This is a 4 credit New Century College course. This course is the prerequisite course for NCLC 350 Cyberculture and Virtual Community. The subject of study is various aspects of the Internet: Web publishing, evaluating Web sources, investigating virtual communities, becoming knowledgeable about copyright and the Internet, and other major Internet issues. A significant amount of class discussion will be on the Web. You will learn some basic html, Web design principles and use some Web publishing software. This is not a graphics design class, programming class or advanced Web publishing class. The major thrust of this course is academic - we will study and critique the Internet culture, discuss basic hypertext theory, and do a significant amount of reading, writing and critiquing. A significant amount of your work will be published on your course Web site. You will have the opportunity to revise some of your work if you follow these guidelines.

Texts:
Required Texts: Internet Literacy, 3rd ed., Fred Hofstetter, McGraw-Hill; Internet Literacy Web site w. online resources. GMU Student Technology Guide; Service Learning Handbook; New Century College Writing Guide (http://classweb.gmu.edu/nccwg); Course Resources. Don't Make Me Think, by Steve Krug, is a useful Web usability text you might want to read. Since this is an Internet Literacy class, appropriately, supplemental readings will be on the Internet. Students (in small groups) will also research current Internet topics to present to class. Supplies: zip disk or diskettes

Experiential Learning Component: This course has a required experiential learning component, for which you and your group members will perform a technology outreach (i.e.., design a Web site, teach Internet skills, perform Internet research) community service for a non-profit organization. You will meet with the organization members and submit a proposal. You are expected to contribute 45 hours of activities to fulfill the one (1) credit experiential learning component. You must successfully complete this component of the course in order to receive a passing grade, if, of course, your other grades for this course also add up to a passing grade.

The work load is commensurate with the number of hours. The sharing of talent, knowledge, ideas, and questions is an important element of a community of learners, so active participation is required in the class and with your group members. You will be expected to assume the role of mentor to your class members as you share your talents. You will also assume responsibility for providing credible and current information related to the course topics.

Participation:
Please review my course policies at: http://classweb.gmu.edu/montecin/249-s04/class_policies.htm. You will participate in some collaborative work. You are expected to do your share of the work and respect the views of other members of your group. Participation in in-class and electronic class discussion is included in your participation grade. You will also assume responsibility for providing credible and current information related to the course topics. You are expected to come to class having read the material for the class and have ready any course work due for that class. (Always bring your course work on a disk when you come to class.) You are expected to have your work posted by the due dates. Quality of work, not just completing it, determines the grade you earn. I  will not accept late work. If you think you have a valid reason for late work, such as an emergency, please bring documentation. Please feel free to meet with me anytime for clarification of assignments or other course assistance.

Class discussion: We will engage in in-class and online discussion. Come prepared for discussions by keeping up with the readings and the assignments. Some of our class discussion, synchronous and asynchronous will take place online on Townhall (http://townhall.gmu.edu)  See instructions for registering for and using Townhall. Student groups will take turns leading class presentations and research relevant material related to the topic of the week. 

Course goals:
 

• become knowledgeable about the social, political, legal, ethical, commercial and psychological aspects of the Internet
• become familiar with basic hypertext theory
• learn how to research, analyze, and critique Web resources
• understand and observe copyright laws
• create Web pages using HTML code, work with Web publishing programs, and work with ".gif" and ".jpg" graphics files)
• engage in and critique communication on a variety of computer mediated communication mediums
• gain real world work experience through the experiential /service learning component of the course - using your technology skills to provide a technology service for a non-profit organization
• further develop your collaborative work skills and teach each other
• compose well written compositions for a variety of audiences and purposes
• demonstrate how your learning experiences in this course relate to the New Century College Competencies

[Proposal for Experiential Learning Project (a or b). See Assign 6, #1 below.]

[Proposal for Web-based Report on an Internet topic See Assign 4.a. below.]

Due essay on you and the Internet.
Due - exp. lrng risk forms

Due Report on Virtual Community
 

Due progress reports on experiential learning. 

Due Final version Internet Report