Technology
and
Human Communication

(DIGITAL
CULTURE)

 

 

 

COMM 4544/5544
T/TH 12:30-1:45

Bettina Fabos, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Visual Communication

Office Hours: T, Th 4-6 pm
342 Lang Hall
273-5972
fabos@uni.edu

                                 
                                   SCHEDULE                                     ABOUT                                       ASSIGNMENTS
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schedule
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

DATE

 TOPICS READINGS, ASSIGNMENTS, DUE DATES
1
Tues.
Jan 14

Introduction to Digital Culture

Syllabus, course schedule.

Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from (TED talk). PLEASE PUT HIS VISIT IN YOUR CALENDARS: 7PM APR. 8
COMMONS BALLROOM

  • IDS program (new program at UNI)
  • Digital Collective (UNI student digital media organization, earn 1 credit, talk to Bettina Fabos)
  • AAF-UNI (UNIstudent Advertising organization)
  • explain Blackboard/Content

Digital immigrants vs. digital natives

Syllabus
IN CLASS: 3 min stream of consciousness

 

FORTEPAN Project introduced
Thurs.
Jan 16

The Utopian Internet

The Networked Public Sphere and Web Culture

TED Talk: Yochai Benkler on Open Source Economics

Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, Ch. 1: Introduction: A Moment of Opportunity and Challenge

 

 

READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today)

  • Mark Prensky, "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants," Digitial Divide: Arguments for and Against Facebook, Google, Texting, and the Age of Social Networking (2011), edited by Mark Bauerlein, pp. 3-11. (SEE PDF IN BLACKBOARD--this is what we talked about on Tuesday)
  • Clive Thompson:How Successful Networks Nurture Good Ideas: Wired/Crazy Good! October 2013 issue
  • Chris Anderson, TED TALK (below). How the Web Powers Global Innovation


3/4-1 page write up (uploaded to Blackboard before class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN

  1. To what extent are you a digital native? Do you know some digital immigrants? How are they adapting to digital culture?
  2. Summarize Clive Thompson's main points (please feel free to refer to the transcript under his TED Talk) and refer to at least one example that supports each of his main points.
  3. Summarize Chris Anderson's main points (referring to the transcript is a good idea), and note his accompanying examples.

REMINDER: THIS SHORT PAPER (approximately 3 paragraphs--one paragraph per question--must be loaded onto Blackboard as a digital file--no rtf or wordperfect files please!)

2
Tuesday,
Jan 21

The Probematic Internet

READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today)

3/4-1 page write up (uploaded to Blackboard before class)

  1. Articulate Cass Sunstein's main points: Does he see the Internet as being a wonderful development for democracy? No? Why not?
  2. Summarize Andrew Keen's argument against the internet idealists and his supporting examples? Do you agree or disagree?
  3. Summarize Mark Goodman's TED Talk on technology and how criminals are using it. (refer to transcript too)...How are criminals using technology? OR.....
  4. Summarize Rebecca MacKinnon's argument about why the web is not a utopia, and note her supporting examples that explain how corporate and government control is destroying the citizen-centric Internet.

REMINDER: THIS PAPER must be loaded onto Blackboard as a digital file. Please no rtf fonts or word perfect...If you don't have word write your piece in Google Docs and then simply save as a Word File.

Thursday,
Jan 23

RIP: A REMIX MANIFESTO

 

Everything is a Remix
Part 1, etc.

Rip: A REMIX Manifesto  : to be viewed in class  
3
Tuesday, Jan 28

Steven Colbert and Lawrence Lessig

 

 

Walk to Digital Media Hub

READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today)

team

3/4-1 page write up (due in class, printed, as well as uploaded to Blackboard)

  1. Summarize Lessig's three stories that all talk about read-only vs. re-write culture.
  2. How do these stories fit together and support his main argument? (note his many examples!).

REMIX PROJECT INTRODUCED
Thursday, Jan 30 Video work in Class

To prepare for this class:
FIRST: LOG IN TO LYNDA (lynda.uni.edu) and sign in with your UNI Cat ID
SECOND: go to Premiere Pro CC Essential Training.
THIRD: download the Exercise Files.

Please bring these files on a USB drive to class.

