Communication 403/503 - Issues in Cyberspace

Submitted by efomin on 13 April 2008 - 10:41pm.

This course will explore some of the current social, political, legal, and technological issues associated with the use of new media technology to move ideas and information in a democratic society. Examples of areas to be explored include the Internet and World Wide Web, privacy, copyright, journalism, social networking and the meaning of the First Amendment in the 21st century.

Course Information
Contributing Institution: 
University of Michigan
Course Number/ID: 
COMM 403/503
Course Length (number of weeks): 
13
Course Delivery Mode: 
Distance
Average Number of Enrolled Students: 
Between 10 and 30 students
Course Level: 
College
Course Level: 
Graduate
Course Development & Delivery
Course Contributors: 

none

Course Development: 

YouTube podcasts were used during the first week of the course to assist students in using the CTools interface after student feedback indicated a need for help. The unique opportunity for live feedback from students on campus who were taking the class online allowed the instructor to adapt the course format to the requests of students in the course. Each weeks' topic had a separate web page created with links to resources.
The goal of the course design was to make the experience rich in new media. Comm 403 covers the emerging topics on the web, and course design pushed the students to experience firsthand the many tools the web has to offer and to consider the issues associated with those topics. Students were required to access Facebook for social networking, Second Life for virtual world experiences, use a wiki and create YouTube videos or blogs for the section on New Media in Journalism. Students were then required to respond to their experiences in the CTools discussion threads and upload articles, images and media. Instructions for using the various internet technologies on the web were posted in the Resources area of Sakai as links to Youtube videos and other resources.

Course Delivery: 

To maximize the many learning styles of online students, several tools within Sakai were used:
1. iTunes U with an audio version of the textbook.
2. The Wiki for student discussion and collaboration
3. HTML web pages were loaded in the Resources area with custom information for each week’s topics. Links to Youtube and web resources were included for each topic of discussion.
4. Discussion thread assignments were maximized for student interaction. Each week’s discussions were assessed using a specific rubric matrix in the HTML page content. The rubric was modeled after courses taught by the instructor at another institution (using ECollege).
5. The Assignment area was used to provide private feedback to students on the discussion thread topics without the instructor feedback being in the public discussion threads.
6. The live Chat area served well as an area where students could ask questions directly to the instructor, or post questions for other students to respond to.

Course Self-Assessment
Communication & Collaboration Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Communication & Collaboration Evidence: 

Online courses give the unique opportunity for the students to interact with each other and the instructor on a very personal level with each other. This more direct interaction was encouraged by attaching a point value to the comments students make on each other’s posts in the discussion threads. Feedback for students on their discussion posts was included in the Assignments area from the instructor.Live Chat was also utilized for office-hours when students could interact live with the instructor.

Learning Material Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Learning Material Evidence: 

Utilizing the entire world wide web as a resource, students were directed to video, web sites and applications during the course to experience first hand the topics being discussed in the course.

Learning Outcomes & Assessment Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Learning Outcomes & Assessment Evidence: 

Rubrics were posted for each week’s assignments with points for each portion of the assignment. Students were required to post comments on at least two other students posts for full credit. Proper citation of references were also required. To reduce the possibility of plagiarism, students were encouraged to share personal experiences on the web, instead of just writing papers on those particular topics.

Course Look & Feel, Web Usability Self-Assessment: 
Effective
Course Look & Feel, Web Usability Evidence: 

The instructor would prefer that future sessions of Comm 250 had a fully linked web site, and the folder structure of CTools directory structure would be more transparent to the students. In future versions of the course, the instructor would include a separate discussion thread titled “Ask the Professor” where students could direct specific questions to the instructor instead of in the main discussion thread topics.

Learner Support Self-Assessment: 
Effective
Learner Support Evidence: 

The instructor has previously utilized live video chat as provided by Apple iChat (See instructor in a demo of iChat online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEmaPCkSp6E ) or Elluminate ClassLivePro in other online classes. Both tools have the ability to screen/application share with the students, and provide a rich synchronous learning opportunity not yet available in Ctools. (Are there plans for similar applications in Sakai?) Email and chat room interaction are often not urgent enough to respond to student questions adequately.

Teaching Innovation
Teaching Innovation: 

The combination of the great repository of resources on the web about the subject matter of the course and the unique ability of an online course to personalize the delivery of the information to each student makes it a truly unique educational experience. Students are encouraged to research and experience online topics in the discussion themselves individually and share those experiences with other students in a safe online environment of the Sakai discussion threads. Student engagement is high because they can choose the topic focus that is relevant to their experiences. They also learn practical technical skills in navigating, researching and using web-based applications such as Wikis and Second Life.
Included following are student discussion transcript as evidence of the effective use of Sakai:
My Second Life Experience (student met instructor in SL)
William Leung (Mar 9, 2008 8:34 PM EDT)
Me experience with Second Life has been well…interesting. At first impression, I thought it was a complete waste of time, a poor excuse for social interaction and very gimmicky. However, the longer I played it, the more my interest ascended. I found the flying aspect to be creative. Flying and teleporting from one point to another was exciting and established just how vast the virtual universe was. The interaction with other avatars was the focal point of my experience. There were so many people in the virtual world, some stranger than others.
Aside from the peculiar avatars, I found the rest of virtual world to be inspiring. I suppose my feelings towards it changed when I met and engaged in a lengthy conversation with professor Fomin, or shall I say her alter ego, Artista. She was helpful and informative, willing to answer all of my questions. We talked about the prospect of integrating classes and lectures in Second Life. I personally liked the idea; it’s fresh, innovative and could very so affect the way online courses could be taught in the future. There is so much in Second Life that I’ve have yet to discover.