Beth Russell EdTech 501 March 8, 2012 The Great (Digital) Gatsby Background: Dr.

Patell, a literature professor has approached the instructional design and academic technology team with a request for help incorporating the iPad and apps into her curriculum for her undergraduate American Literature course. The professor is confident that tablets will play a large role in the future of higher education, especially in the form of ebooks, and she is keen to educate both her and her students about the multiple pedagogical uses the devices are capable of while moving beyond the traditional lecture and research paper model that she currently uses. After reviewing Dr. Patells curriculum together, Dr. Patell and one of the academic technologists decide to use 10 of the librarys iPads for an assignment based around literary themes in The Great Gatsby. The project will consist of several different pieces that will result in the students own version of the final project, The Great (Digital) Gatsby. Assignment Objectives: After completing the assignment, students will be able to: Identify major literary themes in the Great Gatsby. Demonstrate their ability to search the library catalog for research materials about literary themes in The Great Gatsby. Analyze the library materials available to them and identify those that are most appropriate for the assignment. Design a digital storyline that demonstrates their ability to use the iPad, a suite of apps and recording hardware and software. Assignment Outline: 1. Each of the students checks an iPad 2 out from the university library, all of which are pre-loaded with the BlueFire Reader app, the Photo Slideshow Director app, the Hippstamatic app and the Garage Band app. The Academic Technology department will circulate an Apogee Mic for each student as well. 2. A librarian teaches the entire class how to search the library catalog for materials that will help them explore literary themes in The Great Gatsby. In addition to traditional, print-based resources, the librarian also focuses specifically on using the extensive collection of ebooks, and demonstrates to students how to download them to the BlueFire Reader app and read them on the iPad. This allows the students to have multiple research resources at their fingertips. The BlueFire Reader app also allows for annotation so each student can take notes while doing research. 3. Students conduct research using library ebooks on their iPads and identify major literary themes in The Great Gatsby. 4. Students analyze these themes and determine how they can be visually represented through photos. 5. Using the iPad camera, students take photos of these visual representations. For example, a student may take photos of the color green, a flapper dress, a pair of eyeglasses, a drawing of a heart, money or a pile of ashes, all things that are symbolic of The Great Gatsby storyline.

6. Using the Hippstamatic app, the students modify the photos to create unique and visually appealing images. 7. Students then create a narrative to describe these literary themes and demonstrate their understanding of how they are related to the overall storyline. Using the Garage Band app and the Apogee Mic for the iPad, each student records their narrative. 8. Using the Photo Slideshow Director app, the students sync their recording and photos to a narrated slideshow, producing their version of The Great (Digital) Gatsby.