Letter from India From A Potential New Student Interested in the M.A. in Media Studies Program

I recently received a letter of inquiry from a potential new graduate student currently residing in India:

I am from India and am looking for Study options in media in NY.

Wanted to understand a little more about the course at New School.
Could you tell me the background of students pursuing the course at New School? -- in terms of work experience and educational background.

I have worked with with an advertising MNC both in Media as well as Account Planning. I have a total work ex of 3 years.

Are you currently a student or an ex-student? Would be great if you could help me with this...

Thanks and Regards
Anonymous

Response:

You can check out details about the program on our Media Studies Web site at http://www.newschool.edu/mediastudies/. The Web site explains the program in detail, including the core classes for the media, and the courses required for the production sequence. The non-thesis option requires 39 units to graduate, and the thesis option requires 36.

Students come from all walks of life, all different background. Many are documentary film makers, some are journalists, some have a background in Web development and design, and many have worked in the media, media sales, marketing, business, sales, photography, graphic design, television (one student worked for the BBC), musicians and teachers. All have bachelor's degrees, and all are of very high caliber. All have an interest in the Media and how it impacts us socially as global citizens.

All of the online courses are also taught onsite, so if you plan to pursue the M.A. on campus, moving to NYC is definitely an option. I understand from friends I've met in the online classes who have moved to NYC to complete their second and final year in the program that the online courses are more rigorous and require better preparation, focus, and participation. The online medium necessitates this. For those students who do not participate as much, it becomes very evident in the medium. Some students who choose the film option are required to move to NYC at least during the summer semester to complete the production sequence required for all students, particularly those who choose the video, film, or audio sequence. Since I specialized with the Web production sequence, I didn't have to be onsite and remained 100% online as a student. It's worked out great from me.

Our classrooms are diverse with students entering our virtual classrooms from all over the world. One semester I took a course in Web Design and Production from a professor residing in Spain. Students log into class anywhere, anytime...even from airports in India. It is truly a remarkable program...light years ahead of other Universities.

I hope this helps. Keep us posted on your admissions and your entry and experiences in the program!

Sincerely,

Elle Donato
Author, Graduate Student - Insider Blog

Spring 2007 Online Classes Start Tomorrow, January 22nd!

To All New and Current Online M.A. in Media Studies Graduate Students:

Welcome to Spring 2007. Check out the new Blackboard! To log on, please go to my.newschool.edu to a page that looks like the following:


Once you enter, you'll see the new Blackboard:



Click on the "Student" link to get to the student page:



To check your courses, click on the "My Courses" icon at the top right to get to your courses page:


Your courses page will look like the following:


By now you should have received an email from Sally Herships, Technical Coordinator, Academic Support, NSOU, on the required books and coursepacks for your fall classes.

Where to Purchase Your Books
Books and Printed Course Packs may be purchased at the online bookstore.

FULL NSTRUCTIONS for ordering your books and course packs are posted at: http://dino.newschool.edu/books.

If you have any questions about your course materials please email Sally Hership at herships@newschool.edu

Spring 2007 Courses List
All of your fall courses will be listed online in mynewschool.edu on Tuesday morning, September 5th. It will look like the following:


Welcome, all graduate students in the M.A. in Media Studies! Good luck in all your classes this bright spring semester!

Going Offline From the Blogger's World for a Short Time...

Dear Readers,

I am be going offline for awhile in the blogging world...I started a fantastic new job and the rate since I started in September has been 100 mph -- working long days and many many hours. I need to concentrate on my job for a little while but will get back to blogging in January 2007.

Looking forward!

Sincerely,

Elle Donato
Author, Graduate Student - Insider Blog

Carpe Diem! Seize the Day!

The "Carpe Diem" spirit encourages living life to its fullest, to seize each day as though it were your last, to cherish dearly each day you live. It's about taking risks to live a full and rewarding life. It's the spirit that Maverick's keep close to their hearts -- and one that I keep close to mine. It's my mantra. I hope you make it yours, too.

Live each day to its fullest! Carpe Diem! Seize the day!

Bitacle Steals Blog Content

There's nothing worse than plagiarism, or stealing someone else's content without the consent or knowledge of the original author. Apparently, bitacle.org is doing just this . I have been through undergraduate and graduate training, and of all the caveats we receive as college students, this is the one stressed the most by both Universities I attended...punishable by expulsion from the University.

