Last Post

Hello Folks,

This will be my last post.

As of this morning all grades have been entered into D2L. I have added a column in D2L that is a "Final Grade" column. This reflects all of the points you have earned in the class, and as you can see, the class is out of 1,000 points total, though the D2L system reflects 1,005 points (I have given each of you 5 extra credit points). On the syllabus, and at the end of this post, you will find a grade scale. Go ahead and compare your total points accrued to the grade scale to see what your final grade is in the course.

I will enter grades into mysjsu system this weekend, and as I have read on the SJSU website, grades should be available to you for viewing next week at some point.

I very much enjoyed reading the posts and comments for the final week of discussion. One common theme with the posts was about the 12 hour time limit between posts. I usually address this issue early on in the semester so students understand the rationale behind the 12 hour requirement. Here is the explanation:

Let's face it, college students really like to wait until the last minute to get things done, right? As a college student (which wasn't all that long ago), I used to wait until the bitter end to complete assignments. Since the class requires posts and comments in order to simulate face to face conversation, there must be a gap in the time students can post in order to avoid students doing all of the work at the same time and not really processing ideas, theories and topics of discussion. In addition, the 12 hour gap requires students to get at least 1 post in before the end of the week. If no one posted early (and trust me, it does happen), what would you comment on? This can be quite frustrating for students who want to get their work done early in the week. As an online instructor I have explored a number of different posting options, and have collaborated with other online instructors with much more experience than I, and 12 hours seems to be the consensus.

Having said that, I really enjoyed all of the feedback you have given me in during the final discussion week. If you have any questions after Sunday (when I will stop checking the class email address), please contact me at my sjsu.edu email address which I emailed to you last night.

Again, I have really enjoyed sharing the semester with each of you, and hope we will meet again either online or face to face at some point.

The Blogging Prof. signing off for the last time!

Have a wonderful evening, and a very enjoyable Fall semester!

:)
Carol


Grade scale:
A 950-1000
A- 900-949
B+ 870-899
B 840-869
B- 800-839
C+ 770-799
C 740-769
C- 700-739
D+ 670-699
D 640-669
D- 600-639
F 600 and below

Proctor Form

Hello Class,

I have gotten a few questions about the Proctor Form. Here's how it works:

1). Download the form from D2L under "Quizzes and Tests".

2). Complete the final exam, having someone over 21 years old watch you. They are to make sure you are following the SJSU academic integrity policy.

3). After you are done with the final exam, send me your signed proctor form through email. Please scan it or take a high resolution digital picture of the signed form and send it to me through email.

REMINDER: The discussion week ends on August 12th at 11:59pm. Please have all of your comments and blog posts completed by that time. There is NO 12 hour time restriction this week. You should also complete 3 comments on your classmates blogs by 11:59pm on Thursday.

I hope this clarifies some things.

:)
Carol

Week of August 8-12

I'm a little sad that this is our last week of class. I hope you all have had a good time over the summer in Comm 105. This is one of my very favorite classes because it covers a wide variety of theories, ideas and topics. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

Listed below is a summary of what's listed on the Participation and Schedule Pages on D2L for this week:

You have two things to complete this week:
1). Discussion this week - there is NO TIME RESTRICTION this week, but PLEASE please PLEASE complete the discussion as early as possible.

2). Final Exam - see notes below. The final exam will be available on August 11th and 12th, all day. Please take the final exam on either the 11th (Wednesday), or 12th (Thursday). After the final exam closes on the 12th, there will be no other opportunity to take the final exam, so please plan ahead.

***Final exam - Please download the Proctor Form from D2L. You will have a proctor, someone over the age of 21, fill out the form and sign it after they have watched you complete the entire final exam within the allotted time. Send the proctor form to me through email. You can scan the form and email it, or take a high quality digital picture and send it to me in .jpg format.

The final exam will include all of the chapters we have covered throughout the semester. It is open book/open notes.

Discussion: Answer one in each of your three posts:

1). What concept/s in the class have you found most interesting? What was it about that concept/s that you found interesting?

2). What have you learned throughout this class? What was your favorite thing about the class? What was your least favorite thing about the class? How can this class be improved?

3). Pick a favorite concept that we have covered through this course and post about it. Explain the concept. Tell the class why you have chosen this concept, and what it is you like about it?

***Remember to post 3 comments to your colleagues blogs this week. As a reminder, the comments must be about the discussion this week. Posting on a past discussion will NOT count for credit.

***Reminder: This week is the last week I will hold office hours.

Connected full time again

Hello Class,

I am glad to say that I am connected full time again. Yes, that's right, I finally have a stable internet connection.

