Analysis of Electronic Media Paper Assignment



ComS 222 Analysis of Electronic Media Paper Assignment

Goals

• To experience a variety of interactions online

• To compare the nature of online and face to face interactions as instructional contexts

• To reflect on those experiences from an instructional communication perspective

• To account for (explain) the affordances and limitations of various mediated experiences by applying relevant communication theory.

Introduction:

In order to accomplish this assignment you will need to start immediately so you have sufficient time to find and subscribe to appropriate online lists, discussion groups or courses that provide sufficient “traffic” for you to assess the experiences. You will participate with those lists, discussions or courses you subscribe as well as with our ComS 222 WebCT discussion. Time is needed to ensure the lists are sufficiently active and for you to experience their nature and quality. Also, you will encounter technical problems that will take time to solve—all part of the mediated instructional context.

You should take notes about your experiences regularly so you have a record of your cognitive and affective (even skill) changes as you explore the online learning environment.

The assignment has three parts that I explain below.

Part I: I have provided you a list of URLs (Web site addresses) as starting points for your analysis of electronic media as delivery channel for instruction. Part of this assignment necessitates you joining some discussion groups related to instruction via electronic channels.

For a list of lists with subscription links try

Read the directions for subscribing at the top and try some out. Keep a record of your sign-ups and keep the response you get from any successful subscription so you know how to unsubscribe if and when you need to do so.

One that you will, at least, want to read is the TLT-SWG list (a moderated list sponsored by the American Association for Higher Education). To subscribe go to:

and click “Join or leave the list (or change settings)” This one provides lots of organized information, but little interaction, although it is invited.

For an unmoderated list try DEOS. To subscribe, go to:

Then click, "Join or leave list." This list provides lots of information and opportunity for lots of interaction.

Here are some of the questions to guide your thinking as you go through the semester:

• How does the context of communication and instruction via electronic media differ from that of the communication context present in the traditional classroom?

• What are the affordances of the electronic media as a channel for communication designed to instruct?

• What are the weaknesses or limitations of electronic channels in communicating with students? What are the strengths of these channels in facilitating learning?

• What knowledge do we already possess (i.e. what theory do we have) that can guide our best use of this medium?

• What do we need to learn in order to make best use of these media?

These questions are intended only to provide starting points; if you wish to use one or all of them, you may. If you wish, ignore them and pose other questions you feel are more important or interesting.

Part II: You will have some assigned readings regarding the topic of electronic media and instruction, the material from the TLT-SWG list, my web page, and other material you discovered which you will use as basic resources for your analysis. Before we get to the due date for the analysis of electronic media, you may want to try out some of your ideas on the course bulletin board; don't be afraid to share resources with each other using that medium.

Part III: Prepare a 5-7 page analysis of your experience with electronic media. This analysis will use ideas drawn from our class readings as well as from your own reading on the subject.

RECOMMENDED STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER (If you decide to create sections related to the topics below, be sure to create logical transitions to integrate the parts—these are not three mini-papers.) The best essays are conceptual wholes.

1) Exploration: explore the present and potential structure of electronic communication in the classroom; what will the communication system look like? How will it be different from the present face-to-face system? Where and how will instruction take place? How will those differences impact instruction as a communication process?

2) Explanation: using relevant communication theory, account for present uses of electronic communication (or lack thereof) in the classroom; account for your experiences both good and bad. What worked and why? What did not work and why?

(Use the course readings, material you have discovered in research –expected—and this book available online: Theory & Practice of Online Education, edited by Terry Anderson and Fathi Elloumi.)



3) Speculation: speculate on how electronic media will re-shape the instructional context (or will the context affect the structure of the media?) What will we have to know more about in order to communicate most effectively given the availability and use of electronic media?

Use the MLA or APA stylebook to format this paper. (If you don't have a style book, use the on-line versions listed in the syllabus.)

Criteria for Grading

• The essay presents a coherent conceptual approach with introduction, body and conclusion.

• The essay treats all three areas of the assignment: exploration, explanation and speculation.

• Evidence of exploration is present in the essay in the form of examples, illustrations and narratives of your experience.

• Explanation is grounded in appropriate and sufficient communication theory to account for your experiences and those of others you include.

• Speculation is logically related to explanation; present and future have some connection; experience and theory are connected, too.

• The essay is free of spelling and grammatical errors.

• The essay is properly formatted using MLA (preferred) or APA (accepted) stylebook.

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