Syllabus
S518: Communication in
Electronic Environments
Spring 2008
Time:
9:30-12:15 PM,
T
Room:
L 036
Instructor:
Hamid Ekbia
Email:
hekbia@indiana.edu
Telephone:
812 855 3251
Office:
ML 15,
Office
Hours: Tuesday,
1:00-3:00 PM,
or by appointment
Web:
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/hekbia/L518/
About
the Course
Much of peopleÕs activities and interactions these days are
mediated by information and communication technologies -- they take place in
what is variably called the electronic environment, the virtual space, or
cyberspace. This raises interesting questions such as the following:
á
What is the ÒnatureÓ of the cyberspace? Is it real in the same
sense that the physical space is?
á
What is the relationship between the physical and the virtual?
á
What is the character of entities and relationships that populate
the virtual space?
á
How do people coordinate their activities within and across these
spaces?
The aim of this course is to provide some preliminary answers to
these and other similar questions. The course will be run as a seminar, which
means that all the participants would play an active role in its conduct and
development.
Course Requirements
There
is no textbook required for this course. All readings can be accessed either
directly on the Web or through e-reserve.
There
is also a wiki called to which we all have protected access. It can be found at
https://swah.slis.indiana.edu/
We will
use the wiki for posting review, comments and questions and having discussions
about web work throughout the term.
Assignments
There are three assignments and a final project for the course.
All are described below and will be discussed in greater detail in class.
1. LEADING THE CLASS
Each of
you will lead one class discussion. You will select a topic from the syllabus in
which you have interest. This may be the topic you
wish to investigate for the term project. When this topic is covered in
class, you will have the lead role in preparing and leading the discussion. If
there is a topic you would like to cover that is not on the syllabus, let me
know as soon as possible. If it is appropriate, I will assign you a date when
you will lead the discussion.
For the class that you will lead, you will provide me
with at least two
print or web-based readings that you want the class to read in advance of the
discussion. No later than the Friday before you are scheduled to lead the discussion, you
will give me paper or digital copies of the readings. I will make copies of any
readings, place them on ereserve, and alert the class that the readings are
available by posting messages to the class list. If you want to use online
readings or web sites, please post the URLs to the class list on the Friday before the class.
When you lead the discussion, you should be prepared to
talk about the topic and the readings, raising the questions that will serve as
the basis for our discussion. You will prepare notes or an outline, and any
supporting materials (such as overheads) or, for the brave, a live
demonstration. If you need a computer and projector, let me know and I will
arrange to have them in the class for your session.
You complete this assignment by providing us with
readings, preparing the discussion questions, showing up in class, leading the
discussion, and turning in your materials. You will sign up for topics on January
22. This
assignment is worth 10% of the final grade.
2. TECHNOLOGY TREND
REPORT
It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with changes in
information and communication technologies as new products come to market at a
seemingly increasing rate. For this assignment, you will select a technology
trend, either focusing on a product or a problem that interests you and prepare
a report on its current and future state. Sometime during the semester, you
will present your report in class.
Here's an exemplary list to suggest possible technologies or
issues:
|
Portals |
Online auctions |
Digital money |
Spam |
|
RFID |
Online dating |
Peer-to-peer networks |
Technology for protecting privacy |
|
Online gaming |
Firewalls |
WiFi |
Web services |
|
Online shopping |
File sharing |
Smart homes |
Identity theft |
This is only a suggested list. You may investigate other topics if
your interests are not represented on this list. In this case, you will clear
your topic with the instructor before beginning work.
The purpose of a technology trend report is to provide your
readers with an introduction to the technology product or issue, a sense of the
current state of the art (or of the problem), and your informed opinion about
the possible futures for the product or issue. Therefore, in your report, be
sure to cover the following:
If you are covering a technology product,
á Describe it and, if
possible, include a picture. What are its main features?
á What is it intended
to do? How does it work?
á How usable is it?
á How is it being
marketed? Does it come in different configurations? How much does it cost?
á How well is it
doing? What are the projections for its future? What do you think about the
product's future?
