Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/St Francis College/COM-2000-01 Mass Communication (Spring 2017)
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- Course name
- COM-2000-01 Mass Communication
- Institution
- St Francis College
- Instructor
- Brian Gregory
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Communication Arts
- Course dates
- 2017-01-18 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-15 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 25
An introductory keystone course, COM 2000 surveys electronic and print media in America, including newspapers, magazines, radio, music, television, movies, photography, the internet, video games, interactive media, advertising, and journalism. The course examines the history of mass communication forms, their economic, social, and cultural functions, along with current controversies surrounding media.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Friday, 20 January 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 1
Required Reading:
- In-class activity: Music video by a famous artist versus parody
- Converging Media, Chapter 1: “Mass Communication and Its Digital Transformation”.
- Introduction from Jenkins, Henry. Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU press, 2006. [Posted in canvas]
Homework Assignment – “Oral history activity”: Interview a person from a different generation (i.e. your parents, grandparents, aunt or uncle, a family friend, etc.) about his or her memories of a new technology that was first introduced during their time and what they thought/felt about it. Post this to your Journal in Canvas. (10 points)
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course.
You should be regularly accessing this site and our course in Canvas.
This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia.
Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Content Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the "Get Help" button on this page.
To get started, please review the following handouts:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- Why Wikipedia???
You may have heard (or been told) that you shouldn’t use Wikipedia, or that it's not a legitimate site for research. But the fact is that it is one of the most visited sites on the internet, right up there with Facebook, Google, and YouTube. For many, Wikipedia is a major source of information and a means of finding answers. People use Wikipedia as a way to become familiar with a topic that they don’t know much about or to find routes to new and more detailed information on the topic as a way to begin their research. While some of what you have heard may, at least partly, be valid, there is in fact a lot of work, and whole set of policies and guidelines – Wikipedia’s “Five Pillars” and other standards, as you will learn – that provide a firm foundation for the site. Wikipedia can actually be a valuable space for learning.
This semester you will learn to use Wikipedia by developing, editing, and contributing to articles. In addition to our course page on Canvas, we will be using this course page, hosted by Wikipedia. You will be using this site to select and access your articles and to complete self-guided training modules and assignments, which will be graded (please see grading rubric at the bottom of this page). You are required to regularly access both our Wikipedia course page and our Canvas page. I suggest that you take this URL and bookmark it on your computer, tablet, phone, etc.
The goals for this project are that you will:
- Develop your writing skills
- Increase your media and information literacies
- Improve your critical thinking, research, technical, and communication skills
- Collaborate with your classmates and others around the world who use Wikipedia
- Assignment - Practicing the basics
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
- It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 23 January 2017 | Wednesday, 25 January 2017 | Friday, 27 January 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 2
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 2: “Media Literacy in the Digital Age”.
- Handout – The Preface (pp. 11-12) & "The Romans in Films" (pp. 26-28) from Barthes, R. "Mythologies. Hill and Wang." English version (1972).
- In class - Library presentation on research and sources
On Wednesday, January 25th, Alex Kustanovich (akustanovich
sfc.edu), a specialist from the SFC library, will be coming to our class to demonstrate how to use the library for research for the Wikipedia project.
- In class - Discussion
- Thinking about sources and plagiarism
- Blog posts and press releases are considered poor sources of reliable information. Why?
- What are some reasons you might not want to use a company's website as the main source of information about that company?
- What is the difference between a copyright violation and plagiarism?
- What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?
- Assignment - Critique an article
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- Choose an article, and consider some questions (but don't feel limited to these):
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
- Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
- Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
- Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
- Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
- Choose at least 2 questions relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Helaine (Wiki Ed) (talk) 16:57, 8 May 2017 (UTC).
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 30 January 2017 | Wednesday, 1 February 2017 | Friday, 3 February 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 3
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 10: “Media Ethics”.
- Converging Media, Chapter 13: “Mass Communication and Politics in the Digital Age”.
- Supplementary articles and sources to be provided.
Quiz #1 on Friday Feb 3rd on Chapters 1 & 2 from textbook.
- Assignment - Add to an article
Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation to an article. There are two ways you can do this:
- Add 1-2 sentences to a course-related article, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.
- The Citation Hunt tool shows unreferenced statements from articles. First, evaluate whether the statement in question is true! An uncited statement could just be lacking a reference or it could be inaccurate or misleading. Reliable sources on the subject will help you choose whether to add it or correct the statement.
- In class - Discussion
- What's a content gap?
Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions.
- Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
- What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
- Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
- What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 6 February 2017 | Wednesday, 8 February 2017 | Friday, 10 February 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 4
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 3: “Print Media, Books, Newspapers, and Magazines”.
- Handout – Marshall McLuhan “The Medium is the Message” from McLuhan, M. (1994). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge: The MIT Press. [on canvas].
- Assignment - Choose your topic / Find your sources
It's time to choose an article and assign it to yourself.
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Find an article from the list of "Available Articles" on the Articles tab on this course page. When you find the one you want to work on, click Select to assign it to yourself.
- In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article.
- Think back to when you did an article critique. What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page.
- Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 13 February 2017 | Wednesday, 15 February 2017 | Friday, 17 February 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 5
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 4: “Audio Media: Music Recordings, Radio”.
Quiz #2 on Monday Feb. 13th on Chapters 10, 13, & 3.
- Assignment - Draft your article in your sandbox
You should have picked a topic and found some of your sources through the library. Start the process of writing this week. Try to get as much written as you can this week so that you can focus on studying for the midterm next week.
