Chapter Nineteen should be assigned in conjunction with Chapters Seventeen and Eighteen to facilitate the development of sophisticated Web projects. However, since Chapter Nineteen is more theoretical, it could also be assigned as discussion material for more advanced classes.
Chapter Nineteen begins to sketch out some of the rhetorical concerns related to building Web projects. You can supplement this information, however, with essays on hypertexts and multimedia examples that are available on the Web. See the Resources node at the Connections Web site for additional information about theoretical and practical concerns for implementing successful hypertext projects.
Also, be aware that aptitude levels with hypertextual compositions (as with anything) are often developed through a process of emulation and experimentation. You may want to use your class Web site as a model or as a way of providing links to successful models elsewhere on the Web.
Even if you ask students to evaluate other sites and to think about successful methods of Web composition, you'll need to reiterate the importance of thinking rhetorically when it comes to working with multimedia. Students often see quickly why it is important to use a precise phrase when creating the hot text for a link, but take longer to develop skills in explicating images and other forms of multimedia. You might want to draw analogies with traditional quotations and stress the importance of unpacking and contextualizing images and clips.
If students are working with multimedia, they will be able to find plenty of materials on the Web, but you'll also want to investigate the resources at your institution. If your students have access to scanners and video capture equipment, they will be able to develop projects that correspond more closely to the materials and subjects that they are studying. You'll want to check on the availability of support and instructional materials as you look into your campus multimedia resources and consider creating assignments that mesh with your own interests if you have the opportunity.
A few final points to consider are the concerns of copyright that arise as students create multimedia projects for the Web. You may well be able to capture stills from films if they are used for educational projects, but you'll need to teach students to make decisions about what constitutes fair use of multimedia resources and what may be a violation of copyright. (See Appendix Three or the Connections Web site.)
Exercise 19.1 Evaluating a Web Site
Time: This exercise can be done in one class period or be started in class and completed as homework.
Suggestions: Consider using the interactive version of this exercise at the Connections Web site. Also, be sure to stress the importance of evaluating different sites in terms of the larger rhetorical concerns that are outlined in Part One. Ask students to consider the purposes and audiences of the sites they evaluate, as well as the affiliations of site developers and the larger contexts in which Web sites are produced and read.