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"An age in rapid transition is one which exists on the frontier between two
cultures and between conflicting technologies. Every moment of its
consciousness is an act of translation of each of these cultures into the
other. Today we live on the frontier between five centuries of mechanism and
the new electronics, between the homogenous and the simultaneous. It is
painful but fruitful." --Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy |
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HUMANITY IS ROADKILL ON THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY --Jeans advertisement on Melrose billboard |
Over the past twenty to thirty years,there has been an explosion in research on the "information age" from a variety of scholarly perspectives. This course is designed to prepare students to understand and participate in this scholarly process of understanding the relationships between communication and technology.
Marshall McLuhan's suggestion that culture and technology are inextricably intertwined has significant implications for the current fascination with the "information age." Politicians, corporate media spokespersons, and scholars alikehave joined in the chorus pronouncing the information age the final revolution in human social, political, and economic institutions. As we enter the twenty-first century, we are bombarded with the discourse of "cyberspace," "virtual reality," the "information superhighway," "electronic communities," etc., but the media offer little in the way of a frame of reference from which to evaluate the various claims being made about these developments in communication technology.
In spite of all the "hype," or perhaps becauseof it, a field of truly critical scholarly perspectives on technological change has emerged in speech communication research. This course will introduce students to this scholarship as a field of study, attempting to make sense of the technological revolution from a critical perspective that is both historically informed and technologically astute.
We will engage some of the following questions this semester, among others:
This course has three components: theory , practice , and scholarship .
The theoretical component of this course will involve a set of reading and discussion assignments and lectures. Reading assignments will expose students to a variety of theoretical approaches to the problems associated with technology and communication. This course starts with the assumption that communication is a social phenomenon. Thus, special emphasis will be devoted to the social and cultural implications of technology. Lectures will attempt to situate the readings historically and isolate key issues that arise for discussion. Discussions will explore these issues and questions in greater depth. Studentparticipation in these discussions will be evaluated as part of your overall grade.
Additionally, all students in this class will collaborate on an Interactive Study Guide which will be made available to other students on the World Wide Web. This study guide will consist of entries submitted by students through HyperNews. In order to find out more about this requirement, please visit the web site for the course and click on the "Interactive Study Guide" link. This will take you to our HyperNews page, and further instructions are available there.
A significant portion of your work in this course will involve the use of computer communication resources. It is assumed that students are somewhat familiar with and have access to the Internet. Internet accounts are available through the campus computer center, and training in internet skills are also offered by the center. You have paid for these resources already in your tuition, so take advantage of what is offered. No class time will be spent on basic internet training, so if you come to class without at least a passing familiarity with the internet, please be prepared to become familiar with the technology on your own time. The skills you need (basic electronic mail, news, and world wide web access) are easy to learn quickly, and the computers and software to access these services are available to students on campus. If you have your own computer and modem, these services will be available to you off campus as well, so much of your participation in this portion of the course can take place at home. Additionally, you will receive assignments designed to help you learn Internet skills through problem-based learning. These assignments should be recorded in the portfolio you turn in.
The internet resources available to the course will include a newsgroup on HyperNews, an electronic mail discussion, access to a MUD/MOO communication and programming environment, and a series of pages on the World Wide Web. Some of the reading assignments will come from these web pages as well. Students will participate inresearch and discussion through these media, and will be evaluated on the quality of this participation. This component of the course will essentially involve the construction of a "virtual classroom" alongside our real classroom.
The final component of the course, scholarship, will be an ongoing aspect of both of the above components. This process will culminate in a written research presentation of 7-10 pages which will be made available on the World Wide Web as part of our "virtual classroom." Essays should address some topic of significance in the information age, and should incorporate some of the course materials. These essays will be presented electronically the final day of class in a "Cyber-Event" that will take place entirely online. This essay will be the only formally graded assignment you will receive this semester, although you will receive portfolio grades three times during the semester. Your essay can address any specific topic within the general rubric of technology and communiciation; ideally the topic will fit within the student's own areas of scholarly interest.
