PROFESSOR
- Jon Ippolito, Professor of New Media
- 244 Boardman
- Zoom / Slack
Please use Slack direct message to contact me–it’s private and much faster than email
INSTRUCTOR
- Sean Lopez
- Interdisciplinary Studies PhD candidate
- IMRC grad labs
- Zoom / Slack–you can send me a direct message
- email: sean.lopezATmaine.edu
LOGISTICS
- Estabrooke 130, Tues/Thurs 2-3:15 pm
- Remote–if needed via Zoom
- 3 credit hours
- Fri 9 am-10:50 am: Estabrooke Hall 130
- Fri 1pm-2:50pm: Ferland Egr / Edu Design Ctr 337
- Jon Ippolito:
T/TH 3:30-4:30 Boardman Lab, or via Zoom - Slack anytime
- Sean Lopez:
In lab or by appointment or office hours
OVERVIEW
Examines the goals and impacts of New Media technologies. Topics include how design choices respond to and influence our bodies, our communities including our political and economic structures, and ecological systems. Focus on how humane design choices enable us to create a healthier and more sustainable world.
While hands-on design projects using previous NMD class skills will be regularly assigned, this is also a writing intensive class with reading, discussion, regular posting to class website and personal portfolio in wordpress.com. Budget your time to succeed.
MATERIALS
- Website: http://jolineblais.net/nmd200/ You MUST be logged in to see ALL class content.
- Login: http://jolineblais.net/nmd200/wp-login.php/
- Texts, video and other materials via website
- Your own FREE (DONOT sign up for the PAID version) WordPress.com account/NMD Portfolio for drafting, revising and publishing your writing. You will later be migrating this content to your own professional portfolio.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Recognize critical issues relevant to design and evaluation of New Media technology.
- Learn to incorporate wholistic design in your creative and technical work
- Apply best practices design strategies to create work leading to a healthy sustainable world that reflects your values.
- Think critically & creatively about benefits and dangers of the New Media technologies you are exploring and how their use influences cultural, political and eco/nomic outcomes.
- Give helpful feedback in discussion and writing, work in peer environments, and collaborate in teams.
- Create a portfolio for aggregating your work across New Media courses.
- Publish your work and projects in your own portfolio, to improve career prospects
- Contribute to the social media culture of the department with contributions to the NMD Website & its social media outlets to build career networks.
WRITING INTENSIVE OUTCOMES
- Think critically: Understand, summarize, synthesize, and critique course material using informal and formal writing.
- Practice writing: as an essential tool for learning course material.
- Persuade: Craft a central argument and claims in writing assignments, integrating and organizing evidence to support claims.
- Revise: Compose multiple drafts to revise and improve writing.
- Give and use feedback: from faculty and/or peers during the revision process.
- Cite sources: accurately.
GRADING
Avoid missing any quizzes or assignments. Any missed work = 0, and that can really bring down your grade and give a poor reflection of the overall quality of your work.
Make up work: Life happens, and sometimes it’s more important than school. For these occasions, you will have 1-2 “freebies”, which are opportunities to turn in late work, without an excuse. Do not use these unless you have a serious issues–save them for when you might need them.
- 30% Weekly design and writing tasks
Posted to BOTH class website (grades shown in comments after your post) AND your portfolio (graded twice during course at midterm time & end of semester), - 15% Weekly quizzes
Great way to prep for class and raise your grade (or lower it if you skip or fail); these are 60 minute, 1 attempt “open book” random quizzes.
Do NOT open quiz until ready to take it–after all readings are done. Final exam added to this if needed. - 15% each Project 1, 2, 3 (Oct 3, Nov 14, Dec 13)
- 10% WordPress Portfolio (Oct 17, Dec 15)
- Class participation/attendance: Up to +/- 5 points on final grade
Class participation will include attendance, as well as your efforts during class work, and lab, and your helpful feedback to classmates on Slack. If you are shy, reach out via Slack, and do ask us for ways to help you chime in. eg giving tech assistance to fellow students a few times during class can make up for many class comments.
Feedback: part of your class/lab grade depends on this contribution to the class and to your peers. Credit comes from both in-class/zoom comments, Slack feedback, and WordPress assignment comments. Practice giving honest, helpful and supportive feedback. A simple model is to say what you genuinely appreciate and then mention something that isn’t working so well for you or that confuses you. Invite the other person to improve.