HOMEWORK after we work in class: Lynda.com tutorials will be an enormous help to you. I recommend you go to the Digital Media Hub, check out a laptop, and work directly with the Adobe Premiere Pro software. To access Lynda,LYNDA: LOG INTO LYNDA and then CLICK ON THIS LINK to Adobe Premiere Pro CC Essentail Training.
Go through an hour's worth of this tutorial at the level you feel most comfortable.
Lynda.com is an awesome resource: make sure you know about it and know you can access it at any time. Also know that 35 computers are waiting for you to check out at the Digital Media Hub, all equipped with Adobe Premiere Pro.

4
Tuesday, Feb 4

Copyright and Music Sampling

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use

If I had a Hammer

READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today)

3/4-1 page write up (due in class, printed, as well as uploaded to Blackboard)
1. In what ways are today's copyright laws, as they are applied to music sampling, ridiculous? Offer some specific examples from the Kembrew Mcleod introduction and "Copyright Criminals" chapter.
2. Referring to "A Fairy Use," what the heck is fair use? And what the heck is public domain?
3. Why is "A Fairy Use" video an example of a Fair Use of copyright material?

Thursday,
Feb 6

What is transformative content?

 Video Editing: Working with audio, titles, and blacK, ETC.
5

Tuesday,
Feb 11






Video Editing: Working with audio, titles, and black ETC.
Thursday,
Feb 13		 Watch projects

REMIX PROJECT DUE

3/4-1 page write up (due in class, printed, as well as uploaded to Blackboard)
Post your remix to our YouTube channel.
1. What is the purpose of your remix?
2. How do you justify your remix with regard to Fair Use?
3. How are you specifically transforming your media content in a way that makes us understand it in a completely different way?

HOMEWORK: Please refer to the YELLOW section of the WIKI Assignment.
GO TO ROD LIBRARY AND CHECK OUT A NON-FICTION BOOK CONTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT ANYTHING YOU MAY BE PARTICULARLY INTERESTED OR EVEN CASUALLY INTERESTED IN. THIS BOOK WILL PROVIDE CONTENT FOR A WIKIPEDIA ENTRY. YOU MUST BRING THIS TO CLASS ON TUESDAY, OCT. 1.

6
Tuesday, Feb 18 Wikipedia

WIKIPEDIA ASSIGNMENT INTRODUCED
WE WILL BEGIN (AND MOSTLY FINISH) THIS IN CLASS

candyfactory                                                                                               

Thursday, Feb 20

Wikiality/Steven Colbert

Too Big To Know (On the Media. 6:04)

Wikis
Wikipedia Edit Wars

WIKINOTES

READINGS (due today)

3/4-1 page write up (due in class, printed, as well as uploaded to Blackboard)
First you should know that the New Yorker has some of the most balanced, well-argued, intelligent articles of any magazine in the country...I'm just telling you this b/c you simply should know about the New Yorker, and also Harper's, the Atlantic Monthly, and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Consider picking up any of these publications from time to time and reading them. Doing this will seriously make you smarter and change your world--they are the best possible way to be informed about the complicated issues and trends of our day. That being said, summarize Stacy Schiff's argument about Wikipedia and expertise (published in the New Yorker in 2006) list her examples, and comment on her conclusion.

7

Tuesday,
Feb 25

Go to YouTube: Dashboard/Video Manager/Copyright Notices.
NOTICE

YouTube: How Copyright Claims May Affect Your Video

Digital images and the public web:
Getty, Flickr, Creative Commons, LOC, New York Digital Library, UNI/Rod, FORTEPAN

How is Rod Library both a physical space and a digital space?

Libraries and the commons

READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today)

  1. Aaron Swartz's Legacy
  2. David Bollier: The Commons, Short and Sweet
  3. War of the Web Kickstarter trailer (film will be released in 2014)

3/4-1 page write up (due in class)

  1. Why did Aaron Swartz download all those JSTOR articles and what does his stance have to do with The Commons (as described by David Bollier)?
  2. Why was Swartz pursued by the FBI and the Office of the District Attorney in Massachusetts ?
  3. 3. What war does "War of the Web" refer to?
Thursday,
Feb 27

FOLDERS DISTRIBUTED
Best practices discussed
Why is Fortepan important?
8
Tuesday,
Mar 4

Lawrence Lessig remembers Aaron Schwartz

 

 Go over Aaron Swartz/Creative Commons
PREP for Midterm.
Thursday,
Mar 6		 Coolest Apps

 MIDTERM:
Study Guide                                                                      dog
9
Tuesday
Mar 11

NSA and Government Surveillance

Edward Snowden part 1 (12:35)
Edward Snowden, part 2 (7:07)

