Course Calendar Open

The course calendar provides an overview to the topics and assignments for each unit of ds106 for people participating as open students. No one is looking over your shoulders so do as much or as little of this that motivates you. Of course, we expect that you will soon be shouting "#4LIFE" like the rest of us. It is up to you to decide an appropriate time frame for each unit, it could be a week, a month, a lunar year....

Unit 1 (Boot Camp)
usually 1 week

The first unit is out "Boot Camp" aimed at getting you in shape for ds106; setup of your blogs and creation other social media accounts. Complete Introductions via blog, twitter. Review of a range of media with exploration question of what kind of stories do they tell. Explore concepts of personal cyberinfrastructure


 * Unit 1 Announcement : tba

Unit 2 (Boot Camp cont’d)
usually 1 week

This unit you go deeper into customizing your blog with themes/templates, plugins/widgets, and other key settings. Also, this will be the week you get introduced to the Daily Create. As part of Boot Camp activity this week, you will need to write blogs posts that embed media. You will also need to begin commenting on your classmates' blogs and soliciting comments on your own. This unit's discussion and reflection will be around the ideas of sharing media and creative commons.


 * Unit 2 Announcement : TBA

Unit 3 Introduction to Storytelling
usually 1 week

Storytelling… it’s part of the title this course, and you likely have some idea what it means from your childhood or school years. This unit we will explore it in the framing of what you will be doing for the rest of ds106. You will hone in on your own understanding of what the Digital part adds, and try your hand at a few creative exercises.


 * Unit 3 Announcement : TBA

Unit 4 Audio Intro (Listening)
usually 1 week

This unit in ds106 we’re going to be diving into our first storytelling genre: audio. Working with audio can be a bit daunting and unfamiliar, so we’ll be easing you into it this unit. We’ll ask you to do some listening exercises as well as begin to create your own


 * Unit 4 Announcement : TBA

Unit 5: Visual
usually 1 week

In doing your ds106 Daily Creates you’ve already been using photography and drawing skills, plus you’ve had some practice on doing visual stories for our introduction to storytelling. In this unit we go a bit deeper and give you the opportunity to practice telling stories in primarily visual form.


 * Unit 5 Announcement : TBA

Unit 6: Design
usually 1 week

We’ve wrapped up our work on visual storytelling and photography, and this unit we’re diving into design. You’ll spend some timethinking about the way the world around you is designed, as well as creating some of your own design projects. This is when you might want to start forming groups for doing the mid term radio show project


 * Unit 6 Announcement : TBA
 * Group Audio Project Information: TBA

Unit 7 Advanced Audio (radio show)
usually 2-3 weeks

This unit should be 2-3 times as long as previous ones, and are all about audio and radio. The majority of your work during this time should be working on your radio show.


 * Unit 7 Announcement : TBA

Unit 8: Telling Stories Within the Web
usually 1 week

In this unit we move to a different kind of storytelling, one that uses the space of existing web sites as a place for you to assert your own stories into them.


 * Unit 8 Announcement : TBA

Unit 9: Reading Movies
usually 1 week

This unit we enter what most students find the most challenging yet rewarding portion of ds106: video. Working with video presents challenges with file formats and using more complex software. But the end rewards are often the most rewarding. Before we jump into editing, we want to spend some time first looking critically at the video form and do some pre-planning for your first video editing.


 * Unit 9 Announcement : TBA

Unit 10: Movie Time
usually 2 weeks

It’s time to make movies! Video is perhaps the most rich of storytelling forms, and we want you to focus explicitly now on video storytelling. The only assignments on your plate are to work on video assignments.


 * Unit 10 Announcement : TBA

Unit 11: Remix
usually 2 weeks

For this unit, you’ll be exploring the ideas of remixes and mashups, the artistic recasting of existing media into new forms by creative combination and editing. This will build off of your previous work in all media forms. And we will even remix assignments.


 * Unit 11 Announcement : TBA

Unit 12: Final Project and Wrap Up
usually 2-3 weeks


 * Final Project Specifications: TBA
 * 'Unit 12 Announcement''': TBA