TWC 451/551
Intellectual Property and Copyright
Technical Communication Program
Fall 2010 Assignments

All assignments are due by 11:59pm (Arizona time) on the due date unless otherwise noted.

Confirmation Email (5 pts, due Sunday, August 22nd)

Send to me an email with the following information:

• Confirm that you have read all of the course documents and that you understand course policies, guidelines, assignments, and expectations
• Questions, concerns, comments you may have about the course or its requirements

Be sure you read all of the course documents before submitting this email.  If I receive an email during week 1 asking a question that is clearly answered in one of the course documents after I receive your confirmation, your grade will be reduced by 1 pt.

Discussion Board/Class Participation (15 weeks @2 pts each)

Outcomes met by successful completion: R1, CRW1, CRW4

Each week, you are responsible for responding to posts in the Discussion Board.Discussion boards will begin on Thursdays with the posting of prompts and close for grading at 11:59pm the following Wednesday. 

Your posts should be thorough, thoughtful, and demonstrate that you have completed readings in order to respond to questions. Discussion board posts have two purposes:

• they demonstrate that you've completed readings, understood concepts, are able to apply them or raise questions about them
• they allow you to engage with each other about course readings and topics; share ideas about them; and help one another learn and understand them

What makes a good contribution (that will earn credit):

• Posts that are thorough and show critical thought and understanding to respond to the week's prompt
• Posts that stay on topic and are relevant to the week's topic
• Posts that clearly incorporate or cite readings
• Posts that support claims with evidence. Unsubstantiated claims or opinions do not contribute to discussion or debate in a meaningful way
• Posts that expand on the conversation and discussion rather than merely repeat or rephrase what someone else has already posted
• Posts that are well-organized, clear, error-free (proofread, please)
• Follow-up post(s) to others that expand, add new relevant information, clarify information, raise additional relevant questions. Follow-up posts that simply say "good post," "I agree/disagree," repeat/rephrase what has already been said, or are off-topic will not count for grading purposes

When writing your posts, remember that you are taking part in a classroom discussion. You should be respectful of others’ perspectives and civil at all times. I will remove posts which include flaming, demonstrate lack of civility, or are potentially libelous.  Obviously such posts will result in a zero grade for the week.

Grading:

2 pts:	Well-written post responding to the week's prompt that meets the criteria above for a good contribution; follow-up to others.
1 pt:	Posts that meet some of the criteria above but demonstrate limited analysis and limited engagement with the topic or discussion
0 pts:	Posts that are incomplete or do not respond to the prompt, are off-topic and do not respond (or minimally respond) to the week's prompt, lack civility, are poorly written will receive 0 pts regardless of # of posts/follow-ups

Group Project

Outcomes met by successful completion of this project: All

This semester you will work together in teams to complete a project related to intellectual property that you will research and apply IP for a specific scenario. Group selection will take part on a first-come-first serve basis; each group will consist of 4 members. We will flesh out the details of the scenario as groups are formed. The outcome for each group will be a presentation in narrated PowerPoint (or video) format with accompanying documents.

Social Media Group (corporate): You work for a small local retailer (not a chain or franchise). The company's website includes online ordering and other information typical of retailer websites: product information, store locations and hours, contact information, etc. In an effort to increase business (on site and online) and to improve customer relations and service, the company has deicded to move into the social media realm. Your team has been charged with creating the intellectual property guidelines and policies for the social media effort. Your recommended guidelines and policies should take into consideration that content will be contributed by both company employees and by customers and other external stakeholders; that content may be contributed in a variety of media (text, audio, video) and through a variety of social media tools and venues (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, RSS, YouTube). Your task: prepare a presentation for the store's management to present the guidelines and policies that you recommend adopting. Your presentation should go beyond simply describing the guidelines and policies; you should present a rationale for them that clearly demonstrates why they are appropriate based on your understanding of IP. Submit your guidelines and policies as written documents along with your presentation.

Social Media Group (non-profit): You work for a local food bank that provides free meals to the homeless and poor. The food bank is dependent on donations and volunteers to provide its services. The economic downturn has meant an increase in demand for services and a decrease in the number of donations. The food bank has a website, generously hosted for free by a local webhosting company. They have agreed to work with the food bank to develop a social networking strategy to generate interest, disseminate information, and increase donations. Your team has been charged with developing the intellectual property guidelines for the social media effort. Your recommended guidelines should take into consideration that content will be contributed by food bank employees, volunteers, donators, and other external stakeholders and that content may be contributed in a variety of media (text, audio, video) and through a variety of tools and venues. Your task: prepare a presentation for the food bank's management to present the guidelines and policies that you recommend adopting. Your presentation should go beyond simply describing the guidelines and policies; you should present a rationale for them that clearly demonstrates why they are appropriate based on your understanding of IP. Submit your guidelines and policies as written documents along with your presentation.