Your individual contribution to the "Cyber-Event" may take the form of a site you construct on the WWW,a "virtual space" you create on the MOO, a text-only version of your essay which you make available on the WWW, or some other electronic contribution that will be made available online. You need not turn in a hardcopy of your final project. However, whatever form your final project takes, you should keep in mind the primary requirement: you must make and support a scholarly argument regarding the relationships between communication and technology that arises out of or is significantly enriched by the course readings and materials. In other words, a web site that introduces yourself and your favorite links on the web is interesting but not enough to satisfy the course requirements. An interactive web site that discusses and takes positions on the issues raised in the course materials, however, is an excellent (and highly recommended) approach to this assignment.
James Brook and Iain A. Boal, Resisting the Virtual Future: The Culture and Politics of Information (San Francisco: City Lights, 1995).
Theodore Roszak, The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking (Berkeley: U California Press, 1994).
Ben Attias, Speech Communication 454: A Reader and Sourcebook, available at Northridge Copy Center (On Reseda and Dearborn).
William Gibson, Neuromancer, (New York: Grove Press).
Also required: an internet account, either from the university or from a commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP). If you choose a commercial connection, be sure that you have access to email, telnet, FTP, news, and the world-wide web. The university offers students free accounts on the CSUN UNIX shell, which you are required to have in either case. Commercial Online Service Providers (OSPs) such as America OnLine, Compu$pend, and Genie are unacceptable.
Harley Hahn and Rick Stout, The Internet Complete Reference (Berkeley, California: Osborne, 1994).
This is a useful reference manual for UNIX-shell based connection to the Internet (such as CSUN's "huey" systems). There are many other such manuals that may be useful to students new to the Internet, although this one is highly recommended by the instructor. It is the best how-to manual for learning to use the Internet I have come across, although better ones probably exist. It costs about $30-40 and can be found in most stores that sell computer books. For students starting this course without a knowledge of the basic Internet protocols (in other words, if words like FTP, HTTP, HTML, telnet, gopher, etc. are totally incomprehensible to you, you may wish to purchase this book).
In addition, students new to the Internet may wish to purchase an "Internet Starter Kit" adapted to your preferred computer operating system (Windows, Mac, etc.), such as the one written by Adam Engst for the Macintosh. Such kits usually come with a large reference manual and a disk of free software, and run around $30 - $200. The software on the disk is readily available on the Internet, but for some beginning users such a connection kit is useful for reducing the frustration involved in computer work. Just don't pay more than $50 for it.....
For students who don't want to drop $50 on a 700 page book, keep in mind that all of the information in books like these can be accessed freely over the Internet. For your convenience, I have set up an "RTFM"page on the WWW that points to various examples of such useful information. Additionally, I have set up a page of Frequently Asked Questions with answers.
A computer, a modem, and a PPP (Point to Point Protocol) connection to the internet.
PPP allows students to connect to the Internet in such a way as to dynamically access text, graphics, and sound through such browsers as Netscape and the Microsoft Internet Explorer. While a fast, graphics intensive Internet connection will probably make this class more fun for some students, you will be able to do everything you need to do on the Internet in this class without an expensive home computer. Additionally, computers are available to all CSUN students on campus, and these computers offer students a fast connection to the Internet.
Michael F. Hordeski, The Illustrated Dictionaryof MicroComputers (Blue Ridge Summit, PA: TAB Books, 1990).
A comprehensive guide toterms and phrases you may encounter while learning to use the Internet. This one is a bit dated; I suggest you browse a bookstore with computer shelves for a similar reference that is more recent. For students new to the frequent use of computers, such a reference will be a useful guide to computer jargon, which is often mystifying and complex. Again, this information is also freely available on the Internet.
Students will be evaluated holistically based on their performance in each of the above categories. In order to facilitateevaluation of student performance, a student portfolio will be turned in electronically three times over the course of the semester. This portfolio will include entries by the students detailing your work in each of the above categories andthe student's self- evaluation. The self-evaluation is like a "cover letter" or a resume. As an example, part of your self-evaluation might look like this:
Of course, your final grade will be assigned by me alone regardless of what you give yourself in each of the categories, but this process will allow you the opportunity to present your case to the professor for a particular grade. Keep in mind that my grading standards are high and try to be realistic in these self-evaluations; if you expect an "A" you should be able to demonstrate that you have challenged yourself, yourclassmates, and your professor in addition to having consistently performed far above average in all of your work throughout the semester. Remember, your portfolio is a persuasive document. In other words, you should use the portfolio to make an argument justifying the value of your contribution to this class. Give reasons to support your arguments; tell the instructor why you think your contribution to the class merits a certain grade.
