Assignment 4 Details and Links

Due April 10

You may work in groups, provided you have submitted a short paragraph to the instructors by March 1 explaining why a group approach to your proposed topic for the final project makes sense.

This assignment will be to turn in a rough draft of your final, 8-10 page final project paper. It will be a chance for us to give you some comments, and suggest some places to push your research project forward in the next few weeks.

It's also an opportunity to get some extra credit. If you are interested, you may create an audiovisual work discussing and presenting your research to date. The work could be an audio file (such as a podcast), a video (such as a remix or animation), or an in-class presentation. You should aim for a length of 3-5 minutes (there is 7 minute maximum). Content and presentation are much more important than length (a compelling 2-minute audio interview would be great). These may be presented in class.

Submit your rough draft (and your extra credit, if applicable) here: Assignment 4 Submissions

If you'd like peer feedback on an updated version of your rough draft, you can submit it here: Assignment 4 Peer Review

Format

Your paper should be 8-10 pages long, double spaced, and use a serif font (Times New Roman, Cambria, etc.). Please upload your paper as a .doc, a .odt, or a .pdf.

You may use any commonly accepted style to cite your sources (Chicago, MLA, etc.), but please be consistent.

Bonus Credit

This bonus credit consists of an audiovisual work of your creation, and should be based on your draft. The work could be an audio file (such as a podcast or song), a video (such as a remix or animation), or a compelling image (such as a mindmap or photo montage). If an audio or video work, you should aim for a length of 3-5 minutes (there is 7 minute maximum). Content and presentation are much more important than length (a compelling 2-minute audio interview would be great).

Possible ideas include:

• An audio podcast or video interview with someone doing influential work related to your project
• A video medley and/or remix
• A podcast show in which participants debate the topic
• A mindmap image that charts out a policy debate or domain
• A photo montage
• A short film
• A song or musical work drawing from various samples such as those on Freesound
• A song with lyrics
• A visualization, perhaps using Many Eyes

Uploading Your Bonus Work

Examples of online services you may use to post your bonus work include:

Video:

• Youtube
• Internet Archive
• Google Video

Audio:

• ccMixter (for music; note: music must be licensed under a Creative Commons license
• Internet Archive

Image:

• Flickr

Tools and Tutorials

• Audio
  • Audacity (introduction tutorial, more FAQs and Tutorials)
• Video
  • Mac OS X: iMovie ([1]) or Final Cut
  • Windows: Avid FreeDV (tutorial)
• Screencast (Screencasting is taking a video of your computer desktop, while you manipulate it)
  • Screencast
  • List of screen recording software

• Video Game / Animation
  • Scratch
• Other
  • Mind Mapping Software

Examples of Finished Products

(some of these are more highly produced or effort-intensive than your projects need be, but they should give you a sense for what finished pieces look like)

• Mind Map of Democracy and the Internet by John Palfrey (partial snapshot)
• Interviews from Beyond Broadcast on Thoughtcast

Assignment Four Submissions

Post your submissions here: Assignment 4 Submissions