cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by gak

It seems just like yesterday that you were doing laps around Bootcamp, but we are seeing the signs ahead. That’s right, everyone, we are in the final two weeks of this semester of ds106 at UMW. For the most part, everyone should know what they need to do between now and May 3rd.

Final Projects

You should all be working on your final projects based on your planning post (and any feedback you received). The final version is due by noon May 3rd and must be posted on your blog AND submitted to Canvas. There is absolutely NOTHING accepted beyond the deadline. Nada. Zero. Zilch.

Everyone who submitted a project proposal get feedback via Canvas. If you need, review the project specs. The things I am looking for are that you create a coherent narrative in a single blog post that embeds all your media, and your writing ties things together. And for dog’s sake, make an interesting title! The post should be the story and the only the story.

You should have single posts for each assignment you did to create the media, each one written up as a response to a ds06 assignment (or if you did something different, write it up like one), properly tagged, etc. This is where you talk about how the media was made.

Tutorials, Assignments. Daily Creates Created

You must all create 2 assignment ideas (and complete an example), 2 detailed assignment tutorials, and have contributed 2 Daily Creates. Include this information in your final summary blog post.

Paying it Forward

As you are all soon to be ds106 graduates, you ned to create an advice piece for future students of this class. It should be in the form of some kind of media (audio, video, set of animated gifs, etc.) It should NOT be a written essay- media is best. In this piece, consider what you would tell students of ds106 in the future about this class. What did you get out of it? What should they expect? How should they approach the work? What will they love/hate about the class? What will surprise them most about the class? What will they get out of the experience?

When you do this, make it conversational as if you are really talking to a future student. For reference, see examples created by previous students. Make it memorable!

Include this media as an embed in your final summary blog post.

Organizing Your Blog

Way back in boot camp we had you set up categories on your blog, if you have not been using them, now is the time. Get out your brooms! This will help you be sure your site is clean and organized as class finishes.

If you have not done so already, create and assign your posts to appropriate categories (this is easiest done in the Dashboard, using the Quick Edit links as you hover over post titles). For more about creating and using categories, see the ds106 Handbook: http://ds106.us/handbook/blogging/organizing-with-categories/

If you do not already have a Best Work category, create it now.  Add your blog posts to this category that represent what you consider your best work done in this class, choosing at least 5 items. We would like to see at least one from Visual/Design, one from Audio, one from Web, one from Video, one from Remix, but the choice is up to you.

IN your final weekly blog post, include your choices, and explain why they are on your “Best of ds106” shelf.

Final Summary Post

By noon on May 3 (this deadline is not flexible! Shall it be repeated! Nothing past this deadline will be graded), you need to include the following in your last weekly summary.

• Link back to and review your Week 3 blog post about your definition of Digital Storytelling – How has (nor not) your concept of storytelling evolved having (almost) finished this class?
• Include a reflection on your final story project and link to/summarize the “making of” media assignment posts (one post per each assignment created for the final project). More than sharing us how hard (or easy) it was to make, tell us about what the story means to you, or what you hope others see in it, or what you might have wanted to do differently.
• Summarize how you contributed to the ds106 community- not links or counts, but a qualitative summary of how well you participated in twitter, blog comments, the ds106 show, the group projects, ds106 radio, etc.
• Summarize and provide links to your tutorial/assignment/daily create contributions.
• Link to your best work category and include some commentary on why you made those selections.
• Embed and describe your Pay it Forward to Future students message.
• Add any final thoughts, reflections, complaints, ideas about your experience in ds106! And remember, you never leave ds106! Keep blogging, keep tweeting.