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TWC598

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Due Date:

Topic approval: no later than March 12
Blog and essay due: Tuesday, May 4 (last day of classes)

Beginning Week 7, we will begin exploring Digital Rights Management (DRM) and its impact on information. Each of you will be responsible for setting up and maintaining a blog on some aspect of DRM for the remainder of the course. The blog will represent the major project for this semester.

The topic of your blog can be any aspect or issue related to DRM of your choosing. The one criteria in selecting a topic is that it must in some way reflect how DRM impacts information, we are not interested in the details of DRM technologies. So, for example, acceptable topics may be: fair use, censorship, impact on business profit (or loss). Unacceptable topics would be: metadata schemes for content management, authorization protocols, secure payment options. You must submit your topic to me for approval by the end of Week 8 (March 12th). Each blog must be on a unique topic, so if there is an issue that you are particularly interested in, submit it early.

There are a great many blogs and websites already in existence about DRM. Our purpose is not to reinvent the wheel. Rather, as you are considering your topic and how you will select material and compose your posts, remember that our aim is provide information and analysis within context of this course.

Depending on topics selected and timing, we may use individual blogs as supplements or replacements for readings and/or other coursework.

The software we will use this semester is Blogger. Blogger is free blogging software, easy to access and use. No knowledge of HTML or programming is required. Prior to Week 7, we will review the steps to set up your blog and the conditions of use for the software.

In addition to your blog, you will write a 3-5 page reflective essay to be submitted on May 4th. Your essay will be an analysis of the process you used to select materials for your blog and your learning experience about your topic.

Grading Criteria (a grading rubric will be posted later in the semester):

• Blog: 20 pts
  • Beginning Week 8, you must include at least one new post to your blog.
  • The content of your blog is completely at your discretion (following the conditions of use for the software and keeping within your topic, of course). Your post may include your own analysis of how course readings or discussions impact your topic (but are not to repeat a post to the Discussion Forum). Or you may include links to other documents or websites that you find through your own research.
  • Your posts should include some thought and analysis rather than a simple link to a document or other source of information. For example, if you are posting about an article you've found, provide some background. Why did you select the paper to be included in your blog, how does it relate to the topic of your blog, why is it significant?
    
• Reflective essay: 10 pts
  • Your reflective essay should incorporate evaluation of your own learning while creating and maintaining your blog. What process did you use for selecting materials for your blog? How did selecting and writing the material for your weekly posts aid you in learning about the topic (or not)? What did you learn about information as a result of working on your blog? What worked well, what didn't work at all?