Introduction to Media Studies RTF 305 Online Summer 2012 Lectures: Online Screenings: online Course Website: http://courses.utexas.edu (UT EID and password required) Course Description and Objectives: This course examines the context and significance of media in society. It offers an overview of the social and political aspects of media technologies. How do media shape our lives? How does society shape media? This course will therefore begin by looking at the major theoretical framework of media and their role in society. In order to understand the context of the relationship between media and society, we will look at the history of telecommunications and media, their creation, their development, and finally the political impacts of these technologies since their inception. Once you have completed this course, you should have acquired solid knowledge of: Theoretical approaches to media studies. Critical approaches to producing media and media s role in society History of communication technology Ethical issues and policy regarding media Readings The course has one textbook: MEDIA NOW: Understanding Media, Culture and Technology, 7th Edition, updated, by Joseph Straubhaar and Robert LaRose, Wadsworth. Textbooks are for sale at the University Co- op. You can also buy an ebook version of the text from the publisher. Go to the Coop to purchase or follow this link to purchase from the publisher site: We will email some shorter supplementary readings instead of having a course packet. Student Responsibilities By registering for this course, you agree to abide by the rules and regulations governing this class. Your responsibilities include but are not restricted to the following points: All information stated in this syllabus in regards to your duties and responsibilities. Any additional announcements provided through email and on the course Facebook site. Viewing all lectures, video examples and screenings.
Reading and understanding the concepts in your readings, both textbook and packet. Lectures and online discussions will depend on your understanding of the concepts covered in the assigned reading. Lectures and online discussion sessions will present information additional to your readings. You are responsible for all information presented in them. Completing and turning in electronically (on Facebook) all assignments ON TIME. Tardiness may be excused only if you have an official document that meets the University s standards and regulations. Taking your module quizzes on Blackboard ON TIME. And furthermore, to achieve full points for participation in this online course: Check your email everyday. Please update your email address on the UT system via UT Direct and keep up with any course updates sent by email. Maintain a Facebook account for the duration of the semester and join your 305 section Facebook group. This can be your personal account OR one set up for the purposes of this course, if you prefer that for privacy. Check your Facebook everyday for section activity. Communicate with other students through Facebook. Be focused when you are working online. Technological Specifications If you are using a Mac or PC you should use the Firefox browser. Many of the lectures are available only through a streaming media server which requires a broadband (high- speed) Internet connection. The wifi network on campus is sufficient and there are many computer labs on campus open to undergraduate students, including the one in the FAC. If you do not have your own computer, or if it does not have a fast, broadband connection, we recommend you use these options. Your lectures are available on vimeo. The password is 305. Recommendations on Facebook Privacy and Friending For the course of the semester, we recommend that you use good judgment about your privacy settings. Under Account- - >Privacy Settings- - >Sharing on Facebook you can control who can see what types of information. As colleagues in a college setting using Facebook as our platform, we certainly do not expect you to friend others in your discussion section or course, and we do not expect your instructional team to friend you. But we will all of course be friend- ly and work for a common goal. If you prefer to use a different account for this class, it would be helpful if you used your real name and 305 tag. For example: Laura Dixon 305. If you have to use a different name for any reason, just let your TA know your actual name so we can keep track of the actual you! Please do not friend faculty or TAs on Facebook until the course is over. Course Organization
This course will be organized by modules, which are made up of smaller concept units. These replace more conventional lectures. Concept units are usually 15-20 minutes long, but some may be as long as an hour. You will listen to a speaker and watch their Power point slides, images, and links to video clips, following links that we give you later in the syllabus. You will find links to lectures, some films for streaming and short videos in the Web version of this syllabus. Within each module, you are working at your own pace for much of the time, but there will be deadlines for the quizzes, writing and other assignments At the end of every week, you will take a timed quiz to complete the module or unit you are in. You will go to Blackboard to take quizzes. There you will find a tab or button on the left side of the 305 main page. You go to: https://courses.utexas.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp and log in with your EID and password. You will do all other work, including all writing, commenting and discussion on Facebook within a closed section group. You will get an invitation to that Facebook group from your TA. After a deadline has passed, the quizzes will close automatically, and writing assignments, comments and other participation (on Facebook) will no longer be accepted. Your instructional team cannot accept late work. For writing, commenting and participation, you will be working within a Facebook group, a virtual discussion section, of 15-17 people. Course Performance Assessment Requirements Percent of Final Grade Quizzes 25% 4 longer writing projects 20% Short weekly Facebook writing 15% Commenting and participation in the Facebook group 15% Final exam 25% - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Total 100% Quizzes (25%): On every Friday there will be a multiple choice quiz, which covers textbook chapters, other assigned readings, lectures, assigned video clips, and film screenings. We are going to require you to keep up with the days on which material is to be read and watched. After the due date, we will close the quiz and you will no longer be able to take it. If you stay up with the material and quizzes, you have an excellent chance of doing well in the course. If you don't keep up, and start missing quizzes, it is all too easy to fail the course. Quizzes will be taken every Friday. They will open at noon and close Friday at 8pm. You will have 10 questions and 10 minutes. The timing is purposely set rather quick so we can test if you have learned and comprehended the material on your own. If you have a problem with Blackboard during the quiz, contact Stuart Davis as he will be monitoring the technological side of the course. Writing projects (20%): You will complete 4 longer, developed writing assignments this semester, spread out throughout the class. More information will be given as the course progresses. All writing projects will be accepted until 4pm on the day that they are due. Comments will be due by 8pm on the day that they are due. Assignment 1 Class introductions, 2 percentage points Assignment 2 Media Effects, 8 percentage points Assignment 3 Film analysis, 8 percentage points Assignment 4 Course evaluation, 2 percentage points Facebook short writing (15%): You will be doing short writing assignments as part of the routine work in this class. You will share this writing with your section via Facebook, so these will serve to help your own mastery of main course concepts and prepare you individually and as a group for each quiz. These will be turned in Tuesday and Thursday, which are our interactivity days in the course. Post your writing on its due date sometime between 12 noon and 4pm. Participation and interaction in the Facebook group (15%): A major element of the course will be your participation in virtual discussion sections via Facebook.
