Assignments

Session	Assignment	Instructions
1	Student Survey	Download and complete the student survey and then submit it to me.
2	Searching the Internet	The first part of this assignment asks that you do a pre-search analysis of a topic of your choice. I want to see how you would prepare for a search. As mentioned in the PowerPoint presentation, you should use a directory based search engine (google directory or yahoo) and try Teoma. Download and complete the attached document.
3	Zotero Bibliography	Select a topic from the list of final paper topics from the projects/final paper folder. Conduct a search through the UMB library databases and indexes. Using Zotero, create a collection of at least ten electronic sources related to your topic, and then create a APA bibliography of this collection and submit it to me.
4	Website Evaluation	Follow these steps: 1. Download the attached file and save it to your computer. 2. Review Module 7 (Evaluation of Sources) of Healey Library's information Webtutorial. 3. Search the internet for three internet sites containing information on the subject of "mashups" using your favorite search engine. Each site should fall into a different category : Advocacy, News, Entertainment, Business, Information, or Personal. For example, one web site could be a news site, and the other business site, and one could be an advocacy site. 4. Use the American Psychological Association guidelines for citing your electronic resources: APA Style. 5. Submit to me by 9:00 AM, Tuesday, June 24th.
	Create a Class Blog	I would like you to create a blog for this class and post a web blog entry in it about your reflections on mashups. For example, what is your favorite mashup and why and what kind of mashup would you like to create? 1. Navigate to http://www.blogger.com 2. Cick the "learn more about it" link on the home page. 3. Create your account and have it hosted on blogger.com. This a free service. 4. Create and publish three separate blog entries at least 8 hours apart. Your blogs should contain anything text and at least two URL's and at least one photo and should clearly communicate your personality and unique perspective on life. You don't have to focus on any special topic or theme, just comment on the people and events that are shaping your life right now. 5. Share your blog with the class by copying the published URL of your blog (you'll find this link in the settings) to the Our Blogs in Discussions section. 6. Test your link once it's published to make sure it works.
5	Wiki Project Week 1	1. Everyone reads through the Wiki project module and becomes familiar with project and scope. Bring all your questions to our Wimba chat scheduled for this Wednesday at 7:00 PM. 2. Assigned Team Lead creates wiki space for team on http://www.wikispaces.com,collects e-mail addresses for group and invites team to join. 3. Team determines a mutually convenient time for synchronous meeting. 4. Team selects team roles. 5. Team brainstorms ideas for wiki in discussion board and creates plan.
6	Create RSS Tags	Read through RSS Intro and How to Create RSS Tag.
7	Final Paper Outline	Create an outline of your final paper. This document should indicate all the major points you intend to make in your final paper, description of screen shots that you might want to include, and links to other web sites.
	Create Link Rolls	Create Link Rolls in del.icio.us.
8	Rating Virtual Network Scorecard	1. Review the list of virtual networks. 2. Download the attached Virtual Networks Scorecard. 3. Visit one network from each category: social networks, social news, video sharing and photo sharing communities. 4. Rate each type of network from each category using your saved Scorecard. 5. Post your scorecard back here as attachment.
9	Guide to Sucessful Group Communication	Analyze the communication patterns in your wiki group and in other groups and help to create a guide to successful virtual groups by adding one recommendation and rating a recommendation posted by someone else.
10	Free Culture Discussion	Students at many local Boston private universities have started free culture groups but one doesn't exist here at UMass Boston, a public institution. Why do you think this is? Identify some of the benefits of having a free culture at a university campus students and exchange ideas about how a movement could get started here. Be sure to visit the free student culture web site at http://freeculture.org/.
11	Final Paper	There are no additional assignment this week. Please use this week to work on your final paper which is due no later than Tuesday, August 19th at 5:00 PM.
12	Final Paper	Please continue to work on your final paper which is due next week.
13	Final Paper	This is the final week of COMSTU 210. All assignments are due by Wednesday, August 20th at 5:00 PM.

Extra Credit Assignments

Extra Credit	Assignment	Instructions
1	del.icio.us	Create a delicious account on the social book marking site http://del.icio.us and start tagging sites related to your final paper project topic. Next create a link roll of this tag and paste into an html document in google documents. Directions for creating a link roll with del.icio.us are posted at: http://del.icio.us/help/linkrolls. The result will be a java script that you can embed into any word document saved as .html. You have until May 15th to accomplish this task.
2	Rubric Feedback	Answer the following questions: What did you think of the attached rubrics that I created for the wiki project and for the final project? Was there a missing category? Did the rubrics provide enough detail? Do you think they should be changed? If so how?
3	RSS Feed	Create a custom RSS feed on a subject of interest to you using the RSS Feed Directions attached here and embed this feed in your blog.
4	Video Share of Final Paper	Video tape yourself summarizing the key discoveries you made about your subject while preparing and writing your final paper and then post the video to a video sharing site like google video, youtube, 4-share etc. Your video tape should be one to three minutes in length. Your grade is not dependent on production values like special effect, photography etc., but on your ability to clearly and succinctly communicate the key findings of your final paper.
5	Reading Challenge	This is an extra credit quiz based on the course readings.
6	Course Feedback	Fill out the survey at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=p-qqH6BUqppR-Qb1VQXBBFg

Citation: McMahon, E. (2008, November 05). Assignments. Retrieved November 06, 2014, from UMass Boston OpenCourseware Web site: http://ocw.umb.edu/communication-studies/using-internet-communications/assignments.