Spring 2003 NCLC-350 - Cyberculture and Virtual Communities

NCLC 350 - Cyberculture - Spring 2003

Instructors:
Virginia Montecino montecin@gmu.edu 703-993-4318	John Windmueller jwindmue@gmu.edu 703-993-1436
Enterprise Hall, 4th Floor

Class meetings: Tues. 4:30-7:10 pm, Robinson Hall A, Room 101

This syllabus is designed to be read online to link to essential online components.

Day-by-day Schedule	Writing, Research, Technology Resources
Course Description and Goals	Honor Code and Plagiarism Statement
Major Assignments and due dates	Disability Resource Center
Texts	Townhall

Texts: Required: Web.Studies: Rewiring Media Studies for the Digital Age, David Gauntlett, ed., October 2000 Oxford University Press (ISBN 0 340 76049 4); Recommended: Longman Guide to the Web, Lester Faigley (spiral-bound)1999, Addison-Wesley Pub Co., ISBN: 0321067304); Online Writing Guide for New Century CollegeStudents. Since this is a class which examines Internet cultures, many of our readings will be on the Internet (See weekly schedule). Some readings are subject to change due to the evolving nature of the Internet. Also see: Course Resources and Cyberculture Resources

Course Description: This is a 6 credit New Century College course, with an extensive online discussion/meeting component in addition to regular course meeting times. The subject of study is cyberculture and virtual communties. What began as a small group of people communicating over the Internet in the days before the invention of a windows-type Web browser has now been transformed into a multi-faceted international virtual world, with many subcultures interacting over the Internet, using many mediums of communication. We will examine who forms and has access to these communities (haves and have nots), the types of communities (social, professional, commercial, self-help), how they represent themselves, and the electronic mediums they use.

An important part of exploring virtual communites is to become informed users of the Internet and learn to discern between credible and non credible information and organizations, based on a set of criteria we will establish. We will also read, discuss and write about significant social, cultural, ethical, business, educational and economic issues that affect people operating in a digital environment.

Prerequisite: NCLC 249 Internet Literacy, or permission of instructor. Students must be familiar with the use of email, ftp, Iinternet browsing, web page creation on the mason system, and must have regular access to the Internet via an Internet capable computer (with a modem) and an active mason Internet account. Please have an up-to-date anti-virus computer program installed. A significant portion of your work will be submitted by publishing it on your Student Course Web Site and in Townhall. Students who passed the prerequisite course should have the required technology skills. This is not an advanced html course. We will have reviews of basic "how-tos" in class. (If you need additional assistance with these skills, consult the course resources and http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/how-to.htm). You will be expected to take the initiative and avail yourself of the STAR (Student Technology Assistance Resources) resources if you need additional help.)

Course goals:

investigate and report on the characteristics of various types of virtual communities
discuss and critique social, political, legal, ethical, commercial and psychological aspects of life on the Internet
research, analyze, and critique Web resources for credibility and usefulness for academic research
become familiar with and observe copyright laws
create Web content using HTML code and some advanced concepts (such as working with HTML editing programs and ".gif" and ".jpg" graphics files) to post course work
engage in and critique various digital communication mediums
provide detailed and thoughtful reflection on the knowledge acquired and skills learned in relation to chosen NCC competencies.

Participation and group-led discussion: We expect you to be actively involved in face-to-face and online discussions. We also require you to check your GMU email regularly and respond to email inquiries in a timely manner. Please come to class prepared to discuss the weekly readings and turn in your work on the required due dates. You will be assigned to groups to lead class discussions work on group projects. You will evaluate each other's group performance at the end of the semester, using this form. If a student does not actively participate in the group projects, that student's individual project grade may be downgraded accordingly. We will post your discussions in Townhall (http://townhall.gmu.edu). See instructions for registering for and using Townhall.

Assignment requirements: (Always bring your coursework on a disk when you come to class.) You are expected to have your work posted by the due dates. For each day your work is overdue you will earn a half grade lower (B to B-, for example). We will not accept late final projects or final reports. If you have a compelling reason and documentation, discuss this with us. Quality of work, not just completing it, determines the grade you earn. You will have the opportunity to revise some work if it is turned in on time.

