Posts Tagged: inls490

Teaching — No Comments
22
Jan 09

Spring 2009 Social Networks Syllabus

If you’re interested in checking out the syllabus from my spring Online Social Networks class, you can find HTML and PDF versions linked from my teaching page.  This course is a little bit of a departure from the previous two versions; I’m focusing a little more on practice-oriented challenges (OSN’s and LIS, OSN and Education, etc).  This is made possible by the large volume of literature that has come to press in recent years.  It is also due to the fact that LIS grads are being asked to explore/research/manage social web applications in their jobs, and I hope to provide some of the tools and familiarity necessary for them to do so.

As always, if you’d like to follow along you can find lecture notes and slides linked from our course webpage.  Feedback, paper recommendations, etc. are always welcome – either send them to me or tag them in delicious with inls490.

Noticed / Research — No Comments
12
Jan 09

Online Social Networks, Spring 2009

As of this morning, UNC is back in session for the spring term – how the winter break flies!  This semester I’ll be teaching my Online Social Networks course.  This is the third time I’ve taught this particular course, and it is a lot of fun.  I’m in the midst of updating the syllabus, which I’ll post to the blog when I finish.

Of potential interest to my readers is an article I discovered in the most recent issue of Portal.

Academic Libraries, Facebook and MySpace, and Student Outreach: A Survey of Student Opinion.
This study surveyed 366 Valparaiso University freshmen to discover their feelings about librarians using Facebook and MySpace as outreach tools. The vast majority of respondents had online social network profiles. Most indicated that they would be accepting of library contact through those Web sites, but a sizable minority reacted negatively to the concept. Because of the potential to infringe on students’ sense of personal privacy, it is recommended that librarians proceed with caution when implementing online social network profiles.

I’ve only skimmed this article, but I am collecting resources on social networks and libraries for one of our classes this semester. There is a growing body of literature on libraries and social networks – if you know something noteworthy feel free to leave a comment.

I would be remiss without congratulating Lori Eakin and Jeff Pomerantz, colleagues at SILS, for their study Virtual Reference, Real Money: Modeling Costs in Virtual Reference Services which appears in the same edition of Portal.

Thoughts — 1 Comment
25
Nov 08

Guest Lectures in Technologies of Friendship

Wayne Sutton, one of my esteemed guest lecturers in last night’s (penultimate) Technologies of Friendship class, streamed and recorded the lectures via Ustream.tv.  If you’d like to check them out, here’s a link – and I’ve embedded the video.

Streaming live video by Ustream

Thank you again to my speakers – Brian, Wayne, Dave and Abe. We had great conversation and I’m pretty sure we could have kept going for a few more hours (which is saying something for being in class on 8:30PM on a Monday). To find out more about the speakers and their projects, check out the following:

Thanks again to my speakers for a great set of talks.

Teaching — No Comments
14
Nov 08

Invitation: Guest Lectures on Work, Organization and Action

On November 24, we’ll be discussing new forms of work, organization and action in INLS490.  We’re lucky have four experts coming in to discuss their first-hand experience with the topic.

Our guests for November 24 will be:

All of these guests are leveraging new media and technologies in their work.  Brian’s work with Carrboro Coworking is addressing a very real new-economy need – creating collaborative spaces for creative work.  Dave works virtually and physically with many different teams, and Wayne is the glue of the Triangle-area technology scene.  Abe is venturing out with his first startup, addressing work patterns and productivity.  Clearly, this is going to be a dynamite class.

If you’re in the area and would like to attend, please do – the class is in Manning Hall 307, Mon Nov. 24 from 6-8:30.  One thing I ask – if you’re not affiliated with UNC, please drop me a line and let me know you’re coming.  I’ll provide cookies and snacks.

Teaching / Thoughts — No Comments
16
Sep 08

Technologies of Friendship – Weeks 1 and 2

Last evening was the third meeting of my Technologies of Friendship class.  While I’ve been meaning to blog about the class each week, this post will have to serve as a catch-up.  We’re actually not that far behind – this was actually only the second teaching class due to Labor Day and the fact our class meets on Monday.