Instructional Design Group: You are the instructional designer team for a public high school which has just launched a grant-funded virtual classroom initiative. To better serve its students, the high school will offer several courses either in hybrid format (combination of classroom and online) or in online only format. Courses will be delivered using Blackboard and will consist of text, podcasts, videos, and educational games. Content will consist of both originally written and produced materials (by the high school's teachers and by freelance writers/editors) and materials available via the Internet (such as instructional material from the National Archives, Library of Congress, or from podcasting and video hosting sites such as YouTube). Not all material from the Internet will be from "free" sites, however. In addition, for the originally developed texts, videos, and games you will, of course, want to make them as visually appealing and engaging as possible. The school has been in the process of searching for a lawyer for several months but, unfortunately, has not yet hired one. The principal has asked your team to investigate the issues that the school will need to be aware of and steps that should be taken so that it will follow good IP practices. Your task: prepare a presentation for the principal to present the guidelines and policies that you recommend adopting. Your presentation should go beyond simply describing the guidelines and policies; you should present a rationale for them that clearly demonstrates why they are appropriate based on your understanding of IP. Submit your guidelines and policies as written documents along with your presentation.

Design Group: You are part of a co-op of jewelry designers. Members of the co-op have all been successful selling their designs at local craft fairs and boutiques. As a group, you now decide to publish a book of co-op members' designs and jewelry making techniques. The book will be sold alongside designs at the craft fairs and boutiques as well as online. Before starting the book, however, the group realizes it needs to understand the intellectual property issues to protect members' rights and income. You are part of a team to investigate these issues and make a recommendation to the group. Your task: prepare a presentation for the co-op to present the guidelines and policies that you recommend adopting. Your presentation should go beyond simply describing the guidelines and policies; you should present a rationale for them that clearly demonstrates why they are appropriate based on your understanding of IP. Submit your guidelines and policies as written documents along with your presentation.

Webcasting Group: You work for a trade group that consists of thousands of industry-specific companies. One of the primary functions of the group is the annual convention in which members do presentations, network and meet with colleagues, advertise and market their products and services. While the convention continues to be popular, the downturn in the economy has taken its toll. Member corporations are becomining increasingly reluctant to spend the money to send employees to the conventions (or have employees away from the office for an extended period). The group has been considering using web conferencing software to hold the convention online. But--questions about intellectual property come up. Not only will the convention be broadcast live over the web to stream speeches, presentations, and meetings, the convention will be recorded so that it is made available on the group's website and archived. That raises questions: who owns those presentations and speeches? The trade group? The companies who are members? The individuals? What about any printed documents or handouts or marketing materials? Suddenly what seems like a simple move from face-to-face convention to online has become more complicated. You are part of a group that has been asked to investigate these issues and present recommendations and drafts of guidelines for the group to follow. Your task: prepare a presentation for the group's management to present the guidelines and policies that you recommend adopting. Your presentation should go beyond simply describing the guidelines and policies; you should present a rationale for them that clearly demonstrates why they are appropriate based on your understanding of IP. Submit your guidelines and policies as written documents along with your presentation.

Software licensing group: You have just joined a group that has developed a new software product and is about to form a start-up. There is disagreement among the group, however, about the type of licensing to use. Some members want to use traditional click- or shrink-wrap licenses; another is advocating for the use of a GNU license. Someone asks--but what about Creative Commons? Someone else asks, but don't we have to copyright it or patent it? You are part of a team which is investigating the various options and issues to report back and make recommendations. Your task: prepare a presentation for the group's management to present the guidelines and policies that you recommend adopting. Your presentation should go beyond simply describing the guidelines and policies; you should present a rationale for them that clearly demonstrates why they are appropriate based on your understanding of IP. Submit your guidelines and policies as written documents along with your presentation.

Part 1: Group Selection (5 pts, individual grade; due Wednesday, Sept. 8th)

Submit to me an email your group selection. Since I will assign you to groups based on first-come first-serve basis, rank the groups based on your preference. The earlier you submit your email, the greater your chance of being assigned to your first choice. If I do not receive your selection, I will assign you to an open group.

Part 2: Group Formation Documents (10 pts; group grade; due Sunday, Sept. 19th)

For this assignment, you will determine the logistics for your group: assigning roles, ground rules, and developing a work/project plan.

At the end of the semester, you will complete a team evaluation in which you evaluate yourself and each other in the context of your roles for this project. Before you discuss and make decisions about ground rules and roles, you may wish to review the evaluation form and the article "The complexity of online groups: A case study of asynchronous distributed collaboration" (both posted in Course Documents in Blackboard) and/or Group Work and Collaborative Writing, particularly the sections on making your group a success and forming.

