Learning Community Description
Welcome to this six-credit learning community on the social, cultural, political and economic life of information. The increased ability to represent information in a digital form has caused an explosion in the creation and distribution — not to mention the discussion and classification — of information. It has also broken down some old boundaries — between people, places and kinds of information — that existed in the so-called material world, and reinforced others. The nature, form, use and effects of digitizing information constantly evolve, as do our perspectives on older forms of information.
This learning community attempts to steer a nuanced course between those who see in digital information the answer to all humanity’s ills (utopians) and whose who demonize the digitization of information and all its consequences (dystopians). With open minds, we shall try to examine how digital forms of information today infuse social, political, economic, cultural and creative structures, and raise questions about the nature of humanity in an age of proliferating information sources and expanding mediums of information exchange.
In pursuit of answers to these questions, we shall analyze, and experiment with, the sharing of digital information, the production of value (tangible and intangible) & reputation, peer-to-peer collaborations, copyright, security & privacy, bookmarking & tagging, blogging, social networking, information ecologies, and the nature of virtuality. This learning community also reserves space for you to suggest avenues of exploration: shall we, for example, analyze, and experiment with, gaming and interaction design, multimedia, digital citizenship, creative production and communication, and so on?
Text & Supplies
Bonnie Nardi & Vicki O’Day: Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart
Additional online readings and handouts (as noted on the weekly schedule)
Anticipated Learning Community Outcomes
At the close of this learning community, you should have strengthened your capacities to:
- think critically and creatively about the research, analysis, production, and communication of, and with, digital information
- penetrate and evaluate both popular and academic rhetoric about the value, impact, and effects of information in the digital age
- act as a thoughtful, informed participant in the information ecologies to which you belong (and will belong)
- analyze, manipulate and disseminate information via exposure to a range of softwares and online platforms
- understand at least some of the social, political, legal, ethical, commercial and psychological aspects of digital environments
- collaborate successfully, and share your knowledge and expertise with others, both formally and informally, and in person and via digital media
- articulate your learning and teaching experiences in this learning community in terms of the New Century College competencies
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Class Participation
Introduction
Participation in a New Century College learning community requires both preparation for each class meeting, and an active involvement during each class. As out-of-class preparation significantly enhances the quality of in-class participation, you will earn your class participation grade both for the quality of your preparation for class, and for your participation in class. Both kinds of participation is particularly important in NCLC 348, as much of our work occurs in workshops.
Preparation
So how do I assess preparation for each meeting? You will find yourself encountering, yes, pop quizzes from time to time on readings and concepts central to each week's work, but you will more often encounter in-class writings related to readings/viewings, critical thinking exercises (individual & collaborative) and other collaborations with your colleagues. You should be familiar with key concepts from readings/viewings.
In addition, I am available and, more importantly, eager to discuss readings. If you do not understand the assignment for the next class, or you run into problems with a particular reading or exercise, let me know as soon as possible. I’m on campus several days a week, I really enjoy talking about our work, and I’m more than happy to help in person, via e-mail or by telephone. But you do need to let me know as soon as you need assistance. Remember that if you attend class unfamiliar with the readings and viewings, laggardly in your writing, and indifferent to the ideas and work of your peers, your grade will inevitably suffer.
Participation
How about participation during each meeting? The in-class work for this learning community includes discussion, writing, creative composition and formal and informal collaboration with peers. If you are uncomfortable speaking in a large group, you can share your ideas through writing or within a small group of peers. If you think best as you speak, you can demonstrate your capabilities in full-class discussions or collaborative presentations. If you think and communicate most effectively visually, you might excel as we investigate visual arguments and design portfolios. Whatever your learning style, whatever your intellectual and practical strengths, you should find several ways to demonstrate your excellence and contribute to our ongoing explorations in NCLC 348.
Attendance
Missing class is not the answer to any roadblocks you might encounter. In fact, you might learn more from a meeting when you talk about what you don't understand than from a meeting when you show how much you know. The workshops integrated into this learning community open up additional opportunities to learn from faculty and peers, ask questions, experiment with new ideas and ask for help. Reading, and critically thinking about readings, nourishes your in-class work. In-class work supports your individual and collaborative assignments. The conscientious execution of your assignments enlivens subsequent classes.
If you miss a meeting, you break that cycle, not only for yourself, but also for the learning community as a whole. Thus, class attendance is mandatory (except for medical reasons or religious holidays). If you are absent, inform me of the circumstances as soon as possible and remember that it's your responsibility to research and make up the work you have missed. Regular or persistent absences will reduce your grade.
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Academic Policies
Learning Differences
If you have a learning or physical difference that may affect your academic work, you should furnish appropriate documentation to the Office of Disability Services (http://www.gmu.edu/student/drc/). If you qualify for accommodation, the DRC staff will give you a form detailing appropriate accommodations for your instructor. In addition to providing your professors with the appropriate form, please take the initiative to discuss accommodations with them at the beginning of the semester and as needed during the term. Faculty learn from you the most effective ways in which they can assist you. If you have contacted the Disability Resource Center and are waiting to hear from a counselor, please tell me.
Medical Emergencies
If you encounter a genuine medical emergency, such as illness or hospitalization of yourself or a close family member, or a family crisis, please contact me as soon as possible. To insure you are not penalized for medical absences, please submit supporting documentation when you return to class (doctor's certificate, hospital discharge forms, etc.).
Late Work
As late work impinges not only on your own learning, but also on that of all your colleagues in this collaborative community, assignments will lose one grade fraction (B to B-, C- to D, for example) for each day they are late.
