This week we take a look at Chapter 8, News.
Before I began teaching I spent more than a decade toiling in newsrooms, and still work as contributor to the Flathead Beacon (you can read one of my columns here if you're interested). I consider news something near and dear to my heart. I care about it, I think it plays a vital role in the well being of society, and I am saddened by the declining state of news, especially newspapers.
Technology has created great change for news, but there are some glimmers of hope on the horizon. Take a look at this report, from The Pew Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, The State of the News Media 2012. A couple of interesting points are discussed. One, people are consuming more news than ever these days, they're just consuming it on smart phones and iPads rather than inky newsprint. Two, electronic tablets are generating an increased interest in long-form journalism (Damn yuppies are sitting around in coffee shops reading the Liberal Media on their iPads!). Also, the report hints at a technology company such as Facebook buying up an old media war horse such as the Washington Post.
The idea is purely speculative (at this point) but I think its intriguing. And that's our topic for the week. Facebook buys one of the Old Gray Ladies (Old Gray Lady usually refers to the NY Times, but I sometimes apply it to the LA Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal as well) and infuses the newsroom with resources (money) because it has determined that good, solid journalism is a great service to build into its social media community.
What do you think? Post your comments by Thursday.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
New Media this week
OK gang, we're all back from Cancun and its time to get back at it. New Media, Chapter 7 this week. Expect a post or two before Friday.
I haven't heard from a few of you who did not turn in Long Tail papers. If I'm talking to you, you need to be talking to me. The paper is worth 25 percent of your grade, which means you'd have to be perfect on all your quizzes and exams just to get a C. In other words, it's important.
I haven't heard from a few of you who did not turn in Long Tail papers. If I'm talking to you, you need to be talking to me. The paper is worth 25 percent of your grade, which means you'd have to be perfect on all your quizzes and exams just to get a C. In other words, it's important.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Midterm week
No quiz this week. Instead, it's midterm week. I'll start by opening the floor to all of you. If you have any questions regarding the midterm or things you'd like me to review before the exam opens Friday, please post them here.
BTW, remember there will not be a chapter or quiz next week either as your Long Tail paper will be due a week from Friday.
And if you haven't posted your favorite film yet, here's your chance.
Quizzes are open until Friday if you need to make one up.
BTW, remember there will not be a chapter or quiz next week either as your Long Tail paper will be due a week from Friday.
And if you haven't posted your favorite film yet, here's your chance.
Quizzes are open until Friday if you need to make one up.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
My favorite film
Motion media is our topic this week. We'll start with movies. Your assignment: Name you're favorite film of all time, and briefly explain why. I'll start.
The Godfather. The descent of Michael Corleone from war hero and Golden Child of the Corleone family to the tragic, fallen man and ultimate villain of the Godfather trilogy, is epic. Corleone, as played by the brilliant Al Pacino, is much more than a one-dimensional caricature of evil. Corleone seems as much a victim of his own obsession with revenge as he does the rival mobsters he battles throughout this and the following two sequels.
Also, my family is Sicilian, on my mother's side. There's something about those scenes filmed on the island that speaks to me, even though I've never been there.
Then there's this. See No. 2 and No. 58. They forgot, "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."
No. 2 on this list.
Your turn.
The Godfather. The descent of Michael Corleone from war hero and Golden Child of the Corleone family to the tragic, fallen man and ultimate villain of the Godfather trilogy, is epic. Corleone, as played by the brilliant Al Pacino, is much more than a one-dimensional caricature of evil. Corleone seems as much a victim of his own obsession with revenge as he does the rival mobsters he battles throughout this and the following two sequels.
Also, my family is Sicilian, on my mother's side. There's something about those scenes filmed on the island that speaks to me, even though I've never been there.
Then there's this. See No. 2 and No. 58. They forgot, "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."
No. 2 on this list.
Your turn.
So digital didn't kill the music star
We seem to be in agreement: music isn't dead because of change, music is changed because of change.
Click here for a look at the first music video ever played on MTV. There was a time when we all thought video would in fact kill radio. Well, radio is still alive and (sort of) well, while MTV has become some weird channel dominated by reality programing, and little, if any, music.
Watching that video makes my a tad nostalgic for the early 80s, when I was a young college boy working in a record store. The production values seem kind of quaint in today's world of CGI. Watch and enjoy The Buggles.
I'll have another post up on our next chapter later this evening. Next week is midterm week.
Click here for a look at the first music video ever played on MTV. There was a time when we all thought video would in fact kill radio. Well, radio is still alive and (sort of) well, while MTV has become some weird channel dominated by reality programing, and little, if any, music.
