homesyllabusassignmentspresentersblogwiki

justine cassell - instructor // email

david huffaker - t.a. // email
francisco iacobelli - t.a. // email

Spring Quarter, 2007 Northwestern University

April 2 / Week 1: Introduction

April 3 / Week 2: Communicating Face-to-Face & Online

Readings

• Goffman, E. (1959). excerpt from The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday. see Blackboard > Course Documents
• Whittaker, S. (2003). Theories and methods in mediated communication.  In Graesser, A., Gernsbacher, M. & Goldman S. (eds.) The Handbook of Discourse Processes (pp. 243-286).  Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
Optional
• Wellman, B. & Gulia (1997). Netsurfers don't ride alone: Virtual community as real community. In P. Kollock & M. Smith (Ed.), Communities in cyberspace. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Artifacts

• Just about everybody uses Instant Messenger . If you already use AIM, Yahoo or MSN, try an old school one like ICQ or a new one like Skype or surprise us! Be prepared to talk about it in class.

Assignment Due

• Spend some time on Second Life and get off the newbie island! Click here for complete assignment description.

April 10 / Week 3: Research Methods

Readings

• Herring, S.C. (2004). Computer-mediated discourse analysis: An approach to researching online behavior. In: S. A. Barab, R. Kling, and J. H. Gray (Eds.), Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning.. New York: Cambridge University Press, (pp. 338 - 376).
• Garton, C., Haythornthwaite C. & Wellman, B. (1997). Studying online social networks. Journal of Computer-mediated Communication.
• Suler, J. (1999). One of Us: Participant Observation Research at the Palace. in The Psychology of Cyberspace.
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) FAQ (please note that undergraduates are currently exempt unless their research is funded by a federal grant, or they wish to publish the results). Northwestern University.
  Optional
• Pennebaker, J. W., Mehl, M. R., & Niederhoffer, K. G. (2003). Psychological aspects of natural language use: Our words, our selves. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 547-577. Must be on-campus or VPN.

Artifacts

• Check out the world of online groups, newsgroups (USENET), and message boards. Find news. Aggregate it.

April 17 / Week 4: Designing Online Communities

Readings

• Preece, J. & Maloney-Krichmar, D. (2005). Online communities: Design, theory, and practice. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(4), article 1.
• A interview with top execs of a number of popular online communities and social networking sites. (This is a video)
• Kollock, P. (1998, June). Design principles for online communities. PC Update, 15, 58-60.

Artifacts

• Sure, you've been making your own blog. But let's check out some more: Blogger; Xanga; MoveableType; WordPress.

  Assignment Due

• Analyze the social networks in an online community. Click here for complete assignment description.

April 24 / Week 5: Online Identity and Relationships

Readings

• Standage, T. Chapter 8 "Love Over the Wires" in The Victorian Internet. New York: Walker and Co., 1998. pp. 127-144. see Blackboard > Course Documents
Donath, J. S. (1998). Identity and deception in the virtual community. In P. Kollock & M. Smith (Eds.), Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge.
• boyd, d. (2006). “Friends, Friendsters, and MySpace Top 8: Writing Community Into Being on Social Network Sites.” First Monday 11(12).
• Ellison, N., Heino, R., & Gibbs, J. (2006). Managing impressions online: Self-presentation processes in the online environment. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(2).
Optional
• Eastwick, P & Gardner, W. "Is it a Game: The evidence for social reality in the virtual world". manuscript under review. see Blackboard > Course Documents

Artifacts

• Hooking up online: Match.com; lavalife; jdate; makeoutclub; amihotornot

Assignment Due

• Proposal for an Online Community . Description of assignment.

May 1 / Week 6: Collaboration Online

Readings

• Goffman Chapter II, “Teams”. see Blackboard > Course Documents.
• Bos, N., Olson, J.S., Gergle, D., Olson, G.M., and Wright, Z. (2002). Rich Media Helps Trust Development. In Proceedings of CHI 2002, pp. 135-140. New York: ACM Press.
• Ardichvili, A., Page, V., & Wentling, T. (2003). Motivation and barriers to participation in virtual knowledge-sharing communities of practice. Journal of Knowledge Management, 7(1), 64-77.

Artifacts

• Flash forward. Check out the massively massive online role playing game (MMORPG), or another team online.

May 8 / Week 7: The Body in Cyberspace

Readings

• Donath, J. (2001) Mediated Faces. In M. Beynon, C.L. Nehaniv, K. Dautenhahn (Eds.). Cognitive Technology: Instruments of Mind (Proceedings of the 4th International Conference, CI 2001, Warwick, UK, August 6-9, 2001
• Cassell, J. and Vilhjálmsson, H. (1999). "Fully Embodied Conversational Avatars: Making Communicative Behaviors Autonomous." Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 2(1): 45-64.
• Yee, N., Bailenson, J. N., Urbanek, M., Chang, F., & Merget, D. (2007).  The unbearable likeness of being digital; The persistence of nonverbal social norms in online virtual environments.  Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 10, 115-121.

Artifacts

• Play some more on Second Life, or another graphical avatar site.

Assignment Due

• Project Prototype. Description of assignment.

May 15 / Week 8: Young People Online

Readings

• Katz, J. (1996). The Rights of Children. Wired Magazine, Issue 4.07.
• Cassell, Justine & Cramer, Meg (in press) "Hi Tech or High Risk? Moral Panics about Girls Online" In T. MacPherson (Ed.) Innovative Uses and Unexpected Outcomes. The MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning.
• Huffaker, D. and Calvert S.L. (2005). Gender, Identity and Language Use in Teenage Blogs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(2).

Assignment Due

• Continue your alternative existence on Second Life. Description of assignment.

May 22 / Week 9: Your Online Communities

In class-presentations of final online communities! Read here for how to present, and what to turn in.

CTECS

• Please fill out CTECs for class! Click here.

May 29 / Week 10: The Future?

Readings

• Rheingold, H. (2002). Smart Mobs. Introduction and Chapter 1. see Blackboard > Course Documents.
• Fox, S., Anderson, J. Q. & Rainie, L. (2006). The Future of the Internet. Washington D.C.: PEW Internet and Family Life Project.
• Putnam, R. (1995) "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital," Journal of Democracy, vol. 6 (1), pp 65-78.

Artifacts

• Will moblogs take over? Check out TextAmerica.
• From napster to kazaa to bittorrent: peer-to-peer applications oh my!
• Digital rights management is hot. Check out EFF and Creative Commons

June 6 / Week 11: Final Paper Presentations

In class-presentations of final papers. Description of assignment.