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Final assignment – Create a Story about New Media
DUE December 7th 2020, 23.59 via Quercus
With this assignment you are aiming to expand the idea from the first assignment into a
story using the digital storytelling techniques we will explore in class.
Note: All the suggested page lengths are double-spaced.
Your final assignment must include the following sections:
(1) Executive summary of the assignment
(2) Literature review
(3) Description of the new media issue you wish to focus on (revisit the first assignment)
(4) Develop a story based on (3).
(5) Reflection
(6) Conclusion/ recommendations
(7) List of References
(8) Appendices (if any)
Note: The recommended page lengths under each section are double spaced.
(1) Executive summary of the assignment
What is the purpose of an executive summary?
It aims “to persuade readers to read the entire report and to provide a summary of the
entire report for busy readers.”
When should you write it?
After you finish writing the entire assignment, otherwise you will not know what to put in
your summary.
How long should it be?
One paragraph: clear and concise!
How should you write it?
-“Define the purpose” of your assignment
-Briefly present the digital labour issue you will explore, the case study/ example you will
use, the person you are talking to, and the communication solution you propose.
Adapted from The Report, available here:
https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/sites/utsc.utoronto.ca.twc/files/resource-files/Report.pdf
(2) Literature review
How long should it be?
Approximately 1 page, but you may slightly exceed this limit, if you need. APA formatted
How many sources do you need?
IMPORTANT: To the at least 5 (five) peer-reviewed NEW scholarly sources annotated in
your proposal, you must add at least 3 (three) peer-reviewed NEW scholarly sources. In
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all, you should have at least 8 (eight) new scholarly sources in your lit review.
NEW = not included in your course bibliography
Can I use sources from course and/ or non-scholarly sources (i.e.: newspaper/ magazine
articles, blog entries, social media posts, etc.)?
Yes, absolutely. As long as you have at least 8 (eight) new scholarly sources in your
literature review, you may use any other source you need. Please make sure that you
include all the sources you use in a “Works Cited” list at the end of your assignment.
Why do you need a literature review?
The literature review demonstrates how your research fits in the academic conversation
on the topic you are exploring. What research has already been conducted? What are
you bringing new?
Also, the lit review allows you to strengthen your abilities to:
-read selectively (identify the key points of a text without reading it line by line) and,
-present your findings clearly and concisely
For this assignment, the lit review will equip you with the knowledge you will need to
develop the content of your digital story. In order to tell a story, you first need to know
what you wish to communicate.
How should you organize your literature review?
Organize in themes the works you are reviewing. You don’t need to summarize in detail
the entire reading. Look instead for the research question(s), key findings, discussions of
findings and see how they relate to the similar items in the other sources you are
annotating. Then, you need to explain how your research project relates to the literature
you annotated.
NOTE: As this is a C-level course, chances are you have never written a lit review
before, so this is a good point to start. Here are the steps you should follow:
(1) Go back to your annotated bibliography and look for common themes in the sources
you chose.
(2) Look for at least three more sources that touch on these themes.
(3) Label each theme.
(e.g.): The use of CCTV in schools: confidentiality issues
NOTE: Since you are only using EIGHT sources (at least), you must have at most three
themes.
You may use the themes from the IDEA assignment if you feel that they still work for
you.
This clip may be useful to you:
Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students
You could also look at the articles you read for this course or for others to see examples
of literature reviews organized thematically.
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Is there a wrong way to do a literature review?
Yes, by transforming your review into a list of summaries (summary after summary after
summary), without identifying any common themes.
NOTE: In week 8’s lecture I will provide a literature review example.
NOTE: Please see the attached “Writing a Literature Review” document prepared by The
Writing Centre – UTSC. (You may find it in the Final Assignment Module on Quercus).
(3) Description of the new media issue you wish to focus on
Aim at ½- 3/4 page for this section, but please feel free to write more if you need.
Briefly describe the new media issue you wish to communicate about, building on the
first assignment and addressing my recommendations. If your topic is too broad, narrow
it down by relating it to a particular context (use an example).
(4) Develop a story based on (3).
You may use bullet points if you wish, but please make sure each entry includes
sufficient information.
(a) First of all: state who your intended audience is. Once you know that, you will better
tailor the message you intend to communicate.
(b) Develop a script for your digital story. List the steps the story will take to unfold. Aim
at 150-200 words, but you may go over this limit if you wish.
Option: If you are good at drawing, you may do a storyboard instead of writing down the
script.
(c) What format do you wish to use, and why? (Video, game / serious game, app, story
with swipeable slides, listicle – “8 things you should know about…”, infographic, etc).
Choose whatever works best for you.
Note: you are NOT required to develop a media product.
(d) How will you disseminate your story so that it reaches your audience?
You may wish to find Carolyn Handler Miller’s book Digital Storytelling useful. In weeks 7
and 8, but the entire work is available as e-book at University of Toronto Library.
Here are some tips. It’s not mandatory to use them. Please feel free to adapt them to the
digital format you will use, if you need.
(1) What are the main challenges of adapting your first assignment idea to a digital
format?
(2) If you wish to tell your story using a game, what kind of game do you have in mind?
(Would your story have worked for a board game, as well)?
(3) Can your audiences be involved in co-creating the story?
(4) Will you use a character / a set of characters? Will you use an antagonist?
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(5) Reflection
In 150-200 words or slightly more if you need, reflect on:
-What did you enjoy, what did you dislike about doing this assignment?
-What was the most challenging part of doing this assignment?
-What are the strengths of using digital storytelling to communicate a social or economic
issue? Think of how the topic of your assignment has changed from the first assignment
to its digital story format.
-What was the most difficult part of transforming your topic into a digital story?
(6) Conclusion/ recommendations
Aim at ½ page or slightly more/ less.
-Briefly summarize the new media issue you focused on and the story you created.
-In the future: what can we do to raise awareness about this issue to a larger audience?
What storytelling techniques – aside from the one you used – would work well to
communicate your topic?
(7) List of References
The list must include all the works you used in your proposal, scholarly or non-scholarly.
Do not forget to include all the works in your literature review.
The list of references must be APA-formatted.
The entries in your list of references do NOT need to be annotated.
(8) Appendices (if any)
Here you include all the appendices to you work, such as photos, charts, statistics,
infographics, etc.
If it helps, here is a visual representation of the digital storytelling process:
https://sites.google.com/view/digital-storytelling-sandbox