So how are cyber-thieves getting away with it? Because the originator is much tougher to track on the Internet. And bitacle.org is no exception. In fact, they are based in Spain and have no scruples about stealing blog content from people like you and me, and posting it on their Web site while profiting from the advertising monies they receive from stealing our blog content. While some people may think this is a great way to get our content out in cyber space because it increases the exposure by showing up on another Web site, I think it is unconscionable and unethical. I therefore publicly ask bitacle.org to REMOVE any and all blog content I have personally written off their Web site without my permission. It is stealing and it is wrong.

To my readers, as a caveat, please look carefully at the web address in the URL field of your browser. It should read 'http://graduatestudent-insider.blogspot.com/'. In case you see a web address containing the word ‘bitacle’ or ‘bitacle.org’, you’re not looking at the original page on which this text was posted. If this is the case, the text you are reading right now might be incorrect or out of date. After I place a post on my weblog, I always try to keep published information up to date, or incorporate additional information, which I receive from readers. You will never find this information on bitacle.org.

bitacle.org copies the content of weblogs without permission of the author, the holder of copyrights or the licensee. By visiting bitacle.org, you create income for the people who run bitacle.org, at the expense of me and other owners of a weblog, without permission and often without respecting copyrights and/or terms of use as in a license. So please, next time you want to view my posts, do so by using the web address of my weblog, which is 'http://graduatestudent-insider.blogspot.com/'. Please make a bookmark of my weblog’s address, if you would like to visit it again.

Thank you,

Elle Donato
Author, Graduate Student - Insider Blog

It's Flu Season...Protect Yourselves Grad Students

I haven't had the flu in over 8 years. Yes, it's true. Over8 years. No sore throat, no coughing, sneezing, running nose nor achy body in that long period of time. I rarely ever get sick and when I do, it's usually just a mild cold and I only feel tired for usually just a day with mild sniffles. And I snap right out of it.

The Big Guns
But there's a nasty strain of virus circulating very recently and I was not immune to it, unfortunately. It completely caught me by surprise. It starts with a bad sore throat, then slowly takes its course with a runny nose, chills, then fever, then you feel just awful, and then the terrible cough. It sounds like the FLU...and a very nasty one at that.

Homeopathic Medicine
I used homeopathic medicine and almost immediately I started feeling better. I am just sorry I waited 5 days before taking it. I am a firm believer in homeopathic medicine -- they work immediately without drugs or side effects. Boiron is one of the most trusted names in homeopathic medicine. You can purchase their products from their website directly or at Whole Foods and most health food stores.


Preventive Measures
If you haven't caught this nasty virus, you're lucky, but don't push your luck -- protect yourselves. Start loading up on Airborne and Vitamin C, get plenty of rest and sleep at night, and drink plenty of fluids.

Take Care of Yourself
Exercise regularly and eat right, and stay away from sugar as it lowers your immunity by weakening your immune system, making you more vulnerable to viruses. And watch your stress levels. Qi Gong is great for managing stress. It's a great meditation and relaxation exercise that uses deep breathing and slow flowing movements to help your body relax and self-heal. And as soon as you can, buy yourself the Boiron Cold CareKit to keep handy.

Avoid Relapse
As soon as you take the homeopathic medicine, you'll feel so much better instantaneously that you'll think you're fully recovered and you may even run around town on errands, etc. You'll come home and feel awful. Stay home and rest or you'll relapse, even if you're feeling much better. This is a hardy virus and will take some time to fight off and get over. Better to rest as much as possible for as long as possible until your immune system has completely fought the bug. In due time, it will go away. Just rest so you body can do its job.

To Set The Record Straight: Grad Students are NOT Lazy...

I thought it interesting that someone found my blog by typing in "Grad students are lazy" on Google and connected to my post entitled, "The Last Few Lazy Hazy Days of Summer." Uhhhh...I think we're too busy to be lazy. I just want to set the record straight that on the contrary, graduate students are NOT lazy. At least I know I can say for myself that I am NOT lazy as a graduate student working full-time. Nor can I honestly imagine that any of my colleagues in the M.A. in Media Studies program at The New School are lazy as well. We don't have time to be lazy.

Most grad students work full-time and some may also have a family. It's a tricky juggling act to balance work, family and grad school. For these reasons, many graduate courses on campus are taught in the evenings to account for this, or asynchronously through the online M.A. in Media Studies at the New School. For the first year and a half into the graduate program, I was working full-time and and I was in grad school full-time and maintained a 3.9 GPA. If I were lazy, I don't think I would have maintained the GPA nor lasted through grad school. The M.A. in Media Studies program is rigorous.

