Engl419 syllabus

1. [ENGL 419.01]
WRITING for the WEB
Syllabus | Fall 2021
INSTRUCTOR
Katie Krahn
katiek@uidaho.edu
Brink 203
Office Hours:
→ Tue: 9:30am-11:30am
→ Wed: 1:00pm-3:00pm
→ By Appointment
All Office Hours and One-on-One Meetings
are held on Zoom:
https://uidaho.zoom.us/my/katiekrahn
COURSE INFORMATION
TR 12:30pm-1:45pm
Moscow – Niccolls Building 208
CDA- UI Harbor Center & Zoom
https://uidaho.zoom.us/j/84654198543
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Composing for Web-based environments draws upon skills in rhetoric and writing that will be very
familiar to most advanced writers. However, it also challenges us to think differently about things
that we’ve come to take for granted in our experiences with writing print-based texts: things like
genre, circulation, and delivery of information, and the relationship between composer(s) and
audience. Writing for the Web introduces what may be a new set of concepts: findability, stickiness,
spreadability, search engine optimization (SEO), interface writing, content strategy, accessibility,
open source, and social media plans.

2. Note that this is not a course in Web design. While we’ll talk about basic principles of design and
usability, we won’t be focusing on the technical aspects of creating websites.
Since this is a 400-level composition course, it anticipates that students will do a substantial
amount of independent, real-world work (i.e., work for “real” Web audiences). While we’ll work on
certain components together, half of the work for the course will be designed individually by you
(with my help and subject to my approval), based on your own interests, skills, and goals for the
course.
By the time you complete the course, you should be able to do the following:
• Recognize the basics of Web communication in action, including findability, convergence,
stickiness, spreadability, information architecture, compassionate tech, SEO, accessibility,
content strategy, blog, tweet.
• Analyze Web content for effective rhetorical practices.
• Create Web content that shows best practices of SEO (search engine optimization).
• Design Web content for readers with disabilities.
• Identify the difference between copyright and open source and how each can be used
appropriately to share and/or protect work.
• Plan and construct or redesign a website that uses the best Web communication practices.
MATERIALS
Required:
• Julia McCoy, So You Think You Can Write? The Definitive Guide to Successful Online Writing
2nd edition (2016)
• Free e-book (available through the UI Library website via Books 24x7), Ginny Redish, Letting
Go of the Words, 2nd edition (2012)
• A Basic-level Lynda.com account (you get a 30-day free trial, then it would be $24.99/month
– I’ll let you know when to sign up for it, and we’ll watch the relevant courses within 30 days)
• A domain name and the professional version of website-building software (depending on
your semester project)
• A Facebook and/or Twitter account to be used to promote your semester project.
Recommended:
• A laptop (we’ll be in a non-computer classroom). Bring it every day.
• See the end of the syllabus for a list of recommended further readings.
The course schedule, assignment sheets, and all other readings and course materials will be
available through our course BbLearn site.

3. COURSE POLICIES
Healthy Vandals Policies. It is a longstanding tradition that Vandals take care of Vandals, and we all
do our best to look out for the Vandal Family. These simple precautions go a long way in reducing
the impact of coronavirus on our campuses and in our communities. With everyone engaging in
these small actions, we can continue to participate in our vibrant campus culture where we are able
to learn, live, and grow. Please bookmark the University of Idaho Covid-19 webpage and visit it
often for the most up-to-date information about the U of I’s response to Covid-19.
1. Daily Symptom Monitoring and In-Person Class Attendance. Evaluate your own health
status before attending in-person classes and refrain from attending class in-person if
you are ill, if you are experiencing any of the known symptoms of coronavirus, or if you
have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been potentially exposed to someone with
COVID-19.
• If you display symptoms and/or test positive, you should quarantine following
the CDC’s recommendations. Do not return to class until you meet the CDC’s
requirements.
• If you have been exposed but are asymptomatic, you should stay home for 10-
14 days from last exposure if you remain asymptomatic; each situation is unique
and you should adhere to the CDC’s requirements.
If you miss an in-person class session, you are be able to make up participation points.
Please email me to make arrangements to submit any missed work and make plans to use
Zoom and/or online course materials to stay current with the course schedule.
2. Face Coverings. It is REQUIRED that all faculty, staff, students, and visitors across all
U of I locations wear face coverings whenever in any U of I buildings. It is that you wear a
face covering over your nose and mouth in this classroom at all times.
a. If you have a medical condition that you believe affects your ability to comply
with the face covering policy, please contact the Center for Disability Access and
Resources (CDAR) to request a reasonable accommodation.
b. If you have other reasons you believe make you exempt from wearing face
coverings, please contact the Covid-19 Coordinator at
covid19questions@uidaho.edu.
c. Failure to wear a face covering means you will be required to leave the
classroom. If a disruption to the learning experience occurs due to repeated
offence and/or egregious behavior, it will be referred to the Dean of Students
Office for potential code violation.
Participation. You will be graded on participation in this course. We won’t meet every class period,
especially when you’re working on major projects. However, when we do meet, we’ll be sharing
ideas and critiquing each other’s work, so it’s vital that you are here and ready to participate.
You must earn a total of 250 points of participation throughout the class. Coming prepared to class
each day means completing the reading, homework, and coming with topics/questions to discuss
in class. Below are tables that outline how you will be graded on participation and how you can earn
points outside of the classroom.

