Comm : Introduction to Communication Technologies. Syllabus. Spring 2015

Transcription

1 Instructor: Bill Brantley Comm : Introduction to Communication Technologies Syllabus Spring 2015 Course Rationale: Survey the history and characteristics of various communication technologies to understand their influence on human communication. Objectives: 1. You will learn the history and development of several major communication technologies. 2. You will use a variety of theoretical perspectives to determine the impact that communication technology has on human civilization. 3. You will apply the knowledge gained in this course to speculate on future developments in communication technology. 4. You will apply the knowledge gained in this course to help you in planning a career in communication. Required Texts: Grant, August E. and Jennifer H. Meadows, eds Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals, Fourteenth Edition. New York: Focal Press. Standage, Tom The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group. Students may also be responsible for the content of additional material all of which will be available online and will be posted on the course Blackboard site. Contact Information: Even though this is an online course, I am easily accessible in several different ways: - My primary is wabran01@louisville.edu. My secondary is bill.brantley@gmail.com. Phone/Text - My cell phone is my constant companion and you can always leave a voice mail or text me Text - Text me at

2 THE COMMUNICATION ESCALATION PROTOCOL - I acknowledge all s/texts even if it is a short message such as "Received" or "Acknowledged." I keep copies of all student s sent to me during the semester. I highly suggest you do the same. Here is the procedure that you MUST follow when contacting me: 1. If I haven't replied to your first within 24 hours, send a second . In both s, put your name and course number in the subject line so that my spam filter will not accidentally delete your If I haven't replied to your second within 24 hours, call/text me at If I haven't replied to your call/text within 24 hours, then call the Communication Office ( ) and tell them to contact me. 4. If it is an emergency, you can immediately call/text me at Required Behavior: This course requires that you keep up on the weekly readings and that you fully participate in the weekly discussion forums. You will also create a multimedia, online presentation as your final project. There are no tests or quizzes in this course because I prefer to measure your mastery of the material by how well you apply it. Life happens and I am quite willing to work with you as long as you give me notice as soon as you can. I require documentation for all missed assignments. If you wait several weeks to contact me after missing assignments or do not follow the communication escalation protocol, YOU WILL PROBABLY FAIL THIS COURSE. Incompletes: I only consider incompletes for university-approved excuses AND only if the student has completed more than 75% of the course work. Computer Accounts: It is your responsibility to obtain a valid ULink account to access Blackboard. It is your responsibility to give me a valid account and to keep copies of all your messages about your assignments and matters related to the course.. Please be advised that you should continually backup your work on USB or other storage media (don t just rely on one). It is your responsibility to practice safe computing in protecting your online privacy. Assignments: The Course Week begins on Wednesday and ends the following Tuesday. Therefore, Week One begins on January 7th and ends January 13. Forums- There will be 14 forums throughout the term. The forum topic will be similar to whatever the textbook and lecture topic is for a given week. Everyone is required to make at least four postings to appropriate forum during that week. Each posting must have a minimum of 100 words. That means that everyone is required to make four posts to each forum and each post is at least 100 words. A student can earn up to 20 points for making four posts but can earn less than 20 points if the quality of the posts do not fully satisfy the discussion rubric or is less than 100

