Syllabus - Course Outline

260P “New Media Communications:
Introduction to Web Communications”

Facilitator


Michael Henry
Course Facilitator

Description

This four credit hour, web-based multimedia course will examine the mediated communication process using Internet tools and critically evaluating information delivered on the Internet.  As organizations move closer to networked environments, there is a greater concern for information integrity and collaborative communication.  Students will examine the changes and challenges associated with mediated synchronous and asynchronous technologies such as email, Internet multimedia, teleconferencing, social networking, groupware, and electronic commerce.  The course is organized into four modules: Communication Technologies and Techniques; Searching and Researching Strategies; Internet Evaluation Techniques; Internet Communication and Social Interaction. The modules will focus on challenges in supervision and management, as well as structural and policy issues organizations face.  Collaborative and interactive activities will be conducted in teams, as well as two synchronous, online meetings using web conferencing tools.


At the end of this course, participants will be able to:


Teaching Philosophy

This online course will provide active learning experiences, through online activities.  Successful completion of the course will require team and individual projects.   Collaboration and teamwork will be stressed in each module to simulate current business practices for the creation of Internet communication or new media communications. 
 

Mediated Teaching Modes

This course will be delivered using a “blended” approach: face-to-face orientation and online activities.  We will use a team approach to projects. These technologies include multimedia topic introductions, asynchronous activities, which may be completed individually or in teams and synchronous online web conferences.  The course will begin with a face-to-face orientation, to ensure participation and understanding of the teaching modes.
 

Expectations

Readings: Participants are expected to read all assigned materials thoughtfully and keep a reading journal, summarizing articles read with a short paragraph. Read with the objective of understanding the key ideas, rather than trying to memorize the information.  Participants will be encouraged to follow coverage of communication technologies in the popular press during the semester.  Each module has one required reading assignment.  You will read and post your notes from one article in each module.  You will also need to post one reaction to an article posted by another participant in this class.

 

Assignment due dates:  One of the advantages to an online class is the flexibility it offers in when and where participants choose to do the work. Another advantage is the opportunity to interact with other students online. To support both objectives, assignments have target due dates. Target due dates are included in weekly email announcements. You are free to submit assignments early, but you should keep up with the targets to avoid having a great deal to do at the end of the semester. Assignments posted after the target dates, will receive half point values.
 

Directed discussions: Topics for discussion are posted by the instructor.  Post appropriate and on-topic comments in the directed discussions. A general discussion area is provided for comments or other topics not included in the directed discussions.  Your own comments in response to the initial topic or to subsequence postings are part of the participation requirement for the class.  Cite references and source material, unless the discussion is an "Opinion Discussion."

Participation in discussions is a critically important part of each student's performance. Your contributions to discussion are among your most valuable contributions to the course. Discussion questions are given in each Lesson. In discussions, we won't have strict concern for formality and grammatical correctness; however, your language, grammar and spelling should be equivalent to that in a classroom discussion.  (Informality at the level of Internet chat groups or text messaging is not appropriate.) Some students find it helpful to compose their discussion posts offline and paste them into the discussion window.  Also, please use the spell checker provided for each post in Blackboard (look for the ABC with the check mark next to it).

To demonstrate your understanding of the readings and discussions:

  • Answers should be based on the required readings and discussions.

  • Please seek clarification if you don't understand the reading and/or the assignment question.

  • Students should ask and answer questions about readings and assignments publicly, in the Class Discussions, to help out everyone in our learning community.

  • The other students and the Mentor should be able to learn from reading the discussion. In class discussion, students should:

    • Make their initial posts as thoughtful as possible

    • Accept and encourage other students to learn by actively joining in the critique and comments

    • Be capable of providing polite and appropriate public criticism and publicly defending their claims

 

Criteria for Grading Discussion Participation

Your discussion contributions and leadership are graded subjectively, based on the following factors:

  • Quality of contribution: "Me too" comments and quips that add life to a discussion are welcome, but they carry no particular weight. Comments with content that reflects your having read the assignments carry weight, and comments which reflect reading, understanding and analyzing the assigned readings carry the most weight.
     

