Getting Linked

You’ve been experimenting with some form of social media for the past couple of weeks, and written about that experience (I hope!) for this week’s blog post. Now I’d like you to add one more social media experiment to the mix: a Linked In page.

Some of you brought up the potential problems posed by MySpace and Facebook accounts for people who may be looking for a job soon: these pages tend to focus on the fun side of your life and may not create a good impression on potential employers. Linked In offers a solution to that problem. It’s a more professionally oriented social networking site…more like having your resume and potential jobs network online.

So this week, please establish a Linked In account and set up a page on the site.

Also, if you haven’t yet created a link list on your blog, now’s the time to do it. Here’s what you should have in a links list in your blog’s sidebar:

1. A link to this blog
2. A link to your class web page
3. A link to your Linked In page
4. A link to your social media page of choice (your MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or Flickr page, etc.)
5. Links to the blogs you’ve been following for this class
6. Links to a few of your classmates’ blogs (optional)
7. Links to a few web sites that you find useful and/or interesting (optional)

Here’s how to do it in Blogger: In your dashboard, click on the Layout tab, then click on “Page Elements.” You should see an “add an element” link on the upper right side. Click on that and select the “link list” option (and any other options that sound good).

Also, please make sure you’ve got links to your video project on your class blog (in a blog post) and on your class web page.

Reflective writing assignment

As you work on your Final Multimedia Project, I’d like you to blog about it. Over the last few weeks of class, please write three blog posts reflecting on the process of completing your project, as follows:

1. Getting started: Near the start of this process, reflect on your expectations for this project. For example, what do you expect to accomplish? Do you think it will turn out to be a worthwhile effort? How is this project different from working on in-class lab projects? If you’re part of a team, how do you plan to divvy up the work? How much time do you think it will take? (Due 4/24)
2. Checking in: Partway through the project, assess how you’re doing and what you’re learning. What new things have you learned so far? Is your project turning out like you thought it would? How much more time do you think it will take you to complete this project? (Due 5/8)
3. Assessing the project: When the project is completed, assess how it went and what you learned…and maybe, what you unlearned. How do you feel about the project and what you’ve done? Did it turn out as expected? What parts of this project did you enjoy the most? The least? What were you best at? What skills do you need to improve? Did it change your outlook or expectations in any way? Would you recommend a project like this to another student? Why or why not? (Due 5/16)

This assignment is worth 30 points — that’s 10 points per post. Since it’s subjective, it’s mostly ungraded. That means if you complete all three parts, you’ll get full credit (unless you publish a post with a bunch of typos and errors – I’ll still take off points for that). That makes it a low-risk, high-reward assignment.

Fighting over sports bloggers

OK, sports fans. Do bloggers belong in the locker room? That’s one of the questions posed in this NYT article, Tension Over Sports Blogging.

Might make a good topic for an individual blog post. Here’s a taste:

Tension over sports blogging is one of the strains between sports franchises, leagues and reporters to have emerged during the digital age.

The dispute has grown lately between the press and organized sports over issues like how reporters cover teams, who owns the rights to photographs, audio and video that journalists gather at sports events, and whether someone who writes only blogs should be given access to the locker room.

Here’s the direct link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/business/media/21bloggers.html?th&emc=th

Online A.S. election guide

Check out the Spartan Daily’s online Associated Students election guide, a multimedia package complete with pics, profiles and videos of individual candidates, as well as links to the Daily’s recent A.S. election coverage. (Consider it another prototype for your final multimedia project.)

This election guide was put together by spartandaily.com editor Kyle Hansen, who took this class last year. (Yes, we profs like to brag on our success stories, and we certainly count Kyle as one of them!)

Like you, he started a blog when he took the class; he’s still writing Kyle’s Comments.

Bee photographer coming to JMC

Brian Baer, a photographer with The Sacramento Bee, will speak to students in Instructor Steve Sloan’s APSC/MCom 63 class at 6 p.m. next Wednesday, April 23, in DBH 226. All JMC students are welcome to attend.

“Brian is a ‘hot shooter’,” says Sloan. “He has one of the keenest eyes I know of. He is an alum of our photojournalism program and is still passionate about photojournalism.”

Extra Credit: If you attend this session, take notes and you can write an extra credit blog post about it. It’ll be worth up to 15 points.

Hot topics for blog posts

Looking for a topic for this week’s blog post? Here are some candidates:

• An Ad Age article on Web 3.0 and the dearth (and perhaps the death) of original reporting
• Blogger Mayhill Fowler reflecting on her reporting of Obama’s “bitter” comments
• The Churner Prize web site/blog, focusing on examples of “chournalism”
• Actor Tim Robbins’ rabble-rousing speech at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas

If you have some other hot media-related topics you’d like to suggest, please add them in a comment to this blog post.

RSS…the Oprah version

A friend of mine, blogger Stephanie Quilao, has a good explanation of RSS feeds and why you might want to use them. You can find it here.

Her blog is Back in Skinny Jeans — check it out.

Two online tutorials

The last two classes have focused on two News U tutorials — Five Steps to Multimedia Storytelling and Telling Stories with Sound — in preparation for your podcast project and your final multimedia project.

If you missed either of these classes, you’ll need to complete the tutorials on your own.

To complete the tutorials, you’ll need to register on the News U website — set up a username and password — and log in. Here’s the link to the News U website: http://www.newsu.org/.

Once you’ve logged in, click on the “Courses” tab, select the “Online/Multimedia” category, and select these tutorials: Five Steps to Multimedia Storytelling and Telling Stories with Sound. Allow 45-60 minutes to complete each tutorial.

When you complete a tutorial, click on the “Course Report” tab and send me a report. That will be my cue to give you credit for completing the tutorial. If you completed these tutorials in class, you’re all set…and you can proceed with the two final projects for this class.

New office hours

I’ve changed my office hours to 2-4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

For the rest of the month, I’ll be filling in for another JMC instructor who’s recovering from surgery. Her 100w class meets at 12 noon T/Th, so I’ve pushed back my office hours from 12:15-1:45 p.m. to 2-4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I can also usually be found in my office before class, from 8-9 a.m., but I’m usually getting ready for class so please try to limit any early morning visits to quick questions.

Some sample multimedia projects

Here’s a link to a group of multimedia projects created for this class by Spring ‘07 students. Take a look around and see what they did. It might give you some ideas for your final project.

• Direct link to S’07 student multimedia projects: http://www.jmc.sjsu.edu/student/jour163/projects.html
• Be sure to check out these examples: 
  • Percussion, a multimedia project created by Josh Peterson and Jason Freer, spring ‘07)
  • Burning Water, a multimedia project created by Eleanor Capili, Karie Lingg and Julie Cheng, spring ‘07)
  • San Jose Beer and Food, a multimedia project created by Brett Gifford, Khalid Jivani, Mike Wright and Ramon Hernandez