COMM 435 - Alternate Paper

For Students Not Creating a Web Site

The Task

Your task is to write a 6-8 page, double-spaced research paper on some aspect of human communication through electronic communication and information systems.

Due:       Tuesday, April 27  (same as the Web Site Eval 2 deadline)

Topics

You may select any of the following topics (once approved by me):

·        Web logs

·        Wikis

·        Group Decision Support Systems

·        Chatrooms

·        MUDs & MOOs

·        Videoconferencing

·        Spam

·        You choose ________

Your topic must be approved by me – please e-mail me and request your topic ASAP.

Rules and Guidelines

Topic and Section guidelines – be sure to cover most if not all of the following topics::

·        A definition and statement about what the phenomenon is

·        The when, where, and who of its invention (if possible) and its basic purpose

·        An description of how it works

·        A description of how widespread it is, and what it is used for, today

·        A listing of some of the most useful, common, or accessible examples of this technology

·        A summary of its social impact and its likely future

Writing guidelines:

·        Use double-spacing, with 1” margins all around

·        Use a proportional-spaced (such as Times New Roman), 12 point type font

·        Use headers and subheaders to organize your work

·        Use APA style

·        Write in a concise and direct style (minimize introductory remarks – the type you might put in a longer term paper)

·        Citations are required in the text (to document all ideas that are not your own); complete references are required on a References page at the end