  • Regularity of contribution: Grades are not solely based on the number of contributions, but this class is heavily based in readings and discussion. Therefore, if you are not a regular contributor with quality contributions, it reflects less credit on you and your involvement in the course.
     

  • Number of course accesses: The instructor checks course statistics regularly to see who is accessing the course. Grading is not based solely on the number of course accesses, but when one student has accessed the discussion area 150 times at the end of the term and another has accessed it only 20 times, it is apparent that there is a clear disparity in the degree to which those students have dedicated their time and attention to the course.
     

Academic integrity: It is presumed that all work submitted is the original work of the participant whose name appears on it and was prepared originally for this course. Plagiarism and other acts of academic dishonesty are subject to academic penalties ranging from no credit for the assignment to a failing grade for the course.

Grading Policy: All activities are graded based on points.  Point values are posted in MyGrades.  Full points awarded to complete activities turned in by the target date. The midterm paper is worth 50 points and the final project is worth 150 points.  Writing skill will be assessed using a scoring rubric.  When an activity is incomplete or turned in late, points will be removed.  Total points 400.  Grades are based on total points, not percentages: Points: 400 - 390 A; 389 - 385 A-; 384 - 380 B+; 379 - 375 B; 374 - 370 B-; 369 - 365 C+; 364 - 300 C; 299 - 200 D; 199 or below F .

Statement on sexual harassment, intimidation, or discrimination - the College and the University of Missouri-Kansas City have a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment, intimidation, or discrimination of any kind. The faculty and the administration are committed to creating and maintaining an environment on campus that is free of all forms of harassment, intimidation, and discrimination.

Should you or a friend ever experience any action or speech that feels coercive or discriminatory, you should report this immediately to the department chair, the office of the Dean, and/or the Affirmative Action Office. The Affirmative Action Office will be responsible for investigating any complaint of discrimination or sexual harassment.

We are a community of learners dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and the acquisitions of skills that will enable us to lead rich and full lives. We can pursue these ends only in a culture of mutual respect and civility. It is incumbent upon all of us to create a culture of respect everywhere on campus and at all times through our actions and speech.

 

Course Outline

Module I:
Communication Technologies and Techniques

·        Navigational Strategies

·        Directed Learning with Web Communication

·        Learning Styles

·        Search and Research Techniques

·        New Media Technologies

·        Collaborative Tools and Team Interaction Online

·        Internet Technology and Communication Systems

·        Plug-ins and Internet Communication Programs

·        Distributed Team Communication Strategy

Module I Objectives: Students will be able to

·         Define and demonstrate key technologies, including navigation, URL, html and text email, search engines, database search, interactive multimedia, physical connections, Internet Service Providers, hosting,  and plug-ins.

·         Create and update a personal profile and personal web page, using form submission.

·         Find and complete an Internet tutorial

·         Identify the general delivery system requirements and limitations for web communications.

·         Establish team goals in a collaborative environment.

Activities

-              1-1 Learning Styles Survey.  Students will find and take a learning styles survey online.  They will provide comments regarding the ease of use, navigation and validity from their personal perspective.

-              1-2 Collaborative dictionary.  Individuals in this course will be able to post a term they would like defined and others will search out the definition. The Instructor will close definitions, once a suitable definition is found.

-              1-3 Criteria for credible information.  What are "Reliable Sources" of information?  Who do you trust and why?  Students will develop their own evaluation checklist.  These lists will be posted for all to see.

-              1-4 Personal Web Page.  Create a personal profile, with a photograph, using form submit technology.

