Schedule & Readings

COM300 meets 12.00-2.10, Mo and We in CMU302

Week 1: Introduction – What are “New Media”?
Monday 20 June : Wednesday 22 June (lab – set up WordPress blogs)

Week 2: Evolution of Digital Communication
Monday 27 June : Wednesday 29 June

Week 3: Finding and Evaluating Online Communications
Monday 4 July is a holiday (reading post is due Tuesday) : Wednesday 6 July

Week 4: Networks – Social and Technological
Monday 11 July : Wednesday 13 July
Group 1 Will Be Discussion Leaders on Wed

Week 5: Networks – Personal Learning Networks
Monday 18 July : Wednesday 20 July
Group 2 Will Be Discussion Leaders on Mon

Week 6: Digital Economics
Monday 25 July : Wednesday 27 July (no class)
Group 3 Will Be Discussion Leaders on Mon

Week 7: Online News
Monday 1 August : Wednesday 3 Aug
Group 4 Will Be Discussion Leaders on Mon

Week 8: Online Politics
Monday 8 Aug : Wednesday 10 Aug
Group 5 Will Be Discussion Leaders on Mon

Week 9: Access and Digital Divide + Wrap-Up
Monday  15 Aug (last class meeting)

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  • Students are asked to reflect upon readings to help gain cognitive understanding of material as well as to hone analytical skills. Weekly assignments are not graded, except for completeness. Be sure to check your spelling and grammar, however! Reading assignments are due at 9am Monday each week.
  • Resource: How to perform a close reading (pdf).
  • Each regular weekly reading post should be categorized as “reading”. More details below the reading list. Readings without links are located in eReserve.
  • If you don’t do the readings, it will be challenging to actively participate in class discussion. This is not a lecture class!

This reading list is tentative and will be finalized after the first week of class.

  • Evolution of Digital Communication
    Reading  Post Due Monday 27 June, Week 2 – EVERYONE     (1) Chapter 4, “Technologies of the Third Mediamorphosis” from Mediamorphosis: Understanding New Media by Roger Fidler (1997) ; (2) “As We May Think,” Atlantic Monthly by Vannevar Bush ( 176:1) (July 1945) w3.org/History/1945/vbush/ ; Atlantic Monthly (printable) ; (3) The Internet: A Short History of Getting Connected from the Federal Communications Commission (2004), www.fcc.gov/omd/history/internet/

    • Reading reflection (blog post) due by 9 am Mon Two “ah-ha’s” from these readings. Plus … how does Vannevar Bush’s 1945 description of “Memex” compare with today’s personal computers and Internet? How do you envision the Internet of 2045?
  • Finding and Evaluating Online Communications (updated list)
    Reading Post Due Tuesday 5 July, Week 3    (1) ” We Have the Information You Want, But Getting It Will Cost You: Being Held Hostage by Information Overload” from ACM Crossroads by Mark R. Nelson (nd) www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-1/mnelson.html [may need to be logged in to UW Libraries if offsite]; (2) “Evaluating Internet Research Sources,” http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm; (3) “Social Media Users Grapple With Information Overload,” http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-02-01-tech-overload_N.htm ; (4) ” A Short History Of the Internet” from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (February 1993),  https://w2.eff.org/Net_culture/internet_sterling.history.txt

      • Reading Reflection (blog post) due 9 am Mon Use these readings to explain how your life is affected by information (too much? too little? just enough?)
  • Networks – Social and Technological
    Reading Post Due Monday 11 July,     Week 4 : (1) “Being Analog” (formerly published as Chapter 7 of The Invisible Computer) by Donald Norman (1997) www.jnd.org/dn.mss/being_analog.html ; (3) “Networks of Remediation” from Remediation: Understanding New Media by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin (1999) .

    • Reading Reflection (blog post) due 9 am Mon How have these readings changed your view of networks?
  • Networks – Personal Learning Networks
    Reading Post Due Monday 18 July,     Week 5  –    (1) The Art & Technique of Personal Learning Networks
    (2) Cultivate Your Personal Learning Network, (3)  “The GNU Manifesto” by Richard Stallman (1985). ../pub/gnu_manifesto.html.

      • Reading Reflection (blog post) due 9 am Mon Why should communication scholars study the open source software movement? If you don’t know what the open source software movement is …. then think about this: what are the similarities and differences between the assigned readings?
  • Digital Economics
    Reading Post Due Monday 25 July,     Week 6 :  (1) Chapter 4 “Markets are Conversations” from The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual by Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger (1999, 2001) cluetrain.org;(2) “The Long Tail” fromWired by Chris Anderson (October 2004) wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html ; (3) Muncaster, P. (2008, January 14). How to strengthen customer bonds. IT Week. (4) Murphy, S. (2008, January). Circuit City goes social. Chain Store Age (84)1. Access via eReserve.

      • Reading Reflection (blog post) due 9 am Mon Reflect upon your experiences with electronic commerce (banking, Amazon, iTunes, etc) in light of these articles.
  • Online News
    Reading Post Due Monday 1 Aug,     Week 7 : (1) Chapter 1, “From Tom Paine to Blogs and Beyond” from We the Media by Dan Gillmor (2004)www.oreilly.com/catalog/wemedia/book/;(2) “Will NPR’s podcasts birth a new business model for public radio?” from Online Journalism Review (29 Nov 2005) www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/051129glaser/; 

      • Reading Reflection (blog post) due 9 am Mon What are the implications of blogging technology on established media? Do you agree with the premise of these authors? Why or why not?
  • Online Politics
    Reading Post Due Monday 8 Aug, Week 8 :     (1) Organization Man: Joe Trippi Reinvents Campaigning by Noem Scheiber. The New Republic Online. (10 November 2003). (2) Using Participatory Media and Public Voice to Encourage Civic Engagement by Howard Rheingold. Civic Life Online. (2008).

    • Reading Reflection (blog post) due 9 am Mon How does Internet technology impact politics? 
  • Access and Digital Divide + Wrap-Up
    Reading Post Due Monday 15 Aug, Week 9 :     (1) “Wireless Revolution and Universal Access” from Trends in Telecommunications Reform 2003 by Michael L. Best, MIT (Sept 2003) cyber.law.harvard.edu/digitaldemocracy/best-wirelessrevolution-sept03.pdf (2) New Government Report Exposes the Home-School Digital Divide (2006) ;  (3) The Age of Ego-Casting (2005) in The New Atlantis

    • Reading Reflection (blog post) due 9 am Mon What is the relationship between cyberspace as a public space and accessibility standards?

Details on Reading Assignment (also, see Syllabus)

Students will create a blog (on WordPress.com) where they will reflect (not summarize!) on each week’s readings. Students are asked to write about the readings to help gain cognitive understanding of material as well as to hone analytical skills. Weekly reading assignments are not graded, except for completeness. Be sure to check your spelling and grammar, however!

  • These are short (two-four paragraphs) reviews of assigned readings.Length: 300-400 words
  • Each regular weekly reading must be categorized “reading”.
  • These posts are due Monday at 9 am. Late posts are not accepted.