Week 1&2

Manovich lists 10 media objects. Since the book’s publication in 2001, several new objects have emerged. Using the slides as your reference, identify one, and connect it to the five characteristics he claims are typical of new media objects. In other words, in what way is this media object digital? (250 words; cite from the reading; due by the beginning of the next class.)

Week 3

Read and respond on Twitter to your classmate’s “Contextualizing Scholarship Activity” you are assigned. Discuss the media object he or she identified. Is it different than the one you chose? Do you agree with their choice? Using Manovich’s four characteristics, explain why or why not. Write and post three tweets that encapsulate your thoughts.

Look at this famous image from the film The Matrix and the video clip that experiments with recreating the “raining code” concept from the film, and explain how it visually represents the ideas raised in the readings for this week, particularly the relationship humans have with computers and information. (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 4

Take a screenshot from Google Maps Street View of a particular place and upload it to the blog. Discuss the ways in which your image visually represents the ideas raised in Walter Benjamin’s article, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 5

Review the ABC World News and Oprah links in the order they appear and reflect on the changes you notice in the way the news is presented in 1990 and in 2008. Then, discuss these changes, applying what you learned about remediation from Bolter and Grusin. (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 6

View the two videos you are assigned, and explain how they may or may not be legal in terms of Fair Use and U.S. copyright laws. (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of the next class.)

Week 7

View the three electronic literature works. Pick one and discuss how “is not print” (30) as Hayles claims. In other words, what makes it an example of a “born digital” work? (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 8

Applying what you have learned about the way the medium affects the message and approaches to analyzing a text based on the medium used for presenting the information, analyze Donna Leishman’s interactive, game-like work, “Redridinghood.” Explain how the affordances of the electronic medium allow for new ways to tell a familiar story. (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 9

For Thursday(3/7/13), reread the Tuesday’s readings and come up with two discussion questions. Make sure you print out the questions.

Read and respond on Twitter to your classmate’s “Contextualizing Scholarship Activity” you are assigned. Compare his or her findings to yours. What did he or she identify as an affordance that you did not mention in your paper? What points did he or she make about the work that you may not have caught? Write and post three tweets that encapsulate your thoughts. (due thursday)

Looking over your Facebook page or Twitter site, or those of a friend or family member (if you do not have access to your own sites), discuss the ideas Coleman and Shirky talk about in their works. In particular, focus on how they both argue that “media use changes the user” (Coleman). (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of the next class.)

Week 10

Read and respond on Twitter to your classmate’s “Contextualizing Scholarship Activity” you are assigned. Compare his or her findings to yours. What did he or sheidentify as an affordance that you did not mention in your paper? What points did he or she make about the work that you may not have caught? Write and post three tweets that encapsulate your thoughts.

Compare the sentiments of freedom and power proclaimed in the two manifestos with the way in which stereotyping occurs in digital media.  In light of this irony, create a manifesto of your own that captures your own views about one of the following: 1) gamer culture, 2) online racial stereotyping, 3) the freedom of online information. (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 11

Read and respond on Twitter to your classmate’s “Contextualizing Scholarship Activity” you are assigned. What is the focus of his or her manifesto? Explain the ways in which he or she makes the point clearly and cogently, or not. Discuss its compelling quality: Do you find yourself agreeing with him or her? Why or why not? Write and post three tweets that encapsulate your thoughts.

Based on your readings, how are social media environments able to mobilize people to seek social change? What characteristics and quality do they possess that bring people together? (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 12

Read and respond on Twitter to your classmate’s “Contextualizing Scholarship Activity” you are assigned. Compare your findings with his or hers and discuss the views that you shared; discuss ideas that you did not agree on. Write and post three tweets that encapsulate your thoughts.

Go one full day without using a desktop/laptop computer or smart phone. Keep a journal about your experiences. What changes in your life when you can access digital media? How does this correlate to those who never have or seldom have access to computers and computing devices? How would they go about finding a job? Housing? Doing homework? (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 13

Read and respond on Twitter to your classmate’s “Contextualizing Scholarship Activity” you are assigned. Compare your findings with his or hers and discuss the views that you did or did not share when experiencing a short term lack to access to digital technology. Write and post three tweets that encapsulate your thoughts.

Search the term “locative art” in Wikipedia, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, and “WorldCat” in WSU’s Library Database; read the document, “Evaluating Information Found on the Internet,” and answer these questions: What kind of information does each site provide? What are the differences? How credible is the information of each site? Why? Write about you learn about researching on the web and the credibility of online information. (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 14

Considering Rushkoff’s last four commands of Program or Be Programmed, explain the importance of these commands for somebody living in contemporary times who may not have nor want to have a computer.  What is of significance within Rushkoff’s argument about these four commands for somebody who may fall within the digital divide?  (250 words; cite from the readings; due by the beginning of Tuesday’s class.)

Week 15
No tweets and no readings for Week 15.