A Change in Focus

This blog is a project of the Computer Mediated Communication class at the University at Albany. In previous courses, I have had students identify new technology or software and evaluate it for computer mediated communication.

 Much has happened in the last three years since I have taught this class.

 1) The computer mediated communication class is no longer the only course about online communication. With new faculty and new research projects, we now have 3 other courses this semester alone on various aspects of computer mediated communication. This means my course becomes more of a foundation or gateway course into CMC that can be used with other courses.

 2) At the time I was teaching this course 3 years ago, CMC researchers and developers were using Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and with the increased use of smart phones, Web 3.0. These terms are no longer as common as we now use terms like mobile communication, computational web, visual CMC or rhetoric, social media, and analytics when discussing the different types of communication using the internet and communication technology.

 3) There are many different categories of communication "technology" including communication devises (smart phones, tablets, wearable technology, streaming devises), software (apps, interactive web pages, multimedia integration online), and modes of communication (digital video, text, video conferencing, photos/visuals). This complexity has led to a need to understand CMC as a much richer and deeper environment in which there are many more factors (privacy, social, language, visuals, behavioral, technological) and nuances than predicted 3 years ago.

 4) Finally, the breadth of CMC and the rate of change means we need to concentrate on communication affordances, integration, and strategies that can be used across platforms, technologies, cultures, and environments. This requires more complex communication models and the ability to analyze the changing landscape of CMC to make it relevant (and not outdated the next day). At the same time, some of the predictions made 3 years ago about social media, the use of mobile devices, and the future of communication did not come to fruition. So there are some structural constants that are beginning to emerge as CMC matures.

 Changes needed in this blog 

 This blog is a perfect example of changes in CMC. When my students were studying CMC 3 years ago, blogs were undergoing a transformation. The were moving from an interactive software with ongoing deeper discussions to a source of information that others could comment on. Blogs have moved away from interaction to a platform where deeply developed ideas can be presented. These ideas then will be moved to other platforms, such as facebook or twitter, for discussion.

 My purpose 3 years ago were 2 fold: 1) have students interact with each other by commenting on others posts and 2) let students have a greater idea of who their audience was that they were writing for. Unfortunately, the interactive aspects of blogging were already changing.

 So with this class, I will have my students interact with their audience on twitter and facebook. I will also use the blog for my students to practice analyzing and observing online and computer mediated communication. They will also practice writing professional analysis for the internet and at the same time help researchers and professionals understand CMC best practices. Students will also have the opportunity to evaluate new software, apps, and devises, making recommendations for you, the audience.