For each week, after you have written your own short writing, for the participation grade you need to comment, discuss or provide examples for the concept definitions of at least three others each week. That will be the primary part of your participation grade. Post your comments between 12 noon and 8pm. You may have to wait for some of your students to get their writing up before you can comment on it. You will be getting a prompt from your instructional team to join a private Facebook group representing your section. As you may already know, private groups show up on your profile page and notifications but are not visible on your wall to anyone else. So whatever you post to the group will only be visible to members of the group and your instructional team. This is an official class activity, so we expect you to act like you had just stepped into an in- person section run face- to- face by your TA, in which your comments and questions are graded as part of your participation grade for the course. Imagine you are sitting in a meeting, listening politely to others as they listen politely to you. We use the word "politely" deliberately. This is on Facebook, but it is still official. Don t write anything you don t want the professor or TAs to read. Some common sense suggestions for things to avoid would be: profanity, extremely confrontational behavior, insults, comments that are not sensitive to people s identity (i.e., racist or sexist remarks), or criticism / critiques of others work that cross a line of respect. We do, however, encourage healthy and lively discussions and debate around the issues that will come up in class, and we welcome you to engage and constructively criticize some of your peers ideas as part of the collaborative learning process. If you have a comment and you are not sure if it is forum- appropriate, don t be afraid to ask your TA or the instructor! Your TA will moderate the forum and refer any extreme misbehavior to Professor Straubhaar. We will assign you particular types of feedback to give from time to time, such as post a link about a topic or ask a question to a classmate. But you are welcome and encouraged to interact with one another freely. You will participate through Facebook in several ways. One of the primary ways is discussing other people s papers, definitions or examples for concepts. Another mode of participation is discussing examples that instructors, TAs, or other students post on Facebook. Final (25%): There will be one test at the end of the semester, taken online. This test will include 40 multiple choice questions that cover course materials. You will have one hour to take it. The final will cover lectures, screenings and readings. We will announce the date and time as soon as we know.
No make- up tests will be allowed without official documentation as defined by the UT. Students with disabilities are required to present the appropriate documentation to us well in advance so we can make special testing arrangements. Communication When you have a question, the best thing to do is send an email to your section head, either Laura Dixon or Stuart Davis, the TA. We will respond to you within 24 hours, or sooner if we can. If you have a question you think your peers can answer, feel free to contact your Facebook group. We will communicate with you using the Facebook group and email. PLEASE DO NOT USE FACEBOOK MESSAGES often the messages get stuck in the other messages folder. Because the class is online, we will communicate with you on multiple platforms to ensure that everyone stays on the same page. Students with Disabilities Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilitiesat 471-6259 (voice) or 232-2937 (Video Phone) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations. For more information visit: http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/ Scholastic Dishonesty The University defines academic dishonesty as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process. Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to receive a postponement or an extension on a test, quiz, or other assignment, and submission of essentially the same written assignment for two courses without the prior permission of the instructor. By accepting this syllabus, you have agreed to these guidelines and must adhere to them. Scholastic dishonest damages both the student s learning experience and readiness for the future demands of a work- career. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. For more information on scholastic dishonesty, please visit the Student Judicial services Web site at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs Writing Assistance The Undergraduate Writing Center is located in FAC 211, phone 471-6222. The Center offers individualized assistance to students who want to improve their writing skills. There is no charge utilizing this service. Students may come in on a drop- in or appointment basis.
Student Athletes At the beginning of the semester, student athletes and participants of other university- sponsored organizations who will miss class due to university- sponsored commitments must see the instructor and present a letter from the athletic department or appropriate sponsoring office.