Description

Brief Description
This course will focus on on-line technologies and how they shape our understanding and crystallization of the writing process. Different arenas of writing will be examined, with special emphasis on asynchronous vs synchronous discourse. Some examples include using newsgroups, the IRC, the WWW, MOOs and CU-SeeMe. All these examples contain text at some level. I would like my class to address how text is reshaped by its interface and if the discourse itself is altered as well. Is this narrative reliable? How is the epistemology of information interrogated within new virtual spaces? We will look at both sides of the argument. Reading material will include Neil Postman's Technolopy to discuss the rationale the anti-technology argument. Rather than label this as a luddite trend, students will examine the argument for themselves. This will be contrasted to a number of pro-technology authors including Bruce Sterling. We will also examine the slippage of interface in Neal Stephenson's book The Diamond Age Or, A Young Lady's Primer. The students will be required to purchase a copy of Wired magazine. Grades will not be awarded per assignment, but rather through portfolio assessment. There will be two standard paper assignments, one group project and the choice of paper or project for the final assignment.

Readings

Writing strategies from Free/Style
Writing Handbook (Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers)
Intro to the Internet by Bruce Sterling
Technopoly by Neil Postman
Recommended reading
Holden, Greg. Publishing on the World Wide Web. (For Macintosh. Covers HTML 3.0) Indianapolis: Hayden (Macmillan), 1995.
A Packet of Readings that will include:

"Obsolete Skill Set: The 3Rs." Papert
"The Human Spirit in a Computer Culture," Turkle
"The Electronic Hive: Two Views" Birkerts and Kelly
"A Two Level Perspective on Technology" Sproull and Kiesler
"Microserfs" Coupland
"The Digital Juggernaut." Mandel, M
"The Information Revolution." Verity, John.
"Johnny Mnemonic." Gibson, W.
Other Media
C|NET news story about women online
"This is not a Textbook" Hypercard in PAR 6
Johnny Mnemonic
Viewing "The Defector"-- a Star Trek episode
Tour of Go Media or EINET Galaxy here in Austin (if I can arrange this) to see how information shapes design.
Student Goals

Goals of the E309M-CA Course

Improve writing skills
Become comfortable with technology and learn to use it in the context of the class as well as be able to analyze it outside of the class frame.
Learn to research and use a wide variety of internet search engines to acquire information and present it effectively.
Learn to evaluate the nature of such information and its relative value. Taking apart the information to evaluate its source and worth is an important task in the on-line world.
Rhetorically analyze and construct arguments and practice the strategies suggested by Anderson's Free/Style to write open-minded, well constructed and fluid arguments.
Learn that collaboration is not collusion and that multimedia often requires multiperspectives and group work.

Learn to proofread and peer edit effectively.