TikTok Library Challenge
Valerie Work
English, City Tech
English Composition II (1121)
Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity
What: Students will collaborate in teams of 5 to create a 1-2 minute TikTok video designed to introduce new City Tech freshmen to the City Tech library and encourage them to use it.
Assignment: Your group will create a 1-2 minute TikTok video to introduce next year’s freshmen to the City Tech library AND encourage them to use the library’s resources.
Questions to Consider:
-What do you think next year’s new freshmen will most need to know about the library? Why?
-What do you think they will most WANT to know about the library, and why?
-How can you use the genre conventions of a TikTok video (or a specific sub-genre of TikTok video) to accomplish your purpose AND engage your audience?
-What is the most logical structure for your video? What will be the beginning, middle and end? How will you organize or order your material?
-What locations within the library will you show in your video, and why?
-How will you shoot the footage you need without violating library rules (i.e., you can’t make too much noise, disturb other library users, or damage property!)
-How can you divide the tasks needed to make the video in a way that is fair to all group members?
-How will you manage your time efficiently during and after the site visit so that your project is finished by the deadline?
Each group will share their video using the room’s projection system at the next class meeting ( you’ll need to upload it by then and bring the link!) The class will vote on the video it thinks will be most effective, and the winner will be shared during the first week of next semester with my 1101 students.
Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?
-Students will be better prepared to understand the principles of multi-modal composition after having created a simple multimodal project as a group. I hope they will therefore be more engaged by the following class discussions introducing the terms, concepts and assignment for Unit 3.
-Students will feel more confident in creating a multimodal project on their own and generate stronger work if they have first made one as part of a team (scaffolding).
-Socially useful–-1101 students can be terrified of the library! I hope this will help next year.
-Supports the Gen Ed goals of Critical Thinking (primary) and Teamwork (secondary).
Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?
When: The library site visit will take place on the first day of Unit 3 (Multimodal Composition). The following class meeting will be an opportunity to share the videos with classmates, and we’ll then use them as a springboard to introduce the unit.
The groups are encouraged to finish their videos during the 75 minute library site visit class, and many did. In some groups, a member who arrived late or was otherwise less involved with shooting footage took responsibility for additional editing and/or uploading the video to TikTok after class.
Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?
I made an announcement in the previous class to meet in front of the library along with a brief description of the project, and I also posted this information on Blackboard as an announcement. It's a low-stakes assignment.
Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?
All students who attend the site visit class and engage with the task will receive a classwork credit towards their classwork grade. Completion of the videos by the following class will count as a homework assignment. Students will also complete a pass/fail in-class writing assignment evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of their team’s process and final product that will count as the second day's in-class writing task.
Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?
On the whole, I would repeat the activity. The students who completed it were highly engaged and referred back to the project for the rest of the semester enthusiastically. Many commented at the end of the term that they felt the class was an excellent opportunity to develop relationships with classmates, and I felt that this activity supported that process. My students did seem to feel more comfortable approaching their own multi-modal project after successfully creating one with a team. The teams who presented their videos felt a great sense of accomplishment and enjoyed discussing their process and choices with the class. Also, some of the more low-performing students turned out to be really knowledgeable about using cell phone cameras and/or TikTok, and it gave some C students a chance to shine.
That said, the poor attendance patterns that were a part of the Spring 2024 term for many sections did significantly limit the impact, as only 10 students attended my 10 am class and 6 attended my 11:30 am class on the day of the library site visit, and some of those students were then absent the following class and missed the presentations and discussion. I initially wanted to limit the amount of information I gave about the activity in advance because I wanted the students to work through the challenge on the day of the assignment with their teams, but in retrospect, I believe I should have talked up the benefits of the project more at the previous class meeting to encourage more students to show up for it. On the other hand, I'm not sure that would have helped, as there were many other class periods during the second half of the term that were also this poorly attended.
There was a minor altercation with a library worker who became extremely irritated when she thought the students were filming her (even though they were actually filming the circulation desk sign). I suggested that the remaining teams stay away from the circulation desk, as she seemed unusually sensitive. One team was particularly disappointed that they were not able to include this area in their video. All of the other library staff seemed neutral to enthusiastic about the project, and I don't think that it disrupted operations apart from this one incident.
Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.
Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab
