NC Fall10

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Hello, all!

Welcome to the wiki for the Collaboration in Networked Environments class!

For more information on what a wiki is and how to use it, scroll down the page to General wiki info.

This wiki page is dedicated to the sharing and exchange of information for the Collaboration in Networked Environments class
in the Graduate Media Studies dept at the New School: NMDS 5568 A, CRN: 5056, Fall 2010.


Contents

Syllabus

Collaboration in Networked Environments
Graduate Media Studies NMDS 5568 A, CRN: 5056
Instructor: Josephine Dorado
Contact me by email

Course description:
Over the past two decades, the ways in which we collaborate have been re-defined by technologies that enable us to communicate and share environments with others across the globe. Social networking spaces, blogging/vlogging, wikis, instant messaging, webcasting, and gaming environments are just a few of the methods we employ to engage with each other. Networked environments, in which media technologies are interconnected, usually via the Internet, enable messages to flow easily from one place to another. The very process of participation has morphed with the advent of these technologies, and has had a profound impact on business practices, educational processes, creative processes, community life, and democratic citizenship. As a society, we have moved from an isolated, passive stance of taking in information, to active engagement with others in reshaping the world. We are a participatory culture.

In this class, we will examine the concepts of collaboration within networked environments. During the course of the semester, different models of collaboration will be examined as well as put into practice. Students will have the opportunity to exercise these methods in various contexts, within business applications, arts-oriented approaches, educational outreach, and general social exchange. We will explore the effects that networked environments have had on our exchanges, the hybrid models of communication that have developed, and the emergent process of networked collaboration.

Our tools

Many of the materials are available on the Internet and/or downloadable on our class portal: You will also need to purchase the following books:

  • Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
  • Oosterhuis, Kas. Hyperbodies: Towards an E-motive Architecture. Basel: Birkhäuser.
  • Rheingold, Howard. Smart Mobs. Cambridge: Perseus Books Group.

Required: access to either a webcam or a digital video camera.

We will also be using a variety of tools available on the Internet:

For a full list plus other available tools, see the Resources on the class wiki.

Your contributions

Participation. Because this class is a seminar, your thoughtful participation is essential to its success. You are required to contribute—courteously and meaningfully—to discussions on the class blog. Participation is worth 20% of your final grade.

Assignments. There are a series of assignments throughout the term. Completion of these assignments brings familiarity with some of the tools available for collaborating in a networked environment, while simultaneously discussing the concepts upon which they are based and the community and kinds of collaboration that develop around them. These assignments are worth 30% of your final grade.

Event Reviews. Throughout the semester there will be opportunities to view networked arts installations and events. We’ll keep a running list of relevant events, and I encourage you to visit as many as you can. By the end of the semester, I’d like for you to post critiques for two of those events on the class blog and tag it “critique”. Please describe the event, address the key theoretical issues the artists are addressing, and assess their success in grappling with those issues. These reviews are worth 20% of your final grade and are due by Dec 12, though you may post them at any time.

Final Project. Throughout the semester, you will most likely come across ideas, arenas, individuals, etc., about which or whom you would like to know more. Common themes will develop and you will be required to collaborate with at least two other people in the class, on a project involving one of those themes. The project can manifest itself in a variety of forms, including a presentation, an online video piece, an online sound piece, a networked art piece, etc. This final project will give you the opportunity to delve deeply into a research area of personal interest. The entire project must be collaboratively conducted online, from concept creation, through development, realization and documentation. Document your progress and process on the class blog. Post images/sound/video on sites like flickr, youtube, etc. and link to them on the blog. Address the key theoretical concepts involved as well as your thoughts about the process and output. You should begin thinking about potential topics immediately—but you must make sure to choose your theme and partners and post a one-paragraph proposal on the class wiki by October 26. Final projects and documentation are due by Dec 16. This project is worth 30% of your final grade. Final Proposals

Our schedule

WEEKS 1 & 2: Aug 30-Sept 5 and Sept 6-12

An overview of collaboration in networked environments in different contexts: social, educational, arts, and business.