Major Assignments and Due Dates:
* You are not allowed to recycle old material or material for other classes.
(some have multiple components)	Percent	Due Date
1. Virtual Community Investigations (various due dates)
Investigation 1 - arts and entertainment ....................................	5%	2/04
Investigation 2 - college ..........................................................	5%	2/25
Investigation 3 - social issues ..................................................	5%	3/18
Investigation 4 - career ...........................................................	5%	4/01
2. Virtual Communities Final Report .........................................	15%	4/29
3. Build on course Web site (continuous throughout semester)....	10%	4/29
4. Group Project - Cyberculture/Virtual Community Web site
a. Proposal (one per group) post in Townhall................................	5%	3/25
b. Project ...................................................................................	20%
Project Storyboards due ..............................................................		4/22
Post completed Cyberculture Project Web site .............................		4/29
Present project to class Turn in evaluation of group members' performance ......................		5/13
5. Group-led discussions ..........................................................	10%	..
6. Participation: Required Web-based forum, plus being responsible learning community members (mentoring, sharing skills and knowledge, engaging in class activities)...	20%
Total points for class	100	.

All work must be your own effort. Review the GMU honor code and copyright rules.
Give credit to others when you collaborate on projects. See guidelines on appropriate collaboration.

Important Dates

Last day to submit Domicile Reclassification Application (for relevant students) January 21
Last day to drop with no tuition liability - February 4
Last day to add classes - February 4
All individualized section forms due on February 4
Last day to drop February 21

