Friday, August 31, 2012

Lecture on Monday (Sept 3) cancelled

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We will unfortunately have to cancel (or postpone) also the lecture on Monday next week. There will hopefully be no more cancelled lectures. We will have two guests visiting us on Tuesday and Friday next week, as well as a seminar on Thursday (instructions to follow soon).

There will on the other hand appear some more (guest) lectures in the schedule. From week 38 (after mid-September), we will basically squeeze an extra guest into the schedule every week. You will get more information about these changes soon.

/Daniel
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Thursday, August 30, 2012

On attendance

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As I said at the course introduction earlier this week, there are few demands on you during the coming month. There is little to read and few seminars. What you should do though is attend the (few) seminars we will have and listen to our long line of guest lecturers. There is a requirement that you attend to >75% of all scheduled activities during the start-up phase of the course.

To help you keep track, I have created a Google spreadsheet where you can check out your attendance record this far. Do note that the document is not public on the web, but that anyone with the address (URL) can check it out.

The URL is:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjSX1UzPXs2MdE80aHk0UGtUSE10bjJSUE5GT0owTVE.

My goal is to update this Google spreadsheet at least once per week. Please check it out now and then (especially if you suspect you will land close to the 75% limit). Please get in touch with me if you think the information in the spreadsheet is inaccurate.
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Your photos

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Everyone who went to the introductory lecture had his/her photo taken and I promised to make the pictures available (only) course participants.

You can now download them in the form of a pdf file from Bilda ("120828 FoM.photos.pdf"). This document is especially useful for those course participants who knew none or few other course participants before the course. Do take into consideration that you will form project groups in the beginning of October - with that in mind it could be a good idea to network and get to know some people you don't already know.

Most pictures were ok (but not all - sorry Ted and Jens). Some students could not come to the intro earlier this week so your photos will be taken next week instead. An updated version of the document will then replace the current document sometime next week. It will have a different name (but I won't write a blog post about it).
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Important - today's lecture cancelled/moved

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I just talked to Peter Jakobsson who was supposed to give the first guest lecture in the course today He has unfortunately fallen ill (gastroenteritis - must have eaten something unsuitable) and can't come today.

Peter will instead visit us next week (on Tuesday Sept 4).

While I feel a little sorry for Peter, these news will no doubt delight the sizable contingent of students who are taking the course AK2203 - and where the first lecture collided with Peter's (now-cancelled) guest lecture today.

I will send SMS and e-mail through Bilda about this, but please also spread this information to anyone you know who is in danger of not being reached electronically (who follows the course but hasn't registered yet)!

/Daniel
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Monday, August 27, 2012

On how to use this blog

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I (and Leif) will publish course-related information at this blog. I suggest you subscribe to the blog posts by RSS or mail or read the blog regularly in some other way.

I personally subscribe also to the comments, so if you leave a comment, I will see it - usually within a day. Please pose questions that other course participants might be interested in as comments to blog posts instead of sending the by mail to me - so others can see both the question and the answer. By all means, please do answer any question you happen to know the answer to - you don't need to wait for my answer. Do note that you can always see the latest comments on the far right on the screen.

Also and for your information, please be aware of the fact that a few of our guest lecturers (who will visit us during the coming weeks) also might read this blog so as to see who else will come and give lectures in the course!
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Access to Bilda

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If you don't have access to our group in Bilda ("DM2571 fmed12"), you might not be registered for the course. Please make sure you register by visiting your local student advisor. I can't register students for courses - not even the courses I teach and you need to be registered in order to pass the course.

If you are registered, you should have access to Bilda, but some students apparently don't. If so, please send me a mail and I will make sure that you get access to our group in Bilda (pargman-at-kth-dot-se).
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Cancelled/postponed lectures week 35 + 36

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As I mentioned during the introductory lecture today, we have had some bad luck with out guest lecturers during the first two weeks of the course - one even called and cancelled earlier today.

We will thus cancel (or rather postpone) some lectures during this and the next week. This week there is thus only a lecture tomorrow (Tuesday) - and no lecture on Wednesday.

During week 36, it now looks like we will only have one lecture, on Fri Sept 7 (as well as a seminar on Thu Sept 6 - instructions to follow).

There will on the other hand be some weeks later where we will squeeze in an extra guest instead. All information about changes in the schedule will be posted here on the blog.

Here is a link to the course schedule - do note that the schedule does not take into account the changes I mention here in this blog post.
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Essay 1 - instructions


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You have to write an individual essay twice during the course; in the beginning and in the end. Writing these essays are compulsory. Below are the instructions for the first essay.

Please download and use the template that is available in Bilda ("FoM essay 1") when you write your text. Use your family name when you designate a name your file ("Pargman essay 1") and upload it to the "drop box" that has been created exclusively for this purpose in Bilda. Do note that you can only upload the file formats .doc, .docx (MS Word) or .pdf to the drop box.

Deadline for handling in the essay is Friday August 31 (23.59). This task is neither very comprehensive nor time-consuming.

Instructions

1A. "Expectations and apprehensions". This is the 10th time the course is given, but it changed and morphed into an English-language course last year. Some students have talked about the course with older students, or seen earlier final presentations, while others know very little about the course beyond the course introduction that was given earlier today. In both of these cases, it is important for us teachers to avoid misunderstandings, to adapt the course according to the participants' preferences (where possible) and to explain why that is impossible in other instances.

Please write 200-600 words (0.5 - 1.5 pages) about your hopes and expectations, or your fears and apprehensions as the course now starts - based on whatever information you have available right now. Perhaps you have opinions that you would like to get heard about the form or the content of the course?


1B. "My relationship to magazines". Please write 400-1000 words (1 - 2.5 pages) about your personal relationship to magazines. What do magazines mean to you? How do you consume magazines (in paper or on screens)? What kind of magazines do you read? In what context? Have your magazines habits changed lately or at some earlier point in your life? If you don't read magazines a lot, why do you think that is? Have you ever been involved in making (writing, editing, producing) a magazine? Are there already now magazines-related issues that you find particularly interesting and that you would like to immerse yourself in (or suggest that someone else should immerse themselves in) during the project phase of the course?
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Welcome to the DM2571 course blog


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This is the blog for the 2012 edition of the KTH course DM2571 "Future of media".

The course starts on Monday August 27 (15.15-17.00 in lecture hall D3). If you plan to take the course, make sure to come to the first lecture. It will be full of information about the course and about this year's theme.

Do note that the schedule (which can be found here) will be pretty full with lectures and seminars during the first six weeks of the course (week 35-41 - Monday August 17 to Wednesday October 10) and that many of these activities are not optional to attend (i.e. they demand a 75% presence). This will on the other hand be "compensated" with few scheduled activities during the remainder of the autumn term when students will work with their group projects and you can schedule your time according to your own preferences.

This blog will be used as a one-way channel to spread timely administrative and practical information during the course, but with the added option of students being able to comment (ask questions) here instead of sending mail to the teachers. Please 1) check out the blog regularly or 2) subscribe to the RSS flow or 3) subscribe to blog posts by e-mail if you plan to take the course.

That's all for now, see you on August 27!

/Daniel Pargman (head teacher) & Leif Handberg (associate teacher)
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