Tech Companies Control Billions of Minds Every Day TED Talk Project

Transfer AssignmentsThis project will be based on ONE of two TedTalks: “How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day” by Tristan
Harris OR “Connected, but alone?” by Sherry Turkle
You must use the same TedTalk for each part of your project.
Part 1: Infographic (10%)
Due: November 22th at 11pm
Submission Details: Submit your assignment by clicking on the Assignments tab in the main Blackboard menu, then clicking on “Transfer
Assignment: Infographic”
Task 1: Create a one-page infographic that informs the viewer about the central message and supporting evidence from either Tristan Harris’s
TedTalk OR Sherry Turkle’s TedTalk.
Task 2: Include a short, one paragraph reflection (5-7 sentences) with your infographic (see details below).
Assignment Description: Tristan Harris and Sherry Turkle are coming to Seneca on January 30th, 2022 to give their talks, “How a handful of tech
companies control billions of minds every day” and “Connected, but alone?” in the Seneca Library. You have been hired to make an infographic to
be included on the Seneca website to give students an idea about what Tristan Harris OR Sherry Turkle will be discussing. Your infographic should
visually represent the main idea (thesis) of the talk while attempting to create interest for students who might want to attend. In a one-page
infographic, present the main ideas and supporting ideas from one of the two TedTalks. Along with your infographic, write a brief reflection,
explaining your choices.
Your Purpose: Your purpose is to visually represent the main purpose and supporting ideas of one of the two TedTalks in a way that is clear and
easy to understand. Your infographic should attempt to highlight the central ideas of the talk, while presenting those ideas in a way that creates
interest for students to attend.
Your Audience: Imagine you are creating your infographic to be posted to the Seneca College website. It will be posted on a public setting—online.
It is intended to reach students at the college. This means that it needs to look professional; it needs to be accurate; it needs to be clear; and it
ought to be visually appealing and appropriate in order to connect with students at Seneca. Ask yourself: What would be appealing and appropriate
for you?
Your Genre: Firstly, you are creating something to be shared online. What does this mean? It means that many people could potentially see it
(including Tristan Harris and Sherry Turkle). It also means that how you convey ideas through social media is more flexible. You are not writing an
academic summary here; you are summarizing something to be presented visually. Secondly, you are creating an infographic. While there is a lot of
room for interpretation as to what constitutes an infographic, you should aim to balance your data, text and images. That is, an infographic makes
meaning by relating data, text and images together. A paragraph is just words on a page. A statistic is words and numbers. A picture is an image of
something. In an infographic, you have the advantage of combining all three.
Your Language and Tone: For this assignment, you will need to consider your “visual” language and tone, as well as the language and tone of
your words.
Your infographic should be visually appealing:
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Easy to follow
Well organized
Have clear relationships between segments (parts of the infographic)
Use an appropriate font size and graphics that are properly sized and well balanced
Considers things like spacing, colour, orientation, scale etc.
Essentially, your infographic should be interesting to look at and easy to follow. By its very definition, an infographic attempts to simplify complex
ideas by including visuals and a logical structure.
Identifying main ideas and support ideas: Focus on the TedTalk’s thesis, evidence to support the thesis, and solutions to the problem set out by
the speaker. Ask yourself: Why did he/she say this? To inform? To persuade? To argue? To show? Next, ask: What is the thesis? What is his/her
solution to the problem? By answering these questions, you will be able to narrow down the purpose and main idea of the talk. Lastly, ask: How
does he/she support the thesis? What key supporting points does he/she make in order to prove his/her main ideas? You will need to make a lot of
choices about what not to include in your infographic. By focusing on the above questions, you will be able to decide what a potential audience
member would need to know about the TedTalk.
Creating Your Infographic:
CANVA Video Tutorial:

You will find many graphic design programs online that you can use to create your infographic. I recommend Canva (https://www.canva.com/) because it is free and easy to use. This video gives you a basic tutorial on how to use canva. Even if you decide to go with
another program, this video will give you an idea of the steps involved to create an infographic.
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Go to https://www.canva.com/
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Create an account (it is free!)
CLICK THAT You are interested in Infographic templates
Begin searching for a template that fits your ideas
Try playing with various fonts/graphics/colours etc
Create an test infographic in order to answer these questions for yourself:
How do I insert text/image/graphics?
How do I change colour, size, font?
How do I import images?
How do I download the file?
Ready to make magic? Go for it!
Other design programs suggested by students include Figma, Piktochart and Sketch.
Rubric for Infographic Assignment:
Title: (2 marks)
The title of your infographic should be a thesis or central message of one of the two TedTalks. Keep it concise and direct. Remember that the title of
your infographic should somehow instruct the viewer on how to understand your infographic. DO NOT SIMPLY USE THE NAME OF THE
TEDTALK AS THE TITLE OF YOUR INFOGRAPHIC!
Info: (4 marks)
Your infographic must inform your audience about four to five supporting ideas or pieces of evidence from the talk. No more than two direct quotes
should be used. Instead, paraphrase the key points about the talk in clear, accessible language for a general audience. You may also want to go
elsewhere to support the ideas in the TedTalk. That is, you may want to find some compelling pieces of data or statistics that help to support the
speaker’s overall thesis. For example, you could find out statistics related to social media consumption; or you could find statistics related to the
number of cell phones people have; or you could find out the number of apps people use in a day. Ask: what compelling evidence, idea, quote,
statistic, chart, map, etc. might help to convey the speaker’s message visually? Secondary sources are permitted as long as you cite where you are
getting the information.
