In week ten of the course, I announced to the students that in consideration of the focus on writing technologies, they would be given the option of producing a non-conventional, multimedia text as an alternative to the standard 8-10 page research paper.
This meant that students could simply create a PowerPoint presentation, develop a web page, design a MySpace page, or even produce a documentary. In any case, all alternative approaches would require a demonstration in front of the class. Those who would choose to do a documentary must refer to the video production tutorials on Current TV's website, a new cable channel/website committed to airing "Viewer Created Content" of multiple genres. In retrospect, it is obvious that the parameters for the multimedia assignment were not properly set, my objectives were unclear, and my assessment techniques were imprecise. These truths were obvious when the big day arrived for students to showcase their work. We dimmed the lights of the room in anticipation of viewing the only student documentary that had been produced in the class. What followed was a seven minute mockumentary depicting the highs and lows in the competitive world of "Fooz Ball."
Sure, there were some catchy aspects of the production, and it generated some genuine laughter from the audience, which was undoubtedly the intention. The intro was a closeup of a table-soccer volley, set to a song that had to be edited for expletives, followed by a silly skit. In the last scene, the audience was subjected to several tedious minutes of the final Fooz Ball match.
Evidently, the excitement of a table soccer match is not easily translated onto the big screen. At least, this production failed to do so. But the most glaring lesson of failure here was that I had not placed the assignment within the proper rhetorical context. My open-ended assignment had turned into a dismal representation of the potential in multimedia student productions.