Watching that video makes my a tad nostalgic for the early 80s, when I was a young college boy working in a record store. The production values seem kind of quaint in today's world of CGI. Watch and enjoy The Buggles.
I'll have another post up on our next chapter later this evening. Next week is midterm week.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Cigarettes in bed are bad
This really doesn't have anything to do with Mass Media Communication, but we were discussing this poem in my News Writing class this morning and I thought you all might enjoy it.
It's sort of a long story why this came up in class, but let's just say I can sometimes veer off on tangents when I'm lecturing.
"Life Story," by Tennessee Williams.
It's sort of a long story why this came up in class, but let's just say I can sometimes veer off on tangents when I'm lecturing.
"Life Story," by Tennessee Williams.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Apple and the rise of online music sales
There was a brief moment in the not too distant past when music was distributed for free on the Internet somewhat like news is today. Napster was the place where listeners downloaded and "shared" digital versions of their favorite music with other fans. The music industry took notice of all this free traffic and when to court to shut down Napster. iTunes rose Phoenix-like from Napsters' ashes to become the dominant music distribution system.
For newspapers grappling with a way to put the genie back in the bottle and figure out a way to get folks to start paying for their product again, the rise of iTunes may offer some hope: Maybe we can get people used to getting something for free to start paying for it again?
But were interested in the music story here, and from the business side of things, iTunes has been an unqualified success. Still, there are detractors. Jon Bon Jovi seems to think the move toward digital has diminished the discovery experience of music, going so far as to claim Steve Jobs (when he was still with us) was killing the music business. I wonder sometimes. Certainly my teenage daughters experience music far differently from how I did when I was their age. I hung out in record stores, thumbing through racks of 12-inch vinyl, admiring the cover art and wondering how it represented the music inside. No need for that (either the record store or the experience of hanging out in one) when you have iTunes. My kids gather round the computer with friends, sample songs and buy the ones they like. I'm not sure my kids have ever put on the headphones and listened to an album from start to finish the way I did.
There are other criticisms of the digital model. For instance, does it give industry leaders, some of whom have "control" issues, too much influence over music they way they once did during the payola days? Or does the Long Tail Effect level the playing field, allowing more artists to get their music to their fans?
So here our question for the week: How much is there to Bon Jovi's claim that digital killed the music industry? We've talked about the tactile experience of ink-on-paper media. Is there a similar experience that the old album cover and liner notes, as well as being grounded to a fixed-site device like a turntable, that changes music forever? Is that really a change, and if so, is it necessarily a bad thing?
I'll look for your comments by Friday when I will open the Sound Media quiz is open and ready for your test-taking pleasure.
For newspapers grappling with a way to put the genie back in the bottle and figure out a way to get folks to start paying for their product again, the rise of iTunes may offer some hope: Maybe we can get people used to getting something for free to start paying for it again?
But were interested in the music story here, and from the business side of things, iTunes has been an unqualified success. Still, there are detractors. Jon Bon Jovi seems to think the move toward digital has diminished the discovery experience of music, going so far as to claim Steve Jobs (when he was still with us) was killing the music business. I wonder sometimes. Certainly my teenage daughters experience music far differently from how I did when I was their age. I hung out in record stores, thumbing through racks of 12-inch vinyl, admiring the cover art and wondering how it represented the music inside. No need for that (either the record store or the experience of hanging out in one) when you have iTunes. My kids gather round the computer with friends, sample songs and buy the ones they like. I'm not sure my kids have ever put on the headphones and listened to an album from start to finish the way I did.
There are other criticisms of the digital model. For instance, does it give industry leaders, some of whom have "control" issues, too much influence over music they way they once did during the payola days? Or does the Long Tail Effect level the playing field, allowing more artists to get their music to their fans?
So here our question for the week: How much is there to Bon Jovi's claim that digital killed the music industry? We've talked about the tactile experience of ink-on-paper media. Is there a similar experience that the old album cover and liner notes, as well as being grounded to a fixed-site device like a turntable, that changes music forever? Is that really a change, and if so, is it necessarily a bad thing?
I'll look for your comments by Friday when I will open the Sound Media quiz is open and ready for your test-taking pleasure.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Paywalls work for some
Some newspapers are making paywalls pay.
The New York Times and the Missoulian both went to similar metered paywall models this year, meaning they allow a certain number of free views, and once you hit the limit you have to start paying.