4. In Class Participation Points:
10 Points You attend class, complete readings and assignments, come prepared with topics
to discuss or questions to ask, and actively contribute to conversations by asking
questions or discussing the topic at hand
8 Points You attend class, complete readings and assignments, and partially contribute to
conversations.
5 Points You attend class, do not complete readings and assignments, and minimally
contribute to conversations.
3 Points You attend class and do not contribute to conversations.
0 Points You do not attend class.
Participation Points Outside of Class:
8 Points Plan an optional one-on-one writing conference with Katie to discuss
5 Points Watch the recorded lecture and write a summary of the class and outlines three
(3) key take-aways from the class. Submitted on BbLearn within a week of the
missed class. This option only works if you communicate with your instructor
ahead of time so she can record class.
5 Points Meet with Katie during her office hours.
Note: Some days I will be teaching from Coeur d’Alene, since part of our class is up there – I’ll give
you plenty of notice when that’s the case.
Contacting Me. You are encouraged to email me when you have a question, comment, or a
concern; when you want to request a writing conference; or when you would like feedback on a
draft via email. You can expect a prompt reply Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm.
Deadlines. All work is due by 11:59pm the day/date indicated in the project schedules. Work
submitted after the assigned due date will lose one letter grade (or the equivalent number of
points) per day late including weekends.
You can submit work that is late, but only if it is in the project we are currently covering; meaning,
you may only submit late work for Project 1 assignments if we are still covering Website Analysis.
You will not receive credit for work from Project 1 when we start our Digital Story project.
Submissions. All work must be submitted through BbLearn. If you are having difficulties uploading
an assignment, please e-mail me with your problem. Do not e-mail me your assignment. Work can
accidently be misplaced or deleted if you send it to my e-mail.
Verify Submissions to Avoid Point Penalties. When I start to grade your work, if a file will not open or
a URL link does not work, I will notify you by email, and you will be given 24 hours to submit work
correctly in BbLearn and a late work point penalty will apply. To avoid this problem, verify your
submission.

5. Don’t plagiarize. See Article II-A1 of the Student Code of Conduct for an explanation of what
plagiarism entails. I will refer serious (deliberate) cases to the Dean of Students’ office and I’ll
assign a 0 to the work (and possibly the course).
Be flexible. The course design necessitates a fair amount of spontaneity and ability to change
course. I promise to be flexible too!
Controversial Topics. Consistent with the University's educational mission, this class will introduce
students to controversial subject-matter and seek to ensure that students can discuss those topics
knowledgeably and civilly. This class will not direct or otherwise compel students to personally
affirm, adopt, or adhere to any of the tenets enumerated in Idaho Code 33-138 (H.B. 377), entitled
“Dignity and Nondiscrimination in Public Education.” Nor will this class direct or compel students to
personally engage in speech or other forms of expression when that direction or compulsion would
violate U.S. Supreme Court precedent or other binding legal precedent or laws — e.g., West Virginia
State Board of Education v. Barnette (U.S. Sup. Ct. 1943), which holds that public school students
cannot be compelled to salute the flag.
Civility. In any environment in which people gather to learn, it is essential that all members feel as
free and safe as possible in their participation. To this end, it is expected that everyone in this
course will treat each other with mutual respect and civility, with an understanding that all of us
(students, instructors, professors, guests, and teaching assistants) will respect and remain civil to
one another in discussion, in action, in teaching, and in learning.
Should you feel our classroom interactions do not reflect an environment of civility and respect, you
are encouraged to meet with the instructor during office hours to discuss your concern. Additional
resources for expression of concern or requesting support include the College’s Associate Dean, Dr.
Traci Y. Craig (208/885–6426), the University Dean of Students office and staff (208/885–6757),
the UI Counseling & Testing Center’s confidential services (208/885–6716), or the UI Office of Civil
Rights & Investigations (208/885–4285).
Respectful and Inclusive Learning Environment. As described in our College’s strategic plan, we
want to protect and foster an inclusive and respectful learning environment. This requires each of
us to listen respectfully to each other’s viewpoints and to participate in discussions in a calm,
professional, and civil manner. In this course and our discussions, we will welcome and value
students from all cultures, races, ethnicities, genders, abilities, lifestyles, opinions, nationalities,
philosophies, sexual orientations, religious backgrounds, ages, life experiences, and identities.
Disability Support Services Reasonable Accommodations Statement:
Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have documented temporary or
permanent disabilities. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services,
located in the Idaho Commons Building, Room 306, in order to notify your instructor(s) as soon as
possible regarding accommodation(s) needed for the course. Contact DSS at 208-885-6307, email
dss@uidaho.edu or go to www.uidaho.edu/dss.

