Schedule of Readings and Assignments

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Date/Projects	Activities
(1) Jan 18, 20	History 1 Read: Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technology, by Dennis Baron Do and discuss in web board: Are we at an historical turning point? Introduction In class: Personal introductions Introduction to the course Content/topics Readings Activities Projects Grading Collaboration In-class discussions Electronic discussions Class notes Also: Topic choice: Select among possible course units Discoveries
(2) Jan 25, 27	History 2 Read: New Literacies, by Bertram Bruce Digital Immortal, by Robert Lucky Do and discuss in web board: What can we say at this time about the new literacies of the 21st century? In class: Choose projects and project teams Twenty-first century literacy Writing artifacts
(3) Feb 1, 3 Project-1: Submit a proposal for your group project (see RFP and project ideas).	History 3 Read: Orality, Literacy, and the Future of Computer-Mediated Communication A philosophy of technology: Literacy in the information age, by Raja Bhattacharyya Will Libraries Survive?, by Geoffrey Nunberg Web sites: Educational Technology Timeline Quotable Facts About America's Libraries Do and discuss in web board: Find at least one site or article on the web that addresses the issue of how literacy is changing (or not) as a result of the new information technologies. Go to the Open Directory category on ../Literacy in the Information Age/History and add your URL.
(4) Feb 8, 10	Access 1 Read: "How Worldwide is the Web?" by Bertram Bruce "Bridging the Digital Divide" by Thomas Novak and Donna Hoffman Listen: Ann Bishop interview - 22 mins. (text translation) Web sites: The Community Networking Initiative Prairienet Girl Geeks PBS site on the Digital Divide Do and discuss in web board: Look at, and fill out if appropriate, the IT survey at the Girl Geeks site. In class: How does your project relate to literacy in the information age? Next module? Project library
(5) Feb 15, 17 Project-2: Build an annotated bibliography of web resources on your topic	Access 2 Read: "Access: Not Just Wires" by Karen Coyle Listen: Access lecture - Nick and Chip (26 mins.) Web sites: Center for Applied Special Technology Do and discuss in web board: Locate other surveys or statistics of internet use, e.g., race, class, gender, nationality, etc. from at least two different time points. What trends do you see? In class: Changes in access along differnet dimensions (jigsaw)
(6) Feb 22, 24	Access 3 Read: "Gender Issues in Computer Networking" by Leslie Regan Shade Listen: Jon Gunderson (interview - 19 mins.) (text translation) Web sites: Access.Edu CTER white papers SoftQuad Do and discuss in web board: Locate the "Bobby Site" and evaluate its criteria for accessible web pages. What assumptions does it make about access?
(7) Feb 29, Mar 2	Privacy 1 Read: Clipper Chip Time Online: The Denning-Barlow Clipper Chip Debate Listen: Peter Ludlow, Professor of Philosophy, SUNY, Stonybrook, editor of High Noon on the Electronic Frontier (interview - 15 mins.) (text translation) Nick Chip and Barb on privacy (28 mins.) (text transcription) Web sites: Junkbusters Alert on Web Privacy Do and discuss in web board: Locate a webcam. Try to find someone doing something that you wouldn't want others seeing. How do you feel about watching this? Find an image of your home at the Terraserver.
(8) Mar 7, 9	Privacy 2 Read: "Privacy, Surveillance and Classroom Communication" by Nicholas C. Burbules "Cryptography, Privacy, and Crypto-Anarchism" by Peter Ludlow "Personal Privacy," by Royal Van Horn Listen: Marsha Woodbury, Chair, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (powerpoint presentation and real audio discussion - 24 min.) Phil Agre, Information Studies at UCLA (36 min.) Web sites: CTER white papers Yenta , "provides privacy-protected, distributed, automatic generation of clusters of users who are interested in similar topics. ...These clusters then serve as the basis for introducing users to each other. Users can send messages to particular other users, or to everyone in the cluster." Do and discuss in web board: Find as much information as you can about yourself on the web.
Mar 11-19	Spring Break
(9) Mar 22, 24 Project-3: Develop an outline	Credibility 1 Read: "The Babel of Cyberspace" by Bertram Bruce "Rheingold's Brainstorms: Disinformation Superhighway?" by L. Floridi Listen: Geof Bowker (UCSD) - interview with Kevin Leander on classification issues (25 mins.) (text translation) Nicholas Burbules, Chip Bruce, and Barb Duncan on credibility (30 mins.) Do: Find two web page evaluation sites with contrasting ideas of credibility. What are the assumptions about where knowledge comes from that underly these differences? In class: Nick: Ultimate Bulletin Board Project updates I Brandon: Computer Learning and Mentoring Center (CLAM) Project updates II
(10) Mar 28, 30	Credibility 2 Read: "Who Lives Here?" by Nicholas C. Burbules "Informing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman "Information Overload", by John Schmitz Web sites: CTER white papers: Credibility Do and discuss in web board: Find two web pages that represent opposing viewpoints on a particular topic. Using only the content on these pages, determine which appears more credible. Why? In class: What are different theories about where knowledge resides? What does each theory prescribe for determining credibility? Art on the Web How is the combination of digital media and new communication technolgies changing the practices of making, understanding, and responding to art? Web sites: The Faces of Tomorrow project associated with the Boston CybeArts Festival creates opportunities for young people to make and share art, and to create collective artpieces. John Berger's Ways of Seeing is based on a BBC television series that expanded the ways of viewing and interpreting visual art. Christopher Witcombe's Gateway to Art History is one of the best-organized and most comprehensive sites providing pathways to art across time and space. The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor art environment in the middle of Detroit. Also: note taking webboard outlines discoveries schedule Brandon: CLAM II Greatest engineering plan for the April 13 videoconference
(11) Apr 4, 6	Credibility 3 Read: "Credibility of the Web: Why We Need Dialectical Reading", by Bertram Bruce Do and discuss in web board: Often in school, or through various media, we learn shorthand statements that capture some aspects of the truth, but fall short in other ways. In most cases, if we understood why these statements fell short, we would have a much deeper understanding of the knowledge domain in question and would likely find the topic itself more interesting. For example, we learn that "in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue" and that he discovered America. But what did he really discover and in what sense did he discover it? Choose one of the following commonplace statements (or come up with a similar substitute). Then use the web to see what you can learn about why it may be limited or false in some interesting way. If you already know a lot about the domain, keep searching until you come up with something you didn't already know. Can you trust what you've found on the web? Columbus discovered America in 1492. You should choose your food from the four food groups. There are five senses: taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing. There are seven continents. People in France speak French. There are nine planets in our solar system. Milk is the best treatment for an ulcer. Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity. In class: note taking discoveries plan for project presentations: April 11, 13, 18, 20 knowledge theory/prescription for credibility
(12) Apr 11, 13 Project-4: Presentation	Education 2 Read: Universities in the Digital Age, by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education, by David Noble Report of the University of Illinois Teaching at an Internet Distance Seminar, December 1999 David Noble's Battle to Defend the 'Sacred Space' of the Classroom, by Jeffrey R. Young In class: Tuesday: Project presentations I Thursday: 2:00 p.m., meet at 245 Altgeld 3:00 p.m., walk to 14 Illini Hall for videoconference with UCSD
(13) Apr 18, 20	In class: Project presentations II On campus: Bonnie Nardi, "netWORK", 3:30 p.m., April 20, 59A English
(14) Apr 25, 27 AERA Meeting	No class this week
(15) May 2 Project-5: Submit your final report and reflection paper	Closing-Opening In class: Summary, discussion, next steps Instructor and Course Evaluation Survey

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