Please take over the weekend to work on your drafts in your sandbox! Submit your drafts by the end of day on Sunday, Feb. 19th along with a link to it on the Talk page for your article.
Creating a new article?
- Begin the process of writing an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section." Write it in your sandbox.
- A "lead" section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. The first paragraph should include important, broad facts about the subject. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas.
Improving an existing article?
- If you are improving an article that's already been started. Look to identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Think back to the skills you learned while critiquing an article. Make notes for improvement in your sandbox.
Keep reading your sources, too, as you prepare to write the body of the article.
Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
- Milestones
Everyone has started the process of writing their article drafts.
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 22 February 2017 | Friday, 24 February 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 6
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 5: “Visual Media: Photography, Movies, and Television”.
- In class - Discussion
- Thinking about Wikipedia
- What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
- What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
- On Wikipedia, all material must be attributable to reliable, published sources. What kinds of sources does this exclude? Can you think of any problems that might create?
- If Wikipedia was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?
- Assignment - Completed draft article in your sandbox
- Complete your draft article in your sandbox. Try to get as close as you can to a completed first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review. You will need to have completed your draft article in your sandbox with a link posted to it on the Talk page for the article, due by 11:59 PM on Sunday, Feb. 26th at 11:59 PM.
- If you'd like a Content Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
- After the drafts have been completed, you will be peer-reviewing an article of someone else in the class over the weekend in their Sandbox . Note: Peer reviews must be completed by Saturday, March 4th at 11:59 PM. Discussion on peer-review process will be held on Monday, Feb. 27th. You can also find more details on the peer-review process in the the peer-review & copy edit section below.
- Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
- You will be reviewing the first draft article from someone else in the class in their sandbox.
- Please take the "Peer Review" online training first so that you are familiar with the review and editing process.
- Then, select a classmates’ article that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the article that you want to review, and then assign it to yourself in the Review column. Please note: this should be completed by Saturday March 4th by the end of the day, so that you can focus on studying for the midterm.
- Peer review your classmate's draft. Leave suggestions in that person's sandbox and post a link to your review on the Talk page for the article. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
- Assignment - Peer reviews are completed by Saturday March 4th (end of day)
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 27 February 2017 | Wednesday, 1 March 2017 | Friday, 3 March 2017
- Midterm - Week 7
- No readings this week.
- Midterm to be given in-class on Friday, March 3rd.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 6 March 2017 | Wednesday, 8 March 2017 | Friday, 10 March 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 8
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 6: “Interactive Media: The Internet, Video Games, and Augmented Reality”.
- Assignment - Respond to your peer review
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback to improve your article!
- Read Editing Wikipedia pages 12 and 14.
- Return to your draft or article and think about the suggestions. Decide which ones to start implementing. Reach out to your instructor or your Content Expert if you have any questions.
- Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper - the "mainspace."
Editing an existing article?
- NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
- Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!
Creating a new article?
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
- You can also review the [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]] online training.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 20 March 2017 | Wednesday, 22 March 2017 | Friday, 24 March 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 10
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 7: “The Impact of Social Media”.
- Converging Media, Chapter 8: “Journalism: From Information to Participation”.
Homework Assignment: Covering news stories in different news media, worth 5 points (due Sunday, March 26th)
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles.
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 27 March 2017 | Wednesday, 29 March 2017 | Friday, 31 March 2017
- In class - Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 11
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 9: “Advertising and Public Relations: The Power of Persuasion”.
- Converging Media, Chapter 11: “Communication Law and Regulation in the Digital Age”.
- Bernays, Edward L. "The engineering of consent." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 250 (1947): 113-120. [in canvas]
- Net Neutrality: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) - YouTube [link from Canvas]
- How Net Neutrality Works - Video - NYTimes.com [link from Canvas]
Quiz #3 on Monday March 27th on Chapters 6, 7, & 8.
- Polish your work
Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Content Expert at any time if you need further help!
- Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation
- Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 3 April 2017 | Wednesday, 5 April 2017 | Friday, 7 April 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 12
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 12: “Media Theory and Research”.
- Hegemony video on YouTube [link from Canvas]
Optional Reading:
- Selected excerpts to be determined: Gramsci, Antonio. The Gramsci reader: selected writings, 1916-1935. NYU Press, 2000. Document Password: “Social”. [to be posted in Canvas]
- Assignment - Continue preparing for in-class presentations
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 10 April 2017 | Wednesday, 12 April 2017
- In class - In-class presentations
- Present about your Wikipedia editing experience on April 10th & 12th.
Week 13
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 19 April 2017 | Friday, 21 April 2017
- Readings, activities, and assignments - Week 14
Required Reading:
- Converging Media, Chapter 14: “Global Media in the Digital Age”.
- Excerpt(s) from Steger, Manfred B. Globalization. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2010. [To be posted in Canvas]
- Take home quiz
Take-home Quiz #4 due on Canvas, Monday April 24th on Chapters 9, 11, 12, & 14 - Questions to be provided on Friday, April 21st
Week 14
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 24 April 2017 | Wednesday, 26 April 2017 | Friday, 28 April 2017
- Assignment - Final article
It's the final week to develop your article.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Content Expert at any time!
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading by Friday, April 28th at 11:59 PM.
Week 15
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 1 May 2017
- Assignment - Reflective essay
- Write a reflective essay (1-2 page) on your Wikipedia contributions. Post to your Journal page in Canvas.
- Finals Week - Good Luck! - Week 16