NCSU Department of Communication

COM477-001::Mobile Technologies and Cultures
Instructor: Dr. Adriana de Souza e Silva

 

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Part I: Introduction & basic concepts

 

Week Day Topic Videos Readings due Class activities Assignments

0
Introduction

Wed.
08.19

 

Course overview    

 

 

 

1
Mobility


Mon. 08.24 Mobility 1  

Brewer & Dourish, "Storied spaces" (pp. 1-14)

Castells et. al.,"Communication and mobility in everyday life" (pp. 77-126) in MCS

 

  Blog post 1 (texts 1 /2)
Wed. 08.26 Mobility 2    

Assign class discussion topics

 
2
Place / Space
Mon. 08.31 Glocality vs. Network Locality

 

Gordon, "Redefining the local" (pp. 21-36) in DC

Meyrowitz, "The rise of glocality" (pp. 21-30)

 

  Blog post 2 (texts 3 / 4)

 

 

Wed. 09.02    

Discussion posters

Show student work

- Choose groups for final project

 

 
3
History
Mon. 09.07

Labor Day - no class

 

Wed. 09.09 History of wireless technologies and cell phones  

Abrahamson, "Hear Me Now"

Farley, "Mobile telephone history" (pp. 22-34)

  Blog post 3 (texts 5 / 6)



Part II: Mobile interfaces

4
Cell phone generations

 

Mon. 09.14 Cellular generations 2G / 3G / 4G

Generations Table

 

 

Wilson, "3G to web 2.0?" (pp. 229-242)

Javaid, Rasheed, Meddour, Ahmed, & Prasad, "A novel dimension of cooperation in 4G" (pp. 29-40)

 

  Blog post 4 (texts 7 / 8)

Wed. 09.16   Lecture Rheingold (TED)  

Discussion 1:
Stephanie White / Megan Markov

 

 
5
Ubicomp / Pervasive computing
Mon. 09.21 Ubicomp / Pervasive computing

 

Pattie Maes (TED)

Greenfield, "Section1: What's everyware" (pp. 9-34)

Greenfield, "Section2: How is everyware different from what we're used to?" (pp. 35-88)

 

 


Blog post 5 (texts 9 / 10)
Wed. 09.23     Optional project reading:
Kato, "Japanese youth and the imagining of keitai" (p. 103-119)

Discussion 2:
Chris Geatz / Brent Cochrane

- Discuss preliminary proposal

 

 
6
Locative media

 

Mon. 09.28 Connecting information to places  

de Souza e Silva & Frith, "Locative mobile social networks"

Perusco & Michael, "Control, trust, privacy and security" (pp. 4-16)

 

Blog post 6 (texts 11 / 12)

Give questions midterm

 

 

Wed. 09.30   - CYSMN?
- Botfighters
     



Part III: Patterns of cell phone use

7
Macro-coordination

(AOIR)

 

(fall break week)

Mon. 10.05  


 

 

 

 

mid-term exam due

 

Wed. 10.07 Cell phones as social organizers

 

Castells et. al. "The mobile civil society" (pp. 185-214) in MCS   Blog post 7 (text 13)
8
Safety and security

 

Mon. 10.12 Cell phones used for safety, security, and war

 

 

Gordon, "The mobile phone and the public sphere" (pp. 307-319)

Cohen, "When the bombs go off the mobiles ring" (pp. 117-128)

 

 

 

Blog post 8 (texts 14 / 15)

 

Wed. 10.14      

Discussion 3:
Wallis Hutchens / Joe Crutchfield

- Discuss storyboard

 
9
Identity

/ Self
Mon. 10.19 Cell phones as fashion items / influence on youth behavior

  Castells et. al., "The mobile youth culture" (pp. 127-170)

in MCS

Fortunati & Cianchi, "Fashion and technology in the presentation of self" (pp. 203-226)

 

 

 

Blog post 9 (texts 16 /17)

 

Wed. 10.21      

Discussion 4:
Sarah Cozee / Philip Kulczewski

 

 

10
Mobile learning

 

 

Mon. 10.26 Cell phones as educational tools  

Katz, "Mobile phones in educational settings" (pp. 87-102)

Delacruz, Chung, & Baker, "Finding a place" (pp. 251-268) in DC

 

  Blog posts 10 (texts 18 / 19)
Wed. 10.28   - Environmental Detectives
- Frequency 1550
- Savannah
  Discussion 5:
Evan Crim / Dana Squire
 



Part IV: Site-specific case studies


11
Asia

Mon. 11.02 Case studies: Asia

 

McLelland, "Sociocultural aspects of mobile communication technologies in Asia and the Pacific" (pp. 124-134)

Bell, "The age of the thumb" (pp. 67-87)

 

 

Blog post 11 (texts 20 / 21)

 

Wed. 11.04  

 

 

 

Discussion 6:
Ranata Reeder

- Discuss preview

 
12
Africa
Mon. 11.09 Case studies: Africa ITU statistics Castells, et. al., Wireless communication and global development" (pp. 215-244)

in MCS

James & Verteeg, "Mobile phones in Africa" (pp. 117-126)

 

 

Blog post 12 (texts 22 / 23)

 

Wed. 11.11  

 

 

  Discussion 7:
Jennifer Rodriguez / Megan Forman
 
13
South America
Mon. 11.16 Case studies: South America

 

Donner, "Research approaches to mobile use in the developing world" (pp. 140-159)

de Souza e Silva, et. al., "Cell phone appropriation and social mobile use in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil"

 

 

 

 

Blog post 13 (texts 24 / 25)

 

 

 

Wed. 11.18      

Discussion 8:
Jane Moon / Jim McGowan

 

 
14
Discussion
Mon. 11.23  

Lecture mobile technologies (New Yorker)

TED cell phones

 

 

Discussion 9:
Camila Alvarado
 
Wed. 11.25 Thanksgiving - no class
15
Final presentations
Mon. 11.30 Final presentations  

 

 

 

 

 

Give questions for final exam

Wed. 12.02 Final presentations        
16
Finals week
Mon. 12.07 Finals week       Final exam due
Wed. 12.09