readings :: basic concepts of new media ::

Readings

Readings are part of your participation grade. Students are asked to summarize readings to help gain cognitive understanding of material as well as to hone analytical skills. Weekly assignments are not graded, except for completeness.

Responses (comments) to this week's blog postings due by 5 pm EACH Friday. You must keep a log of your comments - you will turn in the log at the end of the quarter.

Date
Blog post you are replying to (title and URL)
Content of your comment

Remember to generate discussion questions as part of your weekly reading reflection.

Week 2 - 9 Jan
(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) http://www.w3.org/History/1945/vbush/ ; (3) "Networks of Remediation" from Remediation: Understanding New Media by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin (1999) . Extra-Credit: The Internet: A Short History of Getting Connected from the Federal Communications Commission (2004), http://www.fcc.gov/omd/history/internet/
- Reading reflection (blog post) due by 11.30 am Mon 9 Jan
  Two "ah-ha's" from these readings. Plus ... how does Vannever Bush's 1945 description of "Memex" compare with today's personal computers and Internet? How do you envision the Internet of 2045?
- Extra-Credit (separate blog post) due 11.30 am Mon 9 Jan
- Peer review : draft research proposal due 5 pm Friday
Week 3 - 18 Jan :
(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) http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-1/mnelson.html ; (2) " Information overload, retrieval strategies and Internet user empowerment" from Proceedings: The Good, the Bad and the Irrelevant (COST 269) by Christopher N. Carlson (2003) http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00002248/01/Information_Overload.pdf
- Reading Reflection (blog post) due 11.30 am Wed 18 Jan
  Use these readings to explain how your life is affected by information (too much? too little? just enough?)
- Responses to all readings due 5 pm Friday
- Peer review : research proposal due 6 pm Sunday
Week 4 - 23 Jan :
(1) "Being Analog" (formerly published as Chapter 7 of The Invisible Computer) by Donald Norman (1997) http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/being_analog.html ; (2) " Introduction to Internet Architecture and Institutions" from Berkman Center for Internet and Society by Ethan Zuckerman and Andrew McLaughin (Aug 2003) http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/digitaldemocracy/internetarchitecture.html
- Reading Reflection (blog post) due 11.30 am Mon 23 Jan.
  How have these readings changed your view of the man-machine relationship?
- Responses to all readings due 5 pm Friday.
- First Assignment due 5 pm Friday 27 Jan
Week 5 - 30 Jan :
(1) "The GNU Manifesto" by Richard Stallman (1985). http://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html ; (2) Chapter 4 "Markets are Conversations" from The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual by Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger (1999, 2001) http://www.cluetrain.org/ (3) "The Second Superpower Rears its Beautiful Head" from The Berkman Center for Internet & Society by James F. Moore (31 March 2003) http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/jmoore/secondsuperpower.html
Extra Credit : "Social Software and the Politics of Groups" from Clay Shirky's Writings About the Internet by Clay Shirky (9 March 2003) http://shirky.com/writings/group_politics.html
- Reading Reflection (blog post) due 11.30 am Mon 30 Jan
  Why should communication scholars study the open source software movement?
- Extra-Credit (separate blog post) due 11.30 am Mon 30 Jan
- Responses to all readings due 5 pm Friday
Peer Group 1 Will Be Discussion Leaders
Week 6 - 6 Feb :
(1) Chapter 1, "From Tom Paine to Blogs and Beyond" from We the Media by Dan Gillmor (2004) ; (2) “Will NPR's podcasts birth a new business model for public radio?” from Online Journalism Review (29 Nov 2005) http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/051129glaser/
- Reading Reflection (blog post) due 11.30 am Mon 6 Feb
  What are the implications of blogging technology on established media?
- Responses to all readings due 5 pm Friday
- Mid-term report on individual project due 5 pm Friday
Peer Group 2 Will Be Discussion Leaders
Week 7 - 13 Feb :
(1) "Organization Man: Joe Trippi Reinvents Campaigning" from The New Republican Online by Noem Scheiber (10 November 2003) http://tinyurl.com/3leu3 ; (2) “The Role of the Internet in National and Local News Media Use” from Journal of Online Behavior (2003) http://www.behavior.net/JOB/v1n3/riedel.html . Extra Credit : "The Race of the Web Sites 2004" from ACM Interactions by Kathy Gill (November-December 2004) http://faculty.washington.edu/kegill/pub/gill_ACM_2004.pdf
- Reading Reflection (blog post) due 11.30 am Mon 13 Feb
  How does Internet technology impact politics? Do you agree with the premise of these authors?
- Extra-Credit (separate blog post) due 11.30 am Mon 13 Feb
- Responses to all readings due 5 pm Friday
- Second Assignment due 5 pm Friday 17 Feb
Peer Group 3 Will Be Discussion Leaders
Week 8 - 20 Feb :
(1) "Wireless Revolution and Universal Access" from Trends in Telecommunications Reform 2003 by Michael L. Best, MIT (nd) [PDF]
- Reading Reflection (blog post) due 11.30 am Wed 22 Feb
  What is the relationship between cyberspace as a public space and accessibility standards?
- No reading response this week!
Peer Group 4 Will Be Discussion Leaders
Week 9 - 27 Feb :
(1) "How Voice-over-IP Works" from HowStuffWorks by Jeff Tyson and Robert Valdes (nd) http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm/printable
- Reading Reflection (blog post) due 11.30 am Mon 27 Feb
  How do you expect VoIP to impact cable and telephone networks (both are regulated infrastructure industries)
- Responses to all readings due 5 pm Friday
- Third Assignment due 5 pm Friday 3 Mar

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