Welcome to Week Nine!

Creative deadline management from Calvin & Hobbes, courtesy Go! Comics

Wow! It's Week Nine!
That's right, it's week nine, and our class is now drawing to a close. We've had some real great discussions over the term, and though we are almost out of time, we still have a few more in the pipeline. This week, we will be talking about the wider implications of Social Media in society. Political power, media, and quality of life are at the forefront. 
First though, an announcement. Earlier in the term, we asked you about interest in a meet-up, an in-person, face-to-face meeting of the class. We've set a date and time for that:

CCM 376E Intermediate Social Media Meet-Up

Friday, June 1, 2012, 5:00 pm

Manzana Grill in Lake Oswego, OR

View Larger Map

Just to restate, this is totally optional, but it is an opportunity for you to meet your instructors (Joanne and I) as well as your classmates. There's no grades, it's not required, nor are purchases required, and for those unable to make it due to time and distance, we will miss you!
However, optional though it is, we also thought we would do this meet-up for an extra-curricular learning opportunity. For the last eight weeks, we have been communicating constantly via electronic means, much as people who you interact with on social media. For those of you meeting each other for the first time this way, it may be interesting to see if your level of comfort or connection is different than with people you have no electronic relationship with whom you are meeting for the first time. Consider it a social experiment!
Now a little reminder. For those contracting for an A, we will soon be asking for your final reflection papers. It may be worthwhile to begin making notes about your projects and possibly starting on your papers. Also, keep plugging away at the projects themselves. 
Now, onto our browsings for the week:

• Net Neutrality: Why it may be a hot topic is 2012: http://bit.ly/zLgZ30
• ...and peoples reactions to it on Social Media shook Congress: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/sopa_awareness_goes_mainstream.php
• Meanwhile, even larger issues are at stake in other countries, such as Egypt: http://www.fastcompany.com/1809458/wael-ghonim-egypt-revolution-20
• Breaking down old paradigms: Twitter makes us all journalists, says Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab: http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/05/you-might-not-be-a-journalist-but-you-play-one-on-twitter/
• And the revolution continues in media: http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/05/rory-oconnor-traditional-media-companies-cling-to-their-brands-at-their-peril/
• Social Media changing how we relate to each other in time and space: http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now.html
• ...and Social Media changing how we understand the places we live: http://livehoods.org/

As always, there are discussion questions in Moodle related to our browsings for the week. We'll see you online!

Week Seven Assignments

The mobile-social world can be a cruel one....

Hello Class!

It's now Week Seven, and before we get started, congratulations on Week Six and the midterms! You all contributed to a lively discussion on Moodle and Joanne and I are proud of you all.

(Later this week, Joanne is going to talk a bit about the feedback question we asked in a post here on the blog. Watch for that.)

Now for this week:

1.) Keep working on your projects! We only have four more weeks left counting this one, so keep at them. In fact, from here out, we will be asking about them as part of every week's discussion questions on Moodle.

2.) This weeks theme is the ever changing nature of Social Media. Complete the following assigned browsings for the week. There are a lot here, however, do not panic. They are all short. You do not have to read them in order but you may want to:

Myspace Gains a Million Users in One Month from Mashable
Myspace Memories from Mashable
Local Will Matter More and More from Chris Brogan
The App is Dead Okay Not Really but the Browser is Back from ReadWriteWeb
First Night with Google Plus from ReadWriteWeb
How to Get Started with Google Hangouts from ReadWriteWeb
Kickstarter to Outfund National Endowment for the Arts from ReadWriteWeb
What Goes Where from Chris Brogan

3.) Answer the three discussion questions for this week in Moodle.

That's all!

Also, we will have more information on the final paper assignment next week. As stated in the syllabus, it will be brief, so worry not.

As always, if you have problems or questions, ask away!

Week Five Assignments

Noise to Signal Cartoon

Welcome to Week Five!

It's been a fun week of discussions and Joanne and I are both very impressed with the comments this week. Great work, everyone. Now it's time to move to Week 5. This week, we will discuss the concept of authenticity in social media, along with touching on privacy a tiny bit, and continue thinking about how to approach social media strategically.

