Communication 482 Winter 2005 Email: macp@u.washington.edu

Evaluation, Grading, and Assignments...

Note--    Scores on the assignments will be summed to produce an index your overall performance in the class relative to others. Your final grade will be determined by that. Please feel free to come see me if you have concerns about your grades, the materials, or any other aspect of the class. I also try to be very responsive to e-mail. I encourage you to bring any complaints to me first. If you wish to make individual arrangements for a test, assignment, or some other aspect of the class, you must let me know in advance. I may not be able to make such arrangements after the fact.

Up to 50 points will be awarded for your participation in the activities of the class. These include small group activities in lab sessions and participation in group activities. Regular class attendance and the quality of participation in class discussions will be considered as well. Participation in the "trios projects" assigned to your group will be evaluated separately (see below). 

The class has been designed so as to encourage active participation in the learning and teaching process.  The primary tool for that is a series of mini-projects by three person groups ("Trios").  Class members will be randomly assigned to three person groups.  Groups will then get to bid on a series of mini-projects.  Each project leads to a report or demonstration to the class-- you will be in charge of the class discussion for 15-30 minutes.  Projects will be selected the first week of class.  Trio report dates are noted in the class schedule and marked with this symbol:   

Each group will do two projects (75 points) each from the list below.  Your participation in these groups will be evaluated both by Prof. Parks and your peers in the group.

Trio Project Descriptions (Tentative)

1.      Who would like the show the class the basics of building a personal homepage and getting it published at the UW?  Plan on preparing and leading a lab session that will show the basics so that anyone in the class will be able to make a simple homepage.

2.      Who would like to demonstrate how chat sites on the Internet work?  Demonstrate the use of an instant messaging (IM) system or other text-based chat system in a lab session.  The goal is for people to use your instructions and examples to try chats for themselves.

3.      Are you a blogger?  Weblogs or “blogs” are popular tools for putting journal entries online.  Some are very personal, some are social hubs.  This is a good choice for trios where at least one member is already active on a blog.  Your job will be to explore the blog and then report back to the class.  Show the class how the blog works, what sorts of material is posted, and describe what’s engaging and not so appealing about blogging.  Do blogs encourage real social connections and discussions, or are they simply tools for letting people talk to themselves online?

4.      Visit the personal homepage webpage of two people you do not know.  Contact them and ask them what they were trying to accomplish, why the included what they did, something they thought of including, but decided not to.  Show the pages to class and provide a commentary based on readings and class materials on identity. 

5.      Find two people who participate regularly in internet newsgroups or chat rooms. Contact them and ask them how they manage their identity on-line.  What they emphasize, de-emphasize, and avoid.  Find out how close their on-line identity is to their off-line identity.  What other aspects of identity come into play here? 

6.      Internet enthusiasts and entrepreneurs have created many visual virtual worlds or “metaworlds” in which users get virtual characters (“Avatars”) and then interact with each other.  Examples include Active Worlds, Worlds.com, and vZones.com.  This is a good choice for trios where at least one member is already involved, but works otherwise, too.  If you’re not already involved in another metaworld, vZones.com is a good starting place.  Check out their metaworld called “newHorizones.”   Once you’re set up, your job will be to explore the place for a week and then report back to the class.  Show the class how it works, describe what’s engaging and not so appealing about it.  How real is the interaction?  What’s it like interacting using an avatar? 

7.      Do you play or know people who play multiplayer games online?  Some of these games are “massive multiplayer role-playing games” (MMRPG’s).  “Everquest” is one of the most popular, but there are dozens of others.  Some of these games are multiplayer versions of standalone computer games.  If this trio assignment is for you, you’ll already know what I’m talking about.   Your job will be do demonstrate the game to the class and describe the ways in which it creates online (and off-line) interaction between players, whether players form a community or a group, and how conflict is managed within the context of the game.

8.      Can the computer recommend movies that you would like?  Use movielens.com to find out.  Members of your trio will enter preferences between pairs of movies and the system will then create recommendations.  The more information you give the system, the better it should get.  Does it?  Prepare a class demonstration and lead discussion about your experience?

9.      Amazon.com is often said to be the model for how to engage visitors and to personalize the shopping experience.  How do they do that?  Members of your trio should explore Amazon.com, experimenting with its tools for interaction, for making personalized recommendations, and so on.  Then report back to the class, leading a demonstration and discussion of the features that make Amazon.com so engaging.

