Assignment One: Deadline 28.03.12

Assignment One: 40%: Online Learning Journal (blog) 

REQUIREMENTS

A) Five Written ‘Posts’:

1. “Old Media” vs. “New Media”
(This is a written debate in which you analyse the differences between an old media and a new media which has replaced it.)

2. New Media Glossary Challenge
(This is for the user-generated Glossary that will be published for this class. You will be given a new media term to research and find three definitions on. It is essential that you use three different sources (i.e. Book, e-book, journal, website...) and that you use Harvard referencing correctly. Your definitions must be presented using the template provided.)

3. How have mobile medias shaped participatory culture?
(Answer this question as a short essay. You are expected to use at least one quote from the reading provided in class and on Blackboard to support your answer.)

4. How has the Internet changed journalism?
(Answer this question as a short essay. You are expected to use the class discussion and critical reflection on the BBC programme "How Facebook Changed The World" and the newspaper articles provided in class and in Blackboard to support your answer.)

5. Critical Reflection on Second Life
(This blog post will be written following a conversation with Barbara Mitra in Second Life. Using these questions and the reading provided by Tim for the Second Life class, write a critical reflection of your experience of Second Life.)

- Each blog post is a maximum of 300 words each, (not including quotations) 

- Spelling and grammar will be marked, so ensure you use the spell check on all of your posts.
- Use both primary and secondary materials to support your written posts.

- Harvard Referencing is essential for ALL quotes, images, and references in all posts etc.

- A tag-cloud visualisation of one of your blogs should be included. If you missed this class, you can create this using www.wordle.net by copying an pasting one post into wordle and making a tag cloud. Include an image of this on your blog with a reference to which blog post it is a visualisation of.

B) Twenty Website ‘Links’:

- Include a minimum of 20 ‘links’ (relevant to this module)

- The links should be listed in the left or right hand column and organised into "Link Lists"

- Link List titles might include the titles of the sessions, such as ‘digital distribution’ or ‘social media’.

- Add links to relevant reading, websites, blogs, youtube clips, references, journal articles, e-books, social medias, and online materials discussed in this module, presented in this blog and in the presentations in Blackboard.  

- Links MUST include: Your Twitter, Your online newspaper, and The MECS1008 Module blog.

DEADLINES

Deadlines for Assignment:

Presentation: 26th March 2012

- You are required to prepare and present a 3-minute presentation of your Online Learning Journal to the class

- You will present a short summary of your OLJ (blog) by: 1. briefly introducing what you discussed in each one, 2. by explaining how you have used the link lists, 3. by sharing what has been the most interesting topic and what has been the most challenging topic for you and why.  

- All students will present and peer-review each others Online Learning Journals. To peer review each OLJ (blog), students will mark each other on 1. Visual presentation of blog. 2. Use of new media language. 3. Use of research and referencing and 4. Delivery of presentation to class. 

- All blogs will be viewed, even if the students aren't there to present them.
- Students can collect their peer-reviewed marks and comments from Rebecca at the end of class, to make any suggested improvements before submitting their finished Online Learning Journal on 28.03.12:

Submit printed copy: 28th March 3.00pm

- All students must add Barbara Mitra as a reader of their blog. Do this by going to Settings - Permissions - Readers - and adding b.mitra@worc.ac.uk as a reader.

- Students must print a hard-copy of your Online Learning Journal and submit it by 3.00pm on 28th March


- Hand-in hard-copy with tracking form attached (available on SOLE page) to: Bredon Building Assignments Box.

To read the Learning Outcomes and the Grading Criteria, please view the document 'Assignment One Summary' in Blackboard.

5th Post: Critical reflection on Second Life

This post is a critical reflection of your experience of creating an avatar identity in Second Life. This can be written following the Second Life class with Tim Johnson and a conversation with Barbara Mitra in Second Life.


Students must sign up to one of the times Barbara has provided, and sign into Second Life as their avatar. Students need to copy and paste this written conversation (in the chat function in Second Life) into a word document for their reference.