Some graduate students take a combination of on campus and online courses, and some are strictly on campus or strictly online grad students. One student in a class this semester was on campus in NYC and moved to Los Angeles for a job. She has continued with the M.A. in Media Studies by attending courses strictly online. One student travels frequently and has logged into class at airports. We're not lazy...not even close. Just very busy!

One of the great advantages of the age of the Internet -- we can take the classroom with us anywhere we are in the world. Truly remarkable how mobile we are worldwide in our global virtual classrooms! :)

Gas Prices: They are a changing...

Has everyone noticed that gas prices are decreasing? This is the second week that the price per gallon for gas is below $3/gallon and still decreasing. While I am an optimist overall and about most things in life, I am not optimistic about these lowered gas prices. I think the lowered gas prices are temporary at best and they'll start climbing again. I have this theory that they get lowered just enough to make consumers feel better about the price of gas, and just when they start feeling better, the gas companies start raising prices again for one reason or another. Why? Because the gas companies can. It fits the game theory from the book, Co-opetition. It's raising prices even though the demand stays the same. And it is just awful.


Did anyone see President Bush's comment on the news about the rising gas prices when the prices first started climbing above $3/gallon? Read the full story.

Following is an excerpt, on a question the President answered from reporter Carl Cameron on gas prices and the current gas price crisis (dated April 28, 2006):

Carl Cameron.

Q Thank you, Mr. President, good morning.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

Q Back to gas prices just a moment ago. Insofar as you directed some of your Cabinet this week to look into the possibility of price gouging, do you have a suspicion yourself, do you have evidence here at the White House, and should the American consumer believe that you think they're being ripped off?

THE PRESIDENT: I have no evidence that there's any rip-off taking place, but it's the role of the Federal Trade Commission to assure me that my inclination and instincts is right. More importantly, it's up to the Federal Trade Commission to assure the American people that they're being treated fairly at the pump.

"Evoking the Soul"

Following is my favorite quote from Goethe. Though he lived many many years ago, what he said about commitment, providence, and ultimately, action still holds true for anyone today. I like to refer to it now and again. It keeps me motivated and insires me. I hope it inspires you, too.

Evoking the Soul

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance which no person would have believed would have come their way. Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.

—Goethe

As Luck Would Have It

"Do the right thing and help others whenever you can" has been my mantra all my life. It's helped me live life with a purpose. I was also told by a dear friend that what you give is returned three-fold. I think there's a lot of truth to that. It's also been called Karma, I believe. I've helped a lot of people in my life, and been kind in return to those who have not been so kind. And I've noticed that some good things have happened in my life very recently, especially with regard to my efforts in adding a crucial class that applies to my Media Management Certificate. If I had not been able to add this class, I would have had to stay another semester and paid a lot more money.

I was so lucky in that I was able to add Competitive Strategies with Professor Warner on August 31th. The class was closed on April 19th during registration for the fall 2006 semester. I tried on the first day of open registration on August 30th and kept trying all day unsuccessfully. Thinking I likely wasn't going to add the class because it likely wouldn't be dropped by anyone, I took comfort in the fact that I had a plan B. But as luck would have it, someone dropped on the following morning of August 31st, and I captured the class.

Because I was so lucky, I decided not to hoard the other classes I had signed up for on April 19th -- classes I would have loved to take but which would not have helped me complete the Media Management Certificate -- classes I would have paid a lot of money for. I let go so that another student would find the same luck I had. I am certain someone got lucky and was able to add Visual Storying with Sharri Kessler -- a course that's only taught online -- a course that was full almost immediately on April 19th. I'd like to know the name of the student who got lucky and added that course.

Looking back, I still don't regret letting go knowing I probably made another graduate student's day. It's always good to learn to let go when you need to, and not to hoard things. Not just material things as I mentioned not being a pack rat in last week's post, but not to hoard things that could benefit someone else.