3 words. Students can make as many posts as they would like, but they will earn no more than 20 points for a given forum. Just because you make four posts does not guarantee that you will receive the full 20 points. Any posts made outside of the week they are due will not be awarded points. For example: if it is Week Four and you post a response in the Week Three forum then you will not receive points for that posting. The maximum number of points you will receive for completing all forum assignments is 280 points. POSTINGS IN THE CLASS CAFE ARE NOT GRADED AND DO NOT COUNT TOWARD THE WEEKLY POSTING REQUIREMENT! Final Project At the end of the course, you will submit an online presentation in answer to the question of what the communication technology landscape will look like in You may work alone on this project or with a team. If you choose to be part of a team, all members of the team must inform me that they want to work on the team and that they will accept the team grade as their personal Final Project grade. If you want to form a team, you must do so before the end of the third week of the course. Once a team has formed, you cannot dissolve the team unless you have written permission from me. You may use any online presentation technology you wish including (but not limited to): online PowerPoint presentation, online Flash presentation, SlideShare, Prezi, video, podcast, or website. An online presentation IS NOT an uploaded file to a Discussion Forum or is it something you to me. You must provide a URL to your presentation; if you your final project or you upload your final projection to Blackboard, YOU WILL FAIL THE COURSE. Detailed instructions on what I want addressed in your presentations is on Blackboard. The maximum number of points you will receive for completing the Final Project is 100 points. If you need help choosing an online presentation technology, contact me. I will send you instructions on using the appropriate online presentation application. Total Points points Deadlines: Each forum posting is due, at the latest, by the seventh day of the week (Tuesday). The Final Project website is due by 11:59 pm of April 26, FINAL PROJECTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER 11:59 PM OF April 26, 2015 unless you have made prior arrangements. Turning in Assignments: All assignments will be turned in through Blackboard as designated by the individual assignment. DO NOT ASSIGNMENTS UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY THE INSTRUCTOR. Any assignments that are ed or otherwise not submitted through Blackboard without authorization will be treated as if the assignment was not submitted. Grading Scale:

4 A 380 to 342 points B 341 to 304 points C 303 to 266 points D 265 to 228 points F 227 to 0 points Grading Policies Overview: The reason for these policies is so that I can better serve the students who want to do coursework and are serious about learning the material. Please realize that I will do what I can do to help you but I expect you to make the effort in learning the material. Policies: 1) All deadlines will be strictly enforced. If you need a waiver, you must follow this process: -- Contact me at least 24 hours before the assignment is due. -- Do not send the assignment to me until you receive an confirmation from me that you can send the assignment. -- Once you receive the confirmation, please send me the assignment. When sending the assignment, follow my instructions exactly. 2) Do not assignments to me unless I authorize you to. I want all assignments submitted through Blackboard or via your server account. 3) Fully participate in the Blackboard Discussion Forums. If you have not participated in the forums for more than three weeks, you will fail the course. Participation is mandatory! 4) Technical difficulties are not an excuse. Please have two plans to complete your work in case your primary computer system is down. Backup your work frequently and in multiple places. 5) Unless I specifically authorize you by , all assignments that you submit to me are considered your final submission for that assignment. I will not accept drafts of your work unless I have authorized you to send me a draft. And even if you send me an authorized draft, you are still under the plagiarism guidelines. 6) Work with me and I will work with you. I realize that you have other classes, work, family, and other responsibilities. So do I and so do your fellow students. If an emergency happens, I will do my best to accommodate you but, due to the numerous students who abuse the system, I require documentation from a legitimate source. You are to notify me as soon as you are reasonably able to. By staying in this course, you agree to abide by the syllabus and these grading policies. If you have any questions, please contact me. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT: According to the University of Louisville Undergraduate Catalog:

5 Plagiarism, in submitting individual work for academic evaluation, means simply to borrow someone's ideas without citing the source, and to use them as one's own. It is a particular type of cheating. Plagiarism in this sense is not limited to the use of direct quotations without citation; a paraphrase is indebted to the author's ideas just as a direct quotation is. Nor is plagiarism limited to the use of published materials; borrowing from the written or oral work of others without citation is equally dishonest. Any proven plagiarism or other academic misconduct will result in failure of the course and will be reported to the committee on student discipline for further action, including notice in the permanent record, dismissal or expulsion. For more information on plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct, please refer to the Undergraduate Catalog. It is your responsibility to understand these policies and the ramifications of your actions. There is also a code of conduct for the online discussion forums. It is your responsibility to read and abide by the Code of Conduct. By participating in the discussion forums, you are agreeing to abide by the Code of Conduct and be subject to sanctions for violating the Code of Conduct. **** WARNING: THIS SYLLABUS CAN CHANGE ****