What is collaboration in a networked environment? We’ll explore concepts of collaboration and networked environments, some examples and an overview within social, educational, arts, and business contexts.

Readings:

  • Excerpt from Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press, 2006. “Introduction: ‘Worship at the Altar of Convergence.’ ” pp. 1-24.
  • Excerpt from Rheingold, Howard. Smart Mobs. Cambridge: Perseus Books Group, 2002: “Shibuya Epiphany.” pp. 1-28.
  • Hopkins, John. “In The Presence of Networks: A Meditation on the Architectures of Participation.” Publication in Pixelache07: Festival of Electronic Art and Subcultures. 28 February 2007. <http://neoscenes.net/hyper-text/text/pixel.html>.
  • Jenkins, Henry. “From YouTube to Youniversity.” HenryJenkins.org. <http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/02/from_youtube_to_youniversity.html>.
  • Wesch, Michael. “The Machine is Us/ing Us.” Youtube.com. <http://youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g>.

Examples:

Assignments.
a. Create a username and log into the class Class blog. For your first comment, introduce yourself. Write a short paragraph (bio).
We will all be posting class-related discussions via the blog and not via Blackboard.

b. Join the class Google group. We will be using the Google group email list to communicate logistical things and brief interactions. If you’re asking, “What is the difference between using the blog and the Google group email to communicate?” Mainly, the blog is public and the Google group is private; also, the Google group email can be used more conversationally/ for brief exchanges, whereas the blog can be for longer thoughts and topical discussions.

c. Join the iDC (Institute for Distributed Creativity) email list. “The research of the Institute for Distributed Creativity (iDC) focuses on collaboration in media art, technology, and theory with an emphasis on social contexts.” We will be reading discussions that occur through this email list as well.

d. Create a Delicious account, if you don’t already have one, and add funksoup to your Delicious network. Social bookmarking through sites like Delicious can make your life easier by enabling tagging, organizing and sharing of your bookmarks. If you’re new to del.icio.us, check out our What is Delicious? page. You can import your bookmarks you already have into your account or leave it as is. One of the first bookmarks you may want to post is http://delicious.com/funksoup/ParticipatoryCulture which is how I’ve tagged links that relate to participatory culture.
When you come across a link that you want to save, post it to your Delicious bookmarks. Links that people in your network have posted show up under "Network". This way, we can share relevant links. You can also post a link specifically to someone in your network by specifying whom in your network the link is for by entering their username in the "SEND" field (i.e., if you wanted to send me a link, in the SEND field, type "funksoup". You can also put "for:funksoup" in the "TAGS" field and it will do the same thing). If you come across a link that you think is pertinent to the class, you can send it to me.
Again, if you're new to it, please check out our What is Delicious? page. Post your Delicious URL to the class wiki.

e. What are some examples of networked collaboration that you've encountered that you think work well? Why do you think they worked well (or what could have made them better experiences)? Post your thoughts on the class blog.

Note that it's not necessary for everyone to start a new post. You can also comment thoughtfully on other posts as well. As long as you're participating in the discussion, either creating a post or commenting -- either are fine.
If you're new to blogging and you're not sure how to create a post or comment, here's how:

  • To create a new post, just log into the class blog which will put you into your dashboard. You can either click "New Post" in the upper-righthand corner or you can click on "Add New" under the Posts section on the lefthand side.
  • To create a comment, log into the class blog which will put you into your dashboard. Click on "Visit site" on the top of the page which will put you back at the home page. Find the post to which you would like to add the comment. Click the "Comments" link at the bottom of the post. It will expand the Comments section and you'll be able to write your comment.


WEEK 3: Sept 13-19

The architecture of a network: nodes and swarms.

What is the nature of the rhizome? What is meant by “swarm architecture”, "hive mind" and “distributed creativity”? What are its spatial characteristics? How does this affect the way that we interact?

