Posting Assignments (20%) – you will be required to answer questions on your own WordPress site. This will give you the opportunity to synthesize the articles, express your own opinions, and to pose any questions about these topics. Due dates will be indicated with each module. You will also be required to comment on other students’ posts.

Topic Presentation (15%) – during each in-person class, we will have students presenting the readings and topics under study. You may use any type of presentation you want to explain your assigned materials. Prepare some questions for discussion. Presentations will be no more than 15 minutes each.

Quizzes (20%) – each online module will include a quiz. Due dates will be indicated with each module. 

News Presentation (5%) – you will have an assigned day in which you will be responsible for a news item about technology. You will discuss at the beginning of class. You will also need to make a post including a link and brief discussion on your website.

Research Paper (20%) – Review the Elements of an Academic Article. A 10-15 page research paper is required. This should be an original paper appropriate for presentation at a research conference or publishable in an academic journal. We will be looking at a range of research papers to give you an idea of methods and topics. See the format of a research paper below.

The topic chosen should be relevant to the student’s interest area or other current projects. The paper should address an issue of social, cultural, or legal implications regarding digital media. Papers can cover original research, topic explication or a meta-analysis of literature. You can use quantitative or qualitative methods, as long as there is a systematic approach.

Topic, Description, Method, Research Questions and Lit Review (5%)– a brief research prospectus stating the topic, description, research questions and methodology. This prospectus should be 2-3 pages in length (double-spaced). Turn in via the Dropbox on TRACS. Use this naming convention royal_prospectus.doc (where you replace “royal” with your last name, of course). Please use doc or pdf file formats.

You will prepare a literature review that addresses your topic. This is a description of each item and how it relates and supports your topic, as well as a reference list in a consistent format (APA or MLA are fine). The literature should reflect the thinking around your topic and identify the place within it your research will represent. You should have a mix of academic sources (a good way to find them is to use the Communication Source research database via the online TXST Library offerings) and contemporary press articles. Literature review must contain AT LEAST 10 citations.

Research Presentation (5%) – Students will present the results of the research paper in online presentations, 5-10 minutes in length. This should just be a high level overview of what studied and found. Students must read and watch all other students’ presentations and comment.

Online Presentations – create a presentation of your research paper and make a post with it on your site.  The presentation should be captured in any way you want and uploaded to YouTube. You can do a screen capture on a Mac with QuickTime and record audio as you go. There are some minimal editing features in QuickTime. If you know how to use a video program like iMovie, you can do further editing to it (this is generally how I do the videos for this and other courses). If you are on a PC, you can see this article to find options for screencasting.

Or be creative with your mobile device and capture video that way. Perhaps someone can record you at your computer or in front of a screen delivering the presentation (or setup a tripod).  I want to see a brief visual presentation with audio of your voice. So however you wish to accomplish this is fine.

Export the file and upload it to YouTube. Use your Google account to login to YouTube or create a YouTube account.

Include the YouTube url in the WordPress post, and it will automatically embed. Presentations should be between 5-10 minutes.

Paper and Presentation Due Dec. 6. You must watch and comment on each person’s presentations by Dec. 9. Please upload complete final papers to the TRACS Dropbox in pdf format.

Participation and Attendance (10%)