NOTE: This webpage provides resources/information for this course. It is NOT the course syllabus and DOES NOT provide information about course assignments, requirements, or expectations. Please consult the course syllabus for such information.



Course Overview
Description
Within the Vancouver Creative Media and Digital Culture Program, DTC 476 Digital Literacies is the capstone course where graduating seniors demonstrate their command of the 10 Program Goals (see below) and their knowledge of various digital multimedia literacies by building digital media projects for local nonprofit organizations.

Students are provided a learning environment where they can

Rationale
Digital literacy is seen as the ability to read and write using languages of multimedia as easily as one reads and writes text. This literacy can be learned through familiarity with theoretical frameworks, exposure to a broad range of multimedia genres, and actually building digital multimedia information objects.

All courses leading up to DTC 476 Digital Literacies are designed to equip students with the ability to both create and evaluate digital multimedia. Such work is intellectually demanding, cultivates ethical values, and fosters habits of individual responsibility and civic engagement. Additionally, such an approach promotes learning through full attention and engagement.

Outcomes
DTC 476 Digital Literacies, as capstone course where students demonstrate their digital literacies, promotes two significant outcomes
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Course Focus
DTC 476 Digital Literacies focuses on
Digital Media Projects
Students are responsible for hands-on cultural and creative development of large scale digital media projects for local 501(c)3 public assistance nonprofit organizations. Working in collaborative teams, students conceive and develop large professional digital media projects to specified standards in a limited timeframe, each designed to contribute to the health and well-being of the community and its inhabitants. As a part of each project, students undertake leadership roles such as project management, lead design, development, information architecture, usability testing and interface design, and content strategy. Additionally, students will, as necessary, produce professional project documentation like proposals, periodic status and final reports, and legacy archives.

Portfolio
For their job search or graduate school applications, students prepare online digital portfolios, which include resumes, examples of digital works, and biographical statements. Class time is devoted to crafting and polishing professional resumes and learning presentational, negotiation, and interviewing skills. Students are also encouraged to participate in WSUV's and the DTC Program's career events.

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Course Structure
DTC 476 Digital Literacies is limited to small numbers of graduating Vancouver DTC majors who have completed their qualifying coursework and met the required Grade Point Average (GPA 3.0) for enrollment. This course should be taken in the semester just prior to graduation.

Although the course is project based, students are expected to attend each class meeting, participate in open seminar discussions, and complete all assignments, requirements, and expectations as and when required.

Class time is devoted to lectures, discussion, individual tutorials and meetings, as well as group / independent work on assigned projects.

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Course Goals
DTC 476 Digital Literacies is integral to the overall vision for the DTC program and so is aligned with the 10 Goals of the Vancouver DTC program. Students must demonstrate their mastery of these goals in order to successfully complete this course and graduate from the DTC program. These goals are:
  1. Demonstrate competency with computers for designing and distributing digital works in various mediums for effective human-computer interactions
  2. Synthesize media forms for multimedia contexts
  3. Employ the principles of visual form for sophisticated image manipulation
  4. Understand the production and assessment of media objects
  5. Know the basics of information architecture and knowledge management along with ways digital information can be structured for retrieval and archival for different purposes and audiences
  6. Question the way digital media functions in multiple cultural contexts
  7. Recognize various forms of language processing and their implications for media authoring
  8. Appreciate the history of technological development, from local to global perspectives, and its implications for a variety of mediums
  9. Utilize a transdisciplinary perspective in order to understand the basics of social, economic, and education changes brought about by digital media
  10. Be practiced and capable communicators in all mediums

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Course Considerations
Successful graduation from the Vancouver DTC program hinges on successful completion of DTC 476 Digital Literacies. If you are unsuccessful in this course, for whatever reason, you must repeat the course before you graduate with a DTC degree.

A great deal of time and effort is expected of you in this course. Please do not schedule more than 12 hours of other courses in conjunction with DTC 476 Digital Literacies. Each credit hour of this course should amount to at least 50 hours of work; a total of, minimally, 150 hours. You will be completely overwhelmed with the workload if you take DTC 476 Digital Literacies with a course overload.

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Course Projects
For information about projects completed in previous DTC 467 Digital Literacies classes, please visit the Vancouver Creative Media & Digital Culture Program Civic Engagement webpage.

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Project Resources

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Digital Portfolio

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General Resources

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