Course requirements

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1.       Faithful attendance. Grade will drop one level for each two absences after the first two. You may not make up missed in-class writing and take a 0. If you miss more than 5 class sessions, you will flunk. NO LATE WORK. Any late work will earn a “0.”

2.       Be on time to class. Three times late equals an absence.  If you’re more than 15 minutes late, it counts as an absence.

3.       Design and creation of a blog.

4.       The ability to write complete, grammatically correct, sentences.

5.       Weekly postings on the blog, including class notes, and speaker stories.

6.       Note: you must post every week, starting with week two, deadline end of class Thursdays. If you miss a week, you lose points for that week. —in other words, you can’t make those points up (at least 15).

7.       You must average more than one post a week to earn a grade higher than C. (Hint—in the past, students with the most posts get higher grades than those with minimal or insufficient ones).

8.       At least 15 blog posts of original content, minimum one a week, starting Jan. 19. Every post must have writing. Each post will be graded.

9.       Follow, and check BlogblogUCO, class blog every day.  http://blogblogUCO.blogspot.com There will be weekly assignments on this blog, with deadlines. Missed deadlines mean a 0 for the assignment.

10.    Following a professional blog in your area, with blog report, 15-minute presentation to class, second half of semester.

11.    500-word essay on blogs in today’s world.

12.    Midterm and final exams.

13.    Note: Your blog must contain original writing. If it is a photography blog, you must have words with every photo, and the blog must have more than captions.

14.  If you have a medical condition that will mean extensive absences, you must notify the professor in the first week of class, with documentation. If you cannot attend at least 10 weeks of the semester, drop the class.

Required web sites:

• http://blogblogUCO.blogspot.com

• BlogOklahoma.com;
• Huffingtonpost.com

Recommended web sites:

• Clarkcoffee.blogspot.com
• pioneerwoman.com;

• mashable.com;

GRADING SCALE: 100-91--A; 90-81--B; 80-70--C; 60-69--D.

• Creation, design, improvement and maintenance of blog—300 points—30 percent
• Weekly posts—300 points—30 percent (15 posts minimum to be eligible for a “C”; 20 to be eligible for a “B”) More than 20 to be eligible for an “A”). Failure to meet these standards overrides other points.) Each post is graded on quality and quantity:

Blog post grade guide (15 possible points)

Original writing (3)

Grammar/Spelling (1)

Headlines (2)

Visuals (2)

Links (1)

Typography (2)

Design (2)

Creativity (1)

• Blog Essay—100 points—10 percent
• Blog presentation, paper—100 points—10 percent
• Blogblog comments—100 points—10 percent
• Midterm test, Final test, multiple choice—50 points each—10 percent
• Total: 1,000 points
• Note: The final test will be over blogging terms from the text and class, and comments from the speakers.

DEADLINES: Must be met. Absolutely. Period. End of discussion. Journalism is a deadline business. Accordingly, late work will not be accepted. Don’t bother to hand it in—you get a “0” grade. Absence is no excuse.

·      Since this is a class of discovery and living journalism, exact timetables cannot be guaranteed because of student discussions and individual interests. Flexibility is essential to quality education, not rote memory or lockstep schedules. Accordingly, the professor reserves the right to amend the syllabus, with notice to class, at any time, in order to facilitate your learning.