Assignment: Internet Access.

Assignment: Internet Access.

Assignment: Internet Access.

were rules in their home about what they could watch on TV, and less than one-third (30%) said there were rules concerning which video games they could play. In general, children more often have rules about the specific types of content they may consume than about the amount of time they may spend consuming it. In addition, the likelihood of having media rules decreases with age—30% of 15- to 18-year-olds reported having no rules at all about any type of media use, whereas only 3% of 8- to 10-year-olds reported no rules. Of course, when parents themselves are queried, they report supervising their children’s media use to a greater extent than their offspring report (Gentile, Nathanson, Rasmussen, Reimer, & Walsh, 2012). Underscoring the importance of parental oversight is the fact that children and teens who have a TV set in their bedroom spend substantially more time watching television than do those without a set in their room (Jordan et al., 2010; Rideout et al., 2010).

Computers are rapidly spreading in American homes, and so is Internet access. Today the vast majority of young people have a computer at home regardless of their parents’ education or race (Rideout et al., 2010). However, Internet access, especially high-speed wireless, still varies by demographics: White youth and youth whose parents are college educated are more likely to have high-speed access. The most popular computer activities for young people are visiting a social networking site such as Facebook, playing a computer game, and watching a video on a site such as YouTube.

Of course, one of the most dramatic changes in the media landscape is the explosion of mobile devices. Roughly two-thirds of young people between the ages of 8 and 18 own a cell phone, and nearly one-third have their own laptop (Rideout et al., 2010). It is rare these days to spend time with any teen who is not carrying a phone. And texting is a big part of teen communication (see Figure 1.7). One recent study found that the typical teen sends an average of 167 text messages a day (Lenhart, 2012). Older girls in particular have embraced this form of communication; girls between 14 and 17 years of age send an average of almost 200 texts a day, or 6,000 texts a month. Heavy texters are more likely to talk on their cell phones, more likely to spend time with friends outside of school, and more likely to use a social networking site than are their light-texting peers (Lenhart, 2012). In other words, heavy texters are socially active teens. Yet despite all these gadgets, teens report that they prefer using old-fashioned face-to-face communication to talk with friends (Rideout, 2012). Moreover, in a recent national survey of 1,000 13- to 17-year-olds, 43% agreed strongly or

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

• The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

  Discussion Questions (DQ)

  • Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
  • Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
  • One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
  • I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

  Weekly Participation

  • Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
  • In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
  • Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
  • Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

  APA Format and Writing Quality

  • Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
  • Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
  • I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

  Use of Direct Quotes

  • I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
  • As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
  • It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

   

  LopesWrite Policy

  • For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
  • Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
  • Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
  • Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

  Late Policy

  • The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
  • Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
  • If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
  • I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
  • As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

  Communication

  • Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
    • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
    • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.