I have served as the unofficial WAC/WID coordinator at every college I’ve served, and I’ve been the official director of the program at Emory University for many years. Below you will find examples of workshops and supports I have built for the faculty teaching writing-intensive classes across the disciplines, plus other materials in which I’ve lead a team of faculty and staff creating workshops as part of the program.
Teaching Writing and Communication with Digital Tools. This set of workshops, handouts, and other supporting materials are designed to spark ideas in assignment creation with various digital tools in a writing-intensive classroom. These workshops by the Writing Program Team present various genres of activities in online environments or in-person classes which teach multimodal writing and other communication skills. Find these workshops at https://emorywae.org/tag/digital-toolkit/. The list of workshops included is included below with individual links as well.
Presentation Available: Click for a voice-over PowerPoint presentation about the development of this set of workshops, along with a written version of the presentation.
| Radical Multimodal Revision. One in-class activity that generates exciting ideas and dynamic discussions is a rapid revisions activity, which asks students to revise their own essay into a series of new forms through timed prompts. After quickly reshaping their work into a Tweet, poem, drawing, etc., students can reflect more fully on concepts of revision and multimodality, and on the interactions between content and form. Introduced early in the term, this activity prepares students to tackle larger focused multimodal remixes later on. Prepared by Melissa Yang. https://emorywae.org/uncategorized/radical-multimodal-revision/ |
| Digital Photo Essays. In this workshop, you’ll learn about a digital photo essay assignment for use in your in-person, online, or hybrid class. This assignment gives students the opportunity to practice multimodal composition while exploring ideas in a creative and engaging way. Sarah Harsh explains how and why she uses this assignment in her classes and offer some guidance should you be interested in assigning a digital photo essay in your own class. Prepared by Sarah Morris. https://emorywae.org/workshops/digital-photo-essays-teaching-with-digital-tools/ |
| Research Projects in Online Environments: Best Practices and Ideas. In this workshop, Sarah Morris unpacks some of the unique challenges and opportunities of designing and structuring class research projects in an online environment. The primary goal of this workshop is to help you discover ways to introduce meaningful and engaging research opportunities to your students. Sarah will introduce a variety of ideas and approaches that you can use to help your students develop critical information literacy skills, grow as researchers, and form enriching and dynamic learning communities in your online classroom environment. https://emorywae.org/workshops/research-projects-in-online-environments/ |
| Podcasting in the Classroom. In two workshops, David Morgen shares insights, advice, and practical resources to effectively manage having students create a podcast series in a class. He demonstrates how to go from developing the fundamental assignments, to getting students to buy in on the series, to assessing the finished episodes. And he also discusses platforms for hosting and publishing audio, as well as how to syndicate the class podcast to iTunes. https://emorywae.org/workshops/podcasting-in-the-classroom/ |
| “This I Believe”—Oral Communication in a Digital Environment. Adapting the This I Believe audio essay can teach communication skills in an online environment. Students draft, revise, and edit a short essay using the models provided. The assignment allows for group and individual developmental feedback, post-assignment feedback, self-assessment, and reflection. Once the essays are ready, students have an example of their abilities as storytellers on the web, easily referenced on resumes. The assignment features a clear focus on delivery and communication with the voice, something that often gets short shrift in instruction in communication-intensive disciplinary courses. Prepared by Joonna Smitherman Trapp. https://emorywae.org/workshops/this-i-believe-assignment-using-digital-tools/ |