As luck would have it, open registration closed on September 1st, at which time thereafter, any courses added or dropped must be done in person on campus in NYC. I live in San Francisco. It would have required the approval of Professor Berkman, the new online Advisor. And the approval of someone else. With Tony Laing no longer our Senior Graduate Student Advisor, the process would have been a bit more complicated. I'm so glad I opened up that one position so another student could benefit and take it. No regrets. None. :)

September 11th

Today is September 11th, my birthday, and the first day on my new job. I thought it a great birthday present this year. It's been a great birthday, as all the other years. It's a special day for me and one I hold dear. It is also a day of remembrance for all Americans. A day to remember loved ones. That one year that places a strong mark in our history. It's not the month nor day that is notorious, it's that one day in that one year. It's the best way I have chosen to think about it moving forward. There are, afterall, many more birthdays and birthday years to look forward to, and I would like to think that they will be great days.

Five years after the infamous 9-11 day of 2001, we as a nation were brought closer, as other nations weeped with, and for, us -- for the innocent lives lost -- for a terrible day in one year that we can never take away nor erase from our memories. Five years later, we still have much to be concerned about to make sure such an attack never happens again. I cried only once on my birthday -- that was the year. I hope such a terrible day in our history is never repeated. Not just in the history of the United States, but in the history of mankind. No one should ever live through that, again, not ever.

Online Classes Start Thursday, September 7th!

Before entering your online classes on Thursday, attend orientation with Brett. You'll see his thread on the new Blackboard system, which was up and running with all final maintenance completed at NOON today! Yay!

Have fun! See you in cyberclass on Thursday.

Labor Day, Bay Bridge Demolition Work, and Don't Be a Pack Rat!

It's that time of the year again -- Labor Day is upon us -- a day of rest and a time for picnics, barbecues, public art events such as arts and wine festivals, and the like. And though it is traditionally given as a day of rest, it also makes for a good long weekend to move as was apparent driving around over the weekend. There were many moving trucks on Highway 101.


This was especially obvious amidst traffic headed southbound on Highway 101 -- everybody was headed south to take the San Mateo Bridge east -- traffic that would otherwise have been east bound on the Bay Bridge. Why? East bound traffic to the Bay Bridge is completely shut down over the entire Labor Day weekend through Tuesday for the Caltrans demolition project. About 1,000 feet of elevated freeway is being demolished to make way for the new. "The job will include removing 9,000 cubic yards of concrete and steel, almost 400,000 pounds of material," according to Adam Martin of the San Francisco Examiner. This shuts down the lower east bound deck of the Bay bridge from midnight Friday and will reopen at 5 a.m. on Tuesday.


Labor day weekend this year apparently was a time for "work" rather than rest for a lot of people in the Bay Area. Time to demolish an old section of the Bay Bridge to make room for the new. Time to move out of an old place to the new. Moving trucks all over the highway in a rush to get to their destinations, and the Highway Patrol on the prowl ticketing speeders on the highways. The energy in the air over the weekend was electric.

Ahhh...Labor Day weekend! Time to clear out an old storage locker filled with years and years of "stuff" to make way for the new and the future. Time to get things done before school starts on Tuesday, September 5th. The idea of getting things done before school starts is always a great motivating force! Time to get things done during the last long weekend before the holidays.


After 5 years of sitting in the back of my mind, I thought it time I stopped paying mula to hang on to my "stuff" and give to charity things I do not need.

Fortunately, I had help from Superman! Woohoo!

Keep what you want and can use, my mother said, and give to charity what you don't need or haven't used in years because you probably don't need it. Good advice. I like the idea of giving away something I no longer have a use for so that someone else may benefit. St. Vincent de Paul's Society, The Salvation Army, A Battered Women's Shelter, and the Goodwill -- all worthwhile charities to give things to for the benefit of others. It's a great motivating force, especially after seeing the stacks of boxes in my makeshift locker dining room. I woke up this morning and looked in on the stacks of boxes and it was SCAREY! The task is daunting to say the least.

The dining room is now a makeshift storage locker -- but not for long. At least I am now all in one place and can sort through years of history. Time to clear the old cob webs in the recesses of my mind. Years and years of history in things accumulated and held dear over time. Time to let go.


As I look at the task ahead of me, I find new meaning in the adage, "Don't be a pack rat!"

Ownership of material things can be a burden. I see huge moving trucks, some the size of semi's lugging around material possessions -- all we "own" in this world. It isn't all about material possessions for me. I'd like to travel lighter, own less, and give more to those in need. The thought is quite enchanting...and freeing to the spirit.



Before I start the hard work of going through years of history, I want to soak in the beauty and energy of nature and come back refreshed and ready to tackle such a daunting task. But also, I want to be refreshed and ready for school tomorrow and the start of a great new job as well which starts on September 11th. It's going to be a great birthday!

