Unit 01

Unit 1:
Welcome to the Internet
 Unit 1: Assignment #1 (due before 11:59 pm Central on MON JUN 15):

  1. Read closely (and thoroughly) the Course Syllabus.
  2. Copy and paste the text of the Course Contract into the body of an email message.
  3. Fill in the blanks of your email message with the information you learned from the Course Syllabus.
  4. Email your completed Course Contract, which should be in the body of your email message, not attached as an attachment, to Professor Gernsbacher with the subject of your email message, PSY 532: Course Contract
  5. Professor Gernsbacher will reply to your PSY 532: Course Contract email message. In her reply  message, she will tell you how to complete the last part of Unit 1: Assignment #1, which you MUST complete.

Unit 1: Assignment #2 (due before 11:59 pm Central on MON JUN 15):

  1. From the Course Syllabus, learn how to take advantage of the Flexibility Accommodation that is built into this course.
  2. From the Course How To:
    1. Learn “How to Control the Size of the Display on Your Screen.”
      • Practice adjusting the size of the display on your screen with the Course Website Homepage.
      • You’ll probably want to adjust the size of the display on your screen until the Course Website’s Homepage looks like this image.
    2. Learn “How to Access the Course Website” (and learn that you should bookmark the Course Website’s URL and that you should NOT try to access the course through Learn@UW or directly through Canvas).
    3. If you plan to work on the course using a mobile device, learn “How To Work on the Course Using a Mobile Device” (and learn that you should not use the Canvas Mobile app on your mobile device).
    4. Learn “How to Upload a Photo to your Discussion Board Profile” and upload a picture of yourself to your Discussion Board profile.
      • Be sure to learn that you MUST crop your profile photo to show as much of your face as possible and ONLY your face (no pets or friends, because they’re not taking this course; you are!; not a lot of background scenery; just your face rather than other parts of your body).
    5. Learn “How to Turn On or Off Discussion Board Notifications” and set both your Submission Comments (which are comments from your TAs and instructor) and your Discussion Board notifications to your desired frequency.
  3. From Wiki How’s “How to Make a Unique Screen Name,” learn how to make up a unique screen name for yourself. (In this course, we will refer to each other using each other’s preferred actual names. But making up a unique screen name is both a relevant Internet skill to learn and a good ice breaker.)
  4. From the Course How To:
    1. Learn “How to Make a New Discussion Board Post.”
      • Learn that if you compose your post elsewhere and copy/paste it into the text box, you might see extra blank lines (meaning more than one blank line) between your paragraphs. You’ll need to delete those extra blank lines (extra means more than one blank line) before you click “Post.”
      • Learn why it’s important to break each of your Discussion Board posts into multiple paragraphs, by skipping a blank line in between paragraphs (but only one blank line). Learn that a good rule of thumb is no more than three or four sentences per paragraph.
      • Learn that you should always check to make sure that your Discussion Board post appears on the correct Discussion Board. Learn that it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that ALL of your posts appear on the correct Discussion Board.
    2. Learn “How to Edit Your Discussion Board Post.”
      • Learn that in this course you cannot directly edit or delete a previous Discussion Board post.
      • Therefore, learn that BEFORE you click “Post” to submit any assignment you MUST check and double-check your assignment against the requirements.
      • Learn how to check the URLs you embed in your Discussion Board posts before you click “Post Response” (by right-clicking on the link and selecting “Open in New Tab” or “Open in a New Window”).
      • Learn that if you submit only one part of a multi-part assignment, the part you submit initially is the part that will be considered your initially submitted assignment, even if you submitted the initial part before the due date or you submitted a second part before your assignment was graded.
      • Learn that if you re-post an assignment, add to, or otherwise correct an assignment (by making a repeated, corrected, or additional post for any assignment), your self-corrected post will be considered a correction (eligible to earn 2 points, but not eligible to earn 3 points) even if you made the correction before the due date or before your assignment was graded.
    3. Learn “How To Embed a URL into a Discussion Board Post.”
    4. Learn “How To Embed a YouTube Video or Vimeo Video into a Discussion Board Post.” Remember that you must always use the “Embed Small” option
    5. Learn how to access the transcript of any YouTube video and how to adjust the speed of any YouTube video.
  5. Go to the Unit 1: Assignment #2 and #4 Discussion Board and make a new Discussion Board post of at least 200 words. In your post,
    1. tell us your preferred first name;
    2. tell us the unique screen name you made up for yourself;
    3. tell us why you chose that unique screen name;
    4. tell us which specific four hours on which specific six days a week you are planning to work on our course during the coming term (e.g., 10 am – 2 pm on Mondays, 11 am – 2 pm and 5 pm – 6 pm on Tuesdays, and so forth for six specific days);
    5. tell us why you chose those specific hours on those specific days to work on the course during the coming term;
    6. embed in your post one of your favorite YouTube videos (using the technique for embedding a YouTube video that you learned in the Course How To; remember to “Embed Small”);
    7. tell us why the YouTube video you embedded is one of your favorites;
    8. embed in your post a link (a URL) to one of your favorite websites (using the technique for embedding a URL that you learned in the Course How To so that your link will show up as actual text, rather than just a URL or the word, Link); and
    9. tell us why the website you linked to is one of your favorites.
  6. From the Course How To, learn how to find out which section you are in and find out which section you are in.

