COMT 109 Digital Media Pedagogy   Brian Goldfarb, Winter 2009   Dept of Communication, UCSD Overview Meetings Resources

Meetings: Tuesdays/Thursday 12:30 -1:50 PM
Office Hours: wednesday 10:30 am-12 pm or by appointment in MCC 205 
Email: bgoldfar[at]ucsd.edu  (note: email is preferable to phone messages)
Website: http://communication.ucsd.edu/goldfarb/comt109w09/

The class will be limited to 20 students.

Course Objectives:
To develop students' critical understanding of educational uses of digital media technology and to provide first-hand experience engaging with students using digital media in school settings. Participants will consider the challenges, benefits and pitfalls of educational application of communication technology through discussion of readings and experiences in public school classrooms. Questions addressed include: How do digital media shift the relationships between various sites of learning including the school, the home and the workplace? What are the challenges digital media present to teachers, students and schools? How do educational uses of digital media compare to older technologies such as pen and paper, textbooks, typewriters, film cameras and analog video? How do gender, class and age affect the way students and teachers respond to and learn digital media? Are computers improving school-based education?

Class meetings will be divided between seminar style discussions of topics from the readings and lab sessions dedicated to exploring examples of digital pedagogy online, becoming acquainted with software, and developing materials for use at our field sites. Some lab topics include: weblogs and web-publishing; wikis and collaborative writing; webquests and online research; distance learning; synchronous and asynchronous communication; computer games and learning; video and animation; etc.

Course Requirements:

Students must complete all readings and attend all class/lab meetings. In addition students are required to make weekly visits to one of the classroom sites associated with the course. This quarter we will be working at the High Tech Middle Media Arts school in Point Loma. You should account for a half hour transportation time from campus when figuring out your schedule for attending the site visits. These visits will take place during one or both of the class meeting times (Tues/Thursday 12:30-1:50) for a total of approximately 4 hours/week (beyond the class time, you may choose any additional hours during school hours). At the school you will engage in participatory observation of teaching/learning with teachers and students at the site including work on digital media projects with middle school students. Written work for the course includes: journal style observations and reflections on site visits; short written reflections on reading; and a final paper which may draw on readings and reflections on the work at the school. Quality work is expected. This class requires dedication at an advanced level in terms of time and academic considerations.

Evaluation:

Grading is based on: attendance and participation in classroom discussions and site visits (30%), written observations from site visits and short written assignments (40%), lab exercises (10%), and final essay (20%). You will be given handouts with more detailed descriptions for the lesson plans, site visit reports, and final paper (10-15 pages).

 No incompletes will be granted for this course!

Attendance and Participation:

• Participation in class is mandatory and constitutes 30% of your grade. Students are required to read assignments and to come to class prepared to participate in discussions. Students are encouraged to contribute to class meetings by bringing in examples and ideas from experiences outside of class. 
• Unexcused absences are not acceptable and will significantly affect your final grade.
• Late arrival (over 10 minutes) will be considered half an absence.
• School site visits are also a central component of this class. It is very important that you arrive promptly. Please be considerate of the time of the teachers, staff and students at the site. If you are going to be absent from a site visit because of illness or an emergency you must contact both me and the teacher in advance.
• All students are required to visit the professor during office hours at least once during the first seven weeks of the quarter.

Lab access and Technical Assistance:

At times, we will be using the Sequoyah Lab for a number of hands on projects and exercises.  You will be given a code and have access to the lab during open hours (when there are no scheduled classes-- see web schedule: http://communication.ucsd.edu/courses/142sched.html). Please do not let anyone else into the lab. Bruce Jones handles any concerns relating to access to the Sequoyah Lab. If you have problems while using computers or programs in the lab please report them to ACS using the Web-based form (aliased on all the computers) and let me know via email.

Readings:

• All required readings are on reserve and/or e-reserve at Geisel Library, or on the web and linked to the online syllabus.

Materials for the course:

• a few CD-ROM and DVD-R disks
• USB jump drive
• ipod/walkman style headphones (for use in lab)