Possible web 2.0 assignments

Our project, as I see it, is to improve the Persuasive Brochure assignment in a few different areas. First: teacher prep. Second: assignment design (the rhetorical situation, which Brian knocked out of the ballpark here). Third: applicability and transferability.

We can (and should) fix the first two regardless of the medium we decide on--even if we stick with a persuasive brochure.

The third realm for improvement is where the door is opened to a lot of possibilities. Below are musings on some potential assignments and their effects on the third area of improvement:

1) Keep the persuasive brochure. With better prepared teachers and a more solid rhetorical situation, the persuasive brochure could be a successful assignment to teach skills of visual + textual rhetoric, document design and layout, visual persuasion, and multimedia rhetoric.
Medium: Traditional. Even though computers would most likely be used to design and print the document, this counts as a Traditional assignment because the presentation of the composition does not take place on a computer.
Upside: Strong focus on visual rhetoric and document design. Potential for very specific rhetorical situation.
Downside: Persuasive brochures, while still in use, are less than applicable. The pb's biggest strength--a big focus on visual rhetoric in a specific rhetorical situation--can be reproduced in many other assignments without the biggest pb weakness: very few people will ever produce a persuasive brochure in their lifetimes, and if they do they'll probably be given a template or a prior example to mimic.

2) Persuasive poster, which would be significantly more applicable and potentially useful for students, thus engaging them more and helping them learn composition skills that will be directly transferable to future poster-making endeavors. 
Medium: Traditional: Again, computers would be used to design the composition, but the presentation would be on an easel rather than on a computer.
Upside: More used than a pb. Strong focus on visual rhetoric and document design.
Downside: If the greatest weakness of the pb is that very few people will ever make a poster again, the greatest weakness of the poster (at least in my mind) is the limitations of the medium. Posters are still incredibly useful (a short walk through the Wilk will show the current perusasive firepower held by genre of poster), but are also limited in audience and don't make use of many technological resources.

3) Presentation (powerpoint/prezi) would require grading both a performance and an artifact, and is also the most widely-used of any of the multimodal compositions considered so far. Academic conferences, business meetings, and church talks on Sunday all make use of some version of the performance/artifact combo. 
Medium: Techie -- While with digital presentations we have taken a bold step from the Traditional world of composition into the Techie world, we are definitely leaving one foot comfortingly deep in tradition. This assignment is nowhere near Web 2.0, but we have incorporated the use of technology to house--not just produce--a multimodal composition of persuasive power. 
Upside: Chances are, everyone will have to make a presentation at some point in their lives. Everyone is familiar with the genre (even if they need a primer on powerpoint/prezi basics). Visual rhetoric and document design are a focus. The introduction of oral performance provides an option for the final exam (although, Brian's point at the end of this post introduces the idea that grading a ppt and an oral presentation might be a little much for the last two weeks of the semester).
Downside: While very applicable, this assignment still relies significantly on the technologies of yesteryear. The audience is very limited--just to those in the room during the final, for example--and does not take advantage of any web 2.0 technologies.

4) A narrated digital presentation: Powerpoint + Slideshare or Prezi
A combination like this would turn a static class presentation into a potentially dynamic project that can be shared online and graded as a single unit. A short written proposal would be submitted, explaining exactly who the target audience is, how the author will get the presentation to be seen by the target audience, and the desired effect of the presentation.
Medium: Web 2.0 if it is built to include requirements for comments (get at least 10 different individuals to comment on your presentation) and/or sharing (post this to a pertinent group or page on Facebook, email this to all of your friends who care about this issue, etc).
Upside: This assignment could require groups of students to write text, design a visual presentation, compose an audio accompaniment, and enter the realm of social media. It would get them engaged in a real discourse community rather than a classroom-invented situation. It would help them see how the classroom (design principles, rhetoric, etc) and real life (technologies they actually use in daily life) can intersect to be productive.
Downside: Students would need help with video and audio editing, along with the possible powerpoint/prezi primer. The idea of assigning a percentage of the final project grade to a minimum comment requirement is also risky, as it would give students points for actions that are somewhat out of their control. At the same time, a good presentation will stimulate discussion if it takes advantage of good rhetorical principles, is well-planned, and submitted to the correct audience.

5) A persuasive webpage 
This assignment would require some strict guidelines about what is required (a short video clip, at least 2-3 charts/graphs/infographics, at least 500 words of text, an audio clip, a slideshow, etc) as well as a powerful-enough web hosting program to allow each group to have its own web address. Neither of these would be very difficult, meaning that the persuasive webpage is full of potential. The medium is applicable and very "real-life" for today's digital native students.
Medium: Web 2.0 only if the assignment included comment, rating, or sharing requirements.
Upside: Students are familiar with the webpage genre. The assignment would incorporate a significant block of written text with another multimodal composition (we could give each student/group the flexibility to choose what they put on their website, provided it met minimum word length requirements. This would allow students to learn how to choose from the available means of persuasion, as Brian mentioned here). The assignment would be built to teach visual rhetoric, document design, audience awareness, and the persuasive power of the internet. The technology used would be simple enough that most students (and teachers) would not need much technical help. Assignments could be graded based on a formal proposal, which would include target audience, goal of argument, and intended effects.
Downside: No oral performance element. More difficult to grade an assignment with more open-ended requirements.