COM 495 Social Impact of Mobile Communication FALL 2012 Mondays and Wednesday 9:30am-11:20am CMU 104 Dr.

Katy Pearce kepearce@uw.edu Office hours in CMU 340-E Mondays 12noon-2pm and by appointment (or Skype/Google chat)

Description: This course will examine the social consequences of mobile communication and the role that the technology plays in the reformulation of everyday life for individuals and society. Goals: In this course, we will: Critically read empirical studies and policy papers about information and communication technologies; Discuss empirical studies and policy papers and compare arguments and findings; Learn about academic, professional, and policy approaches to mobile communication; And write about mobile communication. After taking this class, you should be able to: Use theoretical concepts to critique the messages you encounter about mobile communication; Take positions regarding the social effects of mobile communication and defend them by drawing on an established body of scholarly research; Analyze and make more conscious choices about your own use of mobile communication. Course management site: Course readings and communication will be in Canvas. https://canvas.uw.edu. This system may be new to you. If you need help, please visit: https://depts.washington.edu/uwcanvas/help/. Class handouts will be posted here. The gradebook will be maintained but may not always be immediately up to date. Please be patient when waiting for grades to be posted. If you believe a grade posted is inaccurate, please contact Dr. Pearce immediately. Readings: Readings are to be completed before class. You will need to purchase the Ling and Donner book and Wellman and Rainie from the university bookstore or online (Wellman and Rainie is also available via e-book through Amazon or the UW library). They are also available on reserve at the library. Other readings are available in via link or PDF form on Canvas. Course policies: All students are expected to come to class on time, having finished the assigned readings and prepared with questions, viewpoints, or examples to contribute to the discussion. Everyone should pay attention and participate fully in discussions, neither dominating nor allowing others to carry the intellectual load. You can expect to be treated with respect in this class. You are also expected to treat your classmates and instructors with respect. If you are rude or consistently behave in ways that interfere with others ability to learn, you will be asked to leave the classroom. Serious or repeated violations are grounds for academic misconduct charges. All grade concerns should be addressed either during office hours, an appointment, or if it is a very quick matter, just after class. Privacy concerns prevent Dr. Pearce from discussing your grades via email. If you believe you have been graded unfairly or incorrectly, you must bring this to Dr. Pearces attention within one week of the assignment being returned in class. After that week, Dr. Pearce will not review grades that have been assigned.
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Under normal circumstances missed exams cannot be made up. If you know you will be unable to make an exam in advance or encounter an extreme emergency, we may be able to make alternative arrangements IF you contact Dr. Pearce immediately. If you contact Dr. Pearce after missing an exam, she can make no promises. Late assignments will not be accepted without prior approval. Incompletes will be granted only when these three conditions are met: there is a serious emergency, no additional class attendance is necessary to finish the course, and the extension is cleared with Dr. Pearce before the final class period.

Academic integrity: All students are expected to adhere to UWs academic integrity and code of conduct policies This includes plagiarism. This is a serious topic and all assignments will be reviewed for integrity. Please familiarize yourself with these policies. http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/help/academichonesty.php Writing: Much of the grade in this course is based on writing. You are encouraged to take advantage of UWs writing centers. These are places for students to talk about their writing with trained peer consultants. http://depts.washington.edu/writeuw/centers.html Accommodations: Students with disabilities should register with UWs Disability Resources for Students Office and meet with the instructor about accommodations. http://www.washington.edu/students/drs/ Communication and media use This is a mobile communication course. You are expected to communicate and use digital media appropriately and thoughtfully. Media misuse undermines the educational experience in and out of class for all. This means: IN CLASS: Cell phones should be turned off. Laptops and/or tablet computers should be used only to enhance your engagement with the class. If you are not taking notes, referring to the digital readings, or looking up things immediately relevant to what is being discussed and then contributing your findings to discussion, laptops and/or tablet computers should be turned off and put away. Texting, chatting, checking Facebook, doing work for other courses, watching YouTube etc is a distraction not just to you but to everyone else in the room. Please dont do it. Face-to-face chatter is equally problematic. If you need to talk to your classmate during the time that the class meets, demonstrate respect for the rest of us by doing it someplace else. Sleep is great. Get enough at night so you dont need to do it in class. OUTSIDE OF CLASS: Email, phone and other communications with instructors and fellow students should be respectful and professional. Treat these as formal relationships. Your full name should be included. You should have a salutation. The instructor prefers to be called Dr. Pearce or Prof. Pearce. Use correct capitalization, grammar and spelling. Dr. Pearce will try to respond to all emails with 48 hours, do not expect a response before then. Do not expect a response to you evenings, nights or weekends. Keep in mind that emailing an excuse does not mean that the excuse is accepted. The answer to did I miss anything? is always yes. If you are in doubt about your tone, ask yourself: If this message appeared on websites worldwide would it reflect well on me? It happens. All rules regarding academic integrity extend to electronic communication.