Unit 1: Assignment #3 (due before 11:59 pm Central on TUE JUN 16):

  1. Watch Professor Gernsbacher’s “On the Internet? Seriously?” lecture video [a transcript of the video is here].
  2. Read Clive Thompson’s (2014) “Why Chess Will Destroy Your Mind” article.
  3. Read Clive Thompson’s (2014) “The Digital Age Is Making Us Smarter and the Kids Are Still All Right” article.
  4. Watch CollegeHumor’s Adam Conover’s (2016) “Why The Internet Is Good for Society” video
  5. Read Jason Feifer’s (2018) “Why Do We Keep Panicking over Tech?” article
  6. While you are watching these videos and reading these articles, write down at least 10 technologies or past-times that fit ALL the following criteria:
    • mentioned in Professor Gernsbacher’s lecture video, Adam Conover’s video, Clive Thompson’s articles, or Jason Feifer’s article; AND
    • preceded the Internet; AND
    • are NOT currently feared, but WERE previously feared; AND
    • were previously feared in a way similar to the way that many Internet-based technologies and past-times are currently feared.
  7. Go to the Unit 1: Assignment #3 Discussion Board and make a new Discussion Board post of at least 200 words in which you
    1. discuss ONE of the earlier technologies or past-times that fits ALL the following criteria:
      • mentioned in Professor Gernsbacher’s lecture video, Adam Conover’s video, Clive Thompson’s articles, or Jason Feifer’s article; AND
      • preceded the Internet; AND
      • is NOT currently feared, but WAS previously feared; AND
      • was previously feared in a way similar to the way that many Internet-based technologies and past-times are currently feared.
    2. The technology or past-time that you choose to discuss MUST be a technology/past-time that no one else in your section has yet discussed.
    3. In your Discussion Board post, you MUST speculate about why people feared that earlier technology or past-time AND how those fears might parallel the fears people currently have about Internet use.
    4. Remember to break your post into multiple paragraphs, by skipping a blank line in between paragraphs (but only one blank line). Remember that a good rule of thumb is no more than three or four sentences per paragraph.

Unit 1: Assignment #4 (due before 11:59 pm Central on TUE JUN 16):

  1. From the Course How To, learn how to make a reply to a Discussion Board post.
  2. From the Course Syllabus, review “What’s the best way to respond to another student’s Discussion Board post?” Remember that your responses to other students must always include at least two of the four recommended components.
  3. Go to the Unit 1: Assignment #2 and #4 Discussion Board and
    1. read your instructor and TAs’ posts;
    2. read all the other students’ posts;
    3. make a response (a reply) to three other students; and
    4. each of your three responses should be at least 200 words.
    5. If three other students in your section have not yet posted to the Unit 1: Assignment #2 Discussion Board, you will need to wait until they do OR until the due date for Unit 1: Assignment #2 has passed.
    6. You will not be held responsible for responding to three other students’ posts if the Unit 1: Assignment #2 due date has passed, and three other students have not yet posted on Unit 1: Assignment #2 Discussion Board.
    7. While you wait, you can (and should) work ahead to further assignments!

