Goals
We’ll seek to understand various new media technologies and topics by exploring both all the amazing things that technology could lead to (Utopia) and all the horrible things that could come from it (Dystopia).
Your group can pick a target year between 5-20 years from now (2025-2040)—far enough out that we’re beyond the obvious and have enough time for social change to accompany technological changes, but not so far out that we’re into the realm of science fiction.
Submission
Submit this form once per team to submit links to your video (uploaded to YouTube as Unlisted or Public) and your online thing: https://forms.gle/nu9eiYYEuAP1JXrX6
Submit this form once per team member for your peer evals: https://forms.gle/ESgsLXBDJEjkXv3A7
Grading (15 points total)
Presentation video, 6 points
Create a 5-minute or less video.
- 6: Polished, practiced, and creative / engaging
- 5: Lacking in one or more of the above
- 4: Lacking in two or more of the above
- 3: Coherent, but barely
- 0: Hard to watch
Photos from booth presentations
Online artifact, 6 points
Make an online thing (Medium.com post, Google Doc / Slides, etc.) that presents your work in a compelling, polished fashion.
- 6: Super-polished + super-thoughtful
- 5: Still good, but lacking in either polish or thoughtfulness
- 4: Complete, but not terribly polished or thoughtful
- 3: Something’s there, but it’s super rough
- 0: Nothing turned in
Peer evaluations, 3 points
Everyone within your group will complete a brief online peer evaluation of everyone else in your group.
- 3: All good, no complaints
- 2: Mostly good, but some issues
- Participated, but barely
- 0: Who was s/he again?
Submission: Google Form
Criteria for success
Successful projects will, in both the video presentation and the online artifact, demonstrate:
- Thorough research1 into the current state and future trajectory of your selected topic
- Clear thinking about the future of your topic supported by your research alongside information and concepts from class
- Analysis from multiple perspectives (technological, social, cultural, ethical, economic, etc.)
- Integration between all portions of the project2
- A sufficient level of polish3
- A sense of fun, play, and creativity
Group roles
You’ll be working in a group of about 10. The following are suggested—but not required—roles. How you divvy up the work is up to you.
Project coordinator: Works with everyone in the group to coordinate everything that happens into a single, cohesive project.
Research coordinator: Working with project coordinator, divvies up, coordinates, and pulls together research
Researcher: Carries out and reports back project research
Online thing coordinator: Responsible for ultimate success of the online thing. Coordinates research, original thought, and more.
Online thing copyeditor: Responsible for final quality of written portion of online thing.
Online thing writer / creator: There might be more than one of these. Responsible for writing a portion of the online thing.
Video presentation creative director: Responsible for pulling together the entirety of the video presentation.
Video presentation producer: Responsible for coordinating the logistics of the video production process (who’s filming / creating what when, editing, etc.).
Video presentation talent: Acts in the video, records a voiceover, creates graphics, etc.
Director of fun: Adds fun to all of the above.
Timeline
Friday 11/20 – Selection of group topic and roles
Monday 11/23 – In-class work day (optional)
Monday 11/30 – In-class work day
Wednesday 12/2 – In-class work day
Friday 12/4 – In-class work day
Monday 12/7: Utopia / Dystopia Day (presentations; projects due)
Potential topics
Apple
Smartphones
Augmented / virtual reality
Google
AI (Artificial Intelligence) + ML (Machine Learning)
Self-driving cars, drones, + other robots
Facebook + social media
Startups + Unicorns
News
Amazon (+ commerce)
The cloud + big data
Voice + smart home / Internet of Things
Selected topics
1:50 Mazurek: Amazon + commerce
2:35 Mazurek: AR / VR
3:20 Mazurek: Facebook + social media
1:50 Moncada: News
2:35 Moncada: Voice + smart home / IoT
3:20 Moncada: Google
Using both hyperlinked sources and signal phrases↩
I.e., the video presentation and online artifact read as an integrated whole, not disparate elements duct taped together at the last minute↩
The video presentation is cleanly edited and a clear effort has been made to create a product without distracting issues, while the online artifact has been edited, consistently designed, etc.↩