Goals

This is the capstone course for the Information Technology Studies minor. It is open to other undergraduuate and graduate students with permission. Through the course, we explore what it means to be information literate in today's world. Major themes include evolving media practices, historical perspectives, personal meanings, ethical and policy issues, learning opportunities, and community.

Activities

As we enter the twenty-first century, we see literacy practices evolving as well as becoming more central in our lives. The nature of texts is changing, as they are re-presented through online communities, web sites, video, hypermedia, virtual reality, and other new technologies. These changes call on us to re-visit enduring questions about readers, writers, and texts, whether these texts be oral, traditional books, or new media. We also need to consider the impact on young people: how they make meaning as they both respond to and create texts; how cultural meanings are re-created within each new generation.

The advent of video, the web, online communities, virtual reality, and other new technologies has given rise to the concept of new literacies such as computer literacy, visual literacy, and information literacy. This course explores these literacies and their relation to traditional concepts, with a focus on literacy as situated practice.

In the course, students ...

1. Learn from readings and discussions about changing notions of literacy and their relation to the technologies of representation and communication.
2. Study new literacy practices through an individual or small group research project.
3. Learn from each other through discussions about current events and personal experiences with new information and communication technologies.

Readings

The course is organized around major themes or units, each comprising two or more weeks. Each of these is important for society generally and raises questions about the future of literacy. The questions generate real controversy, and radically different opposing perspectives. Each also poses some deep challenges to conventional understandings and practices. As the semester goes along, you will see more and more interconnections among these issues. In general, the first week of each topic will introduce the basic issues at stake; the second (and sometimes third) weeks will push these issues further, uncovering additional layers that may not be immediately apparent.

Communication

Students will use, learn through, and critique a variety of new literacy technologies :

LEEP bulletin boards

asynchronous discussions on the theme of the unit, the readings, the lectures, the activities, and discussion questions suggested by the class participants.

chat sessions

synchronous text-based discussion

Video conferences

Class notes

one student each class period records the class activities and discussions and posts that in the LEEP board called "Class notes"

Inquiry units

structuresfor project work, as well as shorter investigations

FAQ

frequently asked questions

Blog

course web log

Face-to-face discussions

including Discoveries (sharing findings each week from popular media and the workplace), Project updates (regular reports on project work with collaboration in solving problems that arise), and General discussion of readings and issues

.

Grading

Work must turned submitted through C-Base by the date on which the assignment is listed in the schedule in order to receive full consideration. The grading is criterion-based, with an indication in C-Base:

Excellent,exceeds expectations, "A" quality work
Does what was required, "B" quality work
Something missing, with an indication of the work that is needed. If you choose to do so, you may revise the assignment in order to improve your grade.

Be sure to consult the FAQs if you have any questions.

There are no exams. Grades are based on:

• A semester-long project, reported in five stages (40%), marked by in the schedule. Some tips:
  • Be sure to look at examples of past projects for ideas about content, format, and length. A wide range of projects is acceptable; you should just make the case for why and how your work relates to literacy in the information age.
    Note that in some cases the project Inquiry Unit was a draft, rather than the final version. A typical one-person final report might be ~3000 words, more if it's essentially a review article, less if it's reporting on a service learning project or describing a web site you constructed. A report by three or four people might be twice as long, but you should use whatever space you need to develop your story. The JAAL columns are another reasonable model in terms of scope;
  • A group project is assumed to receive equivalent, but not necessarily the same, contributions from group members, and is expected to be more substantial than an individual project;
  • Note the rules about research involving human subjects, such as interviewing, surveys, or observations.
• Five smaller assignments (40%), each marked by in the schedule. The last assignment is a reflection paper: What have you learned from the course activities? What do you see as the future for literacy? ...the most surprising changes? Do you see ways to apply that learning to your own work?;
• Participation (20%), including:
  • discussions in class,
  • discoveries,
  • class notes,
  • responses to readings (roughly one a week): these should be posted in the LEEP discussion boards; your response may be to the readings per se, or the postings of others;
  • helping others learn,
  • computer helper,

  Be sure to notify me in advance about any absence and complete an alternate assignment for that day. This should be posted in the LEEP board.

