top of page

Technology Project

ENGL 830 Technology and Literacy

Technology Project Proposal

Name(s): Jonathan O’Brien

Email Address: jonathan.obrien@nwtc.edu

Date: June 10, 2015

Technology Project Title: Argumentation Project

Project Focus: My topic is offering a well-rounded view of argumentation and options for development for my first- and second-year composition students. I will have articles on the topic, webpages to visit, examples to consider, an annotated bibliography, and a Prezi to get things started. My hope is that it will be an engaging multi-media destination for students as they think about their argumentative research papers.

Learning Goals: I wrote on the topic of non-persuasive argumentation for my QP paper, so this is a topic that I have invested in this last year or so. I want to find a way to translate what I have learned to students, not just keep it locked inside my mind or housed only in the QP paper. My interest in this topic grew as my department relaxed the requirement that the final research paper in our English Composition 1 course had to be persuasive. I played a role in this alteration since I believe that students should be free to argue in their own unique ways, which is especially relevant with L2 approaches to argumentation. My hope is that this project will offer options to my students and let them know that I am serious about them finding their own argumentative voice. This is of special concern to me with my international and second language students. I want to invest their argumentative modes with value and make them count as capital in the class.

Technology Project Type: I am creating this project within folders in a Blackboard shell, which is the platform we use in all of our writing classes at my institution, whether online or face-to-face. With the ubiquity of Blackboard in the institution, I am assured that the project will have maximum usability and exposure in my classes. The end result is more of a teaching resource folder than anything else, though I am hoping that the Prezi might be something I can use to introduce the argumentation unit in the class and the folder within Blackboard as well.

Technology Project Components: So far, I am working on sub-folders with the following names: Argumentation Prezi, Articles on Argumentation, Videos on Argumentation, Argument Examples, and Argument Discussion. I will add a Background Information folder, an Annotated Bibliography folder, an Argumentation Podcasts folder, and a folder for fun: Argumentation Memes and Cartoons. I want to make the project as multi-modal, fun, engaging, and interesting but also as scholarly and helpful as possible.

Technology Project Background Information: I will briefly narrate my own interest in the topic, focused more on supporting students in first- and second-year writing classes. A big part of my story in relation to this topic is finding out about L2 approaches to argument a few years ago and offering those to my composition students. I found that many of my second language students found this engaging and helpful to them as they were encouraged to balance their own cultural approaches to argument with the needs of their audience in the American higher educational system.

Technology Project Timeline:

June 10-11: I have been adding content each day for a week or so, and my goal for these days is to continue to add to the Examples and Videos sections. I also will research more to find podcasts and memes.

June 12-14: I am hoping to take a big step forward on the project this weekend and add all of the folders I have planned and get content into each one. Also, I have started the Prezi for the project but that will be the last thing I do since I want it to offer a roadmap to the folder in addition to being a mini-lecture on the topic. I will work on the script this weekend, though.

June 15-18: During the class week, my goal is always just to visit and add more content, though I can’t do as much during the week due to classes, reading, and other assignments. I like to keep forward momentum going, though, so I will work on adding to the folders each day and researching to find more content.

June 19-21: This is my final weekend before it is due, so I want to have completed the project by Sunday night June 21, including the Prezi.

June 22-25: If my plan works according to schedule, I will have the project completed by June 21, which gives me the final class week to review, reflect, and revise. This is pretty much always my plan for larger projects since it gives me the space and mental relaxation to consider carefully what I have accomplished and think about ways to make the project better. My own work process is anti-procrastinating since I know that I do not work well under deadlines. I need relaxation and a clear plan to do my best work and I am on schedule, even a little ahead of schedule, as of right now.

Questions: I feel good about where I am right now with this project and will ask any questions as they arise.

bottom of page