SC grades

Dear SC,

Folks, My grades now shows the complete record of your grades for SC. It shows your grades for your final assignments and any late work, as well as my very brief comments. I am sorry that I did not have time for blog comments before today's deadline for teachers' grades - for my comments on your final assignments please see My grades.

Be sure to enjoy your break and come back refreshed and ready to work hard next semester.

Best,

Owen.

SC grades - please link from your blog

Good morning!

Folks, I will start working on your grade for SC first thing Friday morning. If you have not already created a link on your blog to your IE homepage do this as soon as you can, but by 9 a.m . Friday at the latest please - this guarantees your IE homepage will contribute to your overall score.

Thank you, Owen.

PS. Sorry we went over time yesterday.

Tomorow's SC class

Hi Folks, You can use all of tomorrow's class time to work on your IE homepage. I will come and discuss your work with each of you for a little while, but mostly you can use the whole period to address the points in the IE Framework in the design and content of your site. Bye for now, Owen.

SC Homework due Friday 10 (& Tuesday 14) November

Hi folks,

There are two pieces of IE homepage homework:

A) Post a "Guidelines for Comments" statement (or similar) to your IE Homepage. State the purpose of your rules. Consider using a using a "Do - Do Not" format for each rule, e.g.

Do be original.
Do not repeat something that someone else has already explained or commented on.

For support refer to these guidelines in the Class web box (or others you have found):

• Blog - éS Blog Comment Guidelines

• Blog Comment Guidelines

• Guidelines for Blog Comments

B) Continue your work on your IE homepage. Post a brief message of the work you will do to our class forum. Use the IE Framework to identify the most important work you still need to do:

1. Self analysis - know why your issue and why it is important to you

2. Establish your credibility - provide evidence of research and analysis of your issue

3. Identify target group (those people whose behaviour/opinions you want to change) - stake out a public position on your issue. Your "sticky message" needs to be highly visible and stated in a clear, specific way.

4) Build a social network (your supporters) - develop an organisational base of people supportive of your "sticky message" and link to existing organisations with views compatible with your own.

5) Design an IE homepage - stake out a personal, public presence. Your homepage will connect a) you to everyone else in your network (you to other nodes) b) everyone else to everyone else (nodes to nodes) and c) everyone to your "sticky message".

Looking ahead: You will give a brief presentation on your IE Homepage next Tuesday, November 14. In your presentation you will explain how the design of your homepage addresses each of the 5 points in the IE Framework. Assessment: 10% (out of 35% as per Syllabus).

SC homework due today and Friday, November 3

Dear SC,

There are two pieces of homework:

Issue Entrepreneurship
Due today:
a) IE homepage: Update your plan of work for the next few days. Post your update to our forum Discuss Social Computing ICU (8).
Due Friday:
a) Blog post: Read "How to be a Great Host." What ideas and issues raised in the text resonate with you as host-to-be of your own community. Explain in a clear, well structured paragraph.

Thank you!

Lots & lots of social software

Hi Folks

I have just posted this site Online Collaboration Reviews by Robin Good to the class Web box, it contains lots of reviews of new social software services you could use in the design of your IE homepage. Here is a sample page from the site, but do look for services that meet your specific needs, look for services that specifically aim to connect and support collaboration -- this makes software social. This site could be a very useful resource as you design and build your homepage.

Best, Owen.

SC homework for Friday

Hi Folks,

Just one new item of homework due for Friday:

A. Begin building your IE homepage.
The fifth step of the IE Framework calls for you to stake out a personal public presence. Your IE homepage will need to connect i) you to other nodes in your network ii) each node to  your "sticky message" iii) each node to all other nodes. You may use any combination of social software to create your homepage, including a blog, wiki, RSS, distributed bookmarking system, aggregator (perhaps for live news updates on your IE issue), podcast, video, and there many more services you might use. Don't worry! We can all help each other, the important thing is to make a start and show us your work Friday!

---------------------

The homework below was due today. There are two excellent examples of completed work here and here. Do be sure to catch up and finish by next class.

B. IE blog post: The IE Framework (you wrote this up in Google Docs last Friday) describes a five-step process to developing an Issue Entrepreneurship, including 1) Self analysis 2) Establishing credibility 3) Knowing your target group 4) Developing an organisational base, and 5) Designing a IE homepage. Develop a blog post that defines and responds to what you see as the most important work you need to do at this particular stage. The Syllabus calls for ongoing posts summarizing the work you do, as well as, critical examination of the value of social software in your work. Come next class ready to present and discuss your ideas and issues with the group. You are encouraged to use the Internet to support your discussion.