Portfolios and self-evaluations should be turned in electronically, whether by email or on disk. All disk submissions must be in text-only (ASCII) format on 3-1/2" disks. Formatted documents (such as Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or other word-processors) are unacceptable. (HTML submissions, on the other hand, are highly encouraged). Most word - processors offer users the option of saving a document in "text-only" or "ASCII" format; search for these options in your word processor's preferences if you want to use your word processor to create your portfolio. If you are unsure of your ability to create an ASCII document with your word processor, I encourage you to consult the fine manuals which came with your word processor, or from the wealth of materials available online. Be sure to do this well before the portfolio is due: I will only accept late portfolios under the direst of emergency situations, and document conversion problems do not count as dire emergencies.
A word of caution: the holistic grading system is based on an overall subjective determination of student work by the professor. Many students find this system frustrating because requires creative input on the part of the student as well as the professor. The students who do best in this class will be those who actively participate in their own learning process in a creative manner. Students who develop their own projects and work well without rigid direction will excel, while students who wait for precise structures or professorial demands will "just float by." While the syllabus and course materials have been carefully structured according to the goals of the professor, I have intentionally left the requirements for students somewhat open-ended in order to encourage creative projects which fall within the students' own areas of interest.
Regular attendance and participation in class discussion is expected. I will not be taking roll regularly nor evaluating student reasons for missing classes. The student alone is responsible for attending classes and finding out what was missed when s/he is unable to attend. I will not respond to phone calls, emails, or other messages whose content is some variant of "I can't make it to class today; are we doing anything important?" Take it as a given that we will never do anything un important, and show up to class or figure out on your own what happened in class. I am not interested in hearing about your reasons for missing classes. As adults I expect you to have confidence in your own system of priorities and act accordingly -- in other words, it's up to you , not me, to determine what is or isn't a good reason for missing classes. And it's up to you, not me,to make up missed work. Keep in mind that some missed work, such as participation in the day to day activities of the course, cannot be made up no matter how good your reasons.
Additionally, it is up to you to come to class prepared to participate as a citizen -- to listen attentively to others, to engage critically and creatively the perspectives of others, and to contribute meaningfully to discussions of the course materials. This means having all of the reading done when it is due, turning in assignments on time, and actively listening to and participating with your classmates and your instructor. Students who interrupt discussions by frequently arriving to class late, who constantly interrupt others without meaningfully listening to their comments, or who constantly bring up questions that would more appropriately be answered by a glance at the syllabus or during office hours (e.g. "whenis this due?" or "what if I wasn't here when you handed out the assignment?" or "is this going to be on the test?") not only reflect poorly on their own class citizenship; they actively cheapen the educational experience of all of the other students. Procedural questions about what is expected of you in the class should be saved for office hours if they are not answered after a thorough re-reading of the class syllabus. Electronic mail is also a more appropriate forum for such questions. Be sure to include " 454 " in the subject heading of any email messages sent to the professor in order to insure that your message is filtered properly.
Finally, some of our class sessions will take place online, and the instructor is well aware that the technological means for connecting to the online world are often less stable than the LosAngeles freeways. There may be technological difficulties that prevent us from meeting in our virtual world. The professor will attempt to prepare contingency plans to cover most cyber-disasters, but students will not be penalized for the failure of computer systems beyond their control. That said, however, "I couldn't connect" is not a valid reason for missing online classes when all other students have connected. If you have frequent difficulties connecting to the Internet from home aside from CSUN computer facility outages, it is highly recommended that you plan to be at computers on campus for these meetings.
In the past, I have had a lenient policy towards extensions and late assignments. However, due to the abuse of this lenience by a number of students and the unfairness perceived by other students who do their work on time, I will no longer be accepting any late assignments. I will listen sympathetically in emergency situations, but do not expect me to bend over backwards to help you because you forgot to get an assignment in on time, as it isn't fair to the rest of the class. It is up to you to decide what family and job committments havepriority over this course. Additionally, you areurged to budget your time to allow for Murphy's Law and contingencies such as broken copiers, blackouts, riots, fires, and pets who like to snack on final drafts.