ComS 222 Analysis of Electronic
Media Paper Assignment
To experience a variety of
interactions online
To compare the nature of online
and face to face interactions as instructional contexts
To reflect on those experiences
from an instructional communication perspective
To account for (explain) the
affordances and limitations of various mediated experiences by
applying relevant communication theory.
In order to accomplish this
assignment you will need to start immediately
so you have sufficient time to find and subscribe to
appropriate online lists, discussion groups or courses that
provide sufficient “traffic” for you to assess the
experiences. You will participate
with those lists, discussions or courses you subscribe as well
as and online discussions in our class that may emerge. Time is needed to ensure the lists
are sufficiently active and for you to experience their nature
and quality. Also, you will
encounter technical problems that will take time to solve—all
part of the mediated instructional context.
Courses:
Here are three possible sources
to get you started--
Saylor.Org
"Harnessing technology to make
education free."
Feel free to take one of these
courses (or look through the catalog for another you'd like to
try)
Psych 406 Gender
and Sexuality
This resource can be quite interesting, but timing of some course offerings are not compatible with our schedule; nevertheless, I suggest you check out three that do fit our time frame:
Coursera
I suggest you explore the
categories of Education or Humanities, but you are free to look
in other categories that may interest you. In Humanities, I
recommend,
Specialization: Virtual Teacher Program
Course available:
1) Advanced Instructional Strategies in the Virtual Classroom
Sept 29-
https://www.coursera.org/course/advancedvirtual
Specialization: Foundations of Teaching for Learning
Courses available:
1) Foundations of Teaching for Learning 4: Curriculum
Sept 8-
https://www.coursera.org/course/teach4
2) Foundations of Teaching for Learning 7: Being a Professional
Sept 22-
Lists:
For a list of lists with subscription links try http://www.edwebproject.org/lists.html
Read the directions for
subscribing at the top and try some out.
Keep a record of your sign-ups and keep the response
you get from any successful subscription so you know how to
unsubscribe if and when you need to do so.
Blog:
While lists are still used, blogs seem to be replacing
them. Here's one that you may want to read and comment on:
http://tlt-swg.blogspot.com/
The TLT
(Teaching/Learning with Technology) Group sponsors this one.
·
What
are the affordances of the electronic media as a
channel for communication designed to instruct?
·
What
are the weaknesses or limitations of electronic channels in
communicating with students? What
are the strengths of these channels in facilitating learning?
·
What
knowledge do we already possess (i.e. what theory do we have)
that can guide our best use of this medium?
·
What
do we need to learn in order to make best use of these
media?
Part III: Speculation:
speculate on how electronic media will re-shape the
instructional context (or will the context affect the
structure of the media?) What
will we have to know more about in order to communicate most
effectively given the availability and use of electronic
media?
Use the APA stylebook to format
this paper. (If you don't have a style book,
use the on-line versions listed in the syllabus.)
·
The
essay presents a coherent conceptual approach with
introduction, body and conclusion.
·
The
essay treats all three areas of the assignment: exploration,
explanation and speculation.
·
Evidence
of
exploration
is present in the essay in the form of examples, illustrations
and narratives of your experience.
·
Explanation
is
grounded
in appropriate and sufficient communication theory to account
for your experiences and those of others you include.
·
Speculation
is
logically
related to explanation; present and future have some
connection; experience and theory are connected, too.
·
The
essay is free of spelling and grammatical errors.
·
The
essay is properly formatted using APA stylebook.
These journals are
concerned about doing education online. However, note, the writers
rarely treat communication theory or practices explicitly. Be careful not to apply statements
from the journals to any discussion of instructional
communication without first considering whether or not the
content is consistent with theory we employ.
For example, media tools are central to many of the
discussions, but the symbolic and semantic qualities of media
are almost never discussed. Advocating media use for the
sake of convenience, for example, is a wrong-headed
rationale for its use.