For this critical reflection blog post, students are expected to use the questions asked by Barbara and the reading provided by Tim, details here, to support their reflection. This is not a copy and paste of the whole conversation with Barbara.


This blog must include at least one quotation from the conversation with Barbara, and should include a reference to the reading provided by Tim or research done by the student. 


This post is a maximum of 300 words, (not including quotations).


Deadline: Monday 26th March.

How Facebook Changed The World

For students who missed the screening of "How Facebook changed the World" can watch some shorter clips on YouTube.

Week 8 Summary

On Monday 19th March the class was split in to two groups.

In the Social Media Revolution class, the following was covered:

The presentation and reading is available in the Blackboard.

"How Facebook Changed the World"

The BBC production about The Arab Spring and how the protestors and activists used social media.

A discussion on how mobile and social media is used in current and political protests around the world.

Reading of newspaper articles and a debate on the following questions:

1. How were the activists of The Arab Spring able to report on their situation?

2. What methods were used for their revolution to begin?

3. What are the dangers of online activism?

4. How has The Arab Spring changed how social media can be used in activism and protest?

5. Identify and discuss 3 benefits there are to citizen journalism.

6. Identify and discuss 3 issues there are with citizen journalism.

The homework for this class is to write a new blog post on the title: How has the Internet changed journalism? More details here.

Week 7 Summary: Cyberculture and Online Communities

On Monday 12th March the following was covered:
The presentation is available in Blackboard. The reading is available in the key text, in the Library.


What is Cyberspace, Cyberculture, Community and Online Community?


Reading: Introduction to Chapter 8: Community in the key text: The Internet: an introduction to new media by Leila Green.


Group work: research, discussion presentation on the topic 'Online Community'.


Homework: Complete reading and preparation for next class, read: Social Media Revolution or Virtual Identity: Second Life  

Week 6 Summary: Social Media Revolution

On Monday 5th March the class was split in to two groups.
In the Social Media Revolution class, the following was covered:
The presentation and reading is available in the Blackboard.


How Facebook Changed the World
The BBC production about The Arab Spring and how the protestors and activists used social media.


A discussion on how mobile and social media is used in current and political protests around the world.


Reading of newspaper articles and a debate on the following questions:
1. How were the activists of The Arab Spring able to report on their situation?
2. What methods were used for their revolution to begin?
3. What are the dangers of online activism?
4. How has The Arab Spring changed how social media can be used in activism and protest?
5. Identify and discuss 3 benefits there are to citizen journalism.
6. Identify and discuss 3 issues there are with citizen journalism.


The homework for this class is to write a new blog post on the title: How has the Internet changed journalism? More details below.

4th Post: How has the Internet changed journalism?

In class there was a discussion on the following questions:
1. How were the activists of The Arab Spring able to report on their situation?
2. What methods were used for their revolution to begin?
3. What are the dangers of online activism?
4. How has The Arab Spring changed how social media can be used in activism and protest?
5. Identify and discuss 3 benefits there are to citizen journalism.
6. Identify and discuss 3 issues there are with citizen journalism.


Using this discussion, reflection on the BBC production shown in class called 'How Facebook changed the world' and using the newspaper articles provided (see links below) write a new blog post on the title:


How has the Internet changed journalism?


You should include a minimum of two quotes from the newspaper articles to support your answer.


You are expected to use Harvard referencing of all quotes, for detailed advice on how to harvard reference click here: Harvard Referencing Guide

The post will be a maximum of 300 words (not including referencing).

For students in the class on 5th March the deadline is: 9am Monday 12th March. To be added to your Online Learning Journals (blog).

Objectives of this post:

• To engage in the contemporary debate about citizen journalism 
• To reflect critically on the current issues of new media
• To research and use various resources, specifically newspaper articles
• To practice using Harvard referencing

Reading:
Newspaper articles:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/20/what-effect-internet-on-journalism?INTCMP=SRCH

http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/insideguardian/2012/feb/29/open-journalism-at-the-guardian

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358834/China-quashes-pro-democracy-Jasmine-Revolution-force.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2056140/Homeland-Security-step-monitoring-Twitter-social-network-sites.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/07/bbm-rioters-communication-method-choice

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/07/how-twitter-spread-rumours-riots

http://dalje.com/en/foto.php?id=19&rbr=25246&idrf=979830

BOOK and BLOG: http://citizenjournalism.me/

These are available also as PDF's in the blackboard in the ‘Week 6’ folder

Week 5 Summary

On Monday 27th February, the following was covered
The presentation and reading is available in the Blackboard


Digital Distribution
Of music, television and news.


