1. Using Non-Print Media in the Writing Classroom
Jacob Greene

2. What is “non-print media?”
Digital and/or multimedia (videos, podcasts, films, websites, etc.)
Other non-print sources like paintings or musical compositions
You can have students analyze and/or create non-print texts
General examples:
YouTube videos
Podcast series/episodes
Website
Video Game
Social media platforms (Twitter, Snapchat, etc.)
Infographics
Slide presentations

3. Why use non-print media?
Student familiarity
Good for less confident writers
Skills are transferrable to print assignments (e.g. audience awareness, crafting introductions, writing concisely, identifying rhetorical concepts, etc.)
It’s fun!

4. Using non-print media for in-class activities
Primary goal is to teach writing. Identify learning outcome before choosing media or creating lesson. I like to have students analyze AND create through non-print media.
Example learning outcome: Students will learn how to craft concise and engaging introductions.
Resource: Transom.org (“On your mark. Get set. Start your story.”)
Example lesson: Students will analyze podcasts in groups and identify different types of introduction (e.g. anecdote, overarching question, etc.). Then, students will use one of these structures to rewrite their essay introductions as 60-second script for a podcast intro.

5. Using non-print media for assignments
Be sure that project still fulfills major assignment objectives and teaches the genre (e.g. writing a proposal, evaluating an argument, etc.). You can also combine in-class activity with major assignments (e.g. create a 60 second VideoScribe commercial for your proposal assignment and present in class).
Example 1: Create a 1200 word podcast where you analyze the argument of a print-based text. Students will learn how to 1) evaluate print arguments, and 2) compose an evaluation in writing.
Example 2: Create your proposal assignment as a website with links to multimedia resources and embedded videos.

6. Example projects Podcast series on ADHD
Location-based audio tour of campus sculptures
Video rhetorical analysis of online argument

7. Resources for working with non-print media
Transom.org (HowSound podcast)
Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy “Tool Tips”
Kairos PraxisWiki
Grassroots Writing Research “classroom tools”
Teaching College English blog
Writing Spaces

8. Brainstorm
How would you use non-print media to teach one of the following learning outcomes for a first year writing course? Work in pairs to come up with a basic lesson idea. Feel free to create the lesson for a learning outcome not listed here:
Writing concisely
Crafting a thesis statement
Setting up a problem (for proposal assignment)
Spotting logical fallacies
Evaluating potential sources
Writing counter-arguments