The New York Times and the Missoulian both went to similar metered paywall models this year, meaning they allow a certain number of free views, and once you hit the limit you have to start paying.
Driving readers back to print
A small community daily in Rhode Island made the decision a few years back to create an expensive paywall to its Web site to deliberately drive readers back to its print product.
Two years later, how's that working out?
Two years later, how's that working out?
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Long Tail
This graphic illustrates the Long Tail Effect. The y axis (that's the line the runs up and down) shows how popular a product is, or how great its sales. The x axis (the horizontal line) shows the distribution of sales of all of the products in a category. If we were considering movie ticket sales last weekend, "The Vow," which was the No. 1 movie in theaters last week, would be represented by a place on the x axis very near its intersection with the y axis. In other words, "Vow" ticket sales are in the red area designated as the "Head," as ticket sales for that movie are quite high. Some art house movie only showing on a few screens, primarily in big cities near universities with a concentrated population of pretentious intellectuals, would be represented by a point on the x axis far to the right of the Head. Our art house movie, let's call it "Jacques Confronts the Meaninglessness of Existence While Drinking Pinot," would be placed somewhere out on the orange "Long Tail."
Why is this Long Tail important? Consider for a moment a different type of product: music. When I was a young lad in college I worked at a record store, Licorice Pizza (Get it? if you've never seen a vinyl record you might not, so check this out). Record stores were the place where everyone purchased their music back in the prehistoric 1980s. Record stores were a great place for distributing music, but they had a significant limitation: space. That limitation meant that we could only carry the best sellers, or records that sold well enough to fall in the Head section of the x axis.
What that meant was that if you were looking for the latest Phil Collins album (he was big back in the day) we had plenty on hand. But if your tastes ran more in the direction of "Echo and the Bunnymen," an arty New Wave act of that era, we might have had a copy stuck in a bin with the latest releases by "The Jam," "X" and "Magazine," other New Wave/Punk bands with considerable talent but sales that never climbed beyond the Long Tail into the Head.
But today my 17-year-old daughters have never purchased music in a record store, and have only been in Rockin Rudy's in Missoula a time or two. They purchase all of their music online in iTunes and load it directly on their iPods.
Your assignment is to write a 1,200 word essay examining the Long Tail and its impact on Mass Media. Your essay should answer to the best of your opinion, an opinion formed by research of course, the five questions listed below.
Before you try answering these questions a little research is in order. I'd start here if I were you.
You may also find this helpful.
Your questions:
1 — Music on iTunes is distributed digitally. As the cost of digital storage space (memory) has declined, how has this affected digital music distribution?
2 — Retailers once focused their efforts on the few top products in the Head. What are the implications for profit making when products in the Long Tail can be distributed at virtually no cost?
3 — It you were an independent producer of low volume product, be it music, video or a manuscript, how would you seek to exploit the Long Tail to maximize sales and exposure?
4 — Has the distribution of intellectual property changed permanently, and if so is this good or bad ? If we lose the communal space of bookstores and record shops forever have we lost something of value?
5 — Do you expect the forces of the Long Tail to play out for books the way it did for music, or do you expect something different to happen?
Monday, February 13, 2012
Dead tree media
In Chapter 4 we examine Ink on Paper. You’ll notice that there are three PowerPoints for this chapter rather than the one I prepared for you to review in earlier chapters. Well, there’s a reason for that.
Once, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, our beloved “Media of Mass Communication” text had three chapters devoted to Dead Tree Media. Alas, much has changed since I started teaching this class four short, short years ago. For starters, when the 10th edition was released the author condensed books, newspapers and magazines down to a single chapter. This may be an acknowledgment of reality, but it remains a little troubling for a guy like me who spent a lot of years with ink-stained fingers trying to produce timely, meaningful — dare I say relevant — newspapers. I miss my morning newspaper, but I can’t say I dislike the thing that has replaced it, namely a handheld computer better known as an iPhone. If we didn’t receive free copies of the "Missoulian" and "Daily Inter Lake" at work I would probably read 99 percent of my news on either this device or my home computer. As it stands I’m still getting more than 80 percent of my “print” news electronically.
