I propose a Make session to create various Games to learn, play, and interact with content using various mobile apps.  We will make one game in pairs using Tiny Tap, Quizlet, Socrative and Kahoot!

Bring your own device, ideas and creativity. We will discuss tips, best practices and ideas to promote the maker movement in our classes.

I will discuss how I used these apps this semester to develop the learners language skills.  I will share what I learned from the experience.

I propose a session to share ideas about engaging students in course themes through digital means (hey, that rhymes!).

Currently I teach a course on analytical thinking and writing that explores the child as Other. Through the Challenge Project, a participatory out-of-class engagement project, we ask students to explore course concepts, essays, and materials in a way that is meaningful to them. Some of my students have used social media outlets like instagram and Twitter or collage/archiving programs like Storify and Pinterest to explore ideas and characters. Originally this assignment was developed by Jamie Marks (anthropology graduate student) to address participation for those students who were apprehensive about participating during classtime but who still had questions and ideas to explore.

And this project is the catalyst for this session. I would like a roundtable discussion about how we can encourage and guide students through engagement activities that make use of the digital ways they communicate.

I imagine participants sharing their stories about learning the platforms and developing course assignments.

I imagine participants sharing challenges they face and questions they have.

I imagine participants offering suggestions, critiques, and expertise.

I imagine participants leaving this session with practical ideas to engage their students outside of class.

The TRACE innovation initiative is a research endeavor developed and maintained by the University of Florida’s Department of English. TRACE works at the intersection of ecology, posthumanism, and writing studies. Invoking the mission of TRACE, Sequentials recognizes the unique capability of images to relay knowledge by soliciting and publishing interpretations of various academic subjects or themes drawn and explained through the comics medium. This session will be of particular interest to anyone interested in visual rhetoric, graphic storytelling, and comics.

By “comics,” we loosely mean illustrated, sequential images that may or may not incorporate words and may or may not be bounded within panels or other boundary markers. Because the term “comics” is still a contested one and has thus far evaded definition, this TRACE project asks contributors to (re)imagine the meanings of both the subject they are drawing about and the form that their interpretation takes. By encouraging contributors to conceptualize their work in a distinctly visual way, this project highlights the unique creative capabilities of the comics medium and reflects TRACE’s overall focus on innovative research and production.

A large focus of the Sequentials project is on developments of form. Given that chosen submissions will be published online, the framing of the page and screen will inevitably provide boundaries to what can be presented or created. We recognize the limitations of this two-dimensional space, but believe in the enormous creative potential of the comics form. Therefore, we ask contributors to consider how the form of their illustrations and panel structures might influence how viewers receive creative interpretations. The Sequentials team will circulate a CFC (call for comics) bi-monthly and will publish submissions accordingly. Subjects will range from theoretical terms like “deconstructivism” to fields of study such as “ecocriticism” or “animal studies.” In seeking visual submissions, we hope to destabilize the notion that words alone are the most effective way of conveying knowledge; we encourage contributors utilize the comics medium to its fullest, exploring how meaning can be displayed in creative ways. Contributors from all academic disciplines, regardless of their level of experience or illustration “skill” are welcome to submit. Further, submissions are encouraged from non-academics as well, and the editorial team will consider all submissions equally.