Educational Outreach

Course Description: Today the term “literacy” no longer refers exclusively to the reading and writing of printed texts. Scholars, educators, and professionals recognize the importance of digital literacy to citizenship, education, information-sharing, and community-building. In response, this course will help deepen student’s understanding of a variety of digital writing technologies and to consider the ways in which our perceptions of self and others are mediated through these and other technologies. Over the course of the semester, students will craft and manage a digital identity at the same time that they learn about and experiment with a variety of web-based tools such as blogs, social networking sites, and micro-blogging applications. We will discuss the benefits and risks associated with digital foot-printing and will discuss the importance of self-literacy in a digital culture, particularly as it pertains to managing an online identity.  We will also explore the impact that evolving Internet technologies hold for the processes of reading and writing, identity construction, and community-building, as well as the extent to which we as educators must pay attention to these processes in order to stay relevant in an increasingly multimodal society.

You must have a bachelor’s degree to register for this graduate level course.