Readings:

  • Excerpt from Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. “Introduction: Rhizome.” A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: 1987. pp. 3-25. (Deleuze_Rhizome.pdf)
  • Excerpt from Oosterhuis, Kas. Hyperbodies: Towards an E-motive Architecture. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2003: from “Distributed Being” to “ Transaction Spaces.” pp. 36-69.
  • Schneider , Florian and Geert Lovink. “Notes on the State of Networking.” nettime, 29 February 2004. <http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0402/msg00099.html>.

Examples:

Assignments.
a. Create a flickr account if you don’t already have one. Upload at least 5 pictures (They don’t have to be of yourself – they can be anything. I’m more concerned with the process than with the content.). Post your flickr URL to the class wiki. Note: you can customize your Flickr URL. Add contacts (start with your fellow classmates).
If you're new to flickr, check out our What is flickr? page.

b. Add some photos from your flickr account to the Networked Collab flickr group.
Join the Networked Collab group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/networkedcollab/
(Log into flickr and click Join)
Then just add one (or more if you want) photos to that group.
(Go to the photo you want to add then click the "Send to group" link at the top of the pic)
There's a flickr widget on the side bar of the class blog that displays flickr photos from the "Networked Collab" group.So as people add photos, it'll display on the side bar of the class blog.

c. By now, you're probably accumulating a lot of bookmarked sites. Are you using Delicious to do this? Remember that social bookmarking through sites like Delicious can make your life easier by enabling tagging, organizing and sharing of your bookmarks. Starting this week, one random person's Delicious feed will be showcased on the class blog, and this will rotate every week. This will give everyone an easily accessible chance to share links they think are helpful as well as give you the chance to start creating your own archive. Check the What is delicious? page for more info.

d. Create an account on Seesmic. Some of you may already have a Seesmic account and if so, use your existing one. Seesmic is a video-blogging service that allows for threaded video conversations. We will be using it to have video conversations with each other. For example, here is a conversation from a previous class in which we spoke with Fred Benenson, former outreach manager of Creative Commons: http://seesmic.tv/threads/RpoFJjdp0I Post your Seesmic URL to the class wiki. You can go ahead and add me: http://seesmic.tv/funksoup. For your first video post, introduce yourself.

e. What is the nature of the rhizome? What is meant by “swarm architecture”, "hive mind" and “distributed creativity”? What are its spatial characteristics? How does this affect the way that we interact? Post your thoughts on the class blog.


WEEK 4: Sept 20-26

Social Protocols, Tools and Methodologies for Online Collaboration

How do we “play well” together? Are there “rules” for online participation? How can we translate methods for collaboration into an online space? What are the best practices?

Readings:

  • Scholz, Trebor. “The Participatory Challenge.” Curating Immateriality: The work of the curator in the age of network systems. Ed. J Krysa. New York: Autonomedia, 2006. collectivate.net. <http://www.collectivate.net/the-participatory-challenge/>.
  • Excerpt from Highsmith III, James A. Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems. New York: Dorset House Publishing Co., Inc., 2000. Chapter 5: “Great Groups and the Ability to Collaborate.” pp. 113-142. (Highsmith_Ch5_Groups.pdf)

Assignment.
a. Add to or create an entry on Wikipedia. The topic is your choice. Post the URL to the entry on the Links page. See the following link for guidelines to contributing to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About#Contributing_to_Wikipedia. After you have edited/created the entry, over the next week, watch for any changes to the entry by clicking the “History” link, and blog about the experience.


WEEK 5: Sept 27-Oct 3

Social Protocols, Tools and Methodologies for Online Collaboration (continued)

What are some of the tools that are used? How are processes of collaboration affected in a virtual environment?

Readings:

  • Rheingold, Howard, Andrea Saveri, and Kathi Vian. "Technologies of Cooperation." Ed. Maureen Davis. Institute for the Future. January 2005. <http://molodiez.org/tech_coop.pdf>.
  • Excerpt from Highsmith III, James A. Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems. New York: Dorset House Publishing Co., Inc., 2000. Chapter 10: “Structural Collaboration.” pp. 261-293. (Highsmith_Ch10_StructuralCollab.pdf)
  • Dragoon, Alice. “A Travel Guide to Collaboration.” CIO. 4 February 2005. <http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;583358229;fp;16;fpid;0>.

