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Electronic Discussion Board Assignment Schedule, US115H, Fall 2001
The calendar below goes through Week Nine. Further assignments will be
forthcoming; they will also be posted on the Blackboard.com
web site. Please be aware of the policies discussed below.
Rationale: Just as many writing classes require reading logs or journals, this
class requires you to submit electronic posts to the discussion board regularly throughout
the semester, usually in response to the articles that we read. The electronic discussion
board allows us to extend our classroom discussions in a number of ways. First, by reading
the material and posting in writing to a class discussion board, we gain further
experience in the art of public discourse. In addition, such postings offer added depth to
our in-class discussions since the act of writing gives time for deeper reflection on the
readings. Also, many students find that writing electronic posts liberates them to
participate in discussions in ways that they might not in a normal classroom setting.
Finally, many students feel that participating in discussion boards gives their class a
greater sense of unity and purpose and extends their relationships beyond the walls of the
classroom.
General instructions:
Timing: Since the posting assignments are responses to
the course readings or provide materials for classroom activities and discussions, they
must be posted on time; late posts will not receive credit since they do not serve our
purposes. Posts must be submitted by 12:00 noon of the
due date (unless otherwise stated) in order to allow people time to read them before
coming to class the next morning.
Quality and Grading: Your posts should be thoughtful
pieces of writing; don’t merely dash them off right before the posting deadline. Your
entries will be graded on punctuality (posting before the deadline), length (responding
adequately to the prompt and/or fulfilling any length requirement), and depth
(demonstrating careful reading and thoughtful writing). Remember that these posts
constitute 10%-15% of your course grade.
Audience: Respond to my prompt in light of both the
readings and the posts of your classmates; use the electronic discussion board to share
your ideas and to carry on a conversation with each other. My hope is that this bulletin
board will spur your thinking and will help you invent material for your major writing
assignments.
Technology Failure: It’s best to write your post
first in a word processing program (Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect), then copy and
paste it to the electronic discussion board; this way you won’t lose your post if you
get bumped offline while composing. Also, in general I cannot stress too much to save your
documents often –like after every couple of sentences! In addition, if you’re
composing on a diskette in the A-drive, periodically save the document to the hard drive
as well, or vice-versa.
Digital Decorum: Although they cannot be accessed by
just anyone, these electronic posts are public in nature; make your writing appropriate
for such a forum of academic discourse. Treat both people and ideas with respect in your
online discussions, especially when expressing strong feelings or serious disagreements.
"Flaming" and derogatory or unkind remarks will not be allowed on our discussion
board.
Groups: Some assignments require all students to post. For others, the
class is divided into two groups, based on last names, so that students have to post
usually only once per week. Be sure to read all the day’s posts before coming to
class, even on the days that you don’t have to post, in order to be ready for class
discussion.
Group 1: Armstrong - Hudman.
Group 2: Ingram - Willis
Calendar:
| Week |
Date |
Students |
Assignment |
| Week One |
Sun, Aug 26, 6:00 p.m. |
All |
For this first posting, introduce yourself to
the class. Tell us about some of your favorite things, your family or a good friend, an
accomplishment or a significant event in your life, recent or in the distant past –
anything, really, that lets us begin to get to know each other. |
| Week Two |
Mon, Aug 27 |
Group 1 |
After reading Wooley’s article, write
your own definition of cyberspace in response to his varied discussion of Marshall
McLuhan, networks, telepresence, computer viruses, genetic replicators, and international
markets. What other metaphors would you employ to help us understand the nature of
cyberspace and how the term caught on? |
| Week Two |
Wed, Aug 29 |
Group 2 |
First, how would you explain virtual reality
to someone who is not computer literate? Heim uses seven concepts to help unpack the term
"virtual reality." What do Plato, the Russian and American space programs, the
TV show Star Trek, and the Holy Grail have to do with these seven concepts? |
| Week Three |
Wed, Sep 05 |
All |
Group 1: Focus mainly on the articles of
Rheingold and Barlow. Do you share their basic optimism about virtual communities being
like real communities? Explain your response. Group2: Focus mainly
on the articles by Turkle and Slouka. Which author do you find yourself agreeing with
more? Why? |
| Week Four |
Mon,
Sep 10 |
Group 2 |
These articles represent a range of opinions
regarding freedom of expression and censorship on the Internet. Where do you stand in
relation to the various views expressed in the readings? |
| Week Four |
Wed,
Sep 12 |
Group 1 |
Is computer hacking a crime? Explain your
response in light of the various arguments made in the reading. |
| Week Five |
Mon,
Sep 17 |
females only |
The authors for this set of readings make a
number of claims about gender roles in relation to computer usage and online
communication. I’d like the young women of our class to respond to these claims. Do
the authors reflect your own attitudes and experiences, or are you different from the
women they discuss? |
| Week Five |
Wed,
Sep 19 |
males only |
Huff and Gerrard both comment on gender
identity and gender relations in cyberspace. Do you think that online environments alter
our society’s views on gender issues, or do we just carry our cultural baggage
online? Do you think the fact that you’re males has any bearing on the ways you
respond to all these articles? |
| Week Six |
Mon,
Sep 24 |
Group 1 |
Do you sympathize more with the position of
Postman or of Paglia? Explain your position in relation to what each says. Also, do you think that web surfing provides for the same kind of serendipitous
discoveries that Gup talks about in his experiences flipping the pages of an encyclopedia?
Why or why not? |
| Week Six |
Wed,
Sep 26 |
Group 2 |
As a way to better understand the pessimism of
Birkerts and the optimism of Kurzweil about electronic literacies, explain the underlying
value systems that inform their criteria and their judgements about computers, books, and
what it means to be literate. |
| Week Seven |
Mon,
Oct 01 |
All |
Other cultures and periods of history do not
share modern Western notions of authorship and copyright. According to the readings, in
what ways are these notions no longer applicable to the digital age and electronic
environments? How is the digital, electronic present more like the Middle Ages than the
age of print? |
| Week Seven |
Wed,
Oct 03 |
All |
From the current draft you’re working on,
post a variety of five memorable sentences you’ve written, employing some of the
stylistic options discussed in NSMH Chs.19-23 (e.g. climactic order, coordination,
subordination, parallel structure, repetition, antithesis, or inversion). Along with the
sentences, identify or comment on the stylistic choices you’ve made. |
| Week Eight |
Tues,
Oct 9 |
Group 1 |
Barlow says that laws governing intellectual
property and copyright issues of the print age cannot be analogized to cyberspace, basing
his argument on claims about the nature of information (as an activity, a life form, and a
relationship). Reflect on these claims in relation to your life and your society. Barlow
concludes with some predictions; give some more specific predictions of your own if his
"economy of ideas" were adopted. |
| Week Nine |
Mon,
Oct 15 |
Group 2 |
How do the authors attempt to cast plagiarism
as a positive or constructive activity? Is their characterization consistent with what you
have experienced in academic or creative settings? Would you be pleased or displeased to
have your own work viewed as material for appropriation in the future? (From
"Guideposts" on VCP web site.) |
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