Unit 1: Assignment #5 (due before 11:59 pm Central on WED JUN 17):

  1. Read Ward’s (2017) article, “Google Exec, Mark Cuban Agree that these College [Skills] Are the Most Robot-Resistant.”
  2. Read the excerpt from Coplin’s (2012) book, 10 Things Employers Want You To Learn in College.
  3. Read Brooklyn College’s handout (summary) of Coplin’s (2012) book.
  4. Identify three skills mentioned in Ward’s article or Coplin’s book excerpt (or the summary of Coplin’s book) that you want to develop further.
  5. Read through Karbach’s (no date) infographic, “Learning and Thinking Skills of the 21st Century Students.”
  6. Read through the Center for Teaching Quality’s (no date) infographic, “Paths to 21st Century Success.”
  7. Assess yourself on the excerpt from the “21st Century Skills Self-Assessment.”
  8. Identify three skills mentioned in Karbach’s infographic, Center for Teaching Quality’s infographic, or the 21st Century Skills Self-Assessment that you want to develop further in this course.
  9. Read through the graph provided by the Pew Research Center (2016) on “The State of American Jobs” to understand why in this course we will emphasize using the Discussion Board technology correctly (by learning how to embed URLs, videos, and images)
  10. To better understand why, during this course we will emphasize “following instructions” and “meeting deadlines,” read the excerpt from the Collegiate Employment Research Institute’s (2007) report, “Moving Up or Moving Out of the Company? Factors that Influence the Firing of New College Hires.”
  11. Review from the Course Syllabus the section on “How Can I Do Well in this Course.”
  12. Read the handout on “Why and How to Pay Attention to Details in this Course.”
  13. Identify three strategies mentioned in either the Course Syllabus or the “Why and How to Pay Attention to Details” handout that you will follow so that you can perform well in this course.
  14. Tell one other person (a roommate, friend, significant other, parent, spouse, neighbor, or classmate) the three skills from a-d; the three skills from e-h; and the three strategies from i-m that you have chosen.
  15. Go to the Unit 1: Assignment #5 Discussion Board and make a new Discussion Board post of at least 200 words in which you
    1. discuss the three skills from a-d; the three skills from e-h; and the three strategies from i-m that you have chosen — and why you have chosen those skills and strategies.
    2. identify the person you told about the skills and strategies you have chosen, by using the person’s initials (e.g., MG) and briefly explain why you told that person about the skills and strategies you chose.

Unit 1: Assignment #6 (due before 11:59 pm Central on WED JUN 17):

  1. Complete the Unit 1 Review Sheet (which is a fillable PDF).
    1. First, download the unfilled PDF from the Course Website and save the unfilled PDF onto your own computer.
    2. Second, rename the unfilled PDF (that you have saved on your computer) to be YourLastName_PSY-532_Unit01_CourseReview.pdf.
    3. Third, on your computer, open a PDF writer app, such as Preview, Adobe Reader, or the like. Be sure to open your PDF writer app on your computer first, before you open the unfilled PDF file.
    4. Fourth, from within your PDF writer app, open the unfilled PDF file.
    5. Fifth, using your PDF writer app, fill in the PDF.
    6. Be sure to save your filled-in PDF on your computer.
  2. Go to the Unit 1: Assignment #6 and submit your filled-in PDF. The Unit 1: Assignment #6 link is an Assignment link, rather than a Discussion Board link, so it will look a bit different than the other submission links you’ve seen in this course so far.
    1. Click “Choose File” to attach/upload your filled-in PDF.
    2. Immediately after submitting your assignment, check to make sure that your filled-in PDF is really filled-in (and isn’t empty).

Congratulations, you have finished Unit 1! Onward to Unit 2!