If you are covering a technology issue,
á Describe the problem
and, if possible, provide some indication of its pervasiveness. What are its
main characteristics?
á Explain why we
should be concerned about it
á Describe current
efforts to mitigate or alleviate the problem
á Provide your best
estimates of the current and future costs of the problem
á What are the
projections for the future of the problem? What do you think should be done
about it? What do you think will happen?
No matter which type of technology report you do, you should
explain how the particular product or problem currently impacts on our work or
play in electronic environments and what we can expect in the future.
You may use relevant class readings as a basis for your
investigation, but you should also make use of other sources (digital or otherwise)
that help you understand the trend you are studying. You may look to the
academic and trade literatures in your work. Be sure to cite all of the sources
that you use. Your essay should be about 5 pages (~1,250 words), excluding
bibliography. You may submit these reviews as attachments or web pages, in
which case you will send the URL to the instructor by the due date.
Starting February 12, you will present your technology trend
report in class. Your presentation will be web-based, using web pages,
Powerpoint saved as HTML or some other appropriate presentation software. When
you present, you may also use notes, an outline, and any supporting materials,
although you should be using your report as your primary source material. The
presentation will be ~15 minutes in length.
The technology report essay will be due on February 26.
This assignment will be discussed in class on January 8. You will email
your proposed paper topic to the instructor by January 15 and will receive
email confirmation by and your presentation date and time shortly
after January 19. The assignment will be worth 20% of the final grade.
3.
WIKI: CRITICAL REVIEW AND COMMENTARY ON SELECTED READINGS
You
will help to develop a wiki for topics and issues relevant to the topics of the
seminar. This will consist of two parts: review and commentary.
a.
Review
You
will carefully read and critically review three readings from the syllabus,
each of which must come from a different class and cover a different topic. As
you read these articles, you will study them, read them critically, and then
write an informed reaction to what you have read. In your essay, be sure to do
the following and answer the following questions
á
Describe the author (or authors') main thesis. What is the main point
of the article? What does it tell us about communication in electronic
environments?
á
If you are reading a research article, describe the methodology
that the author uses to conduct the research and the types of data that have
been gathered.
á
If you are reading a speculative, argumentative, theoretical, or
narrative article describe the way in which the author develops the argument.
á
In the case of the research article, is the method adequate? Is
the evidence persuasive? Are the authorÕs conclusions supported by the
evidence?
á
In the case of the non-empirical article, is the argument
persuasive? Are the conclusions supported by the logic of the argumentation?
á
What is your overall reaction to the article? Do you accept the
author's conclusions? Why or why not?
Your critical review will not exceed ~750 words. When completed,
post the review to the wiki..
These critical reviews are due throughout the semester:
á Critical review
#1
is due on January 31 and is worth 10% of the final grade
á Critical review #2 is due on February
29
and is worth 10% of the final grade
á Critical review
#3
is due on March 28 and is worth 10% of the final grade
Taken together, the critical reviews are worth 30% of the final grade.
b. Commentary
Once the second round of critical reviews have been posted on February
29,
you will add commentary to at least three reviews. This commentary will be brief -
keep it to two or three paragraphs.
In your commentary, react to what you have read. You may
agree with the comments about the article(s). You may disagree with either part
of the summary or with the overall critical points raised about the article(s).
You may want to reinforce the review. Perhaps you want to add more pointed
criticism or defend the article(s). You may want to comment on other people's
commentaries. Everything is fair game. Whatever you decide to do, be sure to
back up your commentary with references to articles we have read or that you
have found on your own.
You will sign your commentary. You will not edit the text of the posting to
which you are responding. You will have your postings completed by April 1.
This class requirement will be worth 10% of the final grade
and takes place throughout the semester.
4. TERM PROJECT AND
PRESENTATION
You will select a topic that involves issues or controversies
surrounding activities in electronic environments and investigate it in
considerable depth over the course of the semester. The topic may be one that
we have covered in class or one of your own choosing, but it may not be the
topic that you investigated in your technology trend report.
