Course Syllabus

Spring 2023 | COM-1180-VO02 - Storytelling through Media

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

CJ Record
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Ashraf Alamatouri

Course Description

This course investigates the essence and power of storytelling, revealing how narrative can be effectively applied in a range of contexts and across multiple media platforms to achieve specific goals for businesses and organizations. Students explore the opportunities and perils of storytelling with regard to audience engagement, branding and successful marketing, and apply their learning to demonstrate proficiency in developing their own stories and selecting appropriate media technology and delivery strategies to convey these.

Essential Objectives

1. Define storytelling in the context of business and creative development and discuss the role and significance of storytelling through media in today’s world.
2. Discuss how storytelling strategies and concepts can be applied to various communications projects and delivered through media channels in the marketing and development of various entities, including businesses, nonprofit organizations, agencies, and political or social campaigns.
3. Examine the significance of traditional storytelling in human experience and explain how people respond to and connect with spoken, visual, and written messages.
4. Analyze principles pertaining to the branding of a product or service and the function storytelling plays in developing a consistent message or image that expresses the essence of an entity, resonates emotionally with a targeted audience’s needs and wants, and stimulates development and growth.
5. Evaluate effective and ineffective stories currently used in marketing and promotions and discuss how the stories themselves and the communication strategies behind them inspire or fail to elicit the desired response from targeted audiences.
6. Create succinct and cohesive stories applying various elements, such as language, tone, style, pace, metaphor and images to efficiently convey desired messages to select audiences.
7. Utilize storyboards in the creation process to determine the parameters of the story within available time and resources; to sketch out the various elements, such as video, still photos, audio, graphics, and text; and to ensure cohesiveness and interactivity.
8. Demonstrate proficiency in utilizing a variety of traditional and new media technology and in determining which media are most appropriate for delivering specific messages and engaging targeted audiences.
9. Discuss the social and ethical responsibilities of the storyteller in balancing the perspective of a business or organization with the public’s expectation of accuracy.
10. Prepare a formal presentation that demonstrates proficiency using the CCV Oral Communication Rubric.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course only uses free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials. For details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

Methods

Most weeks in the semester will include a combination of the following:

• Readings -- book sections, online articles
• Videos -- samples of media storytelling with opportunities to analyze, comment, and react
• Class Discussion -- students analyze material we've watched in class, or discuss issues related to class projects
• Assignment: "Story Round-up" -- students research and present stories they've discovered online

Production Projects -- We do two storytelling multimedia projects in this course: one "product" due at mid-term, the second "process" at the end of the term. The first project will (free) audio editing software. The second project will just require standard document editing.

Evaluation Criteria

• Class Participation 30%
• Story Roundups 20%
• Mid-term project 20%
• Final project and reflection 30%

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Late work will be accepted, within limits.

• All assignments are due in Canvas in a readable format by the end of day Monday.
  • Assignments will only be accepted in Canvas.
    • Assignments will not be accepted via email, Canvas Inbox, or any other channel without explicit prior permission.
    • In rare cases, hard copy of in-class exercises will be accepted.
• Assignments may be submitted late for a cumulative 5% penalty each day they're late.
• In most weeks, discussion boards are part of the assignment: they cannot be completed late (after the end of the week) without extraordinary circumstances.

You will be expected to keep up with assignments and changes in the plan even if you are absent. All changes will be posted to Canvas.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity