The main project you will undertake in this course is to create content that is accessible to and engages with wider society through various forms of digital media.
Create
Throughout this course, you will be asked to create 10 “points” worth of content.
- Blog post (500-700 words), 1 point.
- Podcast or other audio (10-15 min), 3 points, including editing.
- Video Essay (3-5 mins), 4 points, including editing.
- Ideas for other types of content? Discuss it with the instructors or teaching assistant (TA)!
Naturally, the idea is not to fill the blog with random topics but to create content that is on point.
On-point content makes reference to course topics, literature, and discussions (Chatham house rules apply), but can also address current events in the world of digital media and technology — from the newest Tiktok trend to the policy effects of EU digital legislation.
Every week the lecture will end with a ‘content prompt’ to help if you’re creatively stuck.
The idea is to use whatever you are creating to showcase your learning process and independent thinking as we jointly explore the interfaces of digital media, society, and culture.
Read some more Do’s and Dont’s by our course TA, Janessa Vleghert
Weekly Submissions
Every week of class, you will be expected to have created new content.
Your contributions need to be online before every Monday at 12.00. Feel free to upload your content before Monday, sometime after class; no need to wait until the last minute.
You will upload all your content on the blog as a post.
Even if you have e.g. made a video and uploaded it on YouTube or another video platform, make a post, embed the content in it, provide a small contextual paragraph, and publish it.
Always add your group as a category to your post (see below and here)
Working on a multi-point project? Notify Janessa Vleghert (our TA), using Teams, of this and take as many weeks as the number of project points you will get for it (e.g. you will have four weeks to record, edit, and publish a 4-point, solo video, 2 weeks if it is a video you worked on with two people, etc.).
Discuss
We will pick content written by you to discuss together in class.
We will make sure to keep it balanced, so everyone’s work will be highlighted at some point. Is there something you’re really proud of? Send Janessa a message on Teams, and we will do our best to highlight it in that week’s discussion.
In addition, every week, you will make at least one comment on a piece of content on the course blog.
Groups
These discussions will be done within groups.
These are the 2022’s group names (yes, these are pretty corny, but what’s wrong with that):
- 13:15 – Digital Dynamos
- 14:15 – Media Maestros
- 16:15 – Virtual Visionaries
Add these names as a category to every post you make! These categories are pre-made already: read more about what categories are and how to include them in your post here.
Teamwork?
Absolutely! One thing you can do is set up small ‘editorial teams’ in which you and your fellow students help each other out with technical issues or language editing.
Can you also make content together? Super absolutely! If you share the creative role together then you share the points for all the content you create together.
You’re allowed to round up:
- Made a podcast with two people? Each of you gets two points (3/2, rounded up = 2)
- Made two podcasts with the same two people? Each of you gets 3 points (6/2=3)
(Yes, I know you can ‘game the system’ by doing podcasts or other ‘uneven’ content point items by working together with a lot of different students in the course, but… it would actually be pretty cool to see so many of you co-creating stuff!)
Quality
Digital text may not exactly be well-known for keeping to orthography or being based on sound rhetoric. We hold ourselves to a higher standard, naturally!
In short, produce clear content that is, in principle, written (or in the case of audio/video spoken) in accessible and correct English.
Referencing, Copyright and Linking
Counter to what is normal in digital content; we will keep to Leiden University standards of reference to prevent plagiarism as well as copyright issues.
Furthermore, legally speaking you can also not just take and copy content from others if they are humans. What you can and cannot do under copyright law is complex, and getting it wrong can potentially get you into trouble. It isn’t legal advice, but this video by YouTuber Tom Scott goes a long way in explaining the thorny situation.
Linking to another website is never an issue. In fact, that’s what the whole web is about!
Need images? Make sure you are allowed to make use of them (e.g. Google Image Search with Licensing only for Creative Commons or WikiMedia Commons).
Finally, any and all original content on this site is made available to others with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Please talk to the instructor if you believe the content you produce should not fall under this license.
AI-generated content
Thinking of using AI to generate content? If you do, please know that both Leiden University and the course instructors have quite a few thoughts, guidelines, and rules on that, which you can read about here. If anything is unclear after reading that information, don’t hesitate to let us know.
Privacy, Opinion, and Moderation
Please note that all content on the blog is, in principle, accessible to anyone connected to the internet. Even if you take steps so that the content is only viewable by people with certain roles.
While it is important that you can speak your mind freely in any of the content that you produce, please be respectful of others. Also, be mindful of online dynamics in which anything can be taken out of context or potentially upset an individual or a group of people.
Do not share any personal data in the content you create. Feel free to work under a “nom de plume” (please share this online identity with the instructor).
Of course, should you choose to, there is a possibility to publish posts in such a way that they can only be seen by others taking part in this class.
It is strictly forbidden to copy, share, or otherwise reproduce “course only” content that has been published on any part of this site.
Please note that the views and opinions expressed on digmedia.lucdh.nl are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Leiden University.
The content produced on this blog will be moderated by the instructors and course TA. They may decide to block public access to any content on this website or remove the content in its entirety.
Portfolio Submission
Your final project will consist of a portfolio of all the content you created or edited in this course. This will consist of a Word file or PDF with 10 links to course website posts of 10 points of content you produced for this course.
In this list, call out one highlight: indicate what piece you consider the best work you’ve created for this course and explain why you think it is your best work (tip: consider its content, format and even how it sparked off discussion during class).
Also, add a list of at least 10 comments you made on the content of others in a list in the same file:
- Title of Content, link to Content
- [your comment]
Below this, you will write a 1000-1500 word commentary on your own work, addressing explicitly and with examples how the content you created links to the course content. You will also provide a reflection on the successes and challenges you faced during this class.
Name the file [lastname]_[student number]_portfolio
Hand it in via Brightspace.
The submission date for the portfolio is Friday 22 December, 2023.
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