First, a reminder. Next week, Week Six, we will be asking for you to talk quite a lot about your final projects and how they are going. If you haven't worked on them in a while, spend some time on them. If you are having difficulties with them, contact one or both of us and we will work with you.

Second, some of you haven't messaged us with a grade contract yet. Please do so.

Now, onto this week's assignments:

1.) Read/Browse:
Why we think we can speak our minds on Social Media from ReadWriteWeb
The Battle for Social Media Authenticity from Forbes

2.) Check back with the blog over midweek and read two posts that Joanne and I will add for this week. Mine will be up by early Tuesday morning, (or for those who are insomniacs, realllllly late on Monday).

3.) Go to Moodle and answer the discussion questions there. Note there are four this week.

It's a short order on assignments this week as we want to give you time to work on your projects, and we want to continue to see energy spent on the discussions.

Welcome again to Week Five, and onwards!

Welcome to Week Three! (With Assignments)

It's been a great week everyone, but now it's time for week three of our class! Congratulate yourselves, we put a lot on you. As you learn about social media, take a short break and enjoy the above comic from Calvin & Hobbes. While it's a bit snarky, it's also true about social media: you get what you put into it.

Our theme this week is blogging and micro blogging. Names that may be familiar to you are platforms like Wordpress, Blogger (which is what the course blog uses,) and Tumblr, as well as leading micro blogging service Twitter.

This week we will ask you all to roll up your sleeves and get a bit more into doing things. That starts here, on the blog, with assignment one:

1. Register to join the blog as an author.
Step one, use the Moodle course mail system to send your e-mail to myself and Joanne. Please do this ASAP, no later than Tuesday, April 17 at midnight Pacific Time.
Step two, you will receive an invitation to join the blog at that email address by no later than Wednesday morning.
Step three, follow the instructions that Blogger emails to you.
2. As with last week, find a story, blog post, video, podcast, or any other digital media that relates to this week's topic, in this case blogging and micro blogging. If it relates to a subject being discussed by your classmates on Moodle, or if it relates to your class project, all the better. The only real requirement though is that the subject is related to blogging or micro blogging and that you think it is worth sharing with the class.
3. Complete the course browsings for this week:
Read this: What is a blog?
Read this: Twitter, "Truthiness" and breaking news
Watch this: Twitter founder gives talk about what Twitter is, how it was originally intended, and how it has changed.
Read this: Some practical advice about using Twitter.
4. Go to Blogger and click on the little orange pencil button next to the course blog title. Put a headline in at the top, and then in the body section, write a short post about the link you found for item two in the assignment list here. Describe in 1-3 paragraphs what the story is, why you want to share it, and what your thoughts or reactions to the link are. Do this by the end of the week on Sunday night; we will talk about the experience next week.
5. Go to Moodle and complete your answers to the three discussion questions there. Because we are asking you to join the blog this week, we will keep the discussion questions a bit light this time, but don't forget to reply to at least two other students' posts on Moodle!
6. Look at the earlier post here on the blog that describes the assignment for the midterm/final project. Then contact your instructors via the Moodle Course Mail before the end of Friday, April 20th to tell us:
a.) Are you contracting for an A grade, a B grade, or a C grade. To repeat what the syllabus says, if you are contracting for an A, you must participate in the midterm/final project and write a 5-6 page reflection for the final. If you are contracting for a B, you must participate in the midterm/final, but no 5-6 page paper will be required at the end of class. Those contracting for a C are not required to participate in the midterm/final, but must still participate in the Moodle discussions for those assignments by interacting with their fellow students.
b.) If you are contracting for an A or B grade, tell us what your project will be. If this is not fully formed yet, contact us ASAP and we will work with you to finalize the form. Do not start the project until you have an approval from one of your instructors.


I will be back in Portland tonight, Monday the 16th if anyone has technical problems!


Happy week three!

Class Assignment for Midterm/Final

Hello Class!

This week, one of the course discussions is to share your ideas for your project for the class. As stated in the syllabus, the course's midterm and final are both related to a social media project of your choice. This week, we want you to consider your options and share some ideas with the class on Moodle. Then, next week, we will ask you to pick one of them and begin the project.