You wouldn't believe how anxious I get when I'm not connected to the internet. I know, I'm a communication geek. ;)

I must tell you HOW MUCH I have been enjoying your journals over the last week. It is still going to take me a little while to return them because some are quite long, but I should have them back to you this week at some point.

Email me if you have any questions, or want to chat. I should be around.
:)
Carol

Week of August 1st - August 7th

Listed below is a summary of what's listed on the Participation and Schedule Pages on D2L for this week:

***Review Chapter 2 (We are coming back to Chapter 2 because it was not focused on at the start of the semester)

Discussion: Answer one in each of your three posts, at least 12 hours apart:

1). Consider the social constructionist perspective. How do we "build worlds" through communication? Think of some ideas we talk about in our culture that may not exist in other cultures. How do these concepts contribute to our happiness or success (or the lack of these) in our culture?

2). Consider the pragmatic perspective. Does it make sense to think of communication as a patterned interaction? How is communication like a game? How is it different from a game?

3). Pick one concept from Chapter 2 that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

***Remember to post 3 comments to your colleagues blogs this week. As a reminder, the comments must be about the discussion this week. Posting on a past discussion will NOT count for credit.


***REMINDER*** I will not be holding office hours this week due to being out of town. However, I will be checking my email on and off all week given that I will be in an area where there is spotty internet access at best, meaning I may not have reliable internet access everyday. I will try to check my email as often as possible, but I my response time may be delayed a bit this week. I will resume having consistent internet access as of August 6th in the evening.

Grades added to D2L

Hello Folks,

A couple of days ago I updated your grades on D2L. Please look them over and let me know if you have any questions.

As a reminder, starting tomorrow, I will have limited access to the internet. However, I will check my email on and off over the next week. I will resume full-time internet access on August 6th.

Next week is a pretty light week, and I anticipate very few issues. If any arise, please let me know.

Have a great weekend everyone!
:)
Carol

Cyberspace Relationships

While grading posts from last week, I came across this post and comments. Give it a read and let me know what you think. Go ahead and leave a comment on my post here.

A quick note: I have been teaching Comm 105P for a few years now, and rarely do students make the connection that the relationships we have in this class either solely exist (or mostly exist) in cyberspace. What are you thoughts??????


From thelittletomatoe

Interestingly enough, the only cyber space relationships I have ever made are in this class. This being my first online class, I figured we would still have to meet with the teacher from time to time, or come to campus to take exams. As it turns out, I feel I am probably getting to know my fellow students from this class better than many of my other courses because I have a chance to read each and everyone’s point of view on our subject matter. This is great because often when we are physically in class, students don’t always take the opportunity to voice their opinions. The downside to these relationships that we have made in comm. 105p is that we are less likely to keep in touch afterward. We most likely wont recognize each other and say hi while cruising around campus. And unlike other classes where we are physically present, we wont go grab a beer together afterward.

7 comments:

Eleanor Rigby said...

When writing my post I didn’t even think about this class as a cyberspace relationship but it totally is. And I agree with you on the fact that this class lets me get to know my classmates better then a regular seminar class would. Because we all have our blogs under an alias whatever we write is protected so we can be completely honest even though we do not know anyone who is reading our posts. An online classroom setting is definitely more comfortable for me. I am not under the pressures that are presented in a normal classroom setting and unlike formal classes, we all get to communicate with each other instead of just a few people in the front of the class participating.

July 21, 2010 10:54 AM

Sunshine said...

You are right this class has helped to form cyberspace relationships!!! This class is my first time blogging. Like you said we all get an opportunity to have our say and have others view it. This does not happen in regular classroom settings. It is really sad that we will not recognize each other on campus. However, I feel this anonymity factor has allowed more students to participate and give their views without the added pressure of being recognized. I agree with Eleanor this class has given every one an equal opportunity to participate unlike in normal classrooms where the people in the front dominate classroom participation!!!

July 21, 2010 5:14 PM

Sweet Dee said...

I also agree with the previous comments. The fact that this is an online class makes it easier to discuss our opinions honestly. I also think that we get to know each other better because we are so open with our viewpoints.
It is sad that when the class is over we probably won't talk anymore. I have really enjoyed this class and getting to know everyone. I also think that is what makes this class special. We are able to get to know each other on a deeper level than in a seminar class but the downside is that the relationships probably won't continue.

July 22, 2010 4:40 PM

NeneD said...