Schedule

Week	Assignments ?	Readings ?	Activities ?
Evolving Media Practices
(1) Jan 21			Welcome Computer help Class notes Introductions What have you learned? What are your expectations? What is literacy in the information age? Course goals & structure Communication computer chess steganography CPSR E$$ay Contest GSLIS Undergraduate Paper Award
(2) Jan 23	Explore the course site and think about possible course topics Genevieve Carmichael: Some interesting topics in LIS 391 — [Part 1] [Part 2] Try the LEEP, C-Base, and Inquiry Page login Begin thinking about your course project. Tony Lee: Inside the inquiry units	Headrick, ch. 1 Eco, From Internet to Gutenberg (in six parts)	Digital Cities Kyoto Mindset list Powers of 10 The role of technology Sullivan, "America in 1900" Brainstorm issues relevant to literacy in the information age Discuss possible projects and groups past projects
Jan 28	Login to LEEP. In the board for the first week, post a greeting to the class introducing yourself. Briefly describe your goals for the course. Then, login to C-Base and post the URL for that message in activity 1.	Headrick, ch. 2 ? Supp: Headrick, ch. 3	Inquiry Page intro student research template Lessig, Internet & copyright [interview]
(3) Jan 30		Bruce, New literacies Supp: McEneaney, A hypertext history in 36 nodes	net attacks scholars from India (3:30-5:00, 131 LIS) What does it mean to "own" information? Bioinformatics in education Project ideas: Identity theft "Rain is not my Indian name" spin-off a course unit Game studies TappedIn Display wall CAVE tour Inquiry Page as a medium for the project
Feb 4		Sharples, Writing for the screen Supp: Headrick, ch. 5	viruses virus hoaxes Jan Brunvand Marcia Halio controversy feedback on leep, c-base project outlets: Inquiry in action, UI Current LIS Clips, Scholarly Communication, IJUR, other journals Google answers human subjects Team Action Project upcoming assignments What are the new literacies?
(4) Feb 6	Post your project proposal: (or a URL for it) in LEEP. Post the URL for that message in C-Base. Use the keyword "liasp3" for your Inquiry Unit.	Bruce, The work of art in the age of digital reproduction	Million Books Project Internet bookmobile Internet an integral part of college life Twenty-first century literacy Groups discussion: What is writing? relate to readings
Historical Perspectives
Feb 11		Headrick, ch. 6	Nu shortcuts in school r 2 much 4 teachers Richard Avedon Jackson Pollock discuss projects
(5) Feb 13	Do one of the three options in: What role have technologies played in learning throughout history?	Headrick, ch. 7 Supp: NPR, Literacy in the 21st century.	discuss Headrick, pp. 183-193
Feb 18		Bruce, Constructing a once and future history of learning technologies	library terror Walker Art Museum Feb 18, Fu-Ren Lin: teachers network Feb 19, Hope Olson, classification Mar 13, George Lewis, music life on the web volunteer opps Headrick discussion project updates timeline
(6) Feb 20	Post your annotated bibliography	Headrick, ch. 4	end of radio drama start of Saturday Night at the Movies: color, Hollywood, made-for-TV class notes blog video volunteers Patriot Act / Bill of Rights civil liberties
Personal Meanings
Feb 25		Rheingold, Look who's talking	Google language preferences discuss Rheingold
(7) Feb 27	Find a webcam. Find your home in Terraserver. Discuss both of these in the web board.	Burbules, Privacy, surveillance and classroom communication Supp: Liu, Wireless Internet for all	LIA book who rules Googlefight security cameras webcam/terraserver assignment
Mar 4		NIIT, Hole in the wall computer Judge, computer literacy for India's poorest kids Hole in the Wall	Amaris: Inquiry Page the CAVE FIRST project updates
Ethical and Policy Issues
(8) Mar 6		Bruce, How worldwide is the web? Supp: Snow, clever Cubans still get bootleg Internet Bruce & Hogan, The disappearance of technology	my blog media images
Mar 11		Zhao, et al. Teaching and learning: Whose computer is it? Locate the "Bobby Site" and evaluate its criteria for accessible web pages. What assumptions does it make about access?	discuss: new literacies, access, privacy My smmr hols discuss assignments project updates continue media discussion What is the UIUC role in ICT devleopment?