Streaming, Downloading and Podcasts
Considering the benefits and issues with digital distribution of media


An introduction to the term: Citizen Journalism


Creating your own Twitter Newspaper
All students created or updated their Twitter accounts, by 'following' 15 new people on Twitter. And 'tweeting' or 're-tweeting' their first tweet. Students then created a newspaper of their Twitter feeds using http://paper.li 


Creating a tag-cloud of a blog post
All students created a tag cloud, by copying and pasting one of their blog posts into www.wordle.net and then saving and uploading the image into their blog.


Homework
To complete all of the tasks in the handout (available in blackboard)


To do the reading for the next class. The class will be split into two. See below to see which class you will be in and the links to the reading.

Preparation for Social Media Revolution class

This class will take place on 5th and 19th March. Students with surnames A - K will be in this class on 19th March. Students with surnames L - W will be in this class on 5th March. 


READING 
Please read the following before this session.


BBC news article:
"Internet Role in Egypt's protests" by Anne Alexander:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12400319
To get an overview of the topic we will be looking at in detail in this class.


Blog: 
Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives
http://citizenjournalism.me 
To gain an understanding on what Citizen Journalism is, who writes about it, what it's power can be.


Have a look at the preview of the book: Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives, Edited by Stuart Allan and Einar Thorsen, published in 2009: http://citizenjournalism.me/blog/preview-book

Preparation for Virtual Identity: Second Life class

This class will take place on 5th and 19th March. Students with surnames A - K will be in this class on 5th March. Students with surnames L - W will be in this class on 19th March. 

Before the session in Second Life with Tim Johnson, you will need to create your avatar and have entered Second Life, to familiarise yourselves with this virtual environment and your avatars - also known as 'avi's'.

You will need to have:

• Registered your SecondLife name: (Please consider what personality you want your avatar to have before doing this) https://join.secondlife.com 

• Emailed your avatar name to r.gamble@worc.ac.uk and k.johnson@worc.ac.uk

• Downloaded Second Life viewer on to your computer: http://www.phoenixviewer.com/downloads.php 

• Entered and explored SecondLife at least once.

• Accept or request the friendship request of Bluesky Larkam and Mariela Eyre.

• Accept the ‘teleport’ offer to the University of Worcester island (sent by Bluesky)

• Finally you will need to make this island you ‘home'.

READING

Before this class, you will need to have read the reading Tim has suggested:

"Rebecca and I mentioned some reading we would like you to do. The first of these is Reinventing Ourselves: Contemporary Concepts of Identity in Virtual Worlds By Anna Peachey, Mark Childs. This can be found in Google Books and you should read pages 13-21. The second piece to read is at http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/66555 Virtual Worlds: A Performative Perspective on Globally Distributed, Immersive Work, from MIT, released on a Creative Commons License. Please read all of this if you wish but it is a little long so concentrate on pages 12-15. This article is from the Sloane School of Management at MIT and, besides providing an insight into identity in virtual worlds also demonstrates just how widely, and increasingly, used virtual worlds are in business. You might also like to read part of an excellent book by Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailinson called Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution. This book can also be found on Google Books; you should read the section called The Virtual Laboratory but be careful you could get hooked into reading the rest of the book 

Remember if you have any problems with either your avatars or these readings please get in touch with me by email (k.johnson@worc.ac.uk)."

http://digitalliteracyuow.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/getting-a-bit-late

Henry Jenkins: Participatory Culture

Week 4 Summary

On Monday 20th February, the following was covered
The presentation and reading is available in the Blackboard