I’m not really complaining. The news on my iPhone is updated 24/7. If I watch FC Barcelona pummel some hapless Spanish football club on TV, within minutes of its conclusion I can usually read a short, 500-word game story on my iPhone. And I can do this without even having to haul my lazy butt off the couch. That’s of course a major shift from the way sports information used to be distributed. Most of you are probably not old enough to remember this, but back in 1990 there was a short-lived venture called “The National,” which was an attempt at creating a national all-sports daily newspaper. All-sports dailies are common in Europe where national boundaries are smaller and tend not to stretch across four time zones. "The National" was well written and had a top-notch editor in “Sports Illustrated” writer Frank Deford (he can still be heard Wednesday mornings offering sports commentary on NPR) and it of course failed miserably in less than a year and a half. They even tried to get "The National" online before it folded using an early Internet service provider called Compuserve (that’s also probably before your time).
It seems kind of quaint now, a national sports newspaper, but that’s the way we used to roll. Today we’re wondering if there’s even a place in the future for things like books and newspapers. We shall see.
The "Books" Powerpoint is short. There are a number of names included. Make sure to take time to note the significance of each. I’ll give you a preview of "Newspapers" and "Magazines" later this week or next. There will also be some supplemental readings with prompts for blog posts from all of you. This is a two-week section so there will not be a quiz this week. Take this opportunity to start plugging away on your Long Tail paper which is due in a little more than a month.
And if you’re behind on Quizzes 1 through 3, you’ve got another 48 hours to get caught up. Do it!
Once, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, our beloved “Media of Mass Communication” text had three chapters devoted to Dead Tree Media. Alas, much has changed since I started teaching this class four short, short years ago. For starters, when the 10th edition was released the author condensed books, newspapers and magazines down to a single chapter. This may be an acknowledgment of reality, but it remains a little troubling for a guy like me who spent a lot of years with ink-stained fingers trying to produce timely, meaningful — dare I say relevant — newspapers. I miss my morning newspaper, but I can’t say I dislike the thing that has replaced it, namely a handheld computer better known as an iPhone. If we didn’t receive free copies of the "Missoulian" and "Daily Inter Lake" at work I would probably read 99 percent of my news on either this device or my home computer. As it stands I’m still getting more than 80 percent of my “print” news electronically.
I’m not really complaining. The news on my iPhone is updated 24/7. If I watch FC Barcelona pummel some hapless Spanish football club on TV, within minutes of its conclusion I can usually read a short, 500-word game story on my iPhone. And I can do this without even having to haul my lazy butt off the couch. That’s of course a major shift from the way sports information used to be distributed. Most of you are probably not old enough to remember this, but back in 1990 there was a short-lived venture called “The National,” which was an attempt at creating a national all-sports daily newspaper. All-sports dailies are common in Europe where national boundaries are smaller and tend not to stretch across four time zones. "The National" was well written and had a top-notch editor in “Sports Illustrated” writer Frank Deford (he can still be heard Wednesday mornings offering sports commentary on NPR) and it of course failed miserably in less than a year and a half. They even tried to get "The National" online before it folded using an early Internet service provider called Compuserve (that’s also probably before your time).
It seems kind of quaint now, a national sports newspaper, but that’s the way we used to roll. Today we’re wondering if there’s even a place in the future for things like books and newspapers. We shall see.
The "Books" Powerpoint is short. There are a number of names included. Make sure to take time to note the significance of each. I’ll give you a preview of "Newspapers" and "Magazines" later this week or next. There will also be some supplemental readings with prompts for blog posts from all of you. This is a two-week section so there will not be a quiz this week. Take this opportunity to start plugging away on your Long Tail paper which is due in a little more than a month.
And if you’re behind on Quizzes 1 through 3, you’ve got another 48 hours to get caught up. Do it!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Super Bowl Ad reaction
Here's a link to a NY Times story about this year's underwhelming crop of Super Bowl ads. A decade or so ago the ads were often more entertaining than the game, but they've been on the decline for a awhile now. I don't know if it's a result of the declining role of mass audience television advertising, or if the Super Bowl ad hype is just an idea whose time has passed — kind of like watching a 50-something Madonna trying to reprise her hyper sexy persona of the 1990s when she really should be at home working on her AARP application.
I really liked Madonna once too. But that seemed really sad tonight. It's been all downhill since Lucky Star.
I really liked Madonna once too. But that seemed really sad tonight. It's been all downhill since Lucky Star.
Chapter 3 preview
This week we embark on a fairly important chapter, media economics. While there was a bit of economic discussion in chapter 1, the rubber meets the road in chapter three. Read the chapter and then take a look at the PowerPoint I prepared. Be forewarned, the PowerPoint for this chapter is only loosely linked to the text, and represents the kind of get-on-my-soapbox rant I occasionally unload on my face-to-face classrooms.
