Introduction
Spend weeks Three to Nine exploring a stand-alone multimedia production. That's all...

Oh, and write about it, of course...

...plus, you'll need to apply ideas from Garrand and our class discussions to your exploration...

...and, well, just a few directions and requirements...

Choose your multimedia production
During weeks one and two, find a stand-alone multimedia production (i.e. not a multimedia section of a web site) you want to explore for four weeks. Select something you're interested in, intrigued by, passionate about, or you have to do (like professional development).

Please don't choose a skim-click-skim piece (like a DVD with extras) as you'll learn very little from it. Here are some ideas to kick-start your explorations:

Journal One
By midnight, 14 September, send me 300 - 400 words explaining what you have chosen for your exploration. Carefully analyze its components to justify your choice. Start to use the concepts you have learned from Garrand to add precision to your analyses.

Journal Two
Due midnight, 21 September: 300 - 400 words.
Explore your multimedia production for at least two hours this week! As you play (and I'm hoping this will count as play), you should be noting down and subsequently analyzing the structure of the interactions you are offered/you experience.

That's an important distinction: a multimedia production may intend to offer you one set of interactive experiences but as a unique user you may experience an entirely different set of interactions. Each person will probably experience this multimedia differently, depending on her/his familiarity with high-end interactive multimedia.

Take notes as you explore your multimedia. You can capture all your fleeting ideas, impressions, irritations, pleasures, associations, etc. as you are exploring. You'll lose so much value from your experience if you wait until the end of your session to assemble notes.

Go to the study questions section for some suggestions on ways of structuring your experience. Begin with the set of study questions most suited to your level of experience. Use the concepts you have learned through your reading of Garrand to render your analysis more precise. For example, what is the balance between interactivity and control (pp. 4 - 5) or how complex are the linking schemes (pp. 6 - 9) you encounter? And so on.

You should respond to at least three questions. Please feel free to note down questions that occur to you, and throw them out to the class when next we meet.

Journal Three
Due midnight, 28 September; 300 - 400 words.
General directions as above. If you stay with the same set of questions, choose new questions for your substantive responses, and follow up briefly on your previous responses.

For example, explain how your experience differed (or did not!) from that during your first week. Identify key experiences during this week and analyze why they were so important. Keep applying the vocabulary and concepts introduced via Garrand to provide precise, professional analyses.

Journal Four
Due midnight, 5 October; 300 - 400 words.
General directions as above. However, you should move on to a more advanced set of questions, if you have not done so already.

Also, look back over your experiences and writings for the last four weeks. What have you learned from your excursion into multimedia? What competencies have you used (cite evidence to support your choices)? Which competencies seem most critical to the writing of multimedia? Which areas of your competency expertise need most/least work for the writing of multimedia?

Journal Five
Due midnight 12 October, 300 - 400 words
General directions as above. This week, though, I want you to analyze the your sources of pleasure in your chosen multimedia production. What are they and why are they pleasurable to you as an interactor? How have your sources of pleasure in your multimedia changes over the last five weeks? What are the sources of those changes?

Journal Six
Due midnight 19 October, 300 - 400 words
General directions as above.

Journal Seven
Due midnight 26 October, 300 - 400 words
Look back over your experiences and writings for the last four weeks. What further have you learned from your excursions into multimedia? How have discussions with your group members influenced the way you interact with your chosen multimedia production? How have your explorations influenced the development of your group project? How have you applied what you have learned from your individual explorations to your collaborative work?

Rationale & Study Questions for your Journals