- Participatory Culture
(For Henry Jenkins idea of 'Participatory Culture' and 'Civic Engagement' watch: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFCLKa0XRlw&feature=player_embedded

- Web 2.0
(Collaboration - youth as media collaborators and Sociality - youth as social networkers)

- YouTube as a Case Study (example) of 'Participatory Culture'
(Read the journal article: "YouTube as Participatory Culture by Clement Chau. Available in Blackboard)

- Facebook as a reflective tool
(Questions were asked, so that personal and group reflection can be given to 'cultural activities' and 'self-identity' reflected in social media, such as Facebook, for the questions please refer to the presentation in Blackboard.)

Homework:

To write the 3rd blog post on: 

How have mobile medias shaped participatory culture?

READ BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION

Deadline: 9am Monday 27th February

3rd post: How have mobile medias shaped participatory culture?

Using the lectures and discussion given in Weeks 3 and 4, write a blog post on the above question.

You are expected to use at least one quote to support your answer. (Reading can be found in both presentations on blackboard and as handouts)


You are expected to use Harvard referencing of all quotes, for detailed advice on how to harvard reference click here: Harvard Referencing Guide

The post will be a maximum of 300 words (not including referencing).

Deadline: 9am Monday 27th February.


The essential reading for this blog post includes:

 Henry Jenkins presentation, available online: http://sites.google.com/site/participatorydemocracyproject/home

Chapter 7: Participatory culture: mobility, interactivity and identity p107-121 authored by Matt Hills in Creeber and Martins: Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media 2009

(Handout in Week 4)

“YouTube as a participatory culture” Clement Chau p65. PFD. Journal: New Directions for Youth Development, No 128. WINTER 2010 © WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/yd.376

(Available on Blackboard)

Life in a Day: Directed by Kevin Macdonald

Week 3 Summary

On Monday 13th February the following was covered:
The presentation can be found on the blackboard


- Postmodernism and New Media 
(Looking at the new media theories, introduced in the handout: Chapter 1: Digital Theory: theorizing New Media, authored by Glen Creeber, from the key text: 
Creeber, G. and Martin, R. (eds) (2009). Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media, Berkshire: Open University Press.


- Participatory Culture
(The differences between old media audiences (passive consumers) and new media audiences (active producers) and how this has created a participatory culture of active audiences)


- Life in a Day, directed by Kevin MacDonald, 2010.
(The largest 'user-gernated' and 'crowdsourced' film made, using YouTube videos. This is a key example of the topic new media audiences being active producers, we discussed what this film presented and achieved in terms of a participatory culture).
This film can be watched online for free here: http://www.youtube.com/user/lifeinaday/experience


Homework


- To register your Second Life avatar name and explore Second Life for the first time. Please follow the guidelines provided below.


- To read the New Media Glossary: a user-generated glossary, edited by the students of MECS1008. (This will be available on the Blackboard)

Second Life checklist

Before the session in Second Life with Tim Johnson, you will need to create your avatar and have entered Second Life, to familiarise yourselves with this virtual environment and your avatars - also known as 'avi's'.


By Monday 20th February, you will need to have:

• Registered your SecondLife name: (Please consider what personality you want your avatar to have before doing this) https://join.secondlife.com 

• Emailed your avatar name to r.gamble@worc.ac.uk and k.johnson@worc.ac.uk

• Downloaded Second Life viewer on to your computer: http://www.phoenixviewer.com/downloads.php 

• Entered and explored SecondLife at least once.

• Accept or request the friendship request of Bluesky Larkam and Mariela Eyre.

• Accept the ‘teleport’ offer to the University of Worcester island (sent by Bluesky)

• Finally you will need to make this island you ‘home.

If you experience any problems, please email Tim.


