Title
Boise State Students Encounter Writing: Using Google Maps to Digitally (Re)Present Discourse Communities in English 101
Document Type
Student Presentation
Presentation Date
4-15-2013
Faculty Sponsor
Jessica Ewing
Abstract
Students in the Fall 2012 English 101.017 class collaborated on a digital group project that (re)presents their research on discourse communities. Working independently or within small groups, we produced various digital texts that provide an overview of our personal discourse communities and linked them to a Google Map, “Boise State Students Encounter Writing.” There are a variety of different mediums including blogs, slideshows, and claymation videos, all of which are placed marked at the place in Boise that best represents their discourse community. For example, if someone was in a cross fit club, they would likely mark their project at the recreation center. Google Maps facilitated this project well because you could see how our small class of 22 students connects to the world outside of the University. Our presentation will display our class Google Map on the computer projector, and it will encourage the spectators and visitors to engage and interact with our digital platform. With the current academic movements and changes in digital humanities, we worked to digitally compose texts using online resources like SlideRocket, Tumblr, and even Google Maps itself. These different research methods and platforms used, helped the first-year writers exit their comfort zone of writing a five paragraph essay and find an innovative way for their peers and readers of their project to be able to connect to their discourse community.