Class Schedule Subject to change, if necessary, to achieve learning objectives. Notice: the readings are listed the week before they are due.
	Wk 1 - 1/21- Review of syllabus, course overview, explanation of assignments. Historical context - What is the Internet, anyway? What is a cyberculture, a virtual community? Register for and join class introductions forum on Townhall, our Web-based meeting place. Setting up your course Web page on the mason server.
	Reading assignments for Week 2: Ch. 1,"Web Studies: A User's Guide,"Gauntlett; Ch 2, "Looking Backwards, Looking Forwards: Cyberculture Studies, 1990-2000," David Silver. Become familar with the *webstudies* glossary (pp.218-227); Virtual Communities, Phony Civil Society?, Howard Rheingold;QUAKE-ING IN MY BOOTS (examining an online gamer population) Mary-Anne Breeze ;The Internet, Communities, and the Virtual "Third Place" (only this section is required); Guidelines for Student Web pages.
	Last day to drop with no tuition liability - January 29
	Wk 2- 1/28 - Overview of Web Studies Student group led discussion. Looking for cybercultures in all the right places. Preparation for virtual communities investigations. Preliminary investigations for Investigation 1 - virtual communities related to arts and entertainment. Work on course Web pages.
	Reading assignments for Week 3: web.studies, "I-love-Xena-.com...", Pullen (pp. 53-61); "The Web Goes to the Pictures," Gauntlett (pp. 81-87); Artists' Websites: Declarations of Identity..,." (pp. 62-67) Sample some hypertext fiction and poetry at Eastgate Systems, Inc.; Salon Audio/MP3Lit (select an audio reading - See list in the right hand column. Visit a digital museum and experience the art; The Ten Worst Internet Hoaxes (CNN)
Investigation 1 due	Wk 3 - 2/04 - Web Life, Arts and Culture. Student group led discussion. Virtual community Investigation 1 due (post in Townhall).
	Reading assignments for Week 4: web.studies, "A Home on the Web...," Cheung (pp. 43-51); Webcam Women...;" "World Wide Women and the Web, Harcourt (pp. 150-157); Snyder (pp. 68-73); "Gender Issues in Online Communities," King, in The CPSR Newsletter (Computer Professionals for Online Responsibility, Vol.18, 1, Winter 2000; Internet Addiction, Rheingold; Human Becomes Electric:Networks as Mind and Self (Suler, J. (May, 1999), in The Psychology of Cyberspace, http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/psycyber/psycyber.html); Attack of the Cyber Weenies; Weblogging and Journaling (student project)
	Wk 4 - 2/11 - Presentation of Self on the Web - Identity, Gender, Online Relationships. Student group led discussion.
	Reading assignments for Week 5: web.studies: "The Internet and Democracy," Lax (pp. 159-169); Preserving Free Expression (Electronic Frontier Foundation); Independent Media Centers: Cyber-Subversion and the Alternative Press; Letter Urging European ISPs to Safeguard Privacy - to the President of the European Council of Ministers; Free Speech -- Virtually Legal Constraints on Web Journals Surprise Many 'Bloggers' [click link to pg 2]; Use the blog, Luke [click link to pg 2]; China Blocks Internet Blogs-
.	Wk 5 - 2/18 -Internet and democracy, global Internet, freedom of speech/information. Student group led discussion.
	Reading assignments for Week 6: web.studies, "New Ways to Break the Law...," Thomas (pp. 202-211); The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics - Computer Ethics Institute; Copyright and the Internet; Supreme Court upholds longer copyrights; Legal Intelligence: Tangling with Technology; Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age; FTC Consumer Alert - E-mail scams; "Going, Going, Gone: Law Enforcement Efforts to Combat Internet Auction Fraud," Federal Trade Commission. What are computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses?; “Hacktivist or Cyberterrorists?”
	[Last day to drop February 21]
Investigation 2 due	Wk 6 - 2/25- Ethics, security, crime. Student group led discussion. Take the Internet Security Quiz http://itu.gmu.edu/security/quiz/. Test your computer for security risks ( <---- Must use IE instead of Netscape to do this check.) Investigation 2 due (post in Townhall).
	Reading assignments for Week 7: Executive Summary of "Falling Through the Net - Towards Digital Inclusion," National Telecommunications and Information Association; Accessibility on the Internet (providing for the needs of the disabled), Leo Valdez; Scenarios of people with disabilities using the Web, WC3 (only required to read the "scenarios"section)
	Wk 7 - 3/04 - Inequality and the Net Student group led discussion.
	Readings for Week 9: web.studies: "Pay Per Browse? The Web's Commercial Futures," Goggin (pp. 103-112); Spam? No Thanks, We're Full; Electronic commerce FAQs (The Center for Research in Electronic Commerce), Univ. of Texas, Austin; Boot Up, Phone in, Work away; Evolving communities of practice: IBM Global Services experience
	Week 8 - SPRING RECESS - March 9 - 16
Investigation 3 due	Wk 9 - 3/18 - Commercial Net Culture. Investigation 3 due (post in Townhall).Student group led discussion.Workshop on Internet Group Projects
	Readings for Week 10: web.studies: "The Indian Disapora in the USA and Around the Web," Mallapragada (pp. 179-185); "The Cherokee Indians and the Internet," Arnold & Plymire (pp. 186-193); Review of Global Literacies and the World Wide Web, Virginia Montecino, Feb 2000 in Inventio; How many online?; Most US Internet users visit online groups; Latinos Outpace Other Groups' Online Growth; Women Embracing Texting NUA
	Wk 10 - 3/25 - Representations of Cultures on the Web. Student group led discussion. Cyberculture /Virtual Community Web site proposal due.
	Readings for Week 11: 'Hybrid' Teaching Seeks to End the Divide BetweenTraditional and Online Instruction; Student problems or difficulties with Hybrid courses; "What Makes a Successful Online Student?;" "Self-Evaluation for Potential Online Students;" Cyberstress: Asynchronous Anxiety or Worried in Cyberspace - I Wonder If My Teacher Got My E-mail," Conference presentation on Trends and Issues in Online Instruction, Montecino, Crouch
Investigation 4 due	Wk 11 - 4/01 - Education Online. Investigation 4 due (post in Townhall).Student group led discussion. Progress reports on Cyberculture/Virtual Community Web site - sharing of successes, obstacles, kudos and suggestions for improvement.
	Wk 12 - 4/08 - meet in ncc computer lab. Workshop on Cyberculture Web site. Good/Bad and Ugly Web Design
	Wk 13 - 4/15- meet in ncc computer lab. Workshop on Group Projects
storyboards due	Wk 14 - 4/22- meet in ncc computer lab. Cyberculture Web site storyboards due. Workshops on Group Project.
V C Report due	Wk 15- 4/29 - meet in ncc computer lab. Virtual Community Investigation Report due. Post Cyberculture Group Project on Web
Group Project presentations and Course Web sites due	Exam date - 5/13 - Final Presentations - Group Projects 4:30 p.m. - 07:15 p.m. Peer and faculty evaluation of projects
course home \| syllabus \| assignments \| texts \| resources \| honor code \| ncc \| gmu back to top