Assignments.
a. Finish editing/creating your entry on Wikipedia. Watch for any changes to the entry by clicking the “History” link, and blog about the experience.

b. Pair up with a classmate and coordinate a video meeting via Skype. You can contact each other initially via our Googlegroup list then when partners are chosen, continue contact with each other individually. When you’ve picked your partners, post your names on the wiki under Partners.

c. During the meeting, each of you will present your views on any of the readings from weeks 1-5. Feel free to bring in other references or pertinent ideas/materials. Use online resources in your planning and execution process. For example, you may want to create your own page on the class wiki to make notes, Twiddla to collaboratively whiteboard and share media during the meeting, Skype to do the video meeting, and flickr to post screenshots documenting it afterward. Blog about your process.
NOTE: If you are not able to use a video-enabled IM service due to network restrictions, you may conduct this assignment in an asynchronous fashion by recording your presentation and uploading it to a video sharing site.


WEEK 6: Oct 4-10

Networked collaboration in social contexts: the morphing methods of social exchange.

Why are sites like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube such a phenomenon? How does the networked space change the social exchange? What is meant by 'presence' and how can we extend it? How do methods of social collaboration morph to accommodate a distributed nature? What is 'lifestreaming'?

Readings:

Examples:

Assignments.
a. Continue/finish video meeting assignment from last week.
b. Create an account on Twitter. Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that also allows for interconnecting between platforms (you can connect your 'tweets' so that they show up on your Facebook status, as text on your mobile phone, and/or within instant messaging like Google chat). The 'tweets' are limited to 140 characters at a time, so it's easily do-able. You can go ahead and add me: http://twitter.com/funksoup. Post your Twitter URL to the class wiki. Add your classmates twitter names too. You will be required to tweet at least once a day for the duration of this class, as a part of our efforts to create 'presence'.


WEEK 7: Oct 11-17

Networked collaboration in business models.

How does networked collaboration figure into business environments? How has it affected corporate exchange and communication?

Readings:

Examples:

Assignments.
a. If you do not already have a profile on LinkedIn, create one. Post the URL to your profile on the class wiki. Add contacts (start with your fellow classmates). For tips, check out http://www.thisisgoingtobebig.com/2006/12/getting_started.html and http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/ten_ways_to_use.html

b. Explore blogs related to your specific interests/industry. You can use Technorati to search for them. Take note of those blogs, and add at least five of them to a blog aggregator/reader so you can read posts from multiple blogs on a regular basis. If you don’t already use one, I recommend netvibes. There are more listed on the class wiki under Resources. You can also add the feed from our class blog. Post the blogs that you found on the blogroll page on the wiki.


WEEK 8: Oct 18-24

Networked collaboration in education: possibilities and outreach.

What kinds of collaboration have been explored in educational networked spaces? How does this environment affect the exchange between teacher and student, between student and student? How do methods of teaching and sharing change to accommodate a distributed nature?

Readings:

More Second Life science sites listed in this article: A Sampler of Science in Second Life
Also check out the content on The Edge Project - "The Edge Project is part of Global Kids recent support from the MacArthur Foundation to expand the capacity of civic and cultural institutions to use new media as innovative educational platforms that engage youth in learning and promote youth civic participation. More specifically, the Edge Project is interested in civic and cultural institutions bringing cutting edge digital media into their youth educational programs."


