Your final project must include three parts:
1. A written script for a short lecture. Your lecture should be between 2000 and 2500 words long. Your lecture is not just a recitation of facts. You’re providing information on a topic, but you’re also trying to make a point about it. Think about it as the “take-away” from the lecture. You should aim to have 1 to 2 takeaway points for the reader of the lecture. That point should be something you explicitly bring up (that means you actually tell us what’s important) and you should explain why that take-away is so vital.
A short presentation to accompany that lecture. Just as you did with the Obsolete Technology project, you’ll want to pay attention to the polish and refinement of that presentation.
An activity that will encourage a deeper understanding of the topic. Your activity should be presented in two separate pieces (though it can be turned in as one document).
Part # 1: An in-depth explanation of what you hope to have participants gain from this activity. How does it deepen or complicate their understanding of the topic? Why did you choose this particular activity instead of something else? This section should be 2 – 3 well developed paragraphs. It is better to overexplain than underexplain!
Part # 2: An activity instruction sheet. Your activity must be related to your lecture topic. It should help the participant think about your topic more carefully and thoughtfully. You will be responsible for developing and designing the one to two-page document that actually explains the activity to a participant. This instruction sheet needs to the outline all the steps of the activity, including any materials needed to complete it.
A Note About Activities: A good activity is going to be more than “discuss in small groups.” In general, your activity should end with your participant producing something. That might be a body of research, some sort of reflection or record of their experiences, a physical or digital object, etc.
For example, if your topic was on the pollution discarded electronics can cause, you could have your participants do quick research on what recycling options are available in their community and how to access them. You could then ask them to come up with an action plan for recycling a device they currently own.
Topic:
You can go all the way back to an innovation from Bells Labs, you can study a game, you can look at social media, or just about anything else we have covered.
This project will require that you do research and that you make an argument about your chosen topic. In the same way that you worked on the position paper, you’ll want to develop a specific argument about a topic we’ve covered. You’ll do research to support your position and you’ll carefully cite your sources. I strongly encourage you to choose a topic that you’ve got an interest in. This will make the assignment much easier and more fun.
Your topic does have to be something clearly related to the information age. If you feel there is a topic we haven’t covered that you would want to talk about, please post it to the forums and I can look it over and let you know if it will work.
Format:
The script itself can either be a Word document or typed into the notes section of PowerPoint (if you do a PowerPoint). The presentation can be a PowerPoint or Prezi. Either is fine. I encourage you to use images, to embed video and sound files as appropriate, and create functional links to resources you think contribute to your materials.
Grading:
This assignment will be graded across a range of factors. The quality of your work (depth of research, clarity and depth of your “take-away” points, polish and professional quality of the design) will be the majority of the grade.
Additional points of consideration:
Does the lecture have a clear and coherent point of view? Do the take-away points of the lecture demonstrate that the author has carefully considered the topic in depth? For example, have they successfully and convincingly connected their topic to other areas of cultural, political, and economic import?
Does the activity have a clear point? Does it relate to the lecture’s topic and does it help the audience better understand your topic?
Does your explanation of the activity show you’ve thought about your activity deeply? Is the connection between what you want people to understand and the activity itself clear and coherent?
Topics:
– Social media
– Big Data
– Machine Learning
– History of computer games
