel is licensed under CC0 1.0CC Licenses and Public Domain• What does a license do?• Creative Commons license considerations• Reuse• Credit• Adaptation• Commercial gain• Consider applying a CC license to class projects• Items in the public domain are no longer protected by copyrightBibliographies?• Avoid the urge to apply a print style guide for bibliographies/endnotes/footnotes into web technologies not designed for that sort of styling (so no hanging indents, etc.)• Link to things instead of crowding website with citations• If you must, use MLA 8, it's simple, web-ready, inline• Use a page on a website for sources or include in the reflection paper or essayChallenges• Learning curve will be steeper• Digital projects take more time• Balancing content-based learning outcomes with technical competency• Students (and faculty) are doing something new• Rubrics can make grading feel more like box-checking• CopyrightWins• Students make something they can show off• Can build on the work throughout their time as students• Fun to see what students create• Gain confidence with technology and build digital literacy skillsTakeaways• There are no "digital natives," never assume your students know how to use technology or learn it quickly• Digital projects take a lot of planning, so be ready to spend time preparing and thinking of contingencies• Scaffold everything … and be willing to adjust mid-stream• Process is just as valuable as product, allow your students to experiment, fail, and reflect (and grade accordingly)• Copyright kills dreams, so teach your students how to find media they can useNext Steps• Email us!• rmiessle@gettysburg.edu - digital projects• jdetting@gettysburg.edu - copyright questions• You can also schedule a consultation over the summer with our Digital Scholarship Program assistants (Emma Lewis and Emma Poff) to discuss assignment design.• Contact Special Collections for help with digital primary source materials.• Get inspired by student and classroom digital projects.Further ReadingBattershill, Claire, and Shawna Ross. Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom (library ebook) and "Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom" (companion website to ebook).Brooks, Mackenzie. "Assessing Failure // Specifications Grading for Digital Pedagogy" (presentation).Cahoon, Claire. "Planting the Seed: How to Teach Yourself Digital Tools" (presentation).Cordell, Ryan. "How Not to Teach Digital Humanities."MLA's Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities.Nilson, Linda Burzotta. Specifications Grading (library ebook) and "Yes, Virginia, There's a Better Way to Grade."Russell, John E. and Merinda Kaye Hensley. "Beyond Buttonology: Digital Humanities, Digital Pedagogy, and the ACRL Framework."Spiro, Lisa. "This is Why We Fight: Defining the Values of the Digital Humanities."Example Classroom Digital ProjectsShaping Perceptions of War: Propaganda Posters of World War II• Tools used: StoryMapJS (image annotation), TimelineJS (timeline), Scalar (website)Wonders of Nature and Artiface• Tools used: WordPress (website), Pano2VR (panoramic image)Uproar on Campus: Student Protests in the Vietnam War Era• Tools used: WordPress (website), Omeka (metadata and images)Music and Spectacle: A Visual Representation of Sound in the Context of War• Tools used: Scalar (website), StoryMapJS (image annotation), TimelineJS (timeline)Digital Cultures and Online Behavior• Tools used: WordPressHistory of East Asia to 1800• Tools used: WordPress, TimelineJS

Designing Digital Projects for Your Courses

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Designing Digital Projects for Your Courses

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