This is not as hard as it may at first sound. The assignment was based upon one from a smaller, simpler introductory class. The difference is that with this class you will have the opportunity to spend about 8 weeks on the project instead of 3, giving you more time to observe and learn.

Further, you have more freedom to adapt the project to something you want to accomplish. Consider this an opportunity to try out a social media project for your personal, professional, or educational interests. This is a participatory project track where you get to explore social media in a directly applied purpose relevant to you.

So for this week, ask yourself, what would you like to explore, and how far you want to participate. Then share your thoughts with us.

The full project assignment is in the course syllabus, however, I have included it below. Please note that we have modified the start date a bit to give you more time to consider your alternatives.

Questions? Ask in Moodle in the discussion question for this assignment in Week Two.

From the Syllabus:

Students will also engage in a social media research project. This project will require them to choose from one of the following two options:

Project Track A: Choose a pre-existing social media community to join and engage in. This should be a community you are not already involved in. This may include one of the following: 

• Follow and engage with a blog that has a robust comments section 
• Join and engage a Facebook page or group
• Join and engage a LinkedIn group 
• Join and engage others on Twitter 
• Propose to the instructors another social media site that you think is worth exploring.

Project Track B: Plan, create, and implement your own social media community, which may include one of the following: 

• Plan and create a blog for a specific purpose 
• Plan and create a Facebook page or group for a specific purpose
• Plan and create a LinkedIn page or group for a specific purpose 
• Plan and create a YouTube channel for a specific purpose 
• Plan and create a Twitter account for a specific purpose
• Combination of some or all of the above 
• Propose something else to the instructors that will best meet your needs for learning and using social media.

Please note: regardless of which track is chosen, students will be graded by their observations and learning from these experiences, as demonstrated in the discussion areas of the course’s Moodle site and/or in the final reflection paper, not on the content the student has created outside of Moodle. Further, we understand that some students will have privacy concerns regarding participation in social media; we encourage but do not require students to utilize their real names in their social media projects. If you have specific privacy concerns, please contact the course instructors and accommodations will be made.

The social media community chosen may be for personal, professional, and/or educational purposes. Students should expect to choose and begin to engage in their social media community in week two, and be prepared to discuss initial observations during week six. Interaction will continue throughout the class. Those contracting for an A grade also need to submit a 5-6 page reflection paper on their learning and observations by the last day of the class, Sunday, 6/5/11. Students will not be graded on the content or extent of their engagement in their chosen social media communities, but rather by demonstration in their reflection papers of their observations and learning during the engagement process.

Week Two Assignments

Here are the assignments for Week 2 of Intermediate Social Media, which runs April 9th - April 15th. These all need to be completed by Sunday evening, April 15th.

This week we're looking at:
Facebook
LinkedIn
Social Profiles: Personal vs. ProfessionalThere are 4 questions posed in this week’s discussion forum on our Moodle course site. Please read the questions and respond to them and other students’ responses throughout the week. For maximum learning, the discussion should occur throughout the course of the week.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES & ASSIGNMENTS:

1) Read this: How to pimp your LinkedIn profile
2) Read this: What is a FB "friend" and how do they relate to your "real" friends?
3) Watch this: The Social Network
4) Watch this: What is LinkedIn?
6) In your industry or area of interest, find a news story or blog post about Facebook or LinkedIn and how it is used in that field. Suggested sources include: Alltop, RWW, Mashable. Share it with the group on Moodle. 
7) Go to Facebook and look up two profiles: the first, that of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder, and the second being a profile of anyone well known whom you wish to choose. What can you tell about Mark and about your chosen well known person from looking at their profiles? Make some notes for your own reference about anything you learn from the profiles that is interesting, surprising, or shocking to you.
8) If you haven't already done so, go to Facebook and friend Alexander Craghead and Joanne McCall (McCall is my business name, Joanne Wright is my personal name and Marylhurst likes to use the latter. Sorry if it caused confusion). We will then bring you into our private FB group for Marlhurst Intermediate Social Media group. We can "unfriend" at the end of class if we choose to.
9) Go to Moodle, read, and answer the discussion questions found in the Week 2 Section.

See you on the discussion forum!

Joanne & Alex