For this paper, you will
á Carefully define a
problem, issue, controversy, or domain that you wish to investigate
á Investigate relevant
literature, on and offline, that helps you understand the topic you are
investigating
á Clearly explain the
ways in which issues or controversies are raised by or are inherent in this
topic.
á Develop and defend
an argument about this topic where you take an informed position on the topic.
For example, you could
á Explore the
implications of widespread surveillance and monitoring in the work place
á Discuss the uses of
and controversies surrounding data mining
á Explore the issues
surrounding digital rights management
á Investigate the
controversy surrounding data privacy
á Investigate the ways
in which the spread of information and communication technologies is affecting
a particular profession, such as medicine or research science
You can also investigate a different topic that interests you,
with instructor approval. For example, you can design and carry out a small
empirical investigation of ICTs, and work or play in an electronic environment.
This type of work would take you out into the field to study the use of ICTs in
a real organizational or social setting. If you choose this option, you will
have to meet with the instructor to work out the procedures early in the term.
You will select one major area and investigate several questions
for that area. Use relevant class readings as a basis for your essay, but
include and sources (digital or otherwise) that help you answer these
questions. Be sure to cite relevant sources that you use. Your essay should be
about 10 pages (~2,500 words), excluding bibliography. You will send
your essay to the instructor as an attachment.
This assignment will be discussed in class on January 08. You will email
your proposed paper topic to the instructor by January 29 and will receive
email confirmation by February 3.
On either April 15 or April 22, you will present
your term project in class. Presentation times will be assigned on April 1. Your presentation
will be web-based, using web pages, Powerpoint saved as HTML or some other
appropriate presentation software. When you present, you may also use notes, an
outline, and any supporting materials, although you should be using your paper
as your primary source material. The presentation will be ~20 minutes in length.
The assignment is due on April 22 and will be worth 25% of the final grade,
20% for the essay and 5% for the presentation.
Assignments
and Due Dates: Short Version
This
table shows the assignments you have to do, the dates that they will be
discussed in class, other important dates, the percentage of the final grade
each is worth, and the dates the assignment are due.
|
Assignment/Project |
%
of Final Grade |
Due
Date |
|
|
|
|
|
Critical
reviews |
30% |
January
31 February
29 March
28 |
|
Discussed in class |
|
January
08 |
|
Technology
trend report |
20% |
As
assigned |
|
Discussed in class |
|
January
08 |
|
Email topic to instructor |
|
January
15 |
|
Receive confirmation from
instructor |
|
January
19 |
|
Presentation date assigned |
|
January
19 |
|
Reports begin |
|
February
12 |
|
Essay is due |
|
Feb.
26 |
|
Wiki,
Reviews, and Commentary |
10% |
Weekly:
TBA |
|
Discussed in class |
|
January
08 |
|
Wiki comments begin |
|
February
28 |
|
Wiki comments completed |
|
April
11 |
|
Leading
the class |
10% |
TBA |
|
Discussed in class |
|
January
08 |
|
Sign up for leading the
class |
|
January
22 |
|
Final
project |
25% |
April
22 |
|
Discussed in class |
|
January
08 |
|
Email topic to instructor |
|
January
29 |
|
Receive
confirmation |
|
February
3 |
|
Presentation times assigned |
|
April
1 |
|
Presentation date and time |
|
April
15, 22 |
Grading
This
table shows the assignments you have to do and the percentage of the final
grade each is worth.
|
Assignment |
%
of Final Grade |
|
Critical
reviews |
30% |
|
Technology
trend report |
20% |
|
Commentary |
10% |
|
Leading
the class |
10% |
|
Final
project and presentation |
25% |
|
Participation |
5% |
|
Total |
100% |
NOTE: There
is a small portion of the overall grade (5%) that has been allocated for
class participation. For the purposes of this class, participation is defined
as contributing to class discussion or demonstrating in other ways that you are
making an effort to succeed in this class. In addition, as a professional, you will
be expected to articulate your ideas in both written and oral form, therefore
it is important that you think critically and present your ideas throughout the
duration of the class.
Required Texts
There
is no required text for this course:
Digital readings for the course are on the web, in the
instructor's password protected directory, or in the SLIS library electronic
reserve system..