NSA Spying infographic


NSA, Privacy, Edward Snowden, Government Data Mining

NO READING DUE TODAY
ATTENDANCE REQUIRED
Thurssday, Mar 13

Julia Anguin: Dragnet Nation (start at 1:10-21:00)

Google History

Bill Moyers' interview with Julia Anguin

CLEARING Cookies in Chrome: Preferences/Show Advanced settings/Privacy Settings/Content Settings/Cookies

DuckDuckGo

Ghostery

LA Times Review of Dragnet Nation

Privacy, Data Mining, Googlization of Everything
NO READING DUE TODAY

Security Risks from the Smart Home
10 SPRING BREAK
11
Tuesday,
Mar 25

 

 

READING DUE TODAY

THERE WILL BE NO CLASS TODAY, but you are expected to have read these articles.

Also, please do some ADDITIONAL RESEARCH on "wearable technology" and bring these articles to class on Thursday.

digital intimacy
Thursday,
Mar 27

Cool Apps

Ryan Courtney, "War On Hacking" After Dinner Speech.

READING DUE TODAY
12

Tuesday, Apr 1

Ryan Courtney & Anthony Peavy: "REmix Culture"

Google sketch/SNL

The Ubiquity of CODE

Douglas Rushkoff: Programmed or Be Programmed

Oculus Rift

 

READING DUE TODAY

BLOG PROJECT ASSIGNED
Thursday,
Apr 3

The Ubiquity of CODE

Code Academy

No reading.

club
13
Tuesday,
Apr 8

Teen Online/17 minute film

NO CLASS
REQUIRED LECTURE: STEVEN JOHNSON, 7 PM, COMMONS BALLROOM
Thursday,
Apr 10

 

FORTEPAN

  1. Blake Schlawin
  2. Sophia Spier
  3. Emma George
  4. Sandra Flikkema
  5. Chelsea Ecklund
  6. Heather Kelly
  7. Kat Bartlett
14
Tuesday,
Apr 15

 

Facebook, Kik, and the future of social media

PLEASE READ FOR TODAY:
Thursday,
Apr 17

 

 

Social issues with Technology

See this:
http://mashable.com/2014/10/27/death-of-a-conversation-photography/


PLEASE READ FOR TODAY:
15
Tuesday,
Apr 22

 

Sweetie: fight against sexual predators

Health and Technology
Thursday,
Apr 24

 

FORTEPAN

  1. Carlie Frost
  2. Ashley Pettit
  3. Sammie Mallow
  4. Lisa Richtsmeier
  5. Andrew McIlhenny
  6. Samantha Gabel
  7. Emily Boehm
  8. Olivia Hottle
16
Tuesday, Apr 29  

FORTEPAN

  1. Cory Wagner
  2. Gaelen Morgan
  3. Heather Kelly
  4. Charlee Johnson
  5. Carter Doering
  6. Lauren Lewey
  7. Nathan Buss
  8. Evan Stevenson
Thursday
May 1 		open web vs. walled garden

Final exam

STUDYGUIDE
EXAM WEEK: May 5-9
Thursday, May 8  

Blog DUE.

 3:00-4:50 p.m.

 

  

 

 


 

 

 

 
ABOUT

Technology and Human Communication (aka Digital Culture, aka COMM 4544/5544) gets you to begin thinking seriously about  how the Web connects us and what kinds of digital innovations are shaping our future.  You will learn about the Internet as a positive, social networked sphere with a thriving creative commons, but you will also begin to see the dark side of our hyper-connected world:  a digital culture plagued with questions about copyright, government and corporate controls, and issues about privacy and unethical digital citizenship.  You will also begin to consider how a life increasingly connected to digital tools is affecting our daily lives. Finally, you will participate in digital culture by downloading and uploading videos from YouTube, downloading public domain and creative commons images, participating in the vast Wikipedia community, contributing to our class discussions, and delving deeply into a particular area of digital culture and sharing your expertise with the class and the world.

Objectives:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of digital culture and the critical debates that define our digital age.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of digital citizenship (e.g., remix culture, the creative commons, the public domain).
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of future digital trends.
  4. Apply theory to practice by participating in digital culture.
  5. Learn how to download YouTube videos, edit using Adobe Premiere Pro, and upload your remix back up to YouTube
  6. Develop a well-researched, well-rehearsed, and visually-powerful class presentation on a digital culture topic assigned to you.
  7. Be an effective collaborator and self-learner.
  8. Develop the ability to explain a complex set of ideas through public speaking , writing and through topic lists.
Readings
  • THERE IS NO TEXTBOOK FOR THIS CLASS. However, readings/video viewings are required for almost every class period, and are due on the day the readings are listed.
 
