The intent of the assignments is to encourage students to
think broadly about the subject matter of the course, while participating in
lectures on specific topics and reading on their own among the suggested
references on the lecture topics. There are six assignments, consisting of questions requiring
researched, reasoned answers. There is
also a major essay requirement.
This course covers a wide range of topics, with substantial
variation in specificity and rigor. As
well, individual students may have more or less knowledge or interest is any
particular topic. With these points in
mind, a short essay (limited to 1800 words) on specific new communications
technologies is required. The essay is
intended to give each student the opportunity to pursue the study of a
particular technology while considering the issues and generalities brought up
in the lecture material and general readings.
The essay should present a cogent description of the
technology; and develop and support an opinion on the importance, relevance,
probable impact, and outstanding technical problems with developing the
technology. Sufficient technical detail
must be included to support the writer’s opinion. The major criteria for evaluation will be the amount of
information conveyed to the reader, the clarity with which it is presented, and
the persuasiveness with which the author’s opinion is presented and supported.
Style guides for the Assignments and the Essay
are available from the course website. Assignments must be submitted electronically, as Word
documents attached to an email. Please
name both the subject of the email and the attached file as the concatenation
of your Last Name, the initial of your First Name, (as recorded on your
registration form) and a digit indicating which assignment it is. For example, Ahmed Hussein, whose Last Name
is Hussein and whose First Name is Ahmed, would submit Assignment 3 as HusseinA3.doc,
and his Essay as HusseinAE.doc.