Examples:

  • http://www.rezed.org/ - "the hub for learning and virtual worlds...providing practitioners using virtual worlds with access to the highest quality resources and research in the field to establish a strong network of those using virtual worlds for learning."
  • http://socialmediaclassroom.com/ - an integrated set of free and open source social media that each course can use for its own purposes—forums, wikis, blogs, chat, social bookmarking, microblogging, social video, and other media—together with curricular materials, resource repositories and an online community of practitioners.
  • http://olpglobalkids.org/ - Blog about the Global Kids Digital Media Initiative - a series of interrelated programs (much of which happens in Second Life) designed to support teenagers to think critically about the role of digital media in their lives and document their experiences in various media.
  • http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/ - The Masters of Media (MofM) blog is a collaborative initiative from the New Media Master’s students of the University of Amsterdam. The blog was constructed in September 2006 as part of the New Media Practices course, taught by Geert Lovink.
  • http://ocw.mit.edu/ - MIT's OpenCourseWare: a free and open educational resource (OER) for educators, students, and self-learners around the world.


Assignment.
a. If you have not tried out the virtual world Second Life yet, do so. Go to http://secondlife.com/ to get a basic (free) membership, then download the Second Life client and install it. You may want to check out the pointers on our Second Life page. Go through Orientation Island. Visit the places listed below and/or feel free to find some interesting places to visit on your own (you can check out the featured places on http://secondlife.com/showcase/ for ideas). Blog about the experience.

Places to visit:

  • Resonating-With-secondlifeWind by Edo Paulus (SL: Edo Autopoeisis) - "an incredible meditative journey into a sky-based field of 100 windmills" -- it works off of the 'natural' wind in Second Life, in which the windmills are propelled and generate random acoustic tones.
  • Collateral Damage - works by Gazira Babeli. This is definitely a must-see! Gazira Babeli is masterful at creating scripted environments that actively transform your avatar. Part of the fun is the surprise, so I won't all spoil all of it for you. I will give a few hints though...as I walked up to the Campbell's soup cans, one of them attacked me...then I wandered up to the painting with the question marks on it and touched the black object in front of it (right-click or cmd-click, then Touch) and I was suddenly surrounded by a hoard of Marios from Super Mario Bros. I touched the object again and then it surrounded me with question marks. One more touch and I was surrounded by bananas. Beside the painting is an object that displays text that says "Don't Say: New Media" - so of course I had to say "New Media" (typed "New Media" into the local chat) - and then text displayed that said "Don't Say: NEW MEDIA! Josephine, say Art!" and then it propelled me around in a endless circles with black smoke until I logged off. I logged on again and went back for more Collateral Damage. Each object interacts, or rather, acts on, your avatar. It's really funny and sometimes slightly creepy, but mostly hilarious. One thing you absolutely must try: the paintings with the chairs. You can actually sit in the chairs and become part of the painting. Right-click or cmd-click on the chair in the painting and then click Sit Here. If you suddenly can't see yourself, click Escape then use your left or right arrow key on the keyboard to rotate around and see yourself. Something will happen to you, either while you're sitting in the painting or after you stand up (click Stand Up). I'll leave that a surprise as well - it's quite excellent.
  • Roma Archaeology - a recreation of an archaeological dig in Italy, complete with stations devoted to various aspects of archaeological investigation, such as stratigraphy, relative dating, recording, etc. You can right-click (or cmd+click) on different actions, like the "shovel" and "pick" action balls, to have your avatar go through different shovel/pick/etc types of archaeological dig actions.
  • CONSENT! - CONSENT! is a first person, simulation game based on Harriet A. Washington's book "Medical Apartheid" (www.medicalapartheid.com) in which your avatar assumes the role of an African-American prisoner who has to make tough decisions about whether to choose to 'consent' and submit to medical experiments, which took place during the time period of the 1940s to the present. To play it, put on the HUD (Heads-Up Display). To get it, click on the poster that says "The HUD", then Keep. It will go to your Inventory. Click the Inventory button, go to Objects, right-click or cmd-click on "Consent! Gameplay HUD" then Attach to HUD > Top Left. Click the Information button on the top right of the HUD and then select Start on the pop-up window. If you don't see the Information button, click on the top right of the HUD (the top right corner of the rectangle, across from the word "CONSENT!" on the HUD). You'll see a pop-up window and select Start. You can also select Outfit from the Information button pop-up window, which will give you a prison outfit to wear. If you do that, click Keep which will put it in your Inventory under Clothing. To wear it, drag the CONSENT! Outfit Pack from your Inventory onto the ground, which will rez a box. Right-click or cmd-click on the box, and click Open, then click Copy and Wear.


b. Final project proposal is due. Please post them on the Final project proposals page.

c. Think about how you can use LinkedIn and Twitter to further your career interests. Are you trying to connect with people in a particular industry? You could use either one to do so. For this assignment, let's explore Twitter: find people in your industry and scope of interests to follow on Twitter. Share your findings on the Twitter roll page.

