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COVID-19 related RESOURCES

I'll update these resources throughout the semester if I run across something you might find helpful, or if the situation changes. If you have suggestions ​for things to include, feel free to email me or add them in the suggestion box at the bottom of this page.

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RESOURCES from PREVIOUS WAM STUDENTS

  • Interactivity and Choice Project

    • Twine: Open source tool for creating hyperlink text and interactive fiction (can be used both on and offline).

    • Interactive Fiction Database: This is a database containing a ton of Twine, Parser, and other text-based games and interactive stories. There's a wide range of content included, so feel free to explore to get some inspiration.

    • Ren'py: A visual novel engine (requires knowledge of Python). You're able to upload your own images and sound files, which allows for a more visual and aural approach than Twine.

    • inklewriter: Another interactive storytelling tool that allows for branching narratives.

    • Wix: You can also build branching narratives or nonlinear arguments by using website creators like Wix. Here is a link to the Wix blog with tutorials on how to use the website creator.

    • Quest: Build text adventure games and interactive fiction, also includes a home page with example stories/games.

    • ARIS: An online tool that allows you to create map-based stories and games, which are then playable on iOS devices.

    • BuzzFeed Quiz Creator: BuzzFeed allows you to create your own quizzes, which are fairly customizable, but this will make your project publicly available under BuzzFeed's brand, and it can be altered by Buzzfeed so that's a major constraint to consider.

    • Axure: This program is used for creating prototypes of user interfaces, so it can be useful if you're creating your own mobile or desktop application. There is a free trial, but after that it's subscription-based.

    • Twitter: You can create choose-your-own-adventure narratives using the basic features of Twitter. Here's a guide from one user who made one. Also, check out the CYOA thread on being Beyoncé's assistant for a day and this analysis of the media trend with an interview from the Beyoncé CYOA creator.

    • Scribus: An open-source tool for publishing/book design (similar to Adobe InDesign). Folks in the past have used this to do layout for zines and digital choose-your-own-adventure books.
       

  • Remediation Project

    • Overview of Remediation: If you're looking for more information or explanations of remediation, this resource from the Sweetland Center for Writing may help.

    • Audacity: Open source audio editing software.

    • GIMP: Open source image editing/manipulation software.

    • Lightworks: Open source video editing software.

    • Clipchamp: Online video editor. Limited features for the free version and is slower to use with larger files, but easier to pick up if you don't have experience with video editors.

    • Anchor: A relatively easy-to-use podcast creation tool that allows you to record, edit, and import audio in one place. Also includes some basic stock audio effects and music.

    • Timeline JS: You can use this tool along with Google Sheets to create an interactive timeline. The website has tutorials and breakdowns, but here's a video tutorial that a past student found useful.

    • Piktochart: A solid tool for creating infographics. Keep our conversation surrounding balancing the constraints and affordances of templates versus your own layout creation in mind here.

    • Presentation software: You could use a wide variety of presentation software for this project, including PowerPoint, Prezi, and Google Slides.

    • How to Edit a Video Essay: A YouTube series from Mark Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit on editing a video essay using Adobe Premiere.
       

  • Advocacy Project

    • Social media: Previous students have used a variety of social media platforms for this project, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest,​ and Snapchat.

    • Red Bubble: For creating and housing your designs (in the form of t-shirts, stickers, and other merch).

    • GIPHY: Make your own GIFs. 

    • Canva: A nice website for creating flyers, posters, logos, t-shirts and other designs. Also connects to the templates-versus-blank-page discussion.

    • Pixlr: Online photo editor. Free and more user-friendly than Photoshop, although with fewer features and options.

RESEARCH and CURIOSITY

  • UIUC Library: For database searches, checking out technology, renting study rooms and getting research assistance from a librarian. See the Design Thinking Research Guide for resources more specific to this course.

  • Open Culture: Check this site for a compendium of free audiobooks, courses, lectures, and more.

  • Brain Pickings: Maria Popova created and maintains this website, which is, as she sais, "drawn from [her] extended marginalia on the search for meaning across literature, science, art, philosophy, and the various other tentacles of human thought and feeling." This is a great place to go if you're seeking topic inspiration or just want to browse different curiosities.

  • Behance: This site is sponsored by Adobe (fair warning) but contains art projects that may inspire you, which are broken down by the different products used to create them. Check out the "Schools and Organizations" tab for links out to different art and design schools with archives of online portfolios.

  • Media Bias Chart: This is a chart created by Vanessa Otero of Ad Fontes Media that ranks news sources by partisan leaning and reliability. Check out the posts and about page to learn more about Otero's methodology for creating the chart. As she explains, this chart is just a starting place: "I’m not a journalist by training, and I don’t claim to be one. So why should you listen to me about the quality of news sources? You shouldn’t. In fact, you shouldn’t listen to anyone who tells you that you should think or believe a certain thing a certain way."

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

  • UIUC Software: Here is a link to the Illinois webstore where you can find free and discounted software to use.

  • Loanable Tech: You can borrow video cameras, microphones, VR headsets, game consoles and more through your student account. There are also links through this page if you're missing technology that you need for your online learning.

  • Celtx: Easy-to-use free software for creating screenplays and scripts.​

  • W3Schools: A great resource if you're using HTML or CSS and need to look something up or test code.

  • Remediate This: The website of Jody Shipka, who inspired the Statement of Goals and Choices assignment. Here you can see examples of multimodal student work along with accompanying statements of goals and choices.

FURTHER READING

  • “En(Twine)d with Ergodic Rhetoric” by Caleb Andrew Milligan: For a deeper dive into Twine, nonlinear structures, and hypertext, check out this scholarly article, which was written using Twine.

  • Bandersnatch: A Black Mirror choose-your-own-adventure film through Netflix, built using Twine, Scrivener, and Final Draft. There are depictions of mental health, violence and suicide. Additional content warnings available here.

  • "Recasting Writing, Voicing Bodies: Podcasts Across a Writing Program" by Jeremy Cushman & Shannon Kelly: Discusses the use of a podcast project in a writing program, breaking down how podcasts can impact education.

Do you have other resources or readings that have been helpful? Enter them below and I'll add them to the list so that your classmates can check them out as well.

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