----------------------

In class on Friday, you will-

a) Update us on your IE based on homework B above (Taketei and Kenta did this today).
b) Take us on a 5 min tour of the main features of a social software service. We did not have time in class today for this, but their will be time to for you to show us on Friday. This activity is described in more detail here.
c) Show us the first steps you have completed to build your IE homepage.

Folks about homework, because Social Computing is a collaborative course, the work you do makes the course for everyone else, your input is vital and required for everyone to benefit from the collective intelligence, skills, and understandings of others. SC is not an individual study course, so it could be seen to be somewhat selfish not to contribute in timely manner. Please take seriously the responsibility you have to all other students in the course and complete your homework in timely fashion, arigato.

Thanks folks!

SC homework due Tuesday, October 24

Dear SC,

As we move now towards your Issue Entrepreneurship becoming the focus of your work, both items here relate to your IE projects:

1.IE blog post: The IE Framework (you wrote this up in Google Docs today) describes a five-step process to developing an Issue Entrepreneurship, including 1) Self analysis 2) Establishing credibility 3) Knowing your target group 4) Developing an organisational base, and 5) Designing a IE homepage. Develop a blog post that defines and responds to what you see as the most important work you need to do at this particular stage. The Syllabus calls for ongoing posts summarizing the work you do, as well as, critical examination of the value of social software in your work. Come next class ready to present and discuss your ideas and issues with the group. You are encouraged to use the Internet to support your discussion.

2. Research a social software service: We looked at Odeo the podcasting service today and we already use a number of different social services, including Blogger, Delicious, Google Docs, Bloglines, Wetpaint wiki, and RSS technology as the infrastructure of our SC class network. Which social software might you want to use in the design of your IE homepage? Choose one service which really interests you. Explore the service and learn to use its main functions (many of you may know a service very well already). This is a handy introduction to social software and includes links to various social services as well, however, it does not include Japanese sites for reaching your Japanese target group(s). Come next class ready to take us on a tour of the main features of the service. Can you surprise us with something new?!

Thanks everyone!

ARW homework extended to Friday, October 20.

Dear SC,

A few terrific IE projects were presented today!

Two pieces of homework were due today for discussion in class. Perhaps because of mid-term exams/assignments attendance was not good and homework was not completed by everyone. This homework is particularly important as Friday you will start moving towards designing your Issue Entrepreneurship homepage. Please do your very best to complete this homework by next class.

This homework is here on the homepage:SC homework due Tuesday, October 17 (extended to Fri., Oct 20)

Thank you, I am looking forward to you sharing your updated IE ideas with us!

Owen

SC homework reminder

Hi Folks,

No new homework today, but please finish the homework that is due Tuesday, October 17. We will discuss your answers to Agre next class and you will also have time to show and talk about your Issue Entrepreneurship network map on Gliffy.

Agre and your IE map builds your foundation for the next five weeks, when your IE will be your main focus in SC, so this work is very important for your success. I am especially looking forward to seeing your maps, and learning more about the exciting ideas you have.

See you Tuesday!

Owen.

SC Please bring....

Dear SC,

If you already own some, please bring your PC headset (headphones with mic attached) or PC mic to tomorrow's class.

As usual, also bring your USB drive.

Thank you, see you tomorrow!

Owen.

SC homework due Tuesday, October 17 (extended to Fri., Oct 20)

For Friday there is one piece of homework:

1. Blog post: Read Agre, p. 210 & pp. 210-214. Answer questions 1-7. Write your responses in full sentences on your blog. You will find the questions here Agre, p. 201, pp. 211-214, alternatively go to the DIY Textbook, then Texts, then Agre.

If you missed today's class, please pick up your copy outside my office, ILC-275.

Homework for Tuesday (if you would like to make an early start):

2. Issue Entrepreneurship: Map the structure of your IE network. Your map will show the nodes in your IE network, including your "sticky message", agent (you, others?), main strategic group(s), and the links between these nodes. Your IE requires you to develop these nodes and links using social software. You might think of these links as the information and communication paths your "sticky message" will travel.

Use social drawing software to create your IE network map. I recommend Gliffy (register at www.gliffy.com ), but please use one of your own choice if you prefer, but be sure that it also supports web-based sharing and collaboration. Gliffy is easy to use, click on the "nodes" and "links" you want and drag them to the drawing area. To add text, double click inside the "node".

You have the opportunity to add, delete, and modify the nodes and links in your IE network map as your project develops over the semester. Please think of this map of your IE network as a work in progress.

Thanks everyone!

Homework due Tuesday, October 10.

