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.

Referencing Guides

Here is a great YouTube video on referencing and research methods with Mike Webb and Barbara Mitra from University of Worcester.

For written examples on how to reference using a Harvard referencing method, you can use this very useful resource, provided by Staffordshire University: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/assets/harvard_referencing_examples_tcm44-39847.pdf