We have opted to go with bicycle/loaner tape sets for clients to make masters from instead of the blockfeeds. The Writer's Odyssey sets will be available mid-July.

The instructional design provides for course delivery in two formats: video-based and online interactive. This flexible design accommodates a variety of teaching and learning styles and needs. Both courses are student-centered and focus on the writing process, delivering expertise and instruction in concentrated segments that students can readily apply.

The Writer's Odyssey Overview:

English composition II focuses on argumentation and research. Students review narration, description, observation, evaluation and analysis skills. Students follow the writing processes of invention, arrangement (rhetorical tools, organizational strategies, voice) and revision. The primary goal of the course is to teach distance learning students college-level writing skills in argument and research for success in academia and the everyday world.  Each lesson builds upon the preceding lesson honing student skills in argumentation and research.

Working in a spirit of inquiry and analysis, a student who successfully completes The Writer's Odyssey will be able to:

Video programs for both courses incorporate direct instruction, dramatization and ongoing interviews with a diverse group of working writers. The three elements work together to teach the basic concepts and skills of composition, model a variety of successful approaches to the writing process, and motivate students to become better thinkers and writers. 

Lessons are anchored by short, lively instruction segments in which writing tools, concepts and approaches are explained and illustrated. In accompanying dramatizations, five recurring characters undertake the actual writing assignments, modeling the writing process and focusing attention on key elements in each lesson. Interviews with working writers play a critical role as they discuss their strategies and solutions to the real challenges that arise in writing process. Finally, pithy 60-second "Quick Tips" occur throughout the series, offering useful pointers for beginning writers.

The Writer's Odyssey encourage students to rethink their ideas and explore new perspectives. Students who apply the tools and strategies taught in these courses will achieve a higher level of sophistication in writing, and a greater appreciation of how writing can impact the world around them.

Lesson Titles/Descriptions

Design & Production Team

Content Specialist - Diane Martin, PhD, has taught college level English on campus and via distance learning for 35 years, being honored with the Minnie Stevens Piper Award for Excellence.

Project Director - Craig Mayes is an award-winning film and television director with more than 30 years' production experience. 

Producer/Director  - Julia Dyer has eighteen years in film and television, producing and directing in the educational, commercial and entertainment sectors.

Instructional Designer - Janice Christophel has over 15 years' experience in developing educational and training materials, including instructional design on various multi-media courses.

Production Coordinator - Ruby Barron has worked in both news and commercial broadcasting. 

Advisory Committee