 
ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING
A. FIVE 3/4-PAGE RESPONSES (1st half of the semester). Choose 5 out of 7 topics.

20 pts (weeks 1-8)

B. REMIX PROJECT 20 pts
C. WIKIPEDIA CONTRIBUTION 5 pts
D. FORTEPAN PROJECT 20 pts
E. BLOG ENTRY 15 pts
G. MIDTERM. Based on the core concepts of the first 8 weeks of class. The exam is essay-based. 20 pts

H. FINAL. Based on the core concepts of the second 8 weeks of class. The exam is short answer.

 10 pts
TOTAL POINTS 110 pts
AMOUNT OF WORK EXPECTED: The College guideline is that one semester hour of credit is the equivalent of approximately three hours of work (class time + out-of-class preparation) each week over the course of a whole semester. In a typical lecture/discussion course, each hour of class normally entails at least two hours of outside preparation for the average student. That means that for every week students should set aside 6 hours/week outside of class to work on classwork. This standard is the basis on which the Registrar's Office assigns hours of University credit for courses.
GRADUATE STUDENT EXPECTATIONS
GRADING POLICY

LATE ASSIGNMENTS
Please save work and be responsible for all saved work. Discussion grades not posted before 9 am will not be counted. Assignments handed in past the due date will not be counted.  Simply put, any project not completed in the time allotted won’t be counted.

ATTENDANCE
The responsibility for attending classes rests with the student. As the citizens of Iowa have every right to assume, students at UNI are expected to attend class. This idea is neither novel nor unreasonable. Students should realize that an hour missed cannot be relived, that work can seldom be made up 100%, and that made-up work seldom equals the original experience in class.

ATTENDANCE POLICY 

As noted in the UNI Catalog, “Students are expected to attend class, and the responsibility for attending class rests with the student. Students are expected to learn and observe the attendance rules established by each instructor for each course. Instructors will help students to make up work whenever the student has to be absent for good cause; this matter lies between the instructor and student. Whenever possible, a student should notify the instructor in advance of circumstances which prevent class attendance.”

A note on missing classes:  It is NOT the instructor’s responsibility to re-teach material to students during office hours.  Office hours are for questions and clarifications. Students missing class are responsible for making up all class instruction and activities and for finding out from peers what they missed.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT  

Plagiarism, cheating, improperly sourced work, and other academic misconduct will not be tolerated.  The UNI Catalog is clear on this: “Students at the University of Northern Iowa are required to observe the commonly-accepted standards of academic honesty and integrity. Except in those instances in which group work is specifically authorized by the instructor of the class, no work which is not solely the student's is to be submitted to a professor in the form of an examination paper, a term paper, class project, research project, or thesis project. Cheating of any kind on examinations and/or plagiarism of papers or projects is strictly prohibited. Also unacceptable are the purchase of papers from commercial sources, using a single paper to meet the requirement of more than one class (except in instances authorized and considered appropriate by the professors of the two classes), and submission of a term paper or project completed by any individual other than the student submitting the work. Students are cautioned that plagiarism is defined as the process of stealing or passing off as one's own the ideas or words of another, or presenting as one's own an idea or product which is derived from an existing source.” See the UNI Catalog for full details.
A Final Note
Disability Services
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) provides protection from illegal discrimination for qualified individuals with disabilities.  Students requesting instructional accommodations due to disabilities must arrange for such accommodation through the Office of Disability Services.  The ODS is located at 103 Student Health Center, phone number: 273-2676.
Academic Learning Center's Free Assistance with Writing, Math, Reading and Learning Strategies
The Writing Center offers one-on-one writing assistence open to all UNI undergraduate and graduate students. Writing Assistants offer strategies for getting started, citing and documenting, and editing your work. Visit the Online Writing Guide and schedule an appointment at 008 ITTC or 319-273-2361.
The Math Center offers individual and small-group tutorials especially helpful for students in Liberal Arts Core math courses. No appointment is necessary, but contact the Math Center at 008 ITTC or 319-273-2361 to make certain a tutor will be available at a time convenient for you.
The Reading and Learning Center provides an Ask-a-Tutor program, consultations with the reading specialist, and free, four-week, non-credit courses in Speed Reading, Effective Study Strategies, PPST-Reading and -Math, and GRE-Quantitative and Verbal. Visit this website and 008 ITTC or call 319-273-2361