Topic
Outline, Reading Schedule and Assignment Due Dates
Note: The URLs and addresses for the readings were last checked
on January 6, 2008
January 08: ÒActivitiesÓ in Electronic Environments
Assignments
All assignments are discussed
January 15: Thinking about the Cyberspace
Readings:
Lessig, L. (1999). Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace. Basic Books. Ch. 6
(pp.63–84). [E-reserve]
Gane,
N. (2006). Speed Up or Slow Down: Social Theory in the Information Age. Information, Communication
and Society,
9(1): 20–38.
[E-reserve]
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the
Social: An introduction to Actor-Network Theory. OUP. Introduction
(pp.1–17). [E-reserve]
Hennion,
A. (2007). Those Things that Hold Us Together: Taste and Sociology. Cultural Sociology, 1(1): 97–114. [E-reserve]
Optional
reading:
Callon,
M. and J. Law (1997). After the Individual in Society: Lessons on
Collectivity from Science, Technology, and Society. Canadian Journal of
Sociology,
22(2): 165–82. [E-reserve]
Assignments
Email
tech trend report topic to instructor
Receive
confirmation from instructor by January 19
January 22: Work
Readings:
OÕLeary,
M., Orlikowski, W., & Yates, J. (2002). Distributed work over the
centuries: Trust and control in the HudsonÕs Bay Company, 1670-1826. In P. J. Hinds
& S. Kiesler (eds.), Distributed Work. MIT Press.[E-reserve]
Vaughan,
D. (1997). The trickle-down effect: Policy decisions, risky work, and the
Challenger tragedy.
California Management Review, 39(2), 80-102. [E-reserve]
Heath, C., and Knoblauch, H. (2000). Technology
and social interaction: The emergence of "workplace studies." British Journal of
Sociology, 51(2), 299-321.
Simons, P.R.J. (2004). Metaphors of learning at work and the role of ICT. International Seminar on
Learning and Technology at Work, Institute of Education, 1-8.
http:// www.londonknowledgelab.ac.uk/kscope/ltw/seminar2004/Simons-LTW-seminar-paper.pdf
Assignments
Sign
up for leading the class
Presentation
date for tech trend report assigned
January 29: Organizations
Readings:
Orlikowski, W. & Gash, D.C. (1994). Technological
Frames: Making Sense of Information Technology and Organizations. ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 12(2):
174–207
Ekbia, H.R. and Kling, R. (2005). Network
Organizations: Voluntary Cooperation or Multivalent Negotiation. Information Society, 21(3):
155–168 [here]
Heath, C., Luff, P., and Sanchez Svensson, M. (2002). Overseeing
organizations: configuring action and its environment. British Journal of Sociology,
53(2), 181-201
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/rbjs/2002/00000053/00000002/art00003
Beamish, Thomas D. (2000). Accumulating Trouble:
Complex Organization, a Culture of Silence and a Secret Spill. Social Problems, 47(4),
p473-499. [E-reserve]
Assignments
Critical review #1
due
Term
project topic sent to instructor
Receive
confirmation by February 3
February 5: Cooperation
Readings:
Mark, G. and Poltrock, S. (2003). Shaping
technology across social worlds: groupware adoption in a distributed
organization. Proceedings of the 2003 International ACM SIGGROUP Conference on
Supporting Group Work, 284-293
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/958160.958205
Cluts, M.M. (2003). The evolution of
artifacts in cooperative work: constructing meaning through activity. Proceedings of the
2003 international ACM SIGGROUP Conference on Supporting Group Work, 144-152
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/958160.958183
Huysman,
M., Steinfield, C., Jang, C-Y., David, K., inÕt Vield, M. H., Poot, J., &
Mulder, I. (2003). Virtual teams and the appropriation of communication
technology: Exploring the concept of media stickiness. Computer Supported Cooperative
Work—The Journal of Collaborative Computing, 12(4), 411-437. [E-reserve]
Maznevski,
M. L., & Chudoba, K. M. (2000). Bridging space over time: Global virtual
team dynamics and effectiveness. Organization Science, 11(5), 473-492. [E-reserve]
February 12: Virtual Teams
Readings:
Powell, A., Piccoli, G. and Ives, B. (2004).
