Class notes are, to borrow from a colleague of mine, “epistemologically weird.” On the one hand, they are an individual account of what you learned during a class. On the other hand, if your notes are too individualized or idiosyncratic it means you will have likely missed what was most important. To be effective, in other words, class notes should reflect the collective experience of the classroom. To this end, you will be working in groups this semester to create class notes using the course wiki and Google Wave.
Working in groups, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining a wiki page or wave with notes for each class. Online notes SHOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT simply transcribe what's on the board. Instead, you are responsible for the following:
Your notes are before the start of the next class. Over the course of the semester, you will be responsible for updating the page as concepts recur or develop over time.
It's very easy to do this assignment badly. ("Ooh--we'll divvy up the different required parts, and just slap it all online.") But the point of wikis and Wave is to try to collaboratively draft, revise, and rethink material. Change stuff. Use the "comments" feature. Link to other days' notes to extend the conversation. Don't be afraid of the sites: there's nothing you can break.
Each group will write 4 sets of notes. The first two will be on the wiki; the third will be on Wave; and I’ll allow you to choose your preferred platform for the fourth. The assignment is worth 150 points total. Each entry is worth 30 points. In general, I will email the scores for the notes posted during the week to groups on Friday/Saturday. I will be looking to how well your notes cover and discuss (1) the main point of class, (2) the passages, and (3) the definitions of key terms. You should also make sure the notes are pristinely copyedited; formatting, grammar, and syntax are important contributions to this wiki and the creation of all knowledge. I will also post my comments about the notes (but not their score) to the wiki or wave, so the whole class can benefit from them.
The remaining 30 points will be allocated at the end of the semester based on how a report that group members will make to me--privately--about how the group dynamic functioned. In other words, don't slack off; everyone must carry their own weight in this assignment.
Having a semester’s worth of class notes aggregated on the wiki will also help you see exactly how much work takes place in an English classroom and it will be a useful resource for reviewing material that you might have missed.
Important points for notes on Wave