Week 1 Lab Assignment: Configure Your Weblog

I have set up individual weblogs for each student, as well, which is where I will expect you post your weekly assignments, and the login information for your personal blog was emailed to you before the first week of class. (If you did not receive that email, please contact me.)

We're using Movable Type for the course weblogs. The user manual for Movable Type Enterprise can be downloaded from myCourses if you’d like more detailed information on any of its functions.

Before configuring your blog, please go to the TypeKey website and create a Typekey ID for yourself (if you already have a TypeKey ID, you can skip this step). You'll need the ID in order to comment on this class site, and to enable authentication of commenters on your own blog. Without that, you run the risk of being overwhelmed with spam comments.

Once you've obtained the TypeKey ID, log in to the MT server (using the information that I sent to you via email, not your TypeKey login) and change your password by clicking on your name in the top right corner (where it says “Welcome”) and editing your profile. (You can re-use your DCE password if you’d prefer not to have to remember an extra login; however, this system is not linked to the DCE system, so changing your password in one place will not change it in the other.) You can change your display name, if you'd like, but do not change your user ID.

Once you've done that, select the link to "Settings" for your blog, and then select "Switch to Advanced Setting" (you should now have five tabs for settings at the top of the screen).

Because of a problem with my automated blog creation script, your weblog name has an extra “\” in the title. You can remove this, and can change your blog's title if you’d like. However, I do ask that you leave your name and the course number (892) somewhere in the title. Please do not change the publishing path or URL for your weblog.

Save the changes you've made, and then select the tab for "New Entry Defaults" and change the post status option from "Unpublished" to "Published".

Save your changes again, and select the tab for "Feedback". Change the value of "Accept Comments From" to "Authenticated Commenters Only". This will require users to use a TypeKey ID to comment on your site.

In the option below that, click on the "Setup Authentication" button--you will be prompted for your TypeKey information in order to configure your authentication settings.

Change "immediately publish comments from" to "any authenticated commenters".

If you would like to receive email when someone comments on your blog, leave the email notification on. If you don't want those notifications sent, you can turn them off.

Save these changes, and then click on the "New Entry" link at the top of the left menubar. Create an introductory post, telling me and your classmates a little bit about yourself and why you're taking this class. When you're done, save the post.

Now click on "View Site" at the bottom of the left menubar. Does your blog, with the introductory post, appear? If so, you're done. If not, make sure you've done all of the steps above. If you still can't get it to work, IM or email me.

Week 2 Lab Assignment: Compare Email Systems

Most RIT students have at least two different email accounts--their "official" RIT account on the Exchange server, and their personal email. Many also have a work account.

I'd like you to compare and contrast the features of RIT's Exchange email system with two other email systems. If you don't have another email account besides your RIT account, it's easy enough to set up an account with GMail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail. You can also use a work account, or an email account provided through your ISP.

Things to consider would include (but are not limited to):

• Methods of access (for example, RIT's email system allows you web access, IMAP client access, and Exchange client (Outlook or Entourage) access, each offering different levels of features
• Filtering/sorting/searching mechanisms
• Archiving capability
• Contact management
• Junk mail management

Keep in mind that some aspects of the functionality are defined by the server (e.g. the Exchange server at RIT), and others are a function of the client (for example, Outlook, Entourage, and the web interface all offer different functionality).

Week 5 Lab Assignment: Refining Your Weblog

This week I'd like you to add categories to your weblog. At a minimum, you need categories for entry type (e.g. assigned reading review, additional reading review, lab assignment, etc) and week (week 1, week 2, week 3). You may choose to add other categories as well.

Once you've created the categories, go through your existing entries and add appropriate categories to each one.

Finally, take the time to look through your classmate's blogs this week. Leave a comment or two along the way when you see an entry that you find particularly interesting or problematic. Write a post in your blog highlighting one or two entries that you enjoyed reading, and explain what you liked or disagreed with.

Midterm Exam

The midterm has two questions; each should be answered with a minimum of 1000 words. The answers should be submitted as Word or RTF documents to the midterm dropbox, by noon on Thursday, April 19th. I will have the graded exams back to you by mid-afternoon on Friday, April 20th (the withdrawal date for the class).

