Module 2: Science Journalism & Online Class

The Social Media Survey that you need to fill in for Friday's Class:

NOTE: There have been some questions about the LinkedIn profile - IF you already have an account with LinkedIn, please feel free to add it. If you don't, please don't worry - we will cover this topic later in the term. This is just a survey to see how many students have already joined before ALES204.

Also, there is a question asking for the link to your blog, this is the link to your e-portfolio which you will have started by the end of Friday's online class.

Remember too, you are free to use an alias in any of your online participation/assignments JUST be sure you let us (the TAs and I) know AND fill in the Twitter Alias form here.







Don't forget to leave a link to your new ALES204 blog in the comments section, and remember to include your Lab Section in the comment. Feel free to tweet it too!

A Few Reminders

Image from Quality Solicitors.

Have a read of these reminders - they will help you be successful in ALES204:

1. Please remember to complete the Twitter Alias form so that the TAs and I can track aspects of your online participation. The form can be found here. 
2. The form can also be found and completed via the Lecture 3 Blog Post: http://ales204-2012.blogspot.com/2012/01/lecture-3-blogging-twitter-and-science.html
3. Please note that ALL marks for your assignments will be available via e-class. They will not be distributed in class or in labs, so PLEASE remember to check in on e-class. 
4. E-Class is where all your class e-mails will go. E-mails might be about an assignment change or lecture cancellation and these will all be sent via e-class.
5. Although you may already use Twitter and Facebook (and other social media platforms) we are using them in an academic sense. That means we strive to remain professional, cordial and academic. There should be no inappropriate images, language or context in any of our work (online and offline) for this class.
6. This ALES204 class is focussed on the digital generation and how these communication tools will help you to clearly communicate your research and your career objectives. The theory we talk about (and watch, read, discuss, and otherwise interact with) may, at first, seem different from the theory you studied in physics or bio or nutrition, but it is important to remember that this content is academic and is about sharing with you all the ways your future employer (and grad. schools!) will expect you to communicate.
7. A main objective in this class is not just about how to use Twitter or manage a blog (as for your e-portfolio) but it's about using these tools to effectively communicate and engaging with what other people in our fields are researching and discussing.

As an aside, if you decide to use blogger (which I recommend) for your e-portfolio, I highly suggest you use a gmail (or other) address and NOT your U of Alberta account which does not have full functionality. For example, the U of Alberta e-mail does not allow easy uploading of images to one's blog (and this is necessary for the e-portfolio).

As always, please let me know if you have any questions: laccettiATualberta.ca

Stop SOPA

In the lecture this morning, we will address SOPA and what it might mean for us as internet users and content creators.

STOP SOPA Code Turns Any Site Dark to Protest Stop Online Piracy Act

1 day ago by Zachary Sniderman

Sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit are going “dark” this Wednesday, Jan. 18, to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) which, critics contend, would compromise the ability of any site that includes outside links to carry on current operations.

Feeling left out? A simple piece of code is helping the entire web (from major sites to even the humblest of Tumblrs) go dark in solidarity. The code, called STOP SOPA, replaces any site’s landing page with a black screen. Using your mouse a flashlight uncovers a message explaining the need to kill SOPA and a link to anti-SOPA site AmericanCensorship.org.

SEE ALSO: On the Street: Do You Understand SOPA? [VIDEO]

The idea of “Going Dark” is a worst-case scenario protest against SOPA, essentially warning that link-heavy sites such as Reddit and Wikipedia might get shut down, or go dark, if SOPA becomes law.

The STOP SOPA code was created by Zachary Johnson, a developer and Internet enthusiast, out of anger:

I’ve been calling my representatives in Congress, but this gave me another outlet for my frustration with this legislation. I place this code in the public domain. I require no attribution.

You can find the code here and get a sense of what sites will look like before and after application. Make sure you don’t add it until Jan. 18, otherwise your site will prematurely go dark.

Via The Guardian:

Stop Sopa or the web really will go dark

The corporations lobbying for Sopa know exactly what they want: control of online information for profit. This is a crossroads

• See the Guardian's explainer: understanding Sopa

• •  reddit this
• Comments (176)

• 
• • Dan Gillmor
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 January 2012 21.11 GMT
  • Article history

Jimmy Wales announced that Wikipedia will be switched off on 18 January in protest against Sopa and other legislative efforts to control and censor the internet. Photograph: PR handout

As thousands of websites, including the English version of Wikipedia, prepare to "go dark" Wednesday in protest against internet censorship, a new explanation is emerging for the would-be censors' acts: they simply don't understand how the internet works. The evidence suggests otherwise.

Search on the these terms – "don't understand" Sopa Congress – and you'll find a lots of blogposts and news stories making this point. Sopa, of course, stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act, which may or may not be stalled at the moment.

Change "don't" to "doesn't' and "Congress" to "Rupert Murdoch" in that search and you'll find a bunch of new ones stemming from Murdoch's spate of Tweets over the weekend, in which he denounced Sopa opponents and took special aim at his longstanding object of loathing, Google. Two of the resulting "he doesn't understand" pieces came from people whose work I greatly respect: see this post at the Guardian by Jeff Jarvis, and this one by Mathew Ingram at the GigaOm technology blog.

Read the entire article here.

Lecture 5: Science Journalism Part II

Today's lecture:

View more presentations from Jessica Laccetti.

Although we only watch a few minutes of the Future of Science Journalism video, you might want to watch more:

Here is a link to the E-Portfolio assignment. Be sure to follow all the guidelines!

Remember, Friday is an ONLINE class. You'll need to complete the following by 11:50am on Friday:

By the end of class students must:

nComplete the social media survey on the Module 2 blog post

nSet up a blog using Blogger (recommended) and write an introductory post about you and your field of study and what role communication plays in your work (dissemination of results, linking with fellow researchers, etc.…)

• remember, you will want to choose a professional name for this ALES204 e-portfolio

nIn a comment on the Module 2 blog post, leave a link to your newly started blog (absolutely necessary so the professor and TAs can grade your work)

nNote: you require a personal blog for your E-Portfolio.

nNote: follow ALL e-portfolio guidelines (images, links and proper citations)

Blogging Lab -

Excited to start blogging????

Here is the Rubric by which your first blog post will be graded. Don't forget to include the key components that your TA will discuss with you.

Lecture 4: Science Journalism

Before we dig into the lecture today 2 admin notes:

1. PLEASE remember to fill in the Twitter Alias form so that we can track your participation (you can find it on the Lecture 3 post)
2. Remember that Friday is an ONLINE class. More information will be given during Wednesday's lecture AND during your labs this week.

Part of our homework review, please fill in the following very short (1 question!) survey:

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.


ED. NOTE: As of 3:34pm on Monday (Jan. 16th) 101 students have responded to the survey and only 4 (yes FOUR) students had heard of or visited the PLoS Blogs before. Thanks for answering the survey!

Lecture 4 - Science Journalism - 2012

Related to the story about unvetted science journalism, watch this video of Financial Post editor Terence Corcoran, on "Junk Science in Journalism."