This is Dr. Regina Gibson.

WELCOME TO:

THE FALL 2015 TERM OF GMCS 546 NEW MEDIA AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Date Revised: Thursday, December 3, 2015

YOU MUST HAVE OFFICE WITH WORD AND EXCEL STATISTICS TO TAKE THIS COURSE! All written reports must be .doc or .docx documents with the exception of EXCEL spreadsheets.

PLEASE look at THIS HOME PAGE EACH WEEK!Please read carefully the following items which are highlighted, boldened, and preceded and ended by exclamation marks. THESE ANNOUNCEMENTS SUPERSEDE or TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER whatever instructions are posted in the modules.

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Here are the announcements and deadlines for the 16th Week of this course.

If you do not have 950 points (check gradebook) please do the Following Assignment by Wednesday Midnight December 9, 2015! Please remember: Submitting your assignments by CANVAS (preferred) or by EMAIL (only if you are having extreme difficulty with CANVAS) is the only way,other than extra credit, to get points! Note: You need 950 points to get an "A" for your Final grade.

Assignment 15 (50 points):

Please upload your FINAL RESEARCH PowerPoint Presentation of your report using Canvas.

IMPORTANT: The Final Oral Presentations (optional if you have over 950 points) will NOT be held in Room 321 next week. Instead, they will be done ONLINE. If you wish to present, you will have to click on Bb Collaborate - located on the left part of the screen of the Canvas home page for this course, and "Join the Session" in order to access the page to upload your PowerPoint Presentation. (You might also have to download the Blackboard Launcher.) If you wish to present your research project, please email me at rgibson@bridgeport.edu to set a date and time when I and the others in the class can view your presentation. I will then make an announcement so others can see the date and time. This course ends officially on December 11, 2015. You will probably not be able to access Canvas after that date.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES

For 10 extra credit points, please post the most interesting or important thing you learned from any event listed in the EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS. (Look in the EXTRA CREDIT SECTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT MODULE, and click on "reply" to post your comment.)

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I am Dr. Regina Gibson, and I will be your instructor. You can easily communicate with me by emailing me any time at rgibson@bridgeport.edu or by using the PEOPLE functions in CANVAS. (If you send me a message through Canvas, I will reply to you in Canvas. If you email me directly, I will reply to your email address.) If there is any emergency you can contact me on my cell:412-370-5639.

In this course, just try to get your assignments in to me, within a "reasonable" amount of time, and you will do fine in this course. Try to meet the Wednesday midnight EST deadline each week for each assignment. PLEASE REMEMBER: YOU MUST HAVE ALL YOUR ASSIGNMENTS IN BY "FINALS WEEK" IN ORDER TO GET A GOOD FINAL GRADE. There are usually two assignments due each week (in some weeks there is only one assignment due), so please look for BOTH ASSIGNMENTS in the list of "Assignments" on the left in this screen.

As stated in the Syllabus (which you can click on on the left hand side of this screen) "students should expect to spend a minimum of two hours of studying or completing assignments outside of class for every one hour spent in the classroom or in direct faculty instruction."

Please remember to read the information in the CANVAS General Information and EXCEL & Statistics Modules as aids for your research paper assignments.

ADVICE FOR SUCCESS IN THIS COURSE: This course involves a lot of work so please give yourself enough time to do the assignments each week and not get stressed-out. Relax. Try to think of it as fun or a learning experience. Even baby steps, or one thing at a time, can get you to your goals. Keep your focus on the assignments and their deadlines - I find it helpful to "visualize" myself walking to the computer, and just typing anything. Try whatever technique works for you; Counseling Services at UB (203-576-4454) is also available if you are having problems which could distract you or prevent you from completing your assignments.If you run into any problems that seem insurmountable, please contact me ASAP. We might be able to work something out. Don't give up.

Remember that you are grad students and you should get mostly "A's" in your courses. Visualize yourself getting an "A" in this course!

HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON IN CLASS.

Dr. Regina Gibson

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P.S. Other Notes:

Helpful Hint for Encrypted documents or Blank pages with moving pandas or bicycles: I have discovered that although there is a blank page or a large error message on the encrypted documents, if you click on "Download . . ." on the upper left hand side of the Canvas box above the Scribd, you might be able to see the document. Also, to open documents linked to Canvas by a URL, click on the tiny " double arrows" icon after the title of the document.

TIPS FOR THE RESEARCH PAPER:

STATISTICS: The statistical measures which you will eventually use will depend on the way you set your variables in your content analysis. For example, you cannot do a regression analysis on "gender." The best type of variable is one where a Likert scale is set up (1-10 or 1-5). This will give you a more continuous set of data for a regression or correlation-type analysis, which would be more robust.

Bb COLLABORATE: Important: To use Bb Collaborate, you might need Windows 7 and Java 1.7.0_51. You might also have to install the Blackboard Collaborate Launcher initially before your first session.

To enter Bb Collaborate, please click on the Bb Collaborate menu item to the left of this homepage, and join the session which I have already created called "Final Oral PowerPoint Presentations." (You will know you are successful in using Collaborate when you get the page with Audio & Video, Participants, and Chat on the left side of the screen, and the Whiteboard on the right.)

The University of Bridgeport offers Counseling Services to students in distress. Feel free to call 203-576-4454 if you feel stressed or overwhelmed by a situation, feel angry at a person, feel afraid, or feel generally upset. All calls will be considered private and confidential.