E-Mail
As faculty, we are allowed to communicate with you only via your George Mason e-mail account. As a means of protecting your privacy and academic confidentiality, we also urge you to communicate with each other only via your George Mason e-mail accounts. If you wish to forward mail from your George Mason account to another account (for example, to a gmail account), go to the bottom of the Accessing Your E-mail page of the University's Student Technology Guide.
Honor Code and Plagiarism
According to the University catalog, plagiarism includes the following:
- Presenting as one's own the words, the work, or the opinions of someone else without proper acknowledgment.
- Borrowing the sequence of ideas, the arrangement of material, or the pattern of thought of someone else without proper acknowledgment
Be particularly careful to credit work through citations. In addition to direct quotations, you must also provide an in-text citation and an entry in your list of works cited for paraphrases and summaries of opinions or factual information not formerly known to you, as researcher and writer. The only exception to this rule is information termed "general knowledge," information that is widely known to the population at large. As your definition of general knowledge may not be that applied in an academic context, please be cautious in applying the general knowledge exception. When in any doubt at all, cite.
If you decide to use another person's ideas you must either quote the idea verbatim or completely rephrase the ideas in your own words and voice. But you must still cite the original source of the information (in-text and in your list of works cited). In class discussions, you should also acknowledge the ideas you have acquired from others. Please give credit where credit is due, whether to a family member or friend with whom you have discussed your learning, to a class colleague or a group member, or to a faculty member or a guest lecturer.
In academic work, you should follow a standardized format for your in-text citations and lists of works cited (for example, the formats created by the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA). These standards apply to all your work, including your portfolio and its contents. As you select samples of work to include in the portfolio, you may wish to present collaborative work. If you do so, you must acknowledge the collaboration and identify clearly your own role within it.
Appropriate Collaboration
Appropriate collaboration differs from plagiarism. In an academic or work setting, some work will be completed by a group. In collaborative work, names of all the participants should appear on a project. If a group member does not participate in completing the project, his or her name should not appear on the project. Other assignments are designed to be completed independently. In this case, you may discuss your ideas with others and receive feedback from peers on drafts of projects. However, it is not appropriate to ask someone else to complete work or to revise it for you.
You are responsible for making certain there is no question the work you submit is your own. If your name appears on an assignment, instructors have a right to expect that you have completed the work yourself, fully, independently, and originally for this learning community. Four fundamental principles are:
- All work submitted in your name on it must be your own
- When using the work or ideas of others, including your fellow students, you must cite appropriately.
- If you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment, ask for clarification.
- Additionally, the re-use of papers, presentations, etc., from another learning community is not appropriate. In every NCC learning community, faculty expect that the work that is submitted has been done only for that class.
Remember: please read carefully the University's Honor Policy. It is your responsibility to understand it, and abide by its provisions. No grade is important enough to justify cheating, which precipitates serious consequences. If you feel unusual pressure about your grade in this or any other learning community, please do talk to me or to a member of the Counseling Center staff.
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Assignment |
% of final grade |
Reading Responses |
20% |
Short Papers |
20% |
Information Ecology Analysis (individual project) |
15% |
Teach Us Something Digital (group project) |
15% |
Class Participation |
15% |
Final Portfolio |
15% |
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Learning Resources
University Writing Center (703-993-1200, Robinson A, Room 114)
The University Writing Center provides, at no charge, tutors who will help you to brainstorm, structure, revise and edit written work (and help you compile and check your citation of sources!). Although the Writing Center may sometimes accommodate walk-in appointments, you are more likely to see a tutor at a time convenient to you, and your assignment deadline, if you telephone in advance for an appointment. You may also consult the Writing Center online. For further information, e-mail wcenter@gmu.edu
Counseling Services (703-993-2380, SUB I, Room 364)
Professional counselors provide individual and group sessions for personal development and assistance with emotional and relational issues. In addition, the Learning Services Program (703-993-2999) offers academic skill-building workshops and a tutor referral service.
Office of Disability Services (703-993-2474, Sub I, Room 222)
The staff of DRC assist students with learning differences or physical conditions which may impact their academic work. If you need accommodations within any learning community or class because of learning differences or physical conditions
The Student Technology Assistance and Resource Center (STAR) (703- 993-8990, Johnson Center, Room 229)
STAR mentors help students to learn new software packages and improve their command of familiar software. Web*STAR (703-993-3766, Johnson Center, Room 311) helps students create, revise and enhance web pages. STAR*T training (703-993-1385, Johnson Center, Room 344) offers free multimedia application (Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, etc.) workshops throughout the semester.
Center for Leadership and Community Engagement (703-993-2900, Enterprise Hall, Room 442)
The Center for Service and Leadership promotes positive change and civic responsibility by combining academic study, leadership development and direct community service. CLSL is your resource at GMU for leadership development and service-learning initiatives.
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| Labor Day Holiday | 7 September |
Last Day to Drop (no tuition penalty) |
15 September |
Last Day to Add |
15 September |
Last Day to Drop (33% tuition penalty) |
22 September |
Last day to Drop (67% tuition penalty) |
2 October |
Last Day to Drop |
2 October |
Elective Withdrawal Period (undergraduates only) |
5 - 30 October |
Columbus Day Recess |
12 October |
Incomplete Work from Spring/Summer 2009 due |
23 October |
| Thanksgiving Recess | 25 - 29 November |
Last Day of Classes |
12 December |
Exam. Period |
14 - 21 December |