Virtual
teams: a review of current literature and directions for future research. ACM SIGMIS Database 35(1),
6-36.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/968464.968467
Cascio, W.F. (2000). Managing a virtual
workplace. Academy of Management Executive, 14(3). 81-91.
Henderson, S. and Gilding, M. (2004). ÔIÕve Never Clicked this Much with Anyone in My LifeÕ:
Trust and Hyperpersonal Communication in Online Friendships. New Media and Society, 6(4) 487-506.
http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/6/4/487
Wasko,
M. M., & Faraj, S. (2005). Why should I share? Examining social capital
and knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice. MIS Quarterly, 29(1), 35-57. [E-reserve]
Assignments
Technology
trend reports begin
February 19: Online Communities
Readings:
Josefsson,
U. (2005). Coping with Illness Online: The case of patientsÕ online
communities.
The Information Society, 21(2), 133-141. [E-reserve]
Wellman,
B., Haase, A. Q., Witte, J., & Hampton, K. (2001). Does the Internet
increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? American Behavioral Scientist,
45(3), 436-455. [E-reserve]
Turkle, S. (1995). Virtuality and Its Disconents. Ch. 9: Life On the Screen.
Simon and Schuster.
Gefen, D. (2002). Reflections on the dimensions of
trust and trustworthiness among online consumers. ACM SIGMIS, 33(3), 38-53
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/569905.569910
February 26: Computer-Mediated
Communication
Readings:
Kellogg,
W. A., Erickson, T., Wolf, T. V., Levy, S., Christensen, J., & Bennett,
W.E. (2006). Leveraging digital backchannels to enhance user experience in
electronically mediated communication. The Proceedings of CSCW Õ06. [Online]
Bansler, J.P., Lyngby, K., and Havn, E.
(2003). Technology-use mediation: making sense of electronic communication
in an organizational context. Proceedings of the 2003 international ACM
SIGGROUP conference on Supporting group work, 135 - 143.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/958160.958182
Kock, N. (2003). The ape that used email:
Understanding e-communication behavior through evolution theory. Communications of
AIS. 5(3), 1-29.
http://www.tamiu.edu/~nedkock/Pubs/2001JournalCAIS/Kock2001.pdf
Humphreys,
L. (2005). Cellphones in public: social interactions in a wireless era. New Media & Society.
7(6):810–833.
http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/7/6/810
Assignments
Critical review #2
due
Wiki
comments begin
March 4: Cultural Expression/Blogs
Readings:
Jain, S. (2002) Urban Errands: The Means of Mobility. Journal of Consumer Culture.
2(3): 419-438.
http://joc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/2/3/385
Nardi, B. A., Schiano, D. J., & Gumbrecht, M.
(2004). Blogging as social activity, or would you let 900 million people
read your diary?
Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work,
222-231.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1031607.1031643
Lenhart, A. and Madden, M. (2005). Teen
Content Creators and Consumers. Pew Internet Life Project.
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Content_Creation.pdf
Bar-Ilan, J. (2005). Information Hub Blogs. JIS. 31(4): 297-307
See
also the Communications of the ACM, 47(12) for the special issue on the
Blogosphere. [available through ACM digital library]
March 11
S P R I N G B R E A K
March 18: Social Computing
Readings:
Kibby,
M.D. (2005). Email forwardables: folklore in the
age of the internet. New Media
& Society. 7(6): 770-790.
http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/7/6/770
Erickson,
T. (in press). ÔSocialÕ systems: Designing digital systems that support
social intelligence.
AI and Society. [Online]
Millen,
D. R., Feinberg, J., & Kerr, B. (2006). Dogear: Social bookmarking in
the enterprise.
Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems,
111-120. [Online]
Lampe,
C., Ellison, N., & Steinfield, C. (2006). A face(book) in the crowd:
social Searching vs. social browsing. The Proceedings of CSCW Õ06, 167-170. [Online]
Lee,
K. J. (2006). What goes around comes around: an analysis of del.icio.us as
social space.