Question 1: You've just been hired as a consultant to the IT department to improve the delivery of information for distance learning classes. What problems with the current groupware implementations (e.g. myCourses, RIT email, the class weblog, etc) have you identified? What solutions would you propose, either as enhancements or changes to current tools, or as replacements? How would your suggested changes address the problems you identified? What new problems could potentially be introduced by your changes?

Question 2: In the Stevens et al reading for Week 3, the authors described their attempts to "protoype the workspace of the future." Did you find their vision compelling? Why or why not? What would your ideal collaborative workspace of the future look like?

Week 6 Lab Assignment: Using a Wiki

You have received (or will be receiving) an email invitation into a Socialtext workspace. Socialtext is the major provider of wiki software in enterprise settings.

When you log into the workspace, you'll see a section in the top left corner for News and Announcements. Take the introductory tour to the workspace.

In a wiki, creating a link to a new page and then clicking on the link automatically creates the page. So what you'll be doing is adding your name to the Students page, making your name into a link, then saving the page and clicking on the link. You'll be presented with a new editable page that has your name as a title.

Literature Review

Your major research project for the quarter will be an in-depth literature review of one topic related to the course material. You should submit your topic for approval no later than the end of the third week of the quarter.

A good literature review focuses on a topic in which some controversy or conflict is apparent. For example, if you were to choose email, there is the question of whether email is increasingly more or less effective as a communications medium. If you were to choose wikis, there is the question of risk in allowing "user-generated content". Almost any area associated with CSCW has associated differences of opinion on some aspect. Your job is to:

1. Identify an area of research related to the variety of topics we're covering this quarter for which there is a significant body of research.
2. Within that body of research, identify one or more key areas of conflict or controversy.
3. Collect (and read) a minimum of fifteen peer-reviewed journal articles, academic conference papers, or published books/chapters on the topic, with at least five of those representing one or more divergent opinions on your area of controversy.
4. Organize the resources you have collected into subtopics as necessary.

Once you've done that, you can begin to write your review. This is not simply an annotate bibliography, in which you simply list the items you've identified and write descriptive summaries. Instead, your task is to critically analyze and synthesize the information in the references you've reviewed.
I strongly suggest that you review these guides to writing a literature review:
* Literature Reviews (University of North Carolina)
* How To Write a Literature Review (UC Santa Cruz)
* Writing a Literature Review (University of Canberra)

Remember to include a properly formatted bibliography (which does not count towards page/word count!) with your paper. I don't care which style guide you use, as long as you're consistent in your formatting of citations. (See the Internet Public Library guide to citing sources for more information if needed.)

I expect the completed review to be at least ten pages long. Rather than specifying things like font size and margins, I'll simply say that a page should include at 250 words, which means that your review should include at least 2500 words.

Things I will be looking for when grading:

• Choice and description of topic and its importance
• Clear identification of conflict or controversy
• Currency of sources--while older resources are often important to include because of the way they can frame a field, a field like CSCW changes so quickly that up-to-date references are also very important
• Quality of sources--have you selected articles and papers that have been influential in the field? Use tools like Google Scholar, Windows Live Academic Search, CiteSeer, and the Social Science Citation Index (available via the Wallace Library website) to determine how frequently cited a given resource is. If you need help with this process, take advantage of the excellent reference staff at the Wallace Library, who are available both in-person and via online tools.
• Quality of analysis: Did you identify key issues and arguments? Did you synthesize rather than enumerating the various positions and results? Did you do a critical assessment rather than a series of descriptions?
• Quality of writing: As graduate students, I expect you to write clearly and accurately, with attention to grammar, syntax, and spelling. You can take advantage of services at the RIT Writing Lab for assistance with technical aspects of writing.

The review should be submitted to the dropbox in myCourses by midnight on May 19th. I am willing to review and provide feedback on drafts, but drafts must be submitted by May 6th in order for me to review and return them in time for you to make changes.