SMAD 408 Syllabus
Fall 2011
3 credits. Offered fall or spring.
Advanced study in converged media production. A senior production studio class focusing on creative solutions for complex communication problems in print, video, and web media. The client-based projects will require creative brainstorming, teamwork, project management, and analysis and criticism in addition to production and distribution. Additional attention to portfolio development. Prerequisites: SMAD 231 and SMAD 302 or SMAD 308 or SMAD 332 or SMAD 341 and senior standing, or permission of the instructor.
Course Information
SMAD 408, Section 1 (Class # 74078)
Converged Media Lab
Fall 2011
Class Meets: TuTh 9:30 – 10:45
Location: Harrison G277
http://drsteveanderson.com/smad-408
3 Credits
Professor
Dr. Steve Anderson
Office: Harrison 0276
Phone: 540-568-3032
Email: anderssd@jmu.edu
Office Hours: By appointment through the SMAD office staff or drop in, if I’m available.
Contacting the Instructor: My preference is for questions to be answered just before, during or immediately following class. Otherwise, email is fine. No phone calls at home.
Goals of the Course
The course aims to have students work in an experiential, project-based setting in teams. The course allows students to apply skills learned in previous SMAD coursework to a project emulating real-world expectations and outcomes. Students will learn to work in teams, assess team member strengths and weaknesses, work with a client (or professor), research audiences and users and manage a large project utilizing multiple media platforms, such as print, video, web and mobile applications. Students will take on leadership roles and manage a staff of students in order to achieve project objectives.
Required Text
* None
Required Supplies & Purchases
* (1) USB Pen Drive (at least 512 megabytes). Write your name on it!
Disability Policy
If you need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, you should contact the Office of Disability Services (Wilson Hall, Room 107, www.jmu.edu/ods, 540-568-6705) if you have not previously done so. Disability Services will provide you with an Access Plan Letter that will verify your need for services and make recommendations for accommodations to be used in the classroom. Once you have presented me with this letter, you and I will sit down and review the course requirements, your disability characteristics, and your requested accommodations to develop an individualized plan, appropriate for SMAD 408.
JMU abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which mandate reasonable accommodations be provided for students with documented disabilities. If you have a disability and may require some type of instructional and/or examination accommodations, please contact me early in the semester so that I can provide or facilitate provision of accommodations you may need. If you have not already done so, you will need to register with the Office of Disability Services, the designated office on campus to provide services for students with disabilities. The office is located in Wilson Hall, Room 107 and you may call 540-568-6705 for more information.
Academic Honesty
Making references to the work of others strengthens your own work by granting you greater authority and by showing that you are part of a discussion located within an intellectual community. When you make references to the ideas of others, it is essential to provide proper attribution and citation. Failing to do so is considered academically dishonest, as is copying or paraphrasing someone else’s work. The consequences of such behavior will lead to consequences ranging from failure on an assignment to failure in the course to dismissal from the university. Because the disciplines of the Humanities value collaborative work, you will be encouraged to share ideas and to include the ideas of others in our papers. Please ask if you are in doubt about the use of a citation. Honest mistakes can always be corrected or prevented.
The JMU Honor Code is available from the Honor Council Web site: http://www.jmu.edu/honor/code.shtml.
Adding/Dropping Classes
Students are responsible for registering for classes and for verifying their class schedules on e-campus. The deadline for adding a Fall Semester class without instructor and academic unit head signatures is Tuesday, September 6. Between Tuesday, September 6 and Thursday, September 15, instructor and academic unit head signatures are required to add a class for the semester. No student will be allowed to register for a Fall Semester class after Thursday, September 15. No exceptions will be made to these deadlines.
W/WP/WF/I
Under extenuating circumstances a student may request an “I” (incomplete) for this course. Extenuating circumstances are usually, but not limited to extreme health conditions. A student has one semester to make up the remaining work in the class or the “I” will revert to an “F” automatically. Once the student has completed the work, the “I” will be removed and a grade will be assigned. The “W” is given prior to the withdrawal date set by the Registrar’s Office. After that date the student will be assigned either a “WF” (withdrawn failing) or “WP” (withdrawn passing) and it is left up to the professor as to which one to assign. Neither designation affects a student’s GPA but will appear on the student’s transcript.
Inclement Weather Policy
The university’s inclement weather policy can be found at: http://www.jmu.edu/JMUpolicy/1309.shtml. In the case of a class delay, any assignment scheduled is due that day. In the case of a class cancellation, any assignment scheduled is due at the beginning of the next scheduled class period. If a test is affected by a cancellation, that test will be given during the next scheduled class period.
Religious Observation Accommodations
All faculty are required to give reasonable and appropriate accommodations to students requesting them on grounds of religious observation. The faculty member determines what accommodations are appropriate for his/her course. Students should notify the faculty by no later than the end of the Drop-Add period the first week of the semester of potential scheduled absences and determine with the instructor if mutually acceptable alternative methods exist for completing the missed classroom time, lab or activity.
