Week 2: Research, Readings, & Summaries

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You need to find at least 3 readings for each of the 2 topics you have been assigned, for a minimum of 6 readings. You may bring in extra if you feel it is worthwhile.

You’ve gone over the CRAAP test, so you know something about evaluating readings for quality. We strongly recommend taking advantage of library resources, because these materials have gone through some evaluation already, when the library acquired them. Do not be intimidated by books – you may only need one chapter for your topic. Use the librarians as well. They can save you a lot of time.

You can use Google and Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) to locate online readings. You can use encyclopedic sources like Wikipedia as tools to help you find readings, but you would not use an encyclopedia as a source.

Use the ideas we brainstormed in class. (Here are a set of photos of the blackboard during our brainstorming session.)  You want to find readings that you feel good about bringing to class for discussion – something that you and your classmates can learn from, and something that captures your interest.

When you select a reading, consult the Reading List (http://theinternetcourse.net/readings/) to make sure no one else has chosen it.

If it is not taken, enter it into the Readings Form  with your name, the article title, the author’s name, and, if it is an online reading, the article URL. If the reading has more than one author, use the name of the first author listed.

Summaries

You are to summarize each of the readings you select in a blog post. You should have a minimum of 6 blog posts, one for each summary. The summary should give the reader a good idea of what the reading is all about and why it is significant. You can look at abstracts of academic journal articles to get an idea of what a good summary looks like.

You should also include in each post a short statement justifying your selection of the reading, saying why you decided it was worth bringing to the rest of the class. NB: If the instructors consider any of your choices unworthy, you will be told to find something else.

You are to read all your classmates summaries. Feel free to comment on them as well. We will all go into the discussion weeks with a good background on all the topics.

Tags

Each of your summaries must be tagged. When you blog your summaries, tag the posts with appropriate tags from this list:

  • how it works
  • history
  • creation/consumption
  • IP/fair use
  • privacy/openness
  • digital identity
  • impacts
  • future

I shortened some of them for simplicity. (history = where it comes from; future = where it’s going; impacts = social/economic/cultural impacts; IP/fair use = intellectual property/fair use) So if you’re in the “where it comes from” group, you would tag your summaries with the history tag. If the article you’re summarizing looks like it would fit in one of the other categories, use that tag as well. That way, you will be able to click on one of the tags and The Flow (http://theinternetcourse.net/tag/tic104) would bring up all the related summaries. Many of these topics have some overlap, so multiple tagging is encouraged. Tag the summaries for the subtopics (digital divide, for example) as well.

This is quite a bit of work, so you should get started ASAP. Your summaries are due by this coming Thursday, 1/23. He who hesitates is lost.

We will give you feedback if your reading selections or summaries need to be improved. We are doing this because we want the collection of readings and summaries to be the best it can be. You can all get full points for this part of the course as long as you meet the deadline.

Topic Assignments

Lexus how it works where it comes from
Faisal how it works where it’s going
Matthew how it works creation/consumption
Sierra where it comes from intellectual property/fair use
Lauren where it comes from privacy/openness
Elizabeth where it comes from digital identity
Jack E. where it’s going social/economic/cultural impacts
Meredith where it’s going how it works
Demi where it’s going where it comes from
Zach creation/consumption where it’s going
Isaac creation/consumption privacy/openness
Kimberly intellectual property/fair use digital identity
Samantha intellectual property/fair use social/economic/cultural impacts
Jack H intellectual property/fair use how it works
John privacy/openness where it comes from
Eun digital identity privacy/openness
Alison privacy/openness where it’s going
Maddy privacy/openness creation/consumption
Amber digital identity intellectual property/fair use
Connor digital identity social/economic/cultural impacts
James social/economic/cultural impacts how it works
Mellisa social/economic/cultural impacts digital identity
Will social/economic/cultural impacts how it works

One thought on “Week 2: Research, Readings, & Summaries

  1. admin Post author

    Here is a text breakdown of the topcis and subtopics we put on the blackboard on Thursday. I figure these might be a useful transcription of the images:

    Topics and Subtopics

    Topic 1: History of the Internet
    Who “invented” the internet?
    Who had the idea? (doubt it is any one person)
    When?
    Why?
    Where?
    Etc.
    Topic 2: How it works
    Evolution
    Hardware
    Protocols
    ISP
    Networks
    Code
    Topic 3: Creation/Consumption
    Creative spaces -> Explosion of creativity on social media
    How do we use it?
    Evolution of the use of the internet
    Demographics
    Subscriptions/Feeds
    Topic 4: IP/fair use
    Copyright
    Piracy
    Digital Rights Management (DRM)
    Access
    What is property in the digital world?
    Who has permission
    Creative Commons
    Topic 5: Privacy/Openness
    Government
    Surveillance
    NSA (Edward Snowden)
    Wikileaks
    Data
    Open source

    Topic 6: Digital Identity
    How does the virtual world effect identity?
    Online dating
    Catfish
    Anonymity (Anonymous)
    Socail Media
    Topic 7: Social/Economic/Cultural Impacts
    Cyberbully
    gaming
    Education
    language (LOL BRB)
    Social Norms
    News
    Price discrimination
    space?

    Topic 8: The future of the Internet
    Cryptocurrency
    The Internet of Things
    3-D Printing
    Smart appliances
    The Cloud
    A whole new internet?
    Access
    Changing devices (how do they relate to the internet?)

    Reply

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