Graphics: (3 marks)
Select and integrate four or more well-selected (appropriate to the content and to a general audience) images to help illustrate your four to five main
ideas. Your images can include:
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a pie chart or graph
a clip-art, illustration or cartoon image
Remember: All images under copyright must be cited using APA at the bottom of the infographic.
Design: (3 marks)
The goal for your infographic is to:
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Present key ideas from the talk in a persuasive way to illustrate the thesis and/or the title of the infographic
Be easy to read and logically organized
References (Include a “Source” line at the bottom): (1 mark)
At the bottom of your infographic, you need to include your sources in proper APA format. This is similar to a Reference page for an essay. The
difference is that in an infographic, it is entitled, “Sources” after which you list all of the sources you used to create the infographic. At the very least
you will need to include the TedTalk information under your sources, but you may also need to include information about any pictures you used that
have copyright restrictions, as well as any secondary sources (other articles, charts, facts, quotes).
One Paragraph Reflection: (2 marks)
As well as the infographic, you are required to submit a brief reflection (one paragraph/150-200 words), answering the following questions:
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What is the main idea and purpose of the TedTalk?
What were some of the most persuasive aspects of the talk?
How did you communicate the main idea and purpose of the talk in your infographic?
How did you use persuasion in your infographic?
Part 2: Academic Paragraph (10%)
Due: November 22nd at 11pm
Submission Details: Submit your assignment by clicking on the Assignments tab in the main Blackboard menu, then clicking on “Transfer
Assignment: Academic Paragraph”
In a short paragraph (200-300 words) written in academic style, analyze the author’s use of ONE of the three rhetorical strategies, and say whether
its use is effective or not, and explain why.
For your analysis, consider: why does the author use this rhetorical strategy? How does it strengthen or weaken their argument? How is the
rhetorical strategy appropriate or not for the purpose, audience, and context of the piece?
These are guiding questions only – use these questions to guide your analysis, but don’t limit yourself to them.
You should include at least two specific examples from the talk, and you must use proper APA-style formatting for this submission.
Rubric:
/2
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/4
/3
/3
/2
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/2
TOTAL:
/22
Academic Paragraph Rubric
Paragraph structure
Clear topic sentence that indicates main idea
Transitions between ideas to create cohesion and coherence
Content
Analysis of rhetorical strategy
Development of example 1
Development of example 2
Academic Style
Tone is informative
Language and vocabulary are appropriate
References
Correct APA in-text citations
Correct APA reference(s)
Part 3: Blog or Social Media Post (10%)
Due: November 29th at 10pm
Submission Details: Submit your assignment by clicking on the Assignments tab in the main Blackboard menu, then clicking on “Transfer
Assignment: Blog Post”
In your infographic, you identified the author’s main ideas and key pieces of supporting evidence. Finally, you can say whether you agree or not with
the author’s opinion!
In a short blog post or social media post (250-400 words) explain why you agree or disagree with the author. You are trying to convince your reader
to agree with you, so use the persuasive techniques that we have discussed in class. You’ll want to clearly identify the author’s main idea – don’t
assume that your reader has seen your infographic.
A social media post is shareable, so keep in mind that your post has to be accessible to a wide audience. However, the conventions of social media
posts are more fluid, so you may include images or any kind of visual support that could allow you to strengthen your argument.
Blog Post rubric (20%) = 20 marks
0 marks
Thesis is
unclear or
unfocused
No sources
are
provided
1 mark
Thesis is
present but
unsupported
Sources are
provided
incorrectly
2 marks
Thesis is clear but
only partially
supported
Source for the TED
Talk video is
provided correctly
Design/visuals
Missing
many
visual
elements
Sufficient use of
visual elements, but
connection of some
visuals to thesis is
unclear
Opinion, purpose thesis, solution,
message
Purpose is
missing or
very
unclear
Some visual
elements
used but
connection
to thesis is
unclear
Purpose is
apparent but
sometimes
unclear
Purpose (to
entertain, persuade,
inform, describe) is
clear. There is an
opinion that is clear.
Purpose is clear and
presented well. The
purpose is covered
thoroughly and
supporting ideas are
mostly clear.
Purpose is
often unclear
due to errors
Consistent spelling
or grammar mistakes
that undermine the
message of the blog
post.
Noticeable typos
undermine the
message of the blog
post
Clear thesis
Sources – must be
cited, though
conventions of a
blog post do not
require APA format
3 marks
Thesis is clear and
specific and wellsupported
Source for the TED
Talk video is provided
correctly – secondary
sources are credible,
current, reliable, and
authoritative.
Visual elements
chosen thoughtfully
and all are relevant to
the blog post.
4 marks
Thesis is specific, clear, original and
meaningful
Source for the TED Talk video is
provided correctly – secondary
sources are credible, current,
reliable, and authoritative. Sources
for the visuals are also provided.
Visual elements chosen thoughtfully
and all are easily seen as relevant to
the blog post. The visual elements
work together and are placed
appropriately in order to make an
attractive and appealing piece.
Purpose is clear and presented well.
The purpose is covered thoroughly
and supporting ideas are clear.
Length = 400 words
Language
Purpose is
unclear
due to
language
errors
Any visible language errors do not
undermine the message of the blog
post