And so...onward to Lassen Volcanic National Park...


And Lake Almanor...



...before rolling up my sleeves and starting the new fall semester.

I'll be logging in to attend class via wireless Internet from Lassen Volcanic National Park until Thursday.

For students taking Media, Corporate Responsibility & The Law and Competitive Strategies, I look forward to meeting you. For students taking Web Design and Production with Joerg Muller, who resides in Spain, I will be your class TA and look forward to meeting you, as I am sure Joerg is as well.

Enjoy a day off -- it's Labor Day! Rest on this day if you can. School starts tomorrow!

Kubla Kahn by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Today I thought I'd share a poem by one of my favorite poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published in 1816. From Wikipedia: Kubla Khan, or, A Vision in a Dream, A Fragment, although shorter, is also widely known and loved. It has strange, dreamy imagery and can be read on many levels. Both Kubla Khan and Christabel have additional "romantic" aura because they were never finished. Stopford Brooke characterised both poems as having no rival due to their "exquisite metrical movement" and "imaginative phrasing."

Kubla Khan,
or, A Vision in a Dream, A Fragment

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
    Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But oh ! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover !
A savage place ! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover !
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced :
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail :
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean :
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war !

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves ;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice !

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw :
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,

That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome ! those caves of ice !
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware ! Beware !
His flashing eyes, his floating hair !
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Some Favorite Poems by D.H. Lawrence

Self Pity

I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.



I am Like a Rose

I am myself at last; now I achieve
My very self, I, with the wonder mellow,
Full of fine warmth, I issue forth in clear
And single me, perfected from my fellow.

Here I am all myself. No rose-bush heaving
Its limpid sap to culmination has brought
Itself more sheer and naked out of the green
In stark-clear roses, than I to myself am brought.


Piano

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
to the old Sunday evenings at home, with the winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

DFWFreeNet.org - An Upstart Community Wireless Network

An increasing number of wireless Internet entrepreneurs have started a revolution by networking wireless access and resources together to provide FREE WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS.

DFWFreeNet.org is at the forefront of this revolution, providing an open access wireless community network in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It uses the Meraki mini as its access device:


If you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, you can be part of the DFWFreeNet.org wireless network to obtain FREE WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS for basic services. DFWFreeNet.org is available for residents in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Read more about DFWFreeNet.org's upstart community wireless network from the founder and CEO in his blog: Fallen, Inc.

To sign up, send an email to: info@dfwfreenet.org.

If you live outside of this area or in another state, check to see if there's one in your area by doing a Google search, or check out the following:

Other Wireless Community Groups:
* Bay Area Wireless Users Group
* Austin Wireless
* Houston Wireless

As these networks grow nationwide, FREE WIRELESS INTERNET will be available anywhere in the U.S.

An open access community wireless network is created by citizens willing to share wireless internet access for FREE. Remarkable phenomenon and growing, thanks to those with a big heart willing to share the Internet to others. I like to call it "Power of the Crowds".

Fall 2006 Classes Start September 5th!!!

To All New and Current M.A. in Media Studies Graduate Students:

Welcome to Fall 2006. Check out the new Blackboard! To log on, please go to my.newschool.edu to a page that looks like the following:


Once you enter, you'll see the new Blackboard:



Click on the "Student" link to get to the student page:



To check your courses, click on the "My Courses" icon at the top right to get to your courses page:


Your courses page will look like the following:


By now you should have received an email from Sally Herships, Technical Coordinator, Academic Support, NSOU, on the required books and coursepacks for your fall classes.

Where to Purchase Your Books
Books and Printed Course Packs may be purchased at the online bookstore.

FULL NSTRUCTIONS for ordering your books and course packs are posted at: http://dino.newschool.edu/books.

If you have any questions about your course materials please email Sally Hership at herships@newschool.edu

Fall 2006 Courses List
All of your fall courses will be listed online in mynewschool.edu on Tuesday morning, September 5th. It will look like the following:


Orientation
Attending orientation is highly recommended to familiarize yourself with the new online learning environment before classes start next Tuesday, September 5th. Orientation is listed under the "My Courses" section of the portal, found on the top right hand area. Once you're in the section, click on the more link in the "My Announcements" section on the right. There you'll find Brett Leveridge's post for Orientation, dated today, Wednesday, August 30th.