10.  How do you know you can trust people on eBay?  How are reputations established on eBay?  This one is for a group in which at least one person is experienced with eBay.  Using examples from your experience and from at least two others, describe how eBay is structured to enhance trust and track reputations.  (Be sure to read Chapter 5 in Rheingold).

11.  How well do online dating sites work?  Using Match.com, Yahoo! Personals, or some other popular dating site as an example, provide a demonstration of how the site works and examples of the ads or profiles.  Interview at least two people who have used the site to give you a better idea of its strengths and weaknesses.  Be prepared to lead a lively class discussion.

12.  Let’s debate the pro’s and con’s of meeting romantic partners online.  National columnist and psychologist Carolyn Hax recently wrote a very critical column about online dating.  I’ll supply the article.  Your job will be to take one side or the other in a gentle debate about the pro’s and con’s of online dating.  Draw from readings, your own experience, experiences of others you know.   Sides will be determined by the flip of a coin.

13.  Let’s debate the pro’s and con’s of meeting romantic partners online.  National columnist and psychologist Carolyn Hax recently wrote a very critical column about online dating.  I’ll supply the article.  Your job will be to take one side or the other in a gentle debate about the pro’s and con’s of online dating.  Draw from readings, your own experience, experiences of others you know.   Sides will be determined by the flip of a coin.

14.  Is the Internet a good place to find help and social support for problems?  Support groups for nearly every disease and problem can be found online.  Pick one or two that interest you and follow them.  You might want to start with a website, but try to get beyond that into actual discussion groups where interaction is occurring.  Follow the group or groups for at least a week.  See if you can determine what people are getting from them, what they might offer that face-to-face supporter might not, and what the risks are.  Try to contact some of the other users to find out their views on these issues.  Report back to the class, show examples and offer commentary   (same as #15 – two groups, different types of support sites).

15.  Is the Internet a good place to find help and social support for problems?  Support groups for nearly every disease and problem can be found online.  Pick one or two that interest you and follow them.  You might want to start with a website, but try to get beyond that into actual discussion groups where interaction is occurring.  Follow the group or groups for at least a week.  See if you can determine what people are getting from them, what they might offer that face-to-face supporter might not, and what the risks are.  Try to contact some of the other users to find out their views on these issues.  Report back to the class, show examples and offer commentary   (same as #14 – two groups, different types of support sites).

16.   See if you can organize a “flashmob” meeting.  See what Rheingold has to say about flashmobs (do a google search, too) and then see if you can create one for real.  Place and purpose are up to you, but aim for a flashmob of at least 20-30 people (and not just your friends).  Report back to the class how you did it and offer your commentary on the advantages and disadvantages of flashmobs as tools for getting groups together.

17.  Is the Internet helping or hurting political and civic participation?  Does it encourage people to connect and engage or does it distract them and encourage meaningless or even dangerous social activity?  Let’s debate.  Your job will be to take one side or the other in a gentle debate about how the Internet might affect civic and political participation.  Draw from readings, your own experience, experiences of others you know.  Sides will be determined by the flip of a coin.

18.  Is the Internet helping or hurting political and civic participation?  Does it encourage people to connect and engage or does it distract them and encourage meaningless or even dangerous social activity?  Let’s debate.  Your job will be to take one side or the other in a gentle debate about how the Internet might affect civic and political participation.  Draw from readings, your own experience, experiences of others you know.  Sides will be determined by the flip of a coin.

19.  How seriously should we take the concept of Internet addiction?  Is there something about the social venues of the Internet that encourages people to act in compulsive or addictive ways toward the net?  Let’s debate.  Draw from readings, your own experiences, the experiences of others you know.  Sides will be determined by the flip of a coin.

20.  How seriously should we take the concept of Internet addiction?  Is there something about the social venues of the Internet that encourages people to act in compulsive or addictive ways toward the net?  Let’s debate.  Draw from readings, your own experiences, the experiences of others you know.  Sides will be determined by the flip of a coin.

21.   Are we becoming “cyborgs”?  Where is the boundary between who your are and the electronic “quilts” we surround ourselves with?   Lead a class discussion of “Cyborg Citizens” (reading packet) and Rheingold’s comments about “extopians” (chapter 8).  Work out your own position or positions, but structure your presentation to stimulate discussion.

© Malcolm R. Parks  This page is intended only for the use of students enrolled in Communication 482. 
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