WEEK 9: Oct 25-31

Networked collaboration in arts: creativity and innovation.

Arts events created and/or performed over a network are also forging new pathways and hybrid models for collaboration. Examples and concepts are explored.

Readings:

  • Excerpts from Doruff, Sher. “The Translocal Event and the Polyrhythmic Diagram.” Diss. SMARTlab Programme in Performative New Media Arts, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, University of the Arts, London, 2006. <http://spresearch.waag.org/images/TheTranslocalEvent.pdf>.
  1. Chapter 5: Play Theory, pp. 147-151.
  2. Chapter 5: Protocols of Posthuman Interplay, pp. 151-153.
  • Excerpt from Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press, 2006. “Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling.” pp. 93-130.
  • Hopkins, John. “1+1=3.” acoustic.space. < http://neoscenes.net/hyper-text/text/xchange3.html>.

Examples:

Assignments.
a. We will be using Stroome to experiment with online collaboration in mashups. Pair up with a classmate for this project. You can contact each other initially via our Googlegroup list then when partners are chosen, continue contact with each other individually. When you’ve picked your partners, post your names on the wiki under Partners.

b. We will be using the Exquisite Corpse structure for this exercise. This was a technique created by the Surrealists to generate surprising, chance-driven creative material.

i. Example using drawing: fold a piece of paper into thirds, one person draws a head then folds the paper to conceal their drawing, the next person draws a body then folds the paper to conceal their drawing, etc. so that you have an ‘exquisite corpse’ that’s been drawn consisting of different styles.
ii. Variation of above - use large drawing paper for this exercise: one person draws an abstract doodling on a section of the paper then conceals most of it with another sheet of paper, revealing only a couple of inches of his/her drawing; the next person looks at the small portion that the last person has revealed (the couple of inches that is showing), and continues to draw based on what he/she sees; this process continues until finished. Do not look at the drawing until the entire process is finished.
iii. Variation using digital images: create a digital image (or use one that you already have), upload only a slice/portion of that image; the next person looks at that portion and adds to that image; this process continues until finished.
iv. Variation using sound: create a sound piece (or use one that you already have), upload a portion of the piece (a few seconds); the next person listens to that portion and adds to that; this process continues until finished.
v. Variation using video: create a video piece (or use one that you already have), upload a portion of the piece (a few seconds or even a few frames); the next person watches that portion and adds to that; this process continues until finished.

c. Create an account on Stroome and upload your material as specified in the above examples iii, iv or v.

d. Use online resources in your planning and execution process. For example, you may want to set up a Skype session to talk through the exercise or create a wiki page to share notes. Blog about your process and the outcomes.


WEEK 10: Nov 1-7

The Networked Mashup.

Remixing and the collective mashup – what kinds of processes have arisen and how has that affected issues of authorship and audience?

Readings:

  • Excerpt from Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press, 2006. “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars: Grass Roots Creativity Meets the Media Industry.” pp. 131-168.
  • Miller, Paul D. “FreezeFrame - an essay on music composition on the Internet.” nettime, 1 October 2002. <http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0210/msg00000.html>.
  • Navas, Eduardo. “Remix Defined.” Remix Theory. < http://remixtheory.net/?page_id=3>.

