NCLC 350 - Cyberculture - Spring 2001
http://classweb.gmu.edu/classweb/nclc350/sp2001
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montecin@gmu.edu Office hours: M 2-3; W 3- 4, or by appt. Office: Enterprise Hall, Rm 426-27 Phone 703-993-4318 (e-mail is quicker) |
bvanpelt@ureach.com Office Hours: W 7:15 pm - 8:15 pm or by appt. Office: Enterprise Hall, Rm 403 Phone: 703-227-3264 |
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| 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 |
| Required Texts: Web.Studies: Rewiring
Media Studies for the Digital Age, David Gauntlett, ed., October
2000 Oxford University Press (ISBN 0 340 76049 4); Longman Guide
to the Web, Lester Faigley (spiral-bound)1999, Addison-Wesley Pub
Co., ISBN: 0321067304); Companion Website for The
Longman Guide to the Web; Online
Writing Guide for Integrative Studies Students; Since this is a
class which examines Internet cultures, some of our readings will be on
the Internet: Extensive list of Cyberculture
Resources: (http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/cyber-resources.htm);
What
Is Hypertext? (http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/hypertext.htm).
What
Is a Virtual Community? (def-virt-comm.html).
Additional readings from the Web are linked on the appropriate days in
the schedule.
Prerequisite: NCLC 249 Internet Literacy, or permission of instructor. Students must be familiar with 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. This is a 6 credit New Century College course with an *optional 1 credit experiential learning component. A significant portion of your work will be submitted by publishing it on your Student Course Web Page. Some assignments will be posted on Townhall (http://townhall.gmu.edu).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. A prerequisite for this class is that you have basic electronic communication skills, familiarity with the GMU mason system and Web publishing skills. If you need assistance with these skills, consult these resources: http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/how-to.htm). Take the initiative and avail yourself of the STAR (Student Technology Assistance Resources) resources. 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. * NCLC 395-009 Technology Outreach - Experiential Learning credit is optional. If you elect to participate in the experiential learning component, you will perform a technology outreach (ie., design or redesign 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 time outside of class to fulfill the one (1) credit experiential learning component. The work load will be commensurate with the number of hours. If you choose the experiential learning option, you must register by January 30 . If your experiential learning is service learning, you need to fill out and submit additional paperwork to the Service Learning and Leadership office.
Participation: The participation grade includes active involvement in face to face class meetings and active involvement in the online discussion forums. We also expect you to check your mason email regularly and respond to our email inquiries in a timely manner. We expect you to come to class having read the material for the class and have ready any course work due for that class. You will be assigned to groups and are expected to work with group members on group projects and help each other reinforce and learn technology skills and explore and critique cybercultures. If a student does not actively participate in the group projects, that student's individual project grade may be downgraded accordingly. You will evaluate each other's group performance at the end of the semester, using this form. Class discussion: Each week, a small group of students will be responsible for pulling together comments from the townhall discussion for the week, and using their own interpretations of the readings to lead the real time class discussion. Come prepared for discussions by keeping up with the readings and the assignments. Some of our discussion, synchronous and asynchronous will take place online on Townhall (http://townhall.gmu.edu) See instructions for registering for and using Townhall. |
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| Major Assignments |
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| 1. Virtual Community Investigations (various due dates) |
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| Investigation 1 - arts and entertainment ................................. | 5% |
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| Investigation 2 - college ....................................................... | 5% | 2/14 |
| Investigation 3 - social issues ................................................ | 5% | 3/14 |
| Investigation 4 - career ........................................................ | 5% | 3/28 |
| 2. Evaluate a Web site for Credibility...................................... | 10% | 2/21 |
| 3. Virtual Communities Final Report ...................................... | 15% | 4/18 |
| 3. Build on course Web page (continuous throughout semester).. | 15% |
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| 4. Group Project - build a Cyberculture/Virtual Community Web site | ||
| a. Proposal(collaborative).......................................................... | 5% | 3/21 |
| b. Project....................................................................................
(Groups will do class presentations on their projects.) |
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4/11 final 5/02 |
| 5. Class discussions and citizenship (contributing
to discussions in class and
online; being there physically and mentally; being responsible group members; tutoring, sharing skills and knowledge) |
15% | |
| Total points for class | 100 | |
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| NCLC 395-009 Technology
Outreach Optional
Experiential Learning Project -non-profit Web site OR technology
outreach [1 extra credit - optional
for service learning credit.You must register by January 30 to take this one credit course] |
required |
1/31 |
| Report on Experiential Learning Project | graded separately | 4/25 |
| (You need to pick OPTION A OR B ( Parts
I
and
II) and Parts III AND IV.)