Lots more information can be found here: http://digitalliteracyuow.wordpress.com


If you want to get started on the reading material for the Second Life session, you can find this here: http://digitalliteracyuow.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/getting-a-bit-late

Week 2 Summary

On Monday 6th February, the following was covered:
The presentation can be found on the blackboard


- 'Old' Media and 'New' Media
(The differences in 'analogue' and 'digital' media, or 'traditional' and 'convergent' media)


- Introduction to the Internet
(Looking at the history of the Internet from 1960's to present day. Watched the following two links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hIQjrMHTv4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0pPfyYtiBc&feature=related


- Modernism and Old Media
(Looking at the new media theories, introduced in the handout: Chapter 1: Digital Theory: theorizing New Media, authored by Glen Creeber, from the key text: 
Creeber, G. and Martin, R. (eds) (2009). Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media, Berkshire: Open University Press.


- New Media Glossary Challenge
(A 30-minute challenge to find one definition of a new media term)


Homework


- To complete the New Media glossary challenge. All details are given below. If any students have missed this, please email me and I will give you the word you need to research.


- To read the handout: Chapter 1: Digital Theory: theorizing New Media, authored by Glen Creeber, from the key text: Creeber, G. and Martin, R. (eds) (2009). Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media, Berkshire: Open University Press.

2nd Post: New Media Glossary challenge!

The challenge is to each find 3 facts, quotes or definitions about 1 key term (this term will be given to you)

Rules: You must:

• Use three different sources: eg: a Book, E-Book, Journal, Website...

• One source must be a Worcester University Library resource: book or e-book.

• Gather all information about how and where you found the quote.

• Use Harvard Referencing to include: author, date of publication, publisher, page number, website url…

• Check it is a ‘reliable source’, do you know who wrote it and where and when they wrote it? Is it a primary or secondary source? Is it a trusted website? (Wkipedia is authored by anyone, so, although it is helpful to gain an insight into a definition, it is not a reliable source you can quote).

In class: 6th February 2012

• In class you will have 30 minutes to find 1 fact/quote/definition and bring it back to the class.

• You will present this to the class, including where you found it from.

• There will be a prize for the most interesting!!

Submit: Update by 13th February

• Add all 3 quotes with references to your blog by Monday 13th February.

• Students must email r.gamble[at]worc.ac.uk by Monday 13th February at 9am.

• All of these will be added to the new MECS1008 New Media Glossary

• DONT FORGET to include Harvard referencing!   

Deadline: 9am Monday 13th February

Objectives of this post:

• To identify the language of New Media
• To contribute to a "user-generated" glossary
• To research and use differenct research and resources
• To practice using Harvard referencing

New Media Glossary Challenge Example

THE GLOSSARY LAYOUT SHOULD BE:

1. Source (3 different sources should be used and one must be from the University Library)

2. “Quote”

3. Reference (Harvard)

4. How and where you found it

Font : Arial, 12.

Email it as a word document to r.gamble@worc.ac.uk

Add it as a ‘post’ on your MECS1008 blog

EXAMPLE:

Old Media

Source 1: E-Book

"Old media is arcane in terms of being historically superseded by digital media, and in being subject to distortion by the passage of time".

Kirkland, E. 2010. p. 247. In: Billias, N. (Ed.) 2010. Promoting and Producing Evil. [E-Book] Rudopi. Amsterdam, Netherlands. Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TsHbw1FfQx4C&lpg=PP1&dq=Promoting%20and%20Producing%20Evil&pg=PA247#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 8 February 2011]

Found online using the Advanced Search function on Google Scholar to search for the exact phrase "old media" purely within books and articles in the Socials Sciences, Arts and Humanities area. I used Google Scholar as it narrows the search to purely academic and reliable sources.

Source 2: Book

"Old media are not being displaced. Rather, their functions and status are shifted by the introduction of new technologies".

Jenkins, H. 2006. p. 14. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press, New York.

Found in a library by using their in-house computer search to narrow down their vast selection of books to those on a relevant subject, and then looking specifically for those involving "old media".

Source 3: Website

"A non-derogatory term used to describe the traditional media: print, television, radio, and sometimes film."

Saila, C. 2011. Definition of Old Media. [Online] Available at: http://www.saila.com/glossary/oldmedia [Accessed 14 February 2011].

Found via a Google Search for "definition of old media". I chose this website over other online dictionary definitions of "old media" as it has an identifiable author.