FINAL
There will be no final exam if your quiz average is 85 or above. Final exam will cover any quiz questions from previous quizzes.
Class may select best final projects for showing during Mid Year New Media Night.
It is easy to earn a B in this class with consistent effort, it is also easy to fail the class if you miss classes/labs, miss making up work, just do the bare minimum, or do not work consistently. My goal—and that of your classmates— is to help you earn the best grade you can:
- A Outstanding work that goes above and beyond class requirements, generous contribution to improvement of your own and other student work, robust contribution to class and peers
- B Very good work fulfilling all class requirements, clear contribution to improvement of your own and other student work, robust contribution to class and peers
- C Good work without much improvement from initial class assignments, minimal contribution to class or peers; ie this is the grade for just “doing most of the work in a mediocre fashion”
- D Just getting most of the work done, but without much learning, contribution or improvement. Many missing assignments, low or missing quizzes, poor projects.
- F No evidence of learning from posted work, projects or quizzes; substantial missing or failing work.
Course Expectations
Completing work
My main expectations for the class are that you do the work as best you can and keep up. Even partial work is better than no work or late work, since you will get a few choices of projects to revise. While quality is important, it is more important to keep up, and perhaps revise or drop any low grades. Assignments have clear logged due dates on the class website, and you will lose points for unexcused late work. I will also factor in unexpected individual circumstances where needed..
Attendance
Factored into your grade–see above. For medical, family or school events, you may request to do make up work at my discretion.
Talk to me beforehand if you know you’ll have to miss time in class. I will work with you as best I can to support you if I see evidence of responsibility and effort.
Behavior
Encourage diversity of thoughtful viewpoints. This means telling your truth and doing so in ways that are constructive and supportive. Respect professor, guests, and classmates with clear attention and engagement, and give thoughtful, genuine feedback designed to encourage growth.
Equipment
Have your computer and/or whatever you need to enable you to work during every class. Phones will NOT be sufficient for class work.
If conditions are safe, you may make use of the various equipment and labs on campus, including IMRC, Focus Ring/Stillwater, SCIS labs and any other available resource you need.
Personal constraints
See me if you have an especially difficult personal constraint–such as your own illness, or children or parents you need to care for. I may not be able to help, but I can probably direct you to someone who can. Students with disabilities can also go directly to Services for Students with Disabilities (581-2319). I do not hold any personal circumstance against you in terms of grading (though I cannot credit you for work not done) and will work with you to achieve your best work.
Don’t wait until these constraints affect your class work, however. Try to alert me to any impending or disruptive issues before and as they happen, so I can do my best to get you the support you need (and have paid for) to get over those common life challenges.
Register to Vote
Voting is one of the key powers you have to shape your future. Don’t give away your power.
For information about voting–how to vote, how to register, absentee ballots, see https://umaine.edu/studentlife/uvote/
Covid 19
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The virus is transmitted person-to-person through respiratory droplets that are expelled when breathing, talking, eating, coughing, or sneezing. Additionally, the virus is stable on surfaces and can be transmitted when someone touches a contaminated surface and transfers the virus to their nose or mouth. When someone becomes infected with COVID-19 they may either have no symptoms or symptoms that range from mild to severe and can even be fatal. During this global pandemic, it is imperative that all students, faculty, and staff abide by the safety protocols and guidelines set forth by the University to ensure the safety of our campus. All students are encouraged to make the Black Bear Cares Pact to protect the health of themselves, the health of others, and the College of Our Hearts Always.
Black Bears Care Pact: https://umaine.edu/return/black-bears-care/
More information see: UMaine Covid 19 policy
UMaine Policies
• Academic Honesty
• Students Accessibility Services Statement
• Course Schedule Disclaimer
• Observance of Religious Holidays/Events
• Sexual Discrimination Reporting
Additional Policies
• Student Conduct Expectations
• Classroom Civility
• Inclusive and Non-sexist Language
• Copyright Notice for Materials Accessible through the Course Website
• Contingency Plans in the Event of an Epidemic
Syllabus Disclaimer
In order to best accommodate student projects and course goals as well as any Covid 19 issues, the format, schedule or content for this course may be modified. In addition, student input may alter the content and direction of our work, and I will adjust to make the course as relevant to our mutual learning goals as possible. In either event, you will be provided an updated schedule and/or syllabus that will supersede this version.