I love how you used the relationships from this class as your cyber relationships. It didn’t even occur to me that we all are building relationships through our blogs, but we are. I agree with you about feeling like you are getting to know the people in this class better than people in other classes. Although we are not meeting in a classroom and seeing each other every week, we are learning a lot more about each other and we are sharing more information than we would necessarily be sharing in a physical classroom. This brings up a point in which I have thought about many times before. Relationships that are based upon writing, such as letters, emails, or AIM, sometimes get to a deeper level quicker than face to face. I know many people who are able to write their thoughts better than express them when talking to me face to face. It is odd but something that seems to be true, at least from my experience. I have been able to share my opinions on our class subjects much more in this class than I do when I am physically sitting in class. It may be just my personality but it is easier to write and discuss with a computer screen than it is to a whole bunch of faces. Great points! Sorry for my rant. Haha.

July 23, 2010 6:18 PM

MyComm said...

So true! It is very unlikely that I will stop you on campus and say hi because I don't know what you look like. Actually, now that I think about that it is kind or weird. But, I must say that I agree that I feel the same way about getting to know our classmates better online vs. in a classroom. I am normally very reserved about what I say in class compared to our posts. I love that I have the freedom to write what I am really thinking and have to reservations. Well, that's not true. I have many hestitations about what I write in my posts. :)

July 23, 2010 10:16 PM

Abraham Rademacher said...

Obviously you've struck a cord with the members of this class by the amount of posts to your comment :) I too never considered this class as an example of purely cyberspace relationships, but it obviously is a great one.
One possible explanation for the quality of relationships formed in our class, as compared to conventional classes, is the thoughtfulness of the responses. In a typical classroom discussion we need to respond on the spot. Conversely, in this class we have more time to construct a thoughtful response. I believe it is the quality of the responses that give us deeper insight to one another. I do however feel, as you do, that these relationships will likely only last as long as the class. It seems that f2f is needed for truly lasting relationships.

Submitting Journals

Another one of your brilliant colleagues has asked for clarification about how to submit the journals. Here is the info. on that:

1). All journals should be copied/pasted into one document in number order. See the Schedule page on D2L for that order. This is the order that you completed them. No need to include a cover sheet for each journal. Just list your name at the top with the information requested in the left hand, or right hand corner. For example, you would put your name, event name, date/time, location in the upper left or right hand corner of the page. Make sure that these 4 lines are single spaced rather than double spaced.

The reason why each assignment said to have a cover page is because this assignment was adapted from a previous assignment for Comm 105P. The former assignment asked each student in class to grade other students journals. However, this assignment is a bit different during the summer, as you know. I will be grading all of your journal entries.

2). Please insert page numbers by using the 'page number' function in word, rather then inserting them manually. You can do this by opening up your document, go up to 'insert', and click 'page numbers'. Then, choose where you want the page numbers.

3). Title your journal like this: CarolPerez_Journal.rtf In other words, name_journal.rtf or Rich Text Format.

4). Only 1 reference page at the very end of your journal is necessary. Of course use the course text, but also add any outside sources you have used.

REMINDER: The journal assignment is due by Thursday night at 11:59pm.

Journal Grading 'Rubric'

As promised, listed below is how I will evaluate your journal assignments. As previously stated (the post below this one), I will not use the same rubric as I did for the first assignment, however, it is similar.

When the assignment calls for 'essay format', which each of the assignments in this course have, you are talking about fairly common attributes, correct? So what does essay format mean? Cohesiveness, writing style, using an intro and conclusion, editing (grammar, punctuation, etc...). There are also other things to consider such as meeting the requirements of the assignment sheet, applying/explaining course concepts well, presenting a sound analysis, and so on.

Without further ado, here is the grading aspects for the journal assignment:

1). Met the requirements of the assignment: (see assignment sheet) 50 points

2). Applied course concepts well (at least 4 for each) 50 points

3). Analysis - weaved in course concepts and applied them to the event, drawing global conclusions 50 points

4). Used proper essay format (intro/body/conclusion) 25 points

5). Presented a cohesive essay (using proper transition sentences between ideas) 25 points

6). Editing (grammar, punctuation, word choice, etc...) 10 points

7). Used proper writing style per the writing guide course text, and properly cited sources 15 points

Overall grade out of 225 points.

I sure hope this helps! Let me know if there are any questions about this.

Journal Grading

Hello Students,

One of your brilliant colleagues brought the idea of grading the journals to my attention. I will NOT be using the same grading rubric I used for the Cultural Event Paper, rather I will be using a different grading rubric/grading scheme. I will post to my blog either tonight or tomorrow morning how I will be grading the journals so you can do one last edit.

I hope this helps!

