COSC 201 Internet and Multimedia

I.          Catalog Description:

The major focus will be on the evaluation of information and multimedia resources available on electronic networks when doing research in an area of one’s choice.  This information literacy course is designed for students to gain a more in depth understanding of the information resources available electronically and of how to utilize them more effectively in communicating.  Students will learn how to access and utilize these resources for two-way communications and support for decision making while incorporating selected elements in multimedia presentations of their own design.

Prerequisites:  BTED/COSC/IFMG101 Microbased Computer Literacy, or prior exposure to word processing, electronic mail and PowerPoint.

II.        Course Objectives

Students will explore the role of electronic media in acquiring, structuring, analyzing and synthesizing information.  Students will:

1. Investigate the culture of the Internet and the social and economic phenomenon that it represents.  Issues including but not limited to:  freedom of access to information, the right to privacy, gender and equity issues, the ethics of information use and security, copyrights and intellectual property.

2. Analyze and use the tools and techniques for searching electronic resources effectively.

3. Evaluate the validity of various information sources.

4. Analyze and synthesize information for distribution by means of a unifying multimedia presentation.

III.       Detailed Course Outline

1          Access to the Internet:              3 hours

History and evolution of the Internet.  –How it all works. – The value and importance of standards and protocols (TCP/IP, URL, OLE). – The development of the required infrastructure.

2.         Social Justice and Cultural Issues in Internet Access:                  6 hours

Patterns of Access to the Internet with particular emphasis on gender and race. –How are people getting connected and who will pay?  Information rich vs information –poor.  Is there an explicit connection between gender and economic privilege?  Impact of multimedia and graphical user interfaces, impact of the Internet on our personal and professional lives.

3.         Critical Evaluation of Information Resources on the Internet       12 Hours

Students will look at the different information services for quantity, quality and ease of use as they gather information on a particular issue using the various search tools including Boolean and probabilistic models, Intelligent Agents and Knowbots.  They will be exposed to the following:

4.         Media Manipulation, 5 hours

Basics of imaging, audio, video animation and graphics editing.

5.         Analyzing and synthesizing information for distribution, 6 hours

A multimedia presentation is to be a vehicle for expressing their views.  Students will learn techniques to inform, persuade, advocate or challenge using different distribution channels, a live audience (presentation) and a cyberspace audience (home page) in order to demonstrate their ability to synthesize critical issues.  Students will: - Analyze the audience both live and cyberspace. –Select from a variety of delivery techniques – Organize their ideas using story boarding – Learning Principles of layout and design – Make effective use of sound, graphics animation and special effects to enhance the message. –Use various distribution channels e.g. Presentation Manager softrware and/or web documents.

IV.       Evaluation Methods

1          Class activities and assignments

There will be at least 4 hands on lab projects covering various information services.  They will be completed as homework and turned in for grading using a rubric given. 

2          Multimedia Presentations

            PowerPoint presentation

            Website

Students will formulate and make two formal presentations to both a live and a cyberspace audience on an issue of their choice, using materials harvested from the Internet.  In PowerPoint the emphasis will be on the content.  In the Website the emphasis will be on the structure, and organization and the design elements used.

3 Exams

There will be a midterm and a final exam where students will be evaluation on their understanding of technology and the social, cultural and economic issues covered in class and in their readings.

Minor projects, 10%

Major projects, 30%

Paper, 20%

Quizzes, 10%

Exams, 30%

Grading Scale:  The standard grading scale will be used:

Grading Scale

90 to 100% = A

80 to 89% = B

70 to 79% = C

60 to 69% - D

4          Attendance Policy

The attendance policy will conform to the accepted University wide attendance policy.

V.        Textbooks

Textbooks will be chosen by the professor of record from the current market listings.