UF Foundations/Roots of Digital Culture Course Site

This is a reminder that your final paper or project is due tomorrow, December 13 at 11:59 pm. We have discussed the structure and requirements of the final paper or project at length in class.

Also due at that time are:

1) the remainder of your comments on other students’ blog posts. As we discussed in class, undergraduates should have written at least three comments total (for the entire semester) ,  and graduate students should have written at least four total. Links to these comments should be collected and posted on your blog.

2) the extra credit assignment, which will help with your lowest blog grade. As it now stands, the extra credit assignment is to write 400+ words describing and analyzing Jane McGonicgal’s talk on Games for Change at the UF Bob Graham Center.

GRADES - Your grades as they currently stand should be up on the course Sakai site. Please email Dr. DeVane with any questions about them.

There are two upcoming deadlines for your assignments. I have mentioned these in class, but here’s a reminder:

Tuesday, November 29: Rough draft of final paper or project turned in.

Tuesday, December 13: Final paper or project turned in.

Please email me or come to my office hours if you have any questions.

As I noted in class, you have the option of doing either a Final Paper or a Final Project. The proposals for both assignments are due this Thursday, November 10, at 11:59 pm. Below is a summary of the guidelines for these assignments that I presented in class:

Final Paper Proposal:

• Components.  The Final Paper Proposal should include: a) –a summary of the proposed paper; b) a preliminary thesis or core argument that you will make in the final paper; and c) a justification of  the paper’s relevance to the themes, readings and ideas discussed in the course.
• Individually-written. The Final Paper Proposal should be written by one person only – the student proposing the paper.
• 300 words. The Final Paper Proposal should be about 300 words.

Final Project Proposal:

• Proposal deliverables: The project proposal should include: a) a 200-word group proposal; and b) a 100-word individual proposal.
• Components of Group Proposal.   The Final Paper Proposal should include: a) –a summary of the proposed project; b) a justification of  the paper’s relevance to the themes, readings and ideas discussed in the course; c) technology to be used in the project; d) timeline to completion of the project; and e) names of all students involved in the group.
• Components of Individual Proposal.   The Final Paper Proposal should include: a) a summary of the individual student’s role in the group; and b) a timeline of the work the individual  student will complete for this role.
• 3-5 student size. The successful final project group will consist of three-to-five students.

As I mentioned in class, the following deliverables due dates have been updated:

• 2nd Blog Essay – Due Thursday, November 3 at 11:59 pm.

• Comments #1 & #2 – Due Thursday, November 3 at 11:59 pm.

• Final Project Proposal or Final Paper Proposal – Due Tuesday, November 8 at 11:59 pm.

The due date for the second blog essay has been post-poned until November 1 at 11:59 pm. Please adjust your calendars accordingly. I will be changing the syllabus to reflect this change as time permits. Until then, please ignore the second blog essay due date on the syllabus. Email me if you have any questions.

-Dr. D

The due date for the 1st blog essay has been postponed for several hours. The new due date is 11:59 pm on this Tuesday, October 11. That should give the stragglers enough time to finish editing their blog posts. Those of you who have already turned in your blog essays will be able to edit your essays until that time.

Dr. D

This post is for all students.

Your first online blog essay are due next week, Tuesday, October 11 at 9:30 am. Graduate student blogs should be no less than eight-hundred words, and undergraduate student blogs should be no less than five-hundred words. It is imperative that your blog essay should critique, apply or reflect on one of the readings for this course. It should also:

• Have a strong thesis or main argument. Ideally, this thesis should be present and clearly identifiable in the first paragraph. If you are worried about whether or not a reader can identify your thesis, you can do no wrong by starting your thesis sentence with “In the essay I argue that [insert your argument here]“. I want hear your clearly articulated perspective on one of the readings. Please be critical if you want, but make sure your critique has substance.

• Have a strong tie to one of the readings and issues we have covered in class. I want you to show that you have read and mastered the topics we have covered thus far in class. The argument you make must show that you understand a reading we have seen thus far in class, and that you are able to engage critically with it.

• Use evidence – personal, analytic, anecdotal or research – to support your thesis argument. This evidence can be a personal experience that you had that aligns with or contradicts the readings. It can be an analysis of one of the readings. The evidence can be anecdotal – something that was in a newspaper story for instance. Or it can be based upon research or scholarship that you have found.

• Be well-structured. You essay should use correct grammar, style and paragraph form. Your essay should contain no less than three paragraphs. Ideally be at least five well-formed paragraphs.

This post is for graduate students only.

Some of you have been confused about the Historical Figure Research Project for this class. This post will help bring clarity to your understanding of the project.

The Historical Figure Research Project (HFRP) in a mid-semester presentation of your research on a person of historic importance to digital culture. It is not your final project. It is an examination of the major work of a person of historic importance to digital culture, and an explanation of the implications of this work for digital culture. Two weeks ago, you were assigned to write a brief 100-word proposal for the HFRP. Some of you mistakenly wrote proposals for your final project instead. I assigned you to do write a proposal for your HFRP, not your final project. I will give you one week (until October 10) to correct this mistake.

You will present your research on your HFRP during a 15 minute presentation in the Digital Worlds REVE. I have posted a sign-up sheet for you to sign up during a time slot below. Please post a comment there with your preference for a time slot.

Contact me immediately if you are still confused about this assignment.

Dr. D