Until later......

Week of July 25th - July 31th

Listed below is a summary of what's listed on the Participation and Schedule Pages on D2L for this week:

***Read Chapter 13 - Methods of Discovery

***There is a Quiz this week on Chapters 11 & 13. Please go to D2L to take the quiz.

***Revise Journal this week: As a reminder, all journal entries will be turned in on Thursday, July 29th by 11:59pm. Go ahead and submit the journal early if you'd like. Please do not worry about attaching a title page to each journal entry, but include the required information such as the date/time/duration/location, etc.... at the top of each journal entry. Be sure to submit the journal in 1 document only, not 5 separate documents.

Discussion: Answer one in each of your three posts, at least 12 hours apart:

1). Which of the research methods listed in Table 13.3 seem the most interesting? Assume you want to study some aspect of deception. Frame a research question. Which method would you choose to answer the question. Why?

2). What are some of the moral dilemmas that face ethnographers? How would you resolve them?

3). Pick one concept from Chapter 13 that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

***Remember to post 3 comments to your colleagues blogs this week. As a reminder, the comments must be about the discussion this week. Posting on a past discussion will NOT count for credit.


***REMINDER*** I will be out of town starting on Friday, July 30th and will return on August 6th. However, I will be checking my email on and off throughout my travels, given that I will be in an area where there is spotty internet access at best, meaning I may not have reliable internet access everyday. I will try to check my email as often as possible, but I my response time may be delayed a bit this week. I will resume having consistent internet access as of August 6th in the evening.

What it's about

One of my goals in this course, from the start, has been to reinforce the course concepts we have covered in this class. As a student at SJSU a number of years ago, I found that I often did not apply course concepts to everyday life. Instead, the class covered theory, and from the basis of theory, the students engaged in research theory discussion. There was some application of course, but in my opinion, not nearly enough.

I understand that some of the concepts in this course are review for some students. However, is my hope that you will come out of the class remembering the concepts we covered, even years later.

Of course I remember the concepts I learned throughout my education, but the concepts I remember the most and still apply today are the concepts that I applied in some way. It is my hope that you all will come out of Comm 105 with new experiences that have applied to the course concepts.

Here is a reminder about what this class and assignments are all about:

1). The course objectives give you opportunity to see what other folks in the class are writing about and discussing.

2). Some of these assignments allows you to give your opinion about your colleagues writing.

3). The journal assignment give you real world experience applying concepts.

4). Each of these assignments are intellectually challenging.

5). The assignments increases diversity in the class on multiple levels.

6). Each assignment provides meaningful feedback, not only from the instructor, but from others in the class, thus diversifying understanding!

7). The assignments establish an atmosphere of community and enhanced learning.

8). Reinforces relevant course material from a number of different perspectives.

9). Helps you analyze complex and abstract ideas as presented by others relating to course material/content.

10). Applies course content in a real-world setting.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today!

Grades posted for the week of 7/11-7/17

Hello Folks! I hope tonight finds you well.

Just a quick note to let you know that I have posted the grades for the discussion week of 7/11-7/17 to D2L. Please log onto D2L and take a look at your grade. If you have any questions about it, please email me immediately.

As a reminder, you should be checking your grades consistently. Please do not wait until the end of the semester to ask about a particular grade or discussion week. It is much easier to keep track as the semester progresses.

Have a great night!
:)
Carol

Cultural Event Paper Note

Just a quick note:

I am L-O-V-I-N-G your Cultural Event Papers! Keep up the good work!!!!

I should have them returned by the end of the week. You will receive a grading sheet (pdf document) through email once I have finished grading all of the papers.

I can't wait to read your journals. Remember, completed journals are due by Thursday, July 29th @ 11:59pm. You are more than welcome to email them to me early if you'd like!

Until later......

Week of July 18th - July 24th

Listed below is a summary of what's listed on the Participation and Schedule Pages on D2L for this week:

***Read Chapter 8 - Organizational Communication
***Read Chapter 11 - Communication and the Mass Media

***There is a Quiz this week on Chapters 6 & 8. Please go to D2L to take the quiz.

***Complete Journal #5. As a reminder, all journal entries will be turned in on Thursday, July 29th by 11:59pm. Go ahead and submit the journal early if you'd like.

Discussion: Answer one in each of your three posts, at least 12 hours apart:

1). Have you made friendships that exist exclusively in cyberspace? If so, how are they different from f2f relationships? If you have no formed cyber relationships, why not?

2). Do you agree with Marshall McLuhan that the medium is the message, i.e., that the format or logic of a medium is as important as its content and, in fact, determines what content will be broadcast through the channel? Evaluate his idea that television is a cool medium.

