       
| Course Description
 This one semester, second-year English course provides a theoretical and practical understanding of computer-mediated communication in several contexts. Students will be introduced to the applied skills and technologies of CMC and learn how to integrate these skills into the requirements of the contemporary workplace. The study of the theory and practice of CMC will be supplemented by assignments using e-mail; discussion groups; hypertext markup language; and web-page design. Students will conduct online research, and learn how to document electronic citations. The major assignment of the course is a website project, fully operational on the WWW. English 290 is, finally, a writing course, and participants will be encouraged to improve their literacy and communication skills. In meeting these objectives, the course encourages students to think critically about the practices and technologies of CMC, and how emerging digital technologies are influencing our society from private life to education, business, politics, and culture. Students are encouraged to develop collaborative strategies for research, document design, and production. Finally, students will examine various communities of discourse, and the appropriate use of rhetorical strategies (both written and visual) for addressing these audiences effectively.
PrerequisitesMinimum C+ in two first-year university transfer English courses (e.g. ENGL 111, 112, 115, 116) or Advanced Placement / Prior Learning Assessment equivalents.Students should have access to a computer with internet access, either in a Malaspina computer lab or elsewhere; an email account; word processing software; an internet browser. All course transactions can be accomplished by electronic means, including the submission and evaluation of assignments.
TextsCastro, Elizabeth. HTML 4 for the World Wide Web. Visual Quick Start Guide. 5th. Ed. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press, 2002.All other readings are available online and will be linked from the week-to-week pages.
Assignments
All assignments are due in class on the dates specified unless otherwise noted. Marks will be deducted at the rate of 5 % per day for up to 7 days following the due date, unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor.
Introduction to Computer-Mediated CommunicationComputer-mediated communication and its relationship to distributed networks is possibly one of the major technological innovations of the late 20th. century. We see the powerful effects of digital technologies on education, business, politics and culture. The ubiquitous PC is transforming the way professionals work, and the kinds of work they do.Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) have made computing more user-friendly, and have converted the word processor from an intelligent typewriter into a multi-tasking, multimedia production centre capable of importing charts, graphs, spreadsheets, images, photographs and maps into our reports. Simultaneously, the layout options which come as standard features in most contemporary word-processors have raised the general standards of document design and production. These technologically-supported competencies mean that graduates, even for entry-level jobs, are required to demonstrate skills that were only recently the province of specialists like statisticians and graphic designers. Electronic mail has had an equally powerful and widespread impact on communication within and among organizations and businesses. As Don Tapscott documents in his 1995 book The Digital Economy, distributed networks with e-mail at their core are revolutionizing how corporations and organizations are doing business. In trades and technologies, e-mail is routinely used for joint international research projects as well as for problem-solving. Businesses, organizations, and professionals of all stripes increasingly use international listservs (a form of e-mail) to discuss current developments in their fields. New applications for working collaboratively on the internet--such as weblogs-- are being developed for both work and play. Access to the Internet is rapidly becoming the norm in business, technology and the professions, and with that access comes a demand for new research and communications skills. Prospective employees will need to know not just how to find information on the internet, but also how to discriminate among competing masses of information. And as businesses and services flock to the newest version of the internet--the multimedia World Wide Web--graduates will need the skills to produce electronic documents which are both informative and persuasive for that medium. The ability to use these new applications is not a simple matter of adding on discrete skills to an existing knowledge base. These new media alter the messages they deliver. They have created a new rhetoric and workplace demand for highly-focused writing and research abilities. In addition to the practical skills needed to use these applications, graduates need a strong theoretical base enabling them to understand the potential and applicability of these systems so they can make appropriate use of them. This course, consequently, is built on a strong foundation of writing, research and critical thinking skills students have developed in their first year English courses.
© Marshall Soules |