I'd apologize, but I actually think this stuff is really important. Good newspapers (or TV or radio or online) that do real journalism are really a key part of maintaining a healthy, thriving nation. But there isn't much good journalism left. Instead we're left with a lot of nonsense such as this:
Media ignores the news to focus on manufactured conflict.
Another sad commentary on the state of American media. The Washington press corps, the elite of the journalistic elite, lobbing 23 questions about a faux controversy about when the president would speak, and only nine about what he intended to speak about. Whether you love the president, or hate him, or if you fall somewhere in between, I think you'd all agree that since he wanted to talk about his proposal to create jobs, while we are in the midst of the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression, that the substance of his speech should matter to these knuckleheads.
I suspect contemporary media economics has something to do with this dumbing down of our discourse (to the degree that we allow it to continue, we share some blame). That's my theory at least. Let me know if you agree, or disagree. I will post additional readings on Media economics throughout the week.
Let me hear from you by Wednesday.
I'd apologize, but I actually think this stuff is really important. Good newspapers (or TV or radio or online) that do real journalism are really a key part of maintaining a healthy, thriving nation. But there isn't much good journalism left. Instead we're left with a lot of nonsense such as this:
Media ignores the news to focus on manufactured conflict.
Another sad commentary on the state of American media. The Washington press corps, the elite of the journalistic elite, lobbing 23 questions about a faux controversy about when the president would speak, and only nine about what he intended to speak about. Whether you love the president, or hate him, or if you fall somewhere in between, I think you'd all agree that since he wanted to talk about his proposal to create jobs, while we are in the midst of the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression, that the substance of his speech should matter to these knuckleheads.
I suspect contemporary media economics has something to do with this dumbing down of our discourse (to the degree that we allow it to continue, we share some blame). That's my theory at least. Let me know if you agree, or disagree. I will post additional readings on Media economics throughout the week.
Let me hear from you by Wednesday.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Chapter 2 extra
See my post below. We'll be exploring the question of what is gained and lost in the conversion to digital throughout the semester. Chapter 2 is all about reminding ourselves of the history of the analog formats digital models are built on. So treat the chapter as if it's a history lesson. The questions on the quiz are backward looking, but that's OK this early in the semester as we're still just trying to make sure we're all on the same page.
Some of you haven't completed your assignment by responding to the previous post. Get on it!
Some of you haven't completed your assignment by responding to the previous post. Get on it!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Chapter 2 preview
We're really taking a look back in Chapter 2 at the technology that allowed Mass Comm to exist and flourish. It's a bit of a history lesson, which isn't such a bad thing.
The quiz will be open from 6 p.m. Wednesday until Midnight Friday.
Now this week's discussion topic. In May Amazon announced that sales of ebooks had outpaced paper books for the first time. With news increasingly moving from print to online, can you know envision a future in which print technology no longer exists, and the written word is entirely a digital medium?
Ironically the link is to the New York Times, a bastion of the print world which is trying to keep its print product alive by charging readers on its Web site. However, you get 20 free stories online a month. If you've already exceeded your total shoot me an email and we'll work something out.
Please post a response by Thursday evening. I will try to interject comments when possible, but I work during the day so I don't always have the opportunity.
The quiz will be open from 6 p.m. Wednesday until Midnight Friday.
Now this week's discussion topic. In May Amazon announced that sales of ebooks had outpaced paper books for the first time. With news increasingly moving from print to online, can you know envision a future in which print technology no longer exists, and the written word is entirely a digital medium?
Ironically the link is to the New York Times, a bastion of the print world which is trying to keep its print product alive by charging readers on its Web site. However, you get 20 free stories online a month. If you've already exceeded your total shoot me an email and we'll work something out.
Please post a response by Thursday evening. I will try to interject comments when possible, but I work during the day so I don't always have the opportunity.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Chapter 1
Here are some things to consider this week as you read Chapter 1 and review the Powerpoint. You do not need to respond to this post. However, if you have a questions about the material please post a question and I will do my best to answer. There will be a post from me requiring a response from you later in the week.
Think about the distinctions between personal, group and mass communication. Understand that Mass Comm, the focus of this class, is a relatively recent development in human history. What is the human invention, or inventions, that was required to allow Mass Comm to occur? Answer: technology. All forms of Mass Comm involve the use of technology.
å
Keep in mind the kind audience that content producers attract, and how that is changing over time. In the past everyone watched one of the three network nightly newscasts. Today news producers can target smaller audiences, with say Fox attracting a conservative audience and MSNBC going after a more liberal crowd. This change in the kind of audience targeted is an important concept we will touch on time and time again this semester, and it will be central to your Long Tail paper.