3). Pick one concept from Chapter 8 that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

***Remember to post 3 comments to your colleagues blogs this week. As a reminder, the comments must be about the discussion this week. Posting on a past discussion will NOT count for credit.

Interpersonal Communication

"Our survival as social beings depends in large part on our interpersonal communication skills"

Interpersonal Communication theory is one of my favorite aspects of communication studies. When I was at school in the Midwest (for merely a semester), we conducted an experiment that went against interpersonal norms. For instance, we got in an elevator and faced the wrong direction to see how people would react. We also had 2 students go into a swanky department store, one dressed in sweats and the other dressed nicely, to see how the store attendants would treat each 'customer'. The results were as you would expect. The elevator riders became very uncomfortable when someone was facing the wrong direction, and the department store associates ignored the student dressed in sweats and offered help to the person dressed nicely.

Interpersonal communication has many facets. Your book covers dyadic communication, managing interpersonal communication, relational development (stages in intimate dyad's) which also includes Duck's Relational Dissolution Model (quite an interesting section), increasing relational skills (disclosure - always a great topic to study), managing interpersonal conflict, and becoming a more responsible communicator.

This chapter is, by far, one of my favorites in the book. Each of us engages in dyadic communication on a continual basis, and understanding some of these concepts might help to improve those relationships.

Personal Note: You all can probably see my passion when it comes to communication, but there is something special about interpersonal communication that draws me in. These are the weeks I wish that we were able to meet in person. Discussing personal experiences with interpersonal communication, conflict, etc... can really draw a class together.

When I was a graduate student at SJSU a number of years ago, I took Shawn Spano's graduate seminar on interpersonal communication. We studied many theories, covered many topics and shared many personal experiences. One of the major course assignments was about mediation (yet another facet of interpersonal communication). We had to mediate a disagreement between two people, and write a research paper about it. That assignment was one of the most interesting assignments I had completed in graduate school. It really showed the inner workings of a close, intimate relationship between two people, and it helped them to workout some issues they were encountering.

As you can see, interpersonal communication has many different facets. I hope that you all enjoy reading and discussing this week. I can't wait to read your posts and comments.

Wrap Up of Last Week's Discussion

I wanted to take a second to commend you all on a great discussion last week. As I was reading over the posts and comments, I noticed the richness and diversity of perspectives in the class. Each person had such a different perspective, and a different example when it came to Ruth Benedict's idea that we are 'creatures of our culture'. It is exciting to read about diverse perspectives and ideas, especially from my brilliant students. ;)

Keep up the good work!

Week of July 11th - July 17th

Listed below is a summary of what's listed on the Participation and Schedule Pages on D2L for this week:

***Read Chapter 6 - Interpersonal Communication
***Read Chapter 7 - Group Communication

***There is a Quiz this week on Chapters 7 & 12. Please go to D2L to take the quiz.

***Complete Journal #4. As a reminder, all journal entries will be turned in at the end of the semester.

Discussion: Answer one in each of your three posts, at least 12 hours apart:

1). Which pattern (rigid complementarity, competitive symmetry, or submissive symmetry) do you think would be the most difficult to change? Why? Which would be the most damaging to a relationship? Which would be the most potentially damaging to the self-esteem of the individuals involved?

2). Think about the filters you use to eliminate people from consideration as potential romantic partners. What characteristics or behaviors lead you to judge others as unattractive? Does Duck's theory make sense to you? Have you ever eliminated someone by using a sociological or pre-interaction cue only to reconsider them based on interaction and cognitive cues?

3). Pick one concept from Chapter 7 that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

***Remember to post 3 comments to your colleagues blogs this week. As a reminder, the comments must be about the discussion this week. Posting on a past discussion will NOT count for credit.

Grades Posted

I will post grades from the discussion week of June 27th - July 3rd later this afternoon. Check D2L this afternoon for your grade, and as always, please email me if you have any questions about your grade.

My goal in this class is total transparency with grading, so make sure to email me if there are ever any questions.

Good luck on your midterm!

Cultural Event Paper - Due Tomorrow

Hello Folks!

The Cultural Event Paper is due by tomorrow. Once the deadline passes, I will respond to each individual submission, most likely on Saturday morning.

Please send your paper early to avoid the late submission penalty. Email the paper as a .rtf (rich text format) file to the class email address.

REMINDER: Please have the midterm completed by Saturday at 11:59pm.

Let me know if you have any questions about either of these.

Have a fabulous evening!
:)
Carol