The Proceedings of CSCW Õ06, 191-194. [Online]
March 25: Playing
Readings:
Grinter, R.E. and Palen, L. (2002). Instant messaging
in teen life.
Proceedings of the 2002 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work,
21-30
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/587078.587082
Seay,
A.F., Jerome, W.J., Lee, K.S. and Kraut, R.E. (2004). Project Massive: A
Study of Online Gaming Communities. CHI 2004: Late breaking results paper.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/985921.986080
Clark, L.S. (2003). Challenges of social
good in the world of Grand Theft Auto and Barbie: A case study of a community
computer center for youth. New Media & Society, 5(1), 95-116.
http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/5/1/95
Assignment
Critical
review #3 due
April 1: Civic Participation
Readings:
Castells,
M., Fernandez-Ardevol, M., Qiu, J. L., & Sey, A. (2007). Mobile
communication and society: A global perspective. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Chapter 7: The mobile civil society: Social movement, political power, and
communication networks. [E-reserve]
Garrett,
R. K. (2006). Protest in an information society: A review of literature on
social movements and new ICTs. Information, Communication & Society, 9(2),
202-224. [E-reserve]
Hess,
D., J. (2005). Technology- and product-oriented movements: Approximating
social movement.
Science, Technology & Human Values, 30, 515-535. [E-reserve]
*Lahsen,
M. (2005). Technocracy, democracy, and U.S. climate politics: The need for
demarcations.
Science, Technology & Human Values, 30, 137-169. [E-reserve]
*Parvez,
Z., & Ahmed, P. (2006). Towards building an integrated perspective on
e-democracy.
Information, Communication & Society, 9(5), 612-632. [E-reserve]
April 08: Home/Community
Readings:
Hopkins,
L. (2005). Making a Community Network Sustainable:
The Future of the Wired High Rise. The
Information Society, 21(5), 379-384.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/utis/2005/00000021/00000005/art00005
Grinter, R.E., Edwards, W.K.. Newman, M.W.
and Ducheneaut, N. (Unpublished Manuscript). The Work to Make a Home Network
Work.
Shankar, K. (forthcoming). Wind, Water, and Wi-Fi:
New Trends in Community Informatics and Disaster Management. Information Society, 24(2).
Samarajiva, R. (2005). Mobilizing ICT for effective
disaster warning: lessons from the 2004 tsunami. New Media and Society, 7(6):
731-747
Fallows, D. (2005). How
Women and Men Use the Internet. Pew
Internet Life Project.
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Men_and_Women_online.pdf
Assignments
Final
presentation times assigned
Wiki
comments are completed
April 15: Trust, Privacy, and Ethics
Readings:
Bagchi, K. and Udo, G. (2003). An
analysis of the growth of computer and Internet security breaches Communications of
the Association for Information Systems. 12 Article 46 684-700
http://cais.isworld.org/articles/default.asp?vol=12&art=46
Floridi, L. (2005). Information ethics, its nature
and scope.
Computers and Society, 35(2). [E-reserve]
Van Wel, L, and Royakkers, L. (2004). Ethical issues
in web data mining.
Ethics and Information Technology, 6(2), 129-140.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/etin/2004/00000006/00000002/05254849
Palen, L. and Dourish, P. (2003). Unpacking
"privacy" for a networked world. Proceedings of the Conference on
Human Factors in Computing Systems, 129-136
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/642611.642635
Hong, J.I., Ng, J.D., Lederer, S., and Landay, J.A. Privacy Risk
Models for Designing Privacy-Sensitive Ubiquitous Computing Systems. DIS2004.
Phillips, D.J. (2004). Privacy policy and PETs: The influence
of policy regimes on the development and social implications of privacy
enhancing technologies. New Media & Society, 6: 691-706
http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/6/6/691
Assignments
First
round of presentations of final projects
Technology
trend report due
April 22: Conclusion
Presentations of student work
Assignments
Second
round of presentations of final projects
Final
projects due