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Assignments and evaluation: In this course you have 3 short answer/essay exams (15 points each) and 1 online open book essay exam (10 points). Instead of longer midterms and finals, these 4 shorter exams will evaluation your understanding of 2-3 topics. You will also write 2 reaction papers (15 points each). There will be additional points given for in-class activities. The points total 100, so you may think of these as percentages. One small assignment will require you to tweet a question to one of the authors and use the hashtag #mcom12. A list of authors Twitter handles will be posted on Canvas. Schedule:
M 9/24 Administrative tasks, introductions. Mobile communication in our lives. Will read in class: Bogost, I. (2012). The cigarette of this century. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/the-cigarette-of-thiscentury/258092/ W 9/26 Situating of mobile communication. Ling, R., & Donner, J. (2009). Mobile communication. Cambridge: Polity. Chapter 1 M 10/1 History and current shape of global mobile use. Ling, R., & Donner, J. (2009). Mobile communication. Cambridge: Polity. Chapter 2 W 10/3 M 10/8 W 10/10 Review. Exam 1 (15 points) (short answer essay). Developing world mobile use and digital divide issues. Ling, R., & Donner, J. (2009). Mobile communication. Cambridge: Polity. Chapter 3 M 10/15 Use patterns and convergence. Ling, R., & Donner, J. (2009). Mobile communication. Cambridge: Polity. Chapter 4 Wellman, B., & Rainie, L. (2012). Networked: The new social operating system. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 4 W 10/17 M 10/22 W 10/24 Review. Exam 2 (15 points) (short answer essay). Debates about mobile communication. Ling, R., & Donner, J. (2009). Mobile communication. Cambridge: Polity. Chapter 5 M 10/29
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Personal addressability, co-present, remote interactions.

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Ling, R., & Donner, J. (2009). Mobile communication. Cambridge: Polity. Chapter 6 W 10/31 Mobile relationships. Wellman, B., & Rainie, L. (2012). Networked: The new social operating system. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 5 M 11/5 W 11/7 M 11/12 UW day off W 11/14 Exam 3 (online open book) (10 points) (essays). Watch documentary video for reaction paper assignment. Mobile families. Wellman, B., & Rainie, L. (2012). Networked: The new social operating system. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 6 Siewiorek, D. (2012). Generation smartphone. IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved from http://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/gadgets/generation-smartphone M 11/19 video lecture Mobile work. Wellman, B., & Rainie, L. (2012). Networked: The new social operating system. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 7 Mobile information. Wellman, B., & Rainie, L. (2012). Networked: The new social operating system. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 9 M 11/26 W 11/28 M 12/3 W 12/5 Review. Exam 4 (15 points) (short answer essay). Mobile case studies. Conclusion. Wellman, B., & Rainie, L. (2013). If Romeo and Juliet had mobile phones. Mobile Media and Communication, 1(1). Retrieved from http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/publications/RomeoJuliet/Mobile2a1-final.pdf

W 11/21 video lecture

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Evaluation:
Below expectations In class activities In-class exams Online exam Documentary reaction paper Due 11/14 You will be assigned one of 3 documentaries to watch and write a 2 single spaced page reaction paper about. Reflect upon your own use of mobile communication and how it may contribute (positively and negatively) the issues in the documentary. Due on Canvas (copy and paste text) by 11:59pm. The Real Mobile Phone Wars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQIsLqkuATY Cell Tower Deaths http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/cell-tower-deaths/ Revealing Generation Text: A Documentary http://vimeo.com/25235853 Watch a hour of a TV show or movie either from before 1980 or set before 1980 (like Mad Men), or a fiction short story set before 1980. Take notes on every incident in which you believe mobile communication would have affected the outcome. Write a 2 single-spaced page reaction paper similar to Wellman and Rainie (2013), using at least 5 course concepts, to describe how the plot would have differed with mobile communication. Due on Canvas (copy and paste text) by 11:59pm. Does not write clearly. Organization and style with error. Writes clearly. Organization and style with some error. Writes clearly and persuasively. Organization and style without error. In most class sessions there will be group or individual activities. Meets expectations Exceeds expectations points 1point X 15 15 points X3 10 points X1 15 points

Reaction paper Due 12/10

Does not write clearly. Organization and style with error.

Writes clearly. Organization and style with some error.

Writes clearly and persuasively. Organization and style without error.

15 points

Grading scale
Points earned 100-98 97-96 95-94 93-92
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Grade-Point 4.0 3.9 3.8 3.7

5

91 90-89 88-87 86 85 84 83 82 81 80 79 78 77 76 75 74 73 72 71 70 69 68 67 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 and x < 59

3.6 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.2 3.1 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.0

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