1. IE: Come ready next class to talk about (and show) the first steps you have made on your Issue Entrepreneurship.

2. Blog post: Read your partner's Kahn & Kellner summary. Post a personal reaction to the ideas and issues contained in the summary, there is no need to comment on the writer's English i.e. structure, grammar, etc. (150-180 words)

I will post assignment grades to the SC homepage soon. The table will not include your name, but on Tuesday I will explain how to identify your information, so you can keep track of how you are going.

Thanks everyone!

SC Please bring....

Dear SC,

If you already own some, please bring your PC headset (headphones with mic attached) or PC mic to tomorrow's class.

As usual, also bring your USB drive.

Guidelines for email

Use variations of this basic form:

Dear (Teacher's name),

This is (Your name) from (Name of class).

(Ask your question or state your idea or issue here.)

(Explain what you would like the teacher to do)

Thank you,

(Your name)

Please note: Email is more formal than text/chat/SMS.

Social Computing: Technology - Social Networks - Democracy & Change

Instructor: Owen JAMES
Email: james
Office: ILC 275

Learning Landscape
1. Homepage: http://ojames.blogspot.com/index.html
2. D.I.Y. Social Computing Textbook: http://okoj.wetpaint.com/page/Home
3. Group Email
* Group name: SCICU
* Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/scicu
* Group email address scicu@googlegroups.com
4. Research database: http://del.icio.us/tag/scicu
5. Classes: Period 5 Tuesdays, Room H-159 (10 classes) & Friday Period 3, Room I-131 (9 classes)

General Advice
Keep an open mind: Learning means changing so do expect differences, especially in a computer-mediated such as this. Always talk to me about your ideas or if you have concerns.

How to Succeed
Attend all classes on time. Do all activities on time. Everything you do counts towards your grade. Best grades are rewards for consistent effort.

Course Description
Social Computing offers you the opportunity to put your passion into action througn technology. This course is for students interested in learning new information and communication technologies. Students will learn to use blogs, wikis, distributed bookmarking systems, RSS, aggregators, and other new social technologies. Students will also critically examine relationships between technology, social networks, democracy, and change. As well, you will undertake an individual 'issue entrepreneurship', using social software to promote a social cause you feel passionate about. Social Computing gives you the skills and the opportunity to take your message to the world.

Course Requirements
This course suits students who are comfortable with technology, enjoy project-based learning, and at the same time can commit to significant online collaboration and engagement with your peers.

Course Objectives. Students will:
a) Develop an in-browser work environment to call to service selected zero-install, web-based social applications
b) Develop hands-on experience in setting up, integrating, and using social software, including blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, aggregators, and distributed bookmarking systems.
d) Undertake a theoretical review of the relationships between technology, social networks, democracy, and change.
c) Undertake an 'issue entrepreneurship' (Agre) to test affordances of social software for creating democratic community and affecting personal and social change.

Readings
1. Barabasi, A-L, Linked (2003)
* The First Link: Introduction, pp. 1-8
* The Third Link: Six Degrees of Separation, pp. 25-35
* The Twelfth Link: The Fragmented Web, pp.161-172

2. A. Feenberg & Barney, D. (eds) Community in the Digital Age (2004)
* R. Kahn and Kellner, D. Virtually Democratic: Online Communities and Internet Activism, pp. 183-198
* Agre, P. The Practical Republic: Social Skills and the Progress of Citizenship, 201-215

3. Feenberg, A. Questioning Technology (1999)
* The Limits of Technical Rationality, pp. 75-91
* The Problem of Agency, pp. 120-129

4. Dourish, P. Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction (2004)
* Space, Place, and Locales, pp. 87-97
* Moving Towards Design, pp. 167-187

Assignments & Grading
45% Course Readings posts. Entries to your blog to summarise the main ideas and give your reaction to the ideas/issues in the text (or to a classmate's summary).

35% Issue Entrepreneurship posts. An IE is your opportunity to promote a cause you are passionate about, using any kind(s) of social software to spread and encourage take up of your “sticky message.” Your message may relate a personal, social, or global issue. Your IE will not be graded on the amount of social change you achieve, but on the posts you make summarizing the work you do, as well as, critical examination of the value of social software in your work.

10% Posts to classmates' blogs. This assignment is intended to encourage you to frequently read class blogs and offer constructive comment on the work of your classmates.

10% Research Collection. You will post a minimum 20 resources to our shared, class research collection maintained at deli.cio.us. As you surf the web in search of information about social computing and your Issue Entrepreneurship, you will bookmark items using the tag scicu. You are also encouraged to bookmark resources that you think classmates may be interested in. You will refer to and link to items from this collection in your blog posts on Course Readings and your IE. You will be alerted to new items in the Collection in your RSS aggregator (Bloglines, Sage), alternatively on the SC homepage, click Class web box.

