The purpose of tutorials is for students to discuss the weekly topics and readings to enrich their understanding. All students are required to participate in tutorial discussion. This means arriving at tutorials having completed set readings and being prepared to discuss issues arising.

The format of tutorials is based around student-led discussions. Your responses to your peers will form the basis of your participation mark.

You will be assessed on four criteria:

• Engagement with the readings
• Engagement with lecture material
• Ability to relate key theoretical ideas to previous readings and/or independent research
• Willingness to contribute to class discussion by asking relevant questions, answering other students questions, treating other students with respect and behaving appropriately (e.g. not talking whilst tutor or other students talking)

Attendance is not the same as participation. Students receive no marks for simply attending tutorials.

Students are required to complete an 800 word critical analysis of one of the readings from the unit reader. The reading must be from weeks 2 to 5.

Students must analyse the reading and critically reflect on its key ideas and arguments.

• Students should identify the key concepts and argument. What is the author saying? Why?

• Evaluate the argument. Is this a strong argument? Why/ Why not? Don't just give your personal opinion, back your statements up with theory or examples

• Contextualise the argument within broader academic frameworks. How is this argument similar or different to what other theorists are saying?

Students should not simply summarise the reading, you must explore, expand, and critique the author's major arguments.

The critical analysis should follow standard academic writing practices, i.e. be formal in tone and reference cited material. Students are encouraged to draw on examples of technological forms and practices they are familiar with to better engage with and build upon the key ideas from the reading.

Students must reference at least one other academic source in this analysis.

Students must submit online through iLearn.

Students will be assessed on the following:

• Demonstrated ability to identify and articulate author's key arguments

• Demonstrate ability to critically engage with key arguments

• Demonstrated ability to contextualise article core arguments within broader theory

• Style, coherence, and structure of writing

Students are required to submit a 2000 word essay on a topic of their choosing exploring a specific new media technology/platform/practice.

Students should select a new media technology/platform/practice and examine the cultures that have sprung up around it. Students need to make a specific argument, this is not a general history of the technology. For example: 'Facebook has facilitated new forms of protest' would be a good topic, just writing about the history of Facebook would be bad.

The essay should

• Briefly describe the historical development of your new media technology/platform/practice in relation to your overall argument
• Critically analyse the cultures that surround the technology/platform/practice and explain why they are important or significant
• Examine any conflicts and tensions that surround the technology/platform/practice

Essays will be submitted, marked and returned electronically via iLearn.

Marking Criteria

• Choice of Topic: How useful and interesting is your chosen case study?

• Research: What is the quality of your research? Have you identified and made use of appropriate resources beyond those provided in the unit reader? (You must use at least one article from the reader, and at least two from your own research)
• Critical Approach/Analysis:  Whilst part of the essay may be descriptive, the analysis of your chosen technology must make an argument and provide evidence to support it. For example, an analysis of BitTorrent might include statistics about usage (from reputable sources), and evidence about its cultural and economic impact. Do not just describe the technology.
• Presentation: Your essay must be clearly written and presented, with appropriate referencing for all cited sources.

Students are required to plan and develop a Website. Websites are due to be presented in your timetabled workshop session in week 13: This means that your Website must be completed PRIOR to that class. You will not be given any class time in week 13 to complete your Websites and will be penalized as a late submission.

You may choose the topic of your Website, for example, you may build an online CV or a fan site for your favourite band or video game. All Websites must satisfy the following criteria:

• Minimum of four (4) pages including a home page
• Home page must be saved as index.html
• Original content
• Any borrowed content or code should be visibly referenced using a separate references page (which will not count towards the mandatory minimum four pages)
• A single CSS document linked to by all HTML documents
• Websites should draw on skills developed during the unit
• Websites should use current approaches to design as taught in the unit. Table-based design is not permitted and will incur significant penalties
• Web sites should use current and valid HTML code
• Images should be resized and optimized for the Web
• Individual pages should utilize titles using the <title></title> tag

Marking Criteria:

Design

• How aesthetically pleasing is the site?
• Do the colours complement each other?
• Are images relevant?
• Is the text readable and formatted correctly?
• Does the design reflect the content?
• Has the box model been used?

Content

• Choice of topic
• Is the content original?
• Is borrowed content referenced?
• Does the content make sense?
• Are there spelling or grammatical errors?
• Is the site easy to navigate?

Coding

• Is the HTML correct?
• Is the CSS correct?
• Have CSS styles been employed to control presentation?
• Do the hyperlinks work?
• Do images display properly?