Will old models for Mass Comm providers remain viable in the future? Is there a place for USA Today in the 21st century?
What’s the difference between Mass Comm and Mass Media?
Media Literacy is critical if you are going to interact intelligently and understand the messages provided by the Mass Media? Do you have to understand the messenger to understand the message?
The chapter ends with a discussion about media finances. This is a recent change to the latest edition of the textbook, but is really out of place here (Text book publishers make these pointless changes so students and bookstores have to toss all the old editions and make everyone buy the new ones). Read through these pages but I will wait to focus on them in chapter three.
Think about the distinctions between personal, group and mass communication. Understand that Mass Comm, the focus of this class, is a relatively recent development in human history. What is the human invention, or inventions, that was required to allow Mass Comm to occur? Answer: technology. All forms of Mass Comm involve the use of technology.
å
Keep in mind the kind audience that content producers attract, and how that is changing over time. In the past everyone watched one of the three network nightly newscasts. Today news producers can target smaller audiences, with say Fox attracting a conservative audience and MSNBC going after a more liberal crowd. This change in the kind of audience targeted is an important concept we will touch on time and time again this semester, and it will be central to your Long Tail paper.
Will old models for Mass Comm providers remain viable in the future? Is there a place for USA Today in the 21st century?
What’s the difference between Mass Comm and Mass Media?
Media Literacy is critical if you are going to interact intelligently and understand the messages provided by the Mass Media? Do you have to understand the messenger to understand the message?
The chapter ends with a discussion about media finances. This is a recent change to the latest edition of the textbook, but is really out of place here (Text book publishers make these pointless changes so students and bookstores have to toss all the old editions and make everyone buy the new ones). Read through these pages but I will wait to focus on them in chapter three.
The way forward
OK, hopefully by now you've had a chance to review the syllabus and other course material. You may still be wondering how the course will proceed. Here's what you can expect each week.
On Monday I will post on the chapter we are reviewing that week (Look for another post from me later today), with some guidance on what I consider the most important elements of the chapter. That post may or may not include a prompt requiring a response. It may also lead you to some supplemental sources to help you better understand the material covered. Your job will be to respond to the post (if required), read the chapter, review the chapter PowerPoint, and, at the end of the week, take a quiz on the chapter.
During the week I may add posts to supplement the material in the chapter. Again, they may or may not request a response from you. It's your responsibility to read my posts and understand if you need to respond.
A word of warning about the PowerPoints. I once taught this course face-to-face, and I used the PowerPoints for class lectures. I am reviewing them over time and hope to improve them so that they are more user friendly as a student study guide. But I can't say for sure that I will update all of them this semester (It's a big project and I have a couple other jobs that take up some of my time). So bear with me and I will get to as many as I can.
I still haven't heard from some of you. Please post a reply so I know you are out there. If you have any questions, please post them on the blog so that the other students can learn from the discussion. Or, if you just need to clear something up with me, sent me an e-mail.
On Monday I will post on the chapter we are reviewing that week (Look for another post from me later today), with some guidance on what I consider the most important elements of the chapter. That post may or may not include a prompt requiring a response. It may also lead you to some supplemental sources to help you better understand the material covered. Your job will be to respond to the post (if required), read the chapter, review the chapter PowerPoint, and, at the end of the week, take a quiz on the chapter.
During the week I may add posts to supplement the material in the chapter. Again, they may or may not request a response from you. It's your responsibility to read my posts and understand if you need to respond.
A word of warning about the PowerPoints. I once taught this course face-to-face, and I used the PowerPoints for class lectures. I am reviewing them over time and hope to improve them so that they are more user friendly as a student study guide. But I can't say for sure that I will update all of them this semester (It's a big project and I have a couple other jobs that take up some of my time). So bear with me and I will get to as many as I can.
I still haven't heard from some of you. Please post a reply so I know you are out there. If you have any questions, please post them on the blog so that the other students can learn from the discussion. Or, if you just need to clear something up with me, sent me an e-mail.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Your first assignment
Take a look at these:
It's hard to believe CNN was once considered a quality news channel
Alanis Morissette isn't the only one who doesn't get irony
Now, log in and post that your name so I know you're able to do so. We'll have assignments requiring posts in the future.
It's hard to believe CNN was once considered a quality news channel
Alanis Morissette isn't the only one who doesn't get irony
Now, log in and post that your name so I know you're able to do so. We'll have assignments requiring posts in the future.
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