Evaluation of blog posts
Grading of blog posts is based critical thinking, clarity, and sufficient quantity.

Weekly Coursework
Week 1: September 11
Due Date: Tuesday, September 19.

1. Get a blog at Blogger www.blogger.com
2. Get an RSS aggregator at Bloglines www.bloglines.com
3. Get a Del.icio.us account www.delicious.com

4. Accept Wetpaint invitation (D.I.Y. Textbook)
5. Post your blog URL & RSS feed and deli.cio.us username to the D.I.Y Textbook

6. Blog post: My (Techno-) Biography

7. Subscribe to all blogs at Bloglines
8. Subscribe to 'scicu' feed at http://del.icio.us/tag/scicu

9. Read Barabasi, A.L, Linked (2003) The First Link: Introduction, pp. 1-8

10. Blog post: Post a brief summary & personal reaction to Barabasi.
11. Blog post: Post a reply to a classmates' post on your own blog. Use 'reply to' and 'classmate's name' in title of your post.

12. Buy a USB drive (128MB is ok, but you can never have enough storage, so buy as big a drive as you can afford).
You must have this for class on 9/15.

Week 2: September 19
Due Date: Friday, September 22.

Here is the homework assignments that follow on from the work we did in class today:
1. Answer Barabasi questions. Contribute to class answers on Barabasi, pp. 1-8. Add your answer and/or delete, modify existing information or the structure of the group's answer. The goal is to create one best answer for each question. Go to DIY Textbook->Course readings-> Barabasi: The First Link pp. 1-8 and click Edit the content to add your contribution. Be sure to save when you have finished.

2. Read Barabasi, A.L., Linked (2003) The Third Link: Six Degrees of Separation, pp. 25-35. Students absent from class today should pick up a copy tomorrow from outside my office, ILC 275.

3. Blog post: Post a brief summary & personal reaction to Barabasi. (150-180 words)

4. Blog post: Issue Entrepreneurship.

To assist you in understanding, planning, and implementing your work to use social software to contribute to change on a social issue you personally feel passionate about, make an early attempt to address these questions in your blog. You may choose to focus on an issue at either a personal, social, or global level. You have an open opportunity to address these questions through your blog as your understanding develops over the course of the semester.

Your message.
1. What is your sticky message? (Barabasi 3) What is the idea you wish to promote or issue/problem you want to try to 'solve'?

Knowledge of social network.
2. Who is your strategic social group? Can you identify and define the organisational base you will need to develop and/ortap into?

Strategy for network building.
3. How will work to create your organisational base? How will you spread and encourage others to take up your message?

Due Date: Tuesday, September 26.
1. Blog post: Read classmates' posts on Barabasi, Six Degrees of Separation, pp. 25-35. Post a question for class discussion on Tuesday.

2. Read classmates' Issue Entrepreneurship posts. Post a constructive reply to one of our class members.

Week 3: September 26
Due: Tuesday, October 3

No new homework this week! However, homework has become very inconsistent overall and as a group we need to really improve this aspect of our course.

A part answer is to give everyone the chance to finish three pieces of core homework so that we are all on the same page, then we can make a fresh, new start next week. Please do not waste this opportunity to take an important step towards successfully completing Social Computing. Lastly, students who fail to complete this core work will need to earnestly discuss arrangements with me for their continued participation in this course.

Here is the core homework:

Blog post 1: Read Barabasi pp. 1-8 and post your summary and reaction (min. 150-180 words).

Blog post 2: Read Barabasi pp. 25-35 and post your summary and reaction (min. 150-180 words).
Blog post 3: Respond to these questions on Barabasi: The Sixth Link pp. 25-35 in full answers on your blog.

Blog post 4: Respond to these questions on your Issue Entrepreneurship on your blog (min. 150-180 words).

Assessment: Critical thinking, clarity, sufficient quantity.

Please note: Students who have already done this core homework do not need to do it again , however, you may like to return to the work you did, and edit it to make any improvements.

Week 4: October 2
Due: Friday, October 6

1. Blog post: Read Kahn and Kellner pp.183-185, pp.190-198. Post a summary of the main points (a classmate will respond to you for homework for Friday). If you were absent from today's class, please pick up a copy from outside my room, ILC-275.

Due: Tuesday, October 10
Homework will now be posted as new messages to the SC course blog, rather than extending this document further.

Week 5: October
See most recent blog posts for homework updates.