Our first teaching class was designed as an overview of the material.  We read three articles exploring the social impacts of the Internet, the issues surrounding computer-mediated-communication, and the management of relationships with mediating technology.  To accompany the lecture (slides here) we completed two exercises.  The first was a name generator exercise that invited students to reflect on the various types of connections they keep through technology.  The key component of the generator was comparing categories – i.e. why did some friends end up in multiple bins, exploring those stories.  The next exercise was a reflection on social capital and medium, students were asked to think about the types of support they derive from differing mediated relationships.

The second teaching class (lecture slides) began an exploration of historical perspectives.  Our readings explored the history of two communication technologies – the telegraph and the telephone.  We explored the invention, marketing, uses and social framing of the tools, as well as the tools’ evolution of use.  Accepted uses, cultural impacts and the role of gender in technology use were also explored.  We then compared this to the development and marketing of the Internet.  We will continue this theme next week, exploring some of the early tools of Internet communication.

If you wish to follow along, you can follow items we’re bookmarking, prompt readings for the class, and of course check the website on Monday nights for lecture notes and slides.

Teaching — 3 Comments
15
Aug 08

New course: Technologies of Friendship

I’ve completed a draft version of the syllabus to my new course, Technologies of Friendship. The course is on the books as a CMC course, but I couldn’t resist giving it a less formal name. If you’d like to check out the syllabus, it can be accessed from my new teaching portfolio page.

As I previously discussed, my goal is to make the class interactive, informative and somewhat practical. To that extent, I’ve lightened the reading load in favor of a number of reflective assignments. I hope to do a good bit of hands on/demoing/testing of technologies, as well as bring in a number of guests. I’ll be reflecting on the process here at Unit Structures over the next few months.

Here’s the course description from the syllabus:

The Internet is a place of communication, interaction and relational management. From Ray Tomlinson’s first email in 1971, to the iChats, Wall Posts and Twitters of today, we have consistently turned to this vast network to find one another for communication and collaboration. This course is an exploration of the tools and practices of technologically mediated relationships; that is, why and how do we use network tools to start, build and sustain interpersonal relationships.

The use of technology as a relational intermediary is as old as technology itself. From the earliest inscribed works to the electrified telegraph, technology has played in a role in allowing us to discover, remember and communicate with others. Technology provides us the goods, means and rationale for exchange, and it allows us to imagine the communities we inhabit. Arguably, the Internet is the most profound relational technology, but technology and social process have long been intertwined.

Utilizing interdisciplinary perspectives, we will explore the role networked communications tools play in the relational process. The course will be structured around four thematic areas. They are: Historical Perspectives, Theoretical Concepts, Internet Relationships and Group Dynamics. The first area, historical perspectives, will contextualize our analysis through the exploration of early communication tools and practice. This area will be followed by theoretical concepts, which explores theorization of computer-mediated communication. We will then explore Internet relationships; how we’re using modern technology to mediate our personal relationships. The course will conclude with an analysis of how the Internet enables “ridiculously easy group formation,” in the words of Clay Shirky.

Students who successfully complete this course will develop critical perspectives on networked communication and relational management, better preparing them to develop tools of participation, social support and group collaboration.

If you have any comments, feedback or ideas, please feel free to contribute them in the comment thread.

Teaching — 2 Comments
3
Jul 08

Notes on my Fall Class

This fall I’ll be teaching a new course – its title keeps evolving, but we’ll be looking at the technologies and processes we use to mediate relationships online. The course will be held Monday evenings, from 6-8:30 in Manning 307. Apparently there was a little confusion over the date/time, so I wanted to set the record straight.

Aside from the title, there are a number of other things evolving about the course. Originally, I had designed the course as a semi-structured seminar, with a significant amount of dense reading. Doing my literature review, I’m officially tired of dense reading. I’ve also been inspired by a number of other educators, so I’m re-positioning the course as a much more hands-on, experimental tour of tools and technologies. We’ll still be examining the same themes, just using some different means to accomplish the ends.

Who has inspired me? Without a question, spending time with David Silver was deeply influential. His course on digital literacies opened my eyes to new ways to teaching and learning. Howard Rehingold’s series of videos on attention have helped me rethink classroom interaction. Trebor Scholz’s documentation and sharing of his course has opened up new perspectives (I was also always impressed with Trebor’s PPT’s – those must have taken forever to assemble!). Obviously, the list goes on – but all of this great work has inspired me to try something new, to break out of the traditional model, and to experiment a little.

More notes as the course progresses.

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