-              1-5 Reading Reflection.  Select a reading based on the topics in this module, think about the value of the reading, then report back to us regarding the good and bad aspects of the reading.  Each module has one reading reflection activity.  Select your own reading, or use one of the suggested readings from the module.  Be sure to make an appropriate reference to the online resource.  Here is the style guide:

Humanities Style:  Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Document." Title of  Complete Work [if applicable]. Version or File Number [if  applicable]. Document date or date of last revision [if  different from access date].  Protocol and URL address (date of access).

For example:  Cohen, Laura. "Using and Searching the Web." Internet Tutorials.  Updated: November 2005. University at Albany, Library.  Online: http://library.albany.edu/internet/ (2006).

 

Module II:
Searching and Researching Strategies

·        How search engines work and what they don’t do.

·        Search Engine technology.

·        Improving site traffic

·        Information warehousing and virtual libraries.

·        Working with a library in the digital age.

Activities

-              2-1 Search for a virtual needle in a haystack.  Individual students will use at least 5 search engines to find a single resource.  Students will report on where they found the resource and which search engine worked best while looking for it.

-              2-2 Team Roles.  Team members will discuss various roles and responsibilities in a team: Leader, Researcher, Graphics, Editor, etc.  Then following a description of the responsibilities, each individual will declare their role on the team.

-              Final Team Project Proposal.  MIDTERM PAPER.  50 Points  Describe your team's Learning Game plan and how your team has communicated thus far.  For this activity, each member of a team will identify the topic, brief description and a timeline for completing each section of the project.  Each individual will evaluate their participation in the group project, as well as the class activities. This paper is worth 50 points and will be evaluated using a scoring rubric.

-              2-3 Reading Discussion.  You may comment on this reading or find a reading about Web Communication Dynamics.  Fisher, D. and Wright, L. (2001).  On Utopias and Dystopias: Toward an Understanding of the Discourse Surrounding the Internet.  Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 6 (2).  Online:  http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol6/issue2/fisher.html

-           Recommended Resources: 

            Search strategies:
http://searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/ 
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Strategies.html

Find an article about Web Communications and Share it in the "Shared Resources Discussion"!

 

Module III:
Internet Evaluation Techniques

·        Who, where and why.  Determining the author, source, publisher and domain for information on the Internet.

·        The value of references, hyperlinks and bibliographies for Internet sources.

·        Determining the base domain and related information.

·        Ownership of graphics and images.

·        Digital Millennium Copyright Act

·        Evaluating information contained within HTML headers, keywords and descriptions.

·        Using services like Whois and Verisign to evaluate Internet information.

·        Domain registration process and information.

·        Usenet comments from individuals from sites like deja.com.

·        Working collaboratively to evaluate information. 

Activities

-                     3-1  Who, Where and Why.  Students will individually find a site of interest to them.  They will be asked to identify the author, creation or modification date and base domain.  They will explore related hyperlinks and references to determine if they are consistent with the site.  Finally, they will be asked to copy and paste the header HTML for the site.

-                    3-2  Believe it or NOT?  Students will individually find a site that seems unbelievable.  Then other students can comment on whether the site is true or not and why.  Be sure to use evaluation techniques and your "Criteria for Credible Information" to evaluate a site.  Each student will post one site and comment on at least one site.  (Two postings required to complete this activity.)

-                     Final Team Project Learning Game.  Create a Learning Game for all to participate in that demonstrates your understanding of Web Communications.  Teams will create a prototype of their game and submit the prototype for approval in the Team Group Area of the webcourse.  (See an example)

            Here are some details on how to create your game:

·         Play online in a web conference - slides and conference telephone call. 

·         You may ask other students in the class to type in an answer in the chat window, you may ask them to respond with their voice or you can call on individuals to respond as a group. 

·         The game should have some connection to the topics discussed in the class and should have a learning motivation. 

·         The game should last from 3 to 5 minutes to play. 

·         You may create a web page for your game or create  PowerPoint slides to display your game.
 