(9) Mar 13	Post your outline. Note that this "outline" is a several-page draft of your project. It may include parts in a rough form, such as lists of key phrases, but it's not simply a hierarchical structure of the parts (intro, background, method, results, etc.)	Schneider, The Patriot Act: Last refuge of a scoundrel Boulton, Is Microsoft watching what you're watching?	Radio UserLand 391 video quicktopic great vowel shift project uupdates role of inquiry in tech age Situated evaluation
Mar 18		Bruce, Access points on the digital river Supp: Coyle, Access: Not just wires Gunderson, web accessibility [interview] [text]) Shade, Gender issues in computer networking	Christopher Reeves blogging zip codes firstmonday McWhortle Enterprises, Inc. schedule in-class project presentations dimensions of access
(10) Mar 20		White, Six degrees of instant messaging Ma, Happiness on the Chinese Internet Anderson & Kubiatowicz, The worldwide computer	Visual thesaurus accessibility symbols eye scanning Simputer technology survey changes in access
-- Mar 22-29 -- Spring Break
Learning Opportunities
Apr 1	Project responses Choose at least two projects and respond to them on the web board Project presentations: Internet Advertising (pop-ups) (Jerry) Technology and the Consumer (Paris) Bluetooth (Ben, Chris, Tina)	Noble, Digital diploma mills: The automation of higher education Brown & Duguid, Universities in the digital age Supp: Review of Noble's book on distance ed Winner, the automatic professor	CPSR Essay Contest Undergraduate best paper award media and war UN Literacy Decade NY Public Library project presentations
(11) Apr 3		Keiner, Judy. (1997). Real audiences — worldwide: A case study of the impact of WWW publication on a child writer's development. KidPub Supp: Reuters, Monkey moves cursor! Hiler, Google time bombs	VR-savvy Weihong: WWW publication
Apr 8		Dewey, 3. Criteria of experience	Downs Intellectual Freedom Award CAVE visit @Beckman
Community
(12) Apr 10	Project presentations: Governmental Surveillance (Lori) Metaphors (Jessica and LoAn) E-Writing (Julie)	Bishop, Communities for the new century Who owns the media?	Mediaworks Pamphlets Double fold CPSR essay contest credibility unit course videos
Apr 15	Project presentations: Online Job Search (Kelly) Special Education Technology (Lisa and Kate) Web Writing: Inquiry Page (Amaris) Platform Preference (Candice) LiveJournal (David)	Thakkar, et al. Extending literacy through participation in new technologies	Inquiry Unit wrappers
(13) Apr 17	Credibility unit: How can we learn to read critically? Project presentations: Internet as News Source (Sooho) Technology Flops (Melissa and John) Course Website Design (Dave)	Bruce, Digital content: The babel of cyberspace. Supp: Floridi, Rheingold's brainstorms: Disinformation superhighway? People "turn to online library materials before printed ones" Postman, Informing ourselves to death.	Whales in Lake Michigan
Apr 22		Hafner, A paternity dispute divides net pioneers	Larry Lessig, Free culture Academic Exchange
(14) Apr 24	Final report	Hawisher, Constructing our identities through online images	no class today
Apr 29	Project presentations: Microsoft/Apple Adv (Genevieve)	Mishra, et al. Seeing ourselves in the computer: How we relate to technologies	The Flesh Public Library library filters discuss credibility
(15) May 1	Reflection paper	Kapitzke, Information literacy: The changing library	Total Information Awareness, EPIC John Poindexter, info on Cyberatlas toolbox China blocks news copyright: Girl Scout songs; cab driver music; Christmas carols pragmatic technology draw the story of your project Where do we go next? What did we learn? What new questions? Journals Organizations course evaluation
May 6		Brunelle, Why free software matters for literacy educators	no class today
Other activities: Discuss TIA GIS for classroom (major, sign, sport) privacy discussion maps as social tools (jigsaw)

FAQs

How do I login to LEEP, C-Base, Inquiry Page?

