This class is an overview of computer-mediated communication (CMC) as it applies to the range of information and communication technologies. The goal of this class is to introduce you to Computer Mediated Communication and the role that it plays in collaboration, computer supported cooperative work, and the achievement of social life.

When computer technologies were largely constrained to text-based interfaces, CMC provided a useful way for thinking about how individuals interacted with technology and with one another. Two significant shifts over the past ten years have affected how CMC can be used as a way of understanding humans’ interaction with computers: (a) the shift from text-only to a combination of text and graphical and, (b) the growth of networking so that even computer games are increasingly based around multiple players communicating within and around the gaming experience.  This course will situate information and communication technologies within a historical context, and we will look at older, text-based technologies as well as blogs, wikis, and cellphone-based text-messaging. The course also emphasizes the importance of understanding how sociality plays out with and through technology. Students in the class will have the opportunity to explore CMC issues first hand by completing a research project.