-                     3-3  Reading.  You may comment on this reading or find one of your own regarding Internet Information Evaluation Techniques.  Hartman, K & Ackermann, E.  (August 1999).  Finding quality information on the Internet.  Syllabus. 13(1).  Online: http://www.syllabus.com/Qualityinfoontheinternet.HTM

-           Online Resources from the EDUCAUSE Information Resources Library Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
http://www.educause.edu/issues/dmca.html

-           Schwartz, J. "Hacking Away, Long Before There Were Hackers." New York Times, Week in Review. (2003-1-5) Online: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/05/weekinreview/05SCHW.html

-           Fogg, B.J.  Web Credibility Project. Stanford University. (Updated on December 23, 2002)  Online: http://www.webcredibility.org/

Module IV:
Internet Communication and Social Interaction

·        Content and social information

·        Lean and rich media

·        Transcending time and geography

·        Safety and security

·        Sharing resources.

·        Leadership in an online team.

 

Objectives: Students should be able to

·         Describe how communication technologies transcend time and space and provide examples

·         Compare and contrast web communications and face-to-face communication

·         Discuss the implications of asynchronous transmission

·         Evaluate the appropriateness of a medium for a given message type

 

Activities

-                     Final Team Project: Create a Game Show   Create a Learning Game for all to participate in that demonstrates your understanding of Web Communications.  Teams will create a prototype of their game and submit the prototype for approval in the Team Group Area of the webcourse.  Be sure to use slides and graphics to show your content.

·         Open the game show and explain the rules.

·         Introduce the subject of the show.

·         Involve the participants in the class or invite participants to become contestants.

·         Get the entire class to vote or participate in the game.

·         Finally, each member of the team needs to provide a description of their experience in the team project.

-           4-1 Safety and Security on the Internet.  A discussion.  Share your thoughts on how safe we are on the Internet.  When do you know you are not safe?  How can you protect your children?  What recourses are available to help keep you safe?  Where are the boundaries?  Post a short paragraph, with references and respond to at least one comment by another participant in this class.

-              4-2 Sharing Resources.  The class will find and share sites and Internet resources that are helpful in determining quality information on the Internet.

-            4-3 Reading Reflection.  Select a reading based on the topics in this module, think about the value of the reading, then report back to us regarding the good and bad aspects of the reading.

-           4-4 Final Project Reflection.  FINAL PAPER 150 Points. Provide a complete description of the collaborative process used to develop your team presentation, as well as communication media used and other organization tactics.  Evaluate your team communication process, individually and as a whole.  Suggest communication strategies, based on your experience.  Include citations to support your argument.  This paper is worth 150 points and will be evaluated using a scoring rubric.

The final meeting will be conducted in a LIVE web conference.  Students will connect to the web conference and hear the discussion broadcast on the Interactive Video Network.  Students will share their Game Show projects, and the other students in the class will play the game.  Evaluation criteria will be applied to each student project.

 

Bibliography

 

Auer, Nicole. (1999) Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources.  Online journal. http://www.lib.vt.edu/research/evaluate/evalbiblio.html

 Duncan, R. (1996). Understanding and using the internet: The PBS resource to get more from your time online. Andrew Cochran Associates. Online Document: http://www.pbs.org/uti/

 Fisher, D. and Wright, L. (2001).  On Utopias and Dystopias: Toward an Understanding of the Discourse Surrounding the Internet.  Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 6 (2).  Online:  http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol6/issue2/fisher.html

 Hartman, K and Ackermann, E. (August 1999) Finding quality information on the Internet.  Syllabus http://www.syllabus.com/Qualityinfoontheinternet.HTM

 Lehman, B. A.  et al. (1998).  Intellectual property and the national information infrastructure: The report of the working group on intellectual property rights. White House Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF). Online Document: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/doc/ipnii/

 Morris, M. (1996). The Internet as Mass Medium. Journal of Communication 46(1), Winter. Online: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol1/issue4/morris.html

 

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