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With more than 3,700 classes on offer at AV俱乐部, it's hard to keep track of changes in the course calendar. This week, we take a look at classes added recently to the undergraduate calendar.
Are you on Facebook? Twitter? YouTube? Great! There鈥檚 an app鈥攅r, course鈥攆or that. In fact, if you鈥檙e actively engaging in society at all, might do you good. That鈥檚 Social Computing 鈥� a computer science course taught by professors Gabriella Mosquera and Bonnie MacKay, now in its sophomore year.
The class examines unprecedented forms of communication which have sprung up within the last few years, like the aforementioned Facebook. More relevant than the databases and web servers themselves, however, is their audience.
鈥淲hat we think is really important to this is that we look at users,鈥� says Dr. MacKay, for whom the social aspects of computing have long been a passion.
Interdisciplinary
Social Computing, like Animated Computing (also a new course), fulfills the lab credit required of computer science students. And, like CSCI 1106, it鈥檚 open to students university-wide. That鈥檚 one of the course鈥檚 key aspects. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have different disciplines coming in with different perspectives,鈥� enthuses Dr. MacKay. 鈥淚t鈥檚 no longer just computer scientists sitting down and writing a bunch of code.鈥�
To effectively teach this relatively new field, Social Computing hosts guest speakers and conducts case studies (Facebook, Youtube and Twitter are all on the menu.) Grading for the course breaks down into a term-long group project worth 50 per cent, an exam, and individual work. The hefty percentage assigned to the group project isn鈥檛 as intimidating it seems, since the project is broken down into smaller components. Students pick an existing digital social outlet, then either create a prototype for an improvement or conduct a study on the users of said media. 鈥淟ast year one group came up with a new way of editing Wikipedia pages鈥� we had a group looking at gender groups using Facebook.鈥� For those who choose to create rather than observe, their 鈥渋mprovements鈥� will be tested, in turn, by a small audience. Realism and applicability is paramount.
Savvy in social situations, as mediated through technology, has never been more important. Google鈥檚 recent purchase of Youtube and its subsequent enforcement of copyright law, not to mention recent controversy over Facebook鈥檚 opaque privacy settings, beg a venue for academic discourse. When the class studies Youtube, 鈥淲e talk a little bit about the viral aspect,鈥� says Dr. MacKay. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a great example of something that never happened before Youtube came out. It鈥檚 a marketer鈥檚 dreamland.鈥�
Things get more complicated when the class upgrades to Facebook. 鈥淗ow much information should be out there? Do you want everyone to see everything in the world?鈥� It鈥檚 not just a rhetorical question, since her students will attempt to answer just that. They will also peer into the murky waters of cyber bullying and Facebook 鈥渃reeping.鈥�
Surprising
Partly, a course of this kind is possible because the range and depth of social computing has reached unprecedented heights, providing surprising insights into how people interact with their PCs. 鈥淧eople are not going to do what you think they鈥檙e going to do,鈥� says Dr. MacKay. She cites an impromptu survey of last year鈥檚 class鈥攚hat did students use their mobile phones for? Only two suggested it was to call people. Other applications ranged from texting to planning. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not even considered a phone anymore.鈥�
Dr. MacKay hopes computer science students will leave the course with a renewed appreciation for the real-life aspects computer science, once only addressed in the third year and above. 鈥淐omputers are not just about writing code. You need to consider the user.鈥� She鈥檚 also looking forward to teaching students from other faculties, since computer science courses are not always so accessible. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very interactive class鈥� It鈥檚 on social computing, so it鈥檚 got to be a social course.鈥�
Neo-Luddites may take heart. Technology is examined, yes, but Dr. MacKay promises 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a high overview鈥攊t鈥檚 just giving definitions and structure to the technology behind it. We鈥檙e not expecting them to be database experts.鈥�
In other words, if you鈥檝e wasted time on Farmville, if you鈥檙e praying for an 鈥渦nlike鈥� button, if you鈥檝e gnashed your teeth over the Old Spice Guy 鈥� this just might be your course.