See the Service Learning and Leadership forms which must be filled out. |
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| Substantial effort, time commitment, results, documentation and reflection are required to receive experiential learning credit. | ||
| All work must be the student's own effort, in accordance with the GMU honor code and copyright rules. Give credit to group members when you collaborate on projects. See guidelines on appropriate collaboration and how to avoid plagiarism. |
| Class Schedule - subject to change, if
necessary, to achieve learning objectives. The readings should be read
before the class meeting in which they are listed.
Last day to drop with no tuition liability - January 23
Wk 1 - 1/17 - 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. also, become familar with the webstudies glossary (pp.218-227); Technology, Community, Humanity and the Net, Howard Rheingold. Guidelines for Student Web pages. Last day to drop with no tuition liability - January 23 Wk 2 - 1/24 - 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. Wk 3 - 1/31 - 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); Body Language: Text and Gender Online - David Balcom; "Gender Issues in Online Communities," King, in The CPSR Newsletter (Computer Professionals for Online Responsibility, Vol.18, 1, Winter 2000; Internet Addiction, Rheingold Wk 4 - 2/7 - 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); "AOL, others plan global Net content rating system," Courtney Macavinta, CNET; ACLU Joins International Protest Against Global Internet Censorship Plans; Preserving Free Expression (Electronic Frontier Foundation); French Court Imposes Speech Restrictions Beyond Its Borders (Center for Democracy and Technology) ; Banned Books Online Wk 5 - 2/14 - Governments, democracy, borders on the Internet Student group led discussion.Investigation 2 due (post in Townhall). Reading assignments for Week 6: web.studies, "New Ways to Break the Law...," Thomas (pp. 202-211); Ethics, privacy and security:The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics - Computer Ethics Institute; Copyright and the Internet; Legal Intelligence: Tangling with Technology; Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age; The Cookie Controversy, Lori Eichelberger. [Last day to drop February 16 by 5 p.m. ] Wk 6 - 2/21- Ethics, privacy, security, crime Student group led discussion. Researching and Critiquing Internet Resources assignment due. Reading assignments for Week 7: web.studies, "The Internet and Democracy," Lax (pp. 159-169); Falling Through the Net - Towards Digital Inclusion - National Telecommunications and Information Association ; Microsoft Enable - Accessible Web Design; Web Crawling - Too Slow Across the Globe, Melville; U.S. Urges High Speed Internet for Schools Wk 7 - 2/28 - Inequality and the Net Student group led discussion. Readings for Week 8: web.studies: "Pay Per Browse? The Web's Commercial Futures," Goggin (pp. 103-112); Electronic commerce FAQs (The Center for Research in Electronic Commerce), Univ. of Texas, Austin; FTC Consumer Alert - E-mail scams; "Going, Going, Gone: Law Enforcement Efforts to Combat Internet Auction Fraud," Federal Trade Commission; Let's Make a Toast to Failure, By Jodi Mardesich in Salon.com SPRING RECESS - March 5 - 11 Wk 8 - 3/14 - Commercial Net Culture Investigation 3 due (post in Townhall).Student group led discussion.Workshop on Internet Group Projects Readings for Week 9: 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);
Wk 9 - 3/21 - Representations of Cultures on the Web. Student group led discussion. Cyberculture /Virtual Community Web site proposal due. Readings for Week 10: "A questionable pedigree;" "Keeping up on the Latest Things;" "Classrooms of Unlimited Dimensions;" "What Makes a Successful Online Student?;" "What Every Student Should Know About Online Learning;" 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. Wk 10 - 3/28 - Education Online. Investigation 4 due (post in Townhall).Student group led discussion. Progress reports on Cyberculture/Virtual Community Web site and Experiential Learning Projects. Sharing of successes, obstacles, kudos and suggestions for improvement. Wk 11 - 4/04 - Workshop on Cyberculture/Virtual Community Web site. Good/Bad and Ugly WebDesign Wk 12 - 4/11- Cyberculture/Virtual Community Web site draft due on Web for peer review Wk 13 - 4/18- Virtual Community Report (on investigations) due. Group workshops on Group Project. Wk 14 - 4/25 - Post final Cyberculture/Virtual Community Web site on Web. Exam date - 5/02 - Final Presentations - Group Projects 4:30 p.m. - 07:10 p.m. Peer and faculty evaluation of projects home
| syllabus
| assignments
| texts | resources
| honor code
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