The History of Mass Media (Presentations); A Day Without Media Challenge & Article

The History of Mass Media: Presentations:

Please take 5 minutes to gather your notes, prepare for your speech/presentation. I will take volunteers first, then pick randomly when we run out of volunteers--largely going in chronological order.

Our topics:

• Oral/Written Era: technology mostly delivered through oral/early written traditions (circa 1,000 BCE to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
• Egyptian hieroglyphs: Melinda
• Mesopotamian cuneiform: Degraj
• Ancient Greek theater & the invention of theater: Tali
• Print Revolution: 100CE (China) to about 1045. Development of movable type (printing press)
• Cai Lun & The invention of paper in China: Liz
• Rome & the invention of the codex or bound book: Wesley
• Gutenberg & the printing press (movable type): Makenna
• The Electronic Era: the rise of the Industrial Age (1800's) until about 1930's.
• Benjamin Franklin & the Saturday Evening Post (early newspapers): Jonaya
• Samuel Morse & the telegraph: Valerie
• Nikola Tesla & The Tesla Coil & the wireless: Farhan
• Guglielmo Marconi & the long distance radio: Video
• Charles Babbage & the "difference engine" (early computer): Video
• Alexander Graham Bell & the telephone Emma
• Thomas Edison & the phonograph: Keniah
• WKL Dickson & the Kinetoscope/kinetograph: A'Layza
• William Friese-Greene & movie cameras & early color film: Lesana
• George Eastman & film: Tia
• The Digital Era: 1930's through 1990's (the rise of computers/internet, etc.)
• John Logie Baird & the mechanical television: Zachariah
• Philo Farnsworth & the electric television: Bisharo
• Tim Berners-Lee & the World Wide Web: Madison
• Martin Cooper & the cell phone: Aalaysia
• Vic Hayes & Wi-Fi: Video

A Day Without Media Challenge...

A. Please read the handout and article online: A Day Without Media. Contrast this article and website with the article handout "Fighting a Social Media Addiction". In the COMMENT section below, post answers to questions for critical reading:

• Consider the Maryland report alongside Johnson's "Fighting a Social Media Addiction" especially in light of Rutledge's claim that the report's conclusion "had nothing to do with addiction" [para. 7]. To what extent do you think that "Fighting a Social Media Addiction" accurately represents the Maryland study? Why?

B. After reading and answering this question, write a short news article (including a catchy headline), that you think is a fair and accurate representation of the articles you read today. In your article, include some carefully selected quotations from the authors of the studies, and/or the students they quote. Remember to attribute your sources. Submit your Google doc article file to Google Classroom (see Google Classroom for more information). [For a model of this sort of article, check out the Press Coverage links on the Day Without Media website & link (see above).]

C. Finally, this weekend (Friday - Sunday) choose one day to unplug. Investigate how difficult or easy it is to unplug from all media sources during the day. Take notes about your reaction during this day. Bring your notes back with you next class. You will be adding your reaction/experience to the article you wrote in task B above.

HOMEWORK: See above. Unplug. Take notes about your feelings/attitude/activities during the day you unplug. If you break, note the time and what broke you to check or use the media. Bring your notes to next class. You will be writing a short article about what you experienced.