A BB group area will be set up for your group where you can post updates, documents, use a discussion forum, and virtual chat room. You might also consider using Google Docs so that you can easily share and collaborate on your documents. If you use the chat room for group meetings, be sure to save transcripts. You may also want to keep copies of group email. This documentation will serve as evidence for your participation grade.Submit to me in memo format by Sept. 19th:

• A list of group roles and person assigned to them
  • each group must have a group leader and a recorder responsible for your group area in BB, keeping notes, transcripts, managing group documents. The recorder is NOT responsible for writing all the group's work, that should be collaborative with each member participating.
  • establish ground rules for the group and agree on consequences if they are broken.
  • attach to your memo a completed copy of the Group Ground Rules Signature form (in Course Documents). In your memo, indicate whether each member of the group has agreed to the ground rules.
    
    
• A work/project plan (attached to your memo):
  • break the project down into tasks and set deadlines for each--create a timeline for your project. Decide who is responsible for each task
  • decide how you will manage the writing task: who will draft, edit, revise, etc.

I have included in the Course Documents section a work plan submitted by a group from a previous semester. Their assignment was different from yours and you do not have to follow it exactly; however, it is an excellent example of project planning. Think in the context of a work team reporting to a supervisor or manager. Your memo should be written accordingly.

Grading will be based on:

• Content: your memo and work plan should be complete, comprehensive, clear
• Formatting and mechanics: your memo should be properly formatted, well-organized, use proper tone and language (remember you are a work team addressing a supervisor), proper grammar, spelling, usage

Part 3: Brief Progress Update (5 pts; group grade; due Sunday, Oct. 3rd)

The purpose of this update is primarily to briefly bring me up-to-date on your group's work and to clarify any remaining details about your group's scenario. However, it should be clear from your progress description that your group has met at least once to discuss the scenario and that you are following your submitted work plan.

In an email to me:

• A brief description of your group's progress to date (since your group formation)
• Questions about your scenario, the documents or presentation you are to complete, or other problems that may have arisen since your submitted your formation documents.

Grading will be based on:

• Content: your email should be complete, comprehensive, clear. In this case, "complete and comprehensive" indicates that you have described your progress, that it is clear that you are making progress and working towards completing your task, and that you have thought through questions and asked them.
• Formatting and mechanics: your email should be well-organized, use proper tone and language, proper grammar, spelling, usage

Part 4: Progress Report (10 pts; individual grade; due Sunday, Oct. 31st)

Submit a project update to me in memo format . Each member of the group should write his or her own update. Your update must include:

• A one paragraph description of your group's progress to date.
• A brief evaluation of your group's progress. This is not an evaluation of individual group members (you will do that at the end of the semester). Instead, it should be an honest evaluation of the group and whether it is making progress or not. You should point to evidence and provide enough details to support your evaluation. If your evaluation states that your group is not making progress, you should incorporate information to indicate what the group should do in order to get on-track.
• A brief evaluation of your contribution to the group. Your self-evaluation should include an honest assessment of how you have or have not helped the group meet its goals in the role that you agreed to take on during group formation. Your evaluation should point to evidence and enough detail to support your claim.

Grading will be based on:

• Content: your memo should be complete and include all requested information; your evaluations should be clear, comprehensive, and supported by details and examples. Your evaluation should NOT simply state all is well; if there are problems or obstacles in progress (or your own contribution), they should be included and evaluated as problems to be solved
• Formatting and mechanics: your memo should be formatted properly; well-organized, use proper tone and language; and use proper grammar, spelling and usage.

Part 5: Project Outline (5 pts, group grade; due Sunday, Nov. 14th)

By now you should have completed your research and started to outline how you will present your final project, both written documents and presentation.

Submit to me an email with the following information:

• A brief, 1-2 paragraph progress report on the status of your work. If you are having any problems or lingering questions that you haven't been in contact with me about, report on them/ask them here
• A list of written documents that will be included in your final project submission and the format they will be submitted in
• An outline of your presentation

Grading will be based on:

• Content: your email should be complete, comprehensive, clear
• Formatting and mechanics: your email should be properly formatted, well-organized, use proper tone and language, proper grammar, spelling, usage

Part 6: Final Documents and Presentation (30 pts: 20 pts for the presentation, 10 pts for accompanying documents; group grade; due Wednesday, Dec. 1st)

Post your presentation and documents to the Discussion Board in Blackboard.

Part 7: Team Participation (15 pts, individual grade)

Submit your team evaluation form by Sunday, December 5th.

As part of your group assignment, you will receive an individual grade based on your participation and contribution to your team. The following will contribute to your participation grade:

• the team evaluations submitted by your teammates as well as yourself, my observations of your group work, the updates you submitted earlier in the semester
• Blackboard group discussion board/chat transcripts/any other evidence you submit

Graduate Assignment (60 points; TWC551 students only)

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Page last modified: 15 August 2010