Attendance Policy
Any student who does not attend the first two (2) scheduled meetings of the class will be administratively dropped from the class. All students are responsible for verifying the accuracy of their schedules through the web at http://www.jmu.edu/registrar .
Prompt and regular class attendance is crucial to your success in this class and you are expected to attend every session. Class roll will be taken daily at the beginning of class. You will be allowed two (2) absences in this class. Please realize that two absences are not encouraged, but will be accepted without a grade deduction. The third absence will result in the lowering of your final grade by one letter grade, as determined by faculty attendance records. A fifth absence will result in a lowering of your final grade by one additional letter grade. Absences are counted from the first day of class regardless of when you registered.
If you arrive late to class after roll has been taken, it is your responsibility to notify me as such at the end of that class period. Do not fail to tell me, because it is not my responsibility to keep track of who arrives late. If you don’t tell me at the end of the class period, you were not in class.
These absences are intended to accommodate illness, emergencies and all other circumstances. You do not need to contact me if you’re sick, just plan on using one of your two absences. There is no distinction made between “excused” and “unexcused” absences after the first two. All absences beyond two are unexcused at that point.
You are expected to show up for class sessions on time and stay until the end, even if we are in work mode and there is no official lecture.
Assignments and Methods of Evaluation
Convergence Project Proposal & Presentation
Students will be placed into two-person teams with the task of creating a proposal for the web-based project we’ll do in the class this semester. The proposal is due during the first class period of the second week of the semester. The proposal should give an overview of the proposed project, including the following:
- Title of the Project.
- Abstract or Brief Description of the Project and Project Goals.
- Description of the types of content and multimedia to be used.
- If client-based, provide the name, title, email address and phone number of the client.
- Sites researched when coming up with this proposal. These may be sights similar to what you want to see created as to content or multimedia features, or both.
- Audience/Users
During class on the day the proposal is due, each two person team will present to the class the outline of their proposal. Presenters should be ready to take questions from other class members or the professor. At the end of the proposal presentations, students will vote by secret ballot for the project they consider the best. That project will become the basis of the project completed this semester. The professor may invalidate certain projects if deemed to be outside the scope of the learning objectives of the class or if resources or other aspects of the project would make it unsuitable.
Grade Percentage: 10%
Convergence Project
Students will produce multimedia content for a large scale web-based project utilizing text, images, photos, video and other elements. The site must be content rich and useful for a large or significant audience. Students will work in two person teams to develop a site proposal which will compete with other proposed projects from other teams. A single project will be selected for the semester. Students will then work in teams related to their expertise in print, web and video and produce content over the rest of the semester.
Grade Percentage: 70%
WordPress Site
This project requires that you setup/install, configure, customize and implement a WordPress.org site through hosting at 1and1.com. Therefore, you’ll be required to purchase a low-cost hosting account at 1and1.com. Information about the particular hosting package will be provided in class.
You get to decide if the site is for your personal use, client use or for some hypothetical company. If you don’t already have an online portfolio, I would highly recommend you use this project for that purpose.
Project Requirements
– Install the CMS: You will probably need to do a manual install of the CMS at 1and1.com.
– Template Customize: You can start with a template, but change the look enough to indicate you know how to do this. The more you change the original template look, the better.
– Create a multiple page, dynamic site in which users can create, edit and organize content without any knowledge of HTML or CSS.
– Implementation of the following…
– Photo/Image Gallery
– Embedded video (i.e. YouTube or Vimeo)
– Multiple user accounts and privileges.
– User account for the professor. Privileges must include administrator access.
Desirable Elements
– Widgets/Plug-ins: These allow a number of add-ons that extend functionality. In many cases these might fit under the category of social media applications. Credit will be given for those who can implement additional features such as calendars, news feeds, galleries, banner ads, forms, polls, mass emails etc.
Grade Percentage: 20%
Grading
There will be no tests, quizzes, research papers or final exam in this class. Your grade will be based on my assessment of the quantity and quality of your work during the semester. Toward the end of the semester, each student will write a multi-page document outlining the hours they put in (keep a log) and the work they did on the Convergence Project. The document will be due by Monday of the last week of classes, even though some work may yet need to be completed. Each student will also setup a meeting with me to take place during the last week of classes. The meeting will last no more than 15 minutes and you are to describe for me what you did on the Convergence Project during the semester. I will ask you what grade you believe you deserve for the semester. I will consider information from your paper and from the interview before assigning the grade I believe you deserve. Although there will be no final exam, we will meet during the final exam period to present and showcase our completed project to a client or the professor.
Final Exam Period
Attendance is mandatory. The final exam period for Fall 2011 Semester is Thursday, December 15, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
