INST 5280 Syllabus Spring 2007

Facilitator
Name: David Wiley

Room: Ed 214

Phone: 435.797.7562

Email: david[dot]wiley[at]usu[dot]edu

iChat: educommons@mac.com

Face-to-Face Office Hours: Tuesday 3:00pm - 4:00pm

IM Office Hours: Throughout the day most days

Email Office Hours: I will try to respond within 24 hours

Student Blogs

 * Erik - http://davewileyisafunnyman.blogspot.com/
 * Kristen - http://crazyk-funnystories.blogspot.com/
 * Liz - http://my.opera.com/macylee36/blog/
 * Jared - http://jt1109.blogspot.com/
 * Steve - http://vonniederhausern.org/instblog/
 * Byrin - http://videoediting101.blogspot.com/
 * Ski - http://notsofunny37.blogspot.com/
 * Terrel - http://wutsgoodtoday.blogspot.com/

Purpose of the Experience
Innovation continues to occur on the internet at an extremely lively pace. What was once the realm of email, FTP, Gopher, and the Web is barely recognizable a mere 10 years later. Keeping up with the speed of innovation and maintaining a familiarity with the most recent tools and capabilities is handy in some professions and absolutely critical in others. This course is designed to help you understand and effectively use a variety of "web 2.0" technologies including blogs, RSS, wikis, social bookmarking tools, photo sharing tools, mapping tools, audio and video podcasts, and screencasts.

Required Textbook
There is no required textbook for this class. All materials are available online.

Meeting / Topic Schedule
This class is scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday meetings from 4:30pm - 5:45pm. Unless otherwise noted, new materials will be presented at Tuesday meetings, and attendance at these meetings is recommended if you do not feel confident completing the assignments on your own; Thursday labs are optional opportunities for you to get one on one help with assignments from either the facilitator or a teaching assistant.


 * 1) Introduction / Relevance Day / Blogs - January 9, 2007
 * 2) RSS - January 16, 2007
 * 3) Wikis - January 23, 2007
 * 4) Bookmark sharing - January 31, 2007
 * 5) Photo sharing - February 6, 2007
 * 6) Folksonomies and tagging - February 13, 2007
 * 7) GIS / Maps / Satellite tools - February 20, 2007
 * 8) Podcasts - February 27, 2007
 * 9) Creating audio podcasts - March 6, 2007
 * 10) Spring break - March 13, 2007
 * 11) Creating video podcasts - March 20, 2007
 * 12) Creating screencasts - March 27, 2006 First draft of final papers due today
 * 13) Video sharing -  April 3, 2007
 * 14) Hacks, mash-ups, and genuinely new stuff - April 10, 2007  Second draft of final papers due today
 * 15) Work on final project papers - April 17, 2007
 * 16) Presentations of final project papers - April 26, 2007 (NOTE THAT THIS IS A THURSDAY)

The Assignments
There are 12 assignments in weeks 2 through 13 that must be completed as directed before the beginning of Tuesday class. Each of these assignments is worth 10 points for a total of 120 points. The two drafts of your final project paper are worth 20 points each for a total of 40 points. Your final project paper and presentation are worth 40 points. 200 points are possible for the course. See below for information on grading, the honor code, late work, and incompletes.

FINAL PROJECT ASSIGNMENT - Choose a non-profit or civic group to work with. Design a new mashup of the tools we talked about this semester to meet an existing need this organization has. Write a paper describing the organization, your mashup, and how the mashup might be used to solve the problem. Final papers deemed interesting by the instructor may be eligible for implementation for Independent Study credits over the summer.

EXAMPLE of a final project proposal - Work with the Cache Valley Chamber of Commerce and Cache Valley Transit Authority to develop an more interactive "Things to Do in Cache Valley," use Google Maps for bus route overlays, Flickr for photos of local attractions, and Videocue / Ourmedia.org for videos of people talking about things to do in Cache Valley

Grading
Final grades will be assigned based on the proportion of points earned to points possible as follows:

1.0 > .95 A

.95 > A- >= .9

.9 > B+ >= .875

.875 > B >= .85

.85 > B- >= .8

.8 > C+ >= .775

.775 > C >= .75

.75 > C- >= .725

.725 > F

USU Honor Code
For information about the USU Honor Code, please see the USU Student Code Article 6 Section 5.

Late Work Policy
Late work may or may not be accepted and may or may not be harshly penalized at my completely subjective, mood-influenced, and possibly biased discretion. If this makes you uncomfortable, turn in your work on time.

University Policy on Incomplete Grades
Students are required to complete all courses for which they are registered by the end of the semester. In some cases, a student may be unable to complete all of the course work because of extenuating circumstances, but not due to poor performance or to retain financial aid. The term "extenuating circumstances" includes: (1) incapacitating illness which prevents a student from attending classes for a minimum period of two weeks, (2) a death in the immediate family, (3) financial responsibilities requiring a student to alter course schedule to secure employment, (4) change in work schedule as required by employer, or (5) other emergencies deemed appropriate by the instructor.

In other words, the odds of you being able to take an "I" for this course are "extremely low."

Students with Disabilities
Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible, so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure your full participation in the course.