Examples:

  • http://remixamerica.org/ - "RemixAmerica.org is a multi-partisan, non-profit website that uses digital technology to give everyone the chance to own the words, the music, the images and sounds of America in digital form; to remix those expressions and ideas with their own; and to send the products of our community's creativity out to the world... where others will come back to us and start it all over again."
  • http://marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm - "Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator. A treemap visualization algorithm helps display the enormous amount of information gathered by the aggregator...provides a tool to divide information into quickly recognizable bands which, when presented together, reveal underlying patterns in news reporting across cultures and within news segments in constant change around the globe."
  • http://stroome.com/ - Browser-based editing, uploading and sharing of videos and photos.
  • http://www.keyworx.org/ - KeyWorx is a multi-user cross-media synthesizer: a distributed application that allows multiple users to generate, synthesize and process images, sounds and text within a shared realtime environment.
  • http://www.amillionpenguins.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page - A Million Penguins, a collaborative, wiki-based creative writing exercise.
  • http://www.sito.org/synergy/gridcosm/ - Gridcosm is a collaborative art project in which artists from around the world contribute images to a compounding series of graphical squares.
  • http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ - Remix feeds and create new data mashups in a visual programming environment.
  • http://www.visitorsstudio.org/?diff=300 - An online place for real-time, multi-user mixing, collaborative creation, many to many dialogue and networked performance and play.

Assignment.
a. Continue working on the previous (mashup) assignment. Blog about your process and the outcomes.


WEEK 11: Nov 8-14

Networked collaboration in technology and software development, including peer-to-peer networks (p2p) and the open source movement: FLOSS (Free, Libre Open Source Software).

How does networked collaboration figure into technology development? How does the Open Source movement figure into networked collaboration models? What is it and how does it work?

Readings:

  • Excerpt from Highsmith III, James A. Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems. New York: Dorset House Publishing Co., Inc., 2000. Chapter 2: "Thriving at the Edge of Chaos." pp. 27-50.
  • Excerpt from Rheingold, Howard. Smart Mobs. Cambridge: Perseus Books Group, 2002: “Computation Nations and Swarm Supercomputers.” pp. 63-82.
  • Cohn, David. “Form Trumps Substance at BarCamp.” Wired. 03 October 2006. <http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/10/71897>.
  • Hart, Michael and Richard Stallman. Lectures and Panel Discussion: Freedom of Information. <http://www.gutenberg.nl/events/2004-adam/view>.
  • O’Reilly, Tim. “Open Source: The Model for Collaboration in the Age of the Internet.” <http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2000/04/13/CFPkeynote.html>.
  • View archived streams of Richard Stallman's presentation on Freedom of Information:
Richard Stallman on impediment of software patents to the work of programmers, users and growth of the economy: <http://connectmedia.waag.org/media/patenten/stallmanseqCl.mov>

Examples:

  • http://barcamp.org/ - BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an international network of unconferences — open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants — focusing on early-stage web applications, and related open source technologies and social protocols.
  • http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ - Free, open-source internet browser.
  • http://www.blender.org/ - Free, open-source 3D animation program.
  • http://www.gimp.org/ - Free, open-source image manipulation program.
  • http://www.openoffice.org/ - Free, open-source office applications.

Assignment.
a. Finish working on the previous (mashup) assignment. Blog about your process and the outcomes. Include screenshots from the process and link back to the Stroome pieces.
b. If you have not tried out the virtual world Second Life yet, do so. Go to http://secondlife.com/ to get a basic (free) membership, then download the Second Life client and install it. Go through Orientation Island. You may want to check out the pointers on our Second Life page. Visit the places suggested under Week 8 and/or feel free to find some interesting places to visit on your own (you can check out the featured places on http://secondlife.com/showcase/ for ideas). Blog about the experience.
Over the next couple of weeks, I and our TA, Myroslaw, will be holding a couple of SL mini-orientation sessions. The sessions will be scheduled over the next couple of weeks via email. These are optional sessions that cover the basics such as navigating, walking, flying, typed and voice chat, creating landmarks and teleporting. You can also do your own exploring and learning; check out the Second Life page on our wiki and and the tutorials available on http://secondlife.com/showcase/tutorials/


WEEK 12: Nov 15-21

Networked collaboration in the news and government: activism and participatory democracy.