For LEEP and C-Base, your login is your netid. Passwords will be distributed in class. You may then change the C-Base password. For the Inquiry Page, your login is your email address and you create your own password.

System	Login	Scheme	Password
LEEP	netid	numerical
C-Base	netid	"changeme" initially, then change to your own
Inquiry Page	click "Join Us", then use your email address	set your own

I can't login into LEEP. What should I do?

If you've never succeeded at the login, try both year of birth and "1900" in the password. If you've been successful, wait a while and try again with the password that worked before. If you're still having problems, you could contact the Instructional Technology Office.

How long should a "small assignment" be?

The length of assignments varies and length is no guarantee of high-quality work, but the typical small assignment is 500-1000 words.

How does a group project compare to an individual one?

A group project is assumed to receive equivalent, but not necessarily the same, contributions from group members, and is expected to be more substantial than an individual project.

How should a research project be carried out?

There are usually no set requirements regarding how you do research. There are some guidelines on the syllabus, under Assignments, FAQs, etc and in the class notes. Basically I'd like to see you take on a topic that you really care about and then to explain why the approach you took (library research, building a web site, conducting a survey, interviews, etc.) was a good way to investigate it.

How do I submit an assignment?

Go to the box in C-Base corresponding to the assignment. Paste in text or a URL for your assignment. The URL can be to an Inquiry Unit, to a web page you created, or to a web board (LEEP) message. Add any comments you would like.

How do I see a response to what I submitted?

When the response to an assignment appears to have a general value, I will respond to that assignment in the web board. For example, there might be a web resource to mention, which everyone should see. Otherwise, the responses will all be posted in C-Base. There is a category response indicated by one of the icons (e.g., a star), and in many cases, a text response as well. You can see that by clicking on the icon.

How can I submit a URL in C-Base, which links to a specific message in the web board, and not just to the board as a whole?

Just login to LEEP; open the message; copy the URL that shows in the address bar when you're viewing the message; and paste that URL into C-Base. That's the best way, even though the URL will be very long and awkward looking.

How can I submit two URL's in C-Base?

Put one in the URL box and the other in the comment field.

When I enter an assignment in C-Base, do I need to add comments, or just a URL?

In general, the URL is sufficient. The comment section may be especially useful if you have something you don't want to broadcast to the class.

After I copy the URL over and hit send, C-Base gives me an error from cold fusion stating there is something wrong with the variable "USERNAME".

C-base requires both cookies and javascript. Check to see that theay are enables in your browser.

How can I enter my unit in the Inquiry data base without making it as an Inquiry Unit?

If you do not create your project as an Inquiry Unit (which is fine), you can still make an "Inquiry Unit wrapper" for it. That way we can easily see all the course projects by a keyword search. To do this, you need to log in to the Inquiry Page, go to the Inquiry Units, and then Add Unit. All you need to enter then is your name, the title or driving question, the keyword, e.g, "liafa2", and a brief description. Then, do one of these things:

1. add a link to the web page for your project
2. upload the document file (such as a Word file)
3. cut & paste in the text

How can I add a search of inquiry units to my own unit?

You can enable the user of your unit to access related units with a single click using html code. Suppose you want the user to see all units involving "American" and "history". Just do a search, then cut-&-paste the URL into your unit:

http://www.inquiry.uiuc.edu/bin/search.cgi?command=search&search=american+history

Who can see my in-progress inquiry unit?

You can mark your inquiry unit as "private" and no one will be able to see it (actually, the site administrators can). If you want to share it with the class, but not have people go off and change their lives based on it, you can mark it as "public" but "not ready to use". In general, the inquiry unit collection contains works in progress; we should be able to learn from anyone else's inquiry unit, but not necessarily adopt any of the units as is.