PAC: The Internet and American Life

Hyper-Syllabus
University of Illinois at Springfield
Spring 2004 -- Online

Course Description

With far-ranging influences on commerce, education, news, entertainment, information dissemination and much more, the Internet has had an enormous impact on American society over the past decade.  This course examines that impact with an emphasis on planning and public policy.

Objectives
Upon completion of the course, students will:

• Understand the basic technology of the Internet; how it works
• Understand the basic demographics of Internet use in the U.S.
• Understand the social impact of the Internet in American society
• Be able to discuss social, ethical and political issues surrounding advent of the Internet
• Be able to discuss and the potential of the Internet to affect American society and policy
• Be able to propose a new or changed policy to improve some aspect of the way in which Internet is used in America
• Be able to discuss the future and potential of the Internet in America

Course Format
Students will use the Internet to access weekly lectures, required readings, required discussion sessions, and present the final project via Blackboard.

Online office hours will be kept by the instructor using the AOL Instant Messenger with the logon "RaySchroed" – Email is always welcome and response promised within 24 hours.

Reasonable accommodations are available for students have a documented disability. Please notify your instructor during he first week of class of any accommodations needed for the course. Late notification may cause the requested accommodations to be unavailable. All accommodations must be approved through the Office of Disability Services (ODS) in the Student Life Building, room 11 http://www.uis.edu/disabilityservices/ .

 

Assignments

• Discussion Board – Each week a discussion question or case study will be posed on the discussion board.  Some weeks, a specialist in the topic of the week will join our discussions.  Student participation in weekly discussions and assignments will be presented on the Discussion Board WEEKLY POSTINGS REQUIRED

• Site Reviews Review ten WWW sites from the online reading list that deal with the area or topic you have chosen for your final project (web form linked above) DUE week 8

• Research Plan -- develop a brief research process report describing HOW you will conduct research on a topic of your choice, including sources to be consulted and area of policy change to be proposed (to be posted on the Discussion Board) DUE week 12

• Final Project Research Report-- A research term paper on a public policy issue chosen among those we cover in the class on Internet in American society, such as (but not limited to) the digital divide, Internet in education, online privacy, Internet taxes, online commerce, security in online communication and transactions, digital democracy, Internet and terrorism, online health resources, and music downloading.  The 8 to 10 page equivalent paper is to conclude with a recommendation for a new or changed public policy to address the issue.  The policy can be a new law, new service, altered mode of use, or other policy by government, institutions, businesses, or individuals.  An annotated bibliography is to be included with at least eight credible sources.  -- must be posted on the Discussion Board for peer discussion and review DUE week 16

Grading

Final grades will be determined in the following manner:

Instructor

Ray Schroeder
Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning

 

Readings

 

Our Weekly readings will come from the long-running series of comprehensive surveys of the Internet in American Life, conducted by the Pew Charitable Trust:  http://www.pewinternet.org/index.asp

Recommended reading sites (a good place to start in seeking the ten sites to review):

1.     All About the Internet – ISOC

2.     Annenberg Report on American Public and Online Privacy  

3.     Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University

4.     Center for Communications Policy, UCLA

5.     Center for Digital Democracy

6.     Center for Information Technology and Society, Univ. California, Santa Barbara

7.     Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO), UC Irvine

8.     Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany

9.     Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility

10.  Cyberspace Law and Policy, UCLA

11.  Democracy Online Project, George Washington University

12.  Digital Divide Network

13.  e-Lab, Vanderbilt University (formerly Project 2000)

14.  Georgetown Health Privacy Project

15.  Georgetown University Privacy Study

16.  Harvard Information Infrastructure Project

17.  HomeNet Project, Carnegie Mellon University

18.  Indiana University Center for Social Informatics

19.  Internet and Public Policy Project, Georgia Institute of Technology

20.  Internet Democracy Project

21.  Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

22.  Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan

23.  MIT Communications Forum, MIT

24.  Online Policy Group

25.  People for Internet Responsibility

26.  Program on Internet & Telecoms Convergence, MIT

27.  Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies

28.  Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute, University of Texas, Austin

29.  U.S. Internet Congressional Caucus

30. WebUse Project, University of Maryland

Class Schedule

DUE 8am on:

Week ONE

Introduction to the Internet

o      Brief History of Internet

o      The Animated Internet

o      How the Internet Works – from How Stuff Works
 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week TWO 
The Ever-Shifting Internet Population

o      Introduction to the Pew Charitable Trust Internet in American Life Project

o      A New Look at Access and Digital Divide

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week THREE
Counting on the Internet

o      Most Find Key Information Online

o      The Use of Internet at Major Life Moments  
 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week FOUR
Campaigning online

o      Citizens, Portals and the 2002 Election Online

o      Political Sites in the 2002 Election  
 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week FIVE
The Rise of the E-citizen

o      How people use government web sites

o      Digital Town Hall
 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week SIX
The Broadband Difference

o      How Broadband Changes Online Behavior

o      Broadband Adoption at Home  
 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week SEVEN

Email at Work

o      How Email Affects Productivity

o      Online Job Hunting  
 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week EIGHT

SITE REVIEWS DUE

Online Banking

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Spring Break

Week NINE
The Internet Goes to College
 

o      How Students Live the Future Online

o      College Students and the Web  

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week TEN
Internet in K-12 Education

Digital Disconnect – the Widening Gap between Students and Schools

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week ELEVEN
Internet Health Resources

o      Searching for Health Online  

o      How Health Sites Are Used When Someone Is Sick
 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week TWELVE

RESEARCH PLANS DUE

Parents Online

How the Internet Impacts Parents and their Families  
 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week THIRTEEN

Music Downloading

 Music, File sharing, and Copyright

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week FOURTEEN

Terrorism and Online Use

o      How Americans Used the Internet for Information, Grieving, and Debating after 9/11

o      One Year Later  

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week FIFTEEN
The Future of the Internet

http://www.phrenicea.com/

http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1307/MR1307.sum.html

http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/june98/technology.html

http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story127237.html

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st+century 

Complete online readings and visit discussion board for Question of the Week

Week SIXTEEN

FINAL PAPERS DUE

Peer Evaluations of Class Papers
Class Evaluations