How does networked collaboration figure into e-government? How has it affected governmental communication? What are the effects of a participatory culture on participatory democracy? What is it and how does it work?

Readings:

Examples:

  • http://digg.com/ - User-powered news content. “After you submit content, other people read your submission and Digg what they like best. If your story rocks and receives enough Diggs, it is promoted to the front page for the millions of visitors to see.”
  • http://www.idealist.org/ - Social networking space focusing on nonprofit and volunteering resources and activism.
  • http://www.groundreport.com/ - "GroundReport.com is a global news platform that enables reporters around the world to publish videos and articles and earn money based on traffic."
  • http://nowpublic.com/ - “Crowd powered media.” Citizen journalism. “NowPublic is a participatory news network which mobilizes an army of reporters to cover the events that define our world.”
  • http://beta.newstrust.net/ - “NewsTrust is developing an online news rating service to help people identify quality journalism - or "news you can trust." Our members rate the news online, based on journalistic quality, not just popularity.”
  • http://moveon.org/ - One of the largest Political Action Committees in the country, driven by online campaigns and user support.
  • http://www.appliedautonomy.com/isee.html - “iSee is a web-based application charting the locations of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras in urban environments. With iSee, users can find routes that avoid these cameras ("paths of least surveillance") allowing them to walk around their cities without fear of being "caught on tape" by unregulated security monitors.”

Assignment.
a. Use this time to work on your final project. If you are able to, try to meet with your partner(s) in Second Life to discuss the project. Choose a meeting time and place and teleport to that area. Take screenshots of the meeting, upload them into flickr and document the process on the blog.
b. Have you done your networked event reviews yet? Networked event reviews are due Dec. 11, so if you haven't already done so, use the next couple of weeks to go to some events. It can be a range of events - from a webinar to a livestreamed presentation to a live sports event to a virtual world event. Preferably, it should be realtime, with the ability to interact with others in the online/remote space in some way, so that you can critique the richness of the interaction/experience...
Here are some past examples:
http://www.networkedcollab.org/blog/?p=299
http://www.networkedcollab.org/blog/?p=644
http://www.networkedcollab.org/blog/?p=625
http://www.networkedcollab.org/blog/?p=548
c. We'll be meeting with our guest speaker, John Hopkins, who wrote In The Presence of Networks: A Meditation on the Architectures of Participation and 1+1=3, two of our readings this semester. We'll meet via TokBox video conference to talk about the nature of networks and participatory culture. UPDATE: here's the recorded video conference session with our guest speaker John Hopkins: http://funksoup.blip.tv/file/4456020/ and here are some screenshots: http://www.flickr.com/photos/funksoup/sets/72157625417822114/


WEEKS 13 & 14: Nov 22-28 and Nov 29-Dec 5

MUVEs and MMORPGs: beyond browsers and 2D.

What will happen when navigating around 3D immersive virtual space will be just as easy as logging into MySpace? What kinds of collaboration will invent themselves in this space? What will be augmented? What will be replaced?

Readings:

Examples:

Assignment.
a. We will be holding synchronous meetings in Second Life to do orientation sessions and walk-throughs of the Virtual Mine game. The Virtual Mine game is a 3D immersive game intended to teach young people about the complex factors involved in the energy industry, from extractive processes to alternative energy sources. NOTE: the video recording of one of our SL sessions is posted at http://funksoup.blip.tv/file/4458712/
 b. Continue to work on the final project. Blog about your process and the outcomes.

WEEK 15: Dec 6-12

Final project (continued).

a. Event reviews are due Dec 12.
b. Continue to work on the final project. Blog about your process and the outcomes.

WEEK 16: Dec 13-20

a. Post final projects and documentation by Dec 20.
b. UPDATE: Here is the video recording of the final project presentations: http://blip.tv/funksoup/networked-collab-final-project-presentations-4559653


References

References page

Links

Go to the Links page to post your Flickr links, Wikipedia assignment links, and personal/portfolio sites

Resources

Networked events page

Resources page

Flickr tips: How to display images linked from Flickr

What is Delicious?

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