6. ASSIGNMENTS
Below are brief descriptions of each of your major assignments for the course. More detailed
instructions, including grading rubrics, will be made available on BbLearn.
1. Reading Summaries and Presentation (summaries = 100 points; presentation = 50 points)
Summaries. You will choose one (1) reading every unit. You will write one summary
paragraph and three bullet point “take-aways” or the most important points from the reading
you think someone can put to use. Try for the simplest language as if someone was just
scanning the piece to see if they want to read further. You will find the signup sheet for
readings, the readings themselves, and the place to post your reading summaries on
BbLearn.
Presentations. You will choose one (1) article at the beginning of every unit beginning in the
2nd week of the course. You will create 3 slides and 3 minutes of content to present your
summaries. For each article, you should emphasize
• What the article is about
• The main takeaway points or concepts
• Why this is important to composing for the Web (and specifically the project
associated with the reading)
Then you’ll end your presentation by presenting a website or example that relates to your
article. Finally, you will end your presentation with a question/topic for discussion, or having
the class look at a website (or some other artifact) that exemplifies the concepts.
2. Website analysis (100 points). In order to give us a common understanding and vocabulary for
what makes effective websites, you’ll analyze a website of your choice (perhaps one that has room
for improvement), using the concepts from Julia McCoy’s So You Think You Can Write? and Ginny
Redish’s Letting Go of the Words.
3. Digital story using ArcGIS (150 points). This assignment is designed to help you not only put into
practice the concepts from McCoy and Redish that you analyzed for the last assignment, but also to
try your hand at creating a digital object that’s both “sticky” (in that it makes readers want to read
it) and “spreadable.”
4. Semester Project Proposal (50 points). You and I will work together to decide - based on your
own interests, skills, and goals - what kind of major project you want to do for the semester. You’ll
submit a plan based on a set of questions I’ll give you about needs, users, content, social media
strategy, etc. We’ll use best industry practices to make the same sort of plan you’d make if you
actually wanted to develop Web content.
5. Semester Project (350 points). This will be your major project for the course; along with the
Social Media Plan, it’s worth half your grade. You can choose from the following options:
• A website (anything other than a simple personal portfolio).
• A redesign of a client’s website.
• A blog, podcast or video series (with associated website).
• Another major Web-based project of your choosing.

7. 6. Social Media Plan (150 points). To accompany your semester project, you will design a plan to
promote your project via social media, and create a minimum of 15 social media posts to spread
yours and other’s content.
7. Final Reflective Letter (100 points). You’ll compose a reflection on how you met the learning
outcomes, what you learned from participating in the course, and how you think differently about
writing now after composing for a Web-based environment.
8. Participation (250 Points). See Participation section (page 3-4) for ways to earn participation
points.
FOR FURTHER READING
In the interest of everyone’s wallets and the time it would take to read all of these, we’re only
reading bits and pieces from many of them. If you want to learn in more depth about Web-based
composition, you can check out the following books (in no particular order):
Colleen Jones, Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content. New Riders, 2011.
Kristin Halvorson and Melissa Rach. Content Strategy for the Web, 2nd edition. New Riders, 2012.
Lynda Felder, Writing for the Web: Creating Compelling Content Using Words, Pictures, and Sound. New Riders,
2012.
Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee, Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose. Peachpit Press,
2014.
Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web and Mobile Usability. New
Riders, 2014.
Jakob Nielsen and Raluca Budiu, Mobile Usability. New Riders, 2013.
Joy Deangdeelert Cho, Blog Inc: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community. Chronicle Books, 2012.
Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Random House, 2007.
Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green. Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked
Culture. New York University Press, 2013.