Welcome, all graduate students in the M.A. in Media Studies! Good luck in all your classes this fall semester!

Open Registration Starts Today, August 30th

Open Registration on ALVIN starts TODAY. If you want to add a course or drop one you're currently registered for, today is the first day you can do so.


Continuing Students
You'll need your Alternate PIN, a six digit number your advisor gave you upon approving your courses in April, and the CRN number of the course you wish to add. You can obtain the course CRN number on page two of the Media Studies Course Guide - Fall 2006. It's the red 4-digit number listed with the course.

Good luck everyone!

"What Will Your Verse Be?"

As an undergraduate, I majored in English not just so I could articulate my thoughts in a well written essay, but also to study the human condition and the manner in which we communicate and interact with each other both personally and socially.

The desire to care about other human beings and how we are intertwined in society has never left me. I extended this desire beyond my undergraduate training into my graduate studies when I chose to pursue the M.A. in Media Studies at The New School.

Following are the core values of the M.A. in Media Studies program, from Carol Wilder, Chair of The New School's Media Studies and Film Department:

"As a part of The New School, the graduate program in Media Studies reflects a commitment to a number of core values:

* An emphasis on the essential relationship between media theory and practice in the belief that a conceptual understanding of media is necessary for creating discerning productions and, in turn, that producing media messages grounds an understanding of theory.
* A respect for both aesthetic and pragmatic dimensions of communication.
* A recognition of the integrity and potential contribution of all media formats.
* An awareness of the ethical imperatives of communication throughout the "global village".
* An appreciation of the ways in which media theory and practice can contribute to intercultural understanding.
* An acknowledgment of the challenging marketplace conditions that face today's graduates.
* A belief in the importance of openness to change and innovation."

Carol further writes, and this is the reason why I chose an M.A. in Media Studies:

"As the "communication revolution" unfolds everywhere around us, it is easy to agree with Jean Baudrillard that "we live in a world where there is more and more information and less and less meaning." At the New School Media Studies Program, we learn to make both messages and meaning in the hope that we can all become more mindful and humane citizens of tomorrow."

These are the very reasons I chose to further my education in the M.A. in Media Studies -- because the core values of the M.A. in Media Studies program continues the compassion and caring I have for other human beings that is, and always has been, at the very heart of my core and personal values. With that said, as I complete the graduate program in Media Studies, I ask myself what contributions can I make to become a "more mindful and humane citizen?"

This question is ever more important as we move forward. We are a fast-paced high-tech society in the center of a rapidly evolving Web--a great boon to our ability to communicate instantly, locally, nationally, and globally. High tech gadgets are also coming out of the assembly line by the drove--iPods, palm pilots, blackberries, treos, laptops, cell phones with photo capability...the list goes on--created to meet the need for faster, more efficient communication and instant gratification required by today's consumer.

With so much electronic gadgetry becoming available every day, it is easy to lose site of things that matter in life, including appreciating art, nature, poetry, literature. We need to step back and take time out from the daily grind to appreciate these things. Though life exists and our daily lives move forward in time, we are all still human with basic needs for love, a need to get back to nature to regenerate, a need to appreciate the beauty in the world around us. It's important to remember that these are what we are alive for.

Tom Schulman said it best when he raised the question, "What will your verse be?" in Dead Poets Society:

"We read and write poetry because we are members of the human
race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine,
law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and
necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love,
these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, 'O me! O
life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless
trains of the faithless--of cities filled with the foolish; what
good amid these, O me, O life?' Answer. That you are here--that
life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you
may contribute a verse.

That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse...

What will your verse be?"

--Tom Schulman, from The Dead Poets Society

"Pirate" of The Caribbean Revealed!

I used the following screenshot...


and the following...


...in order to create the final digitally manipulated image in my Digital Design class during the Fall 2004 semester with Professor Philip Kain. See previous day's post, below, to view the final image.

Digital Design is a required core class in the M.A. in Media Studies program at The New School. It was one of my favorite courses in the program!

Graduate students have the option to continue with Advanced Digital Design,which currently is only taught on campus in NYC.

"Pirate" of the Caribbean? Avast, Ye Maties! Arrgghh!

Digital Design
One of the most fun projects I completed in Digital Design in Fall 2004, my first semester in the M.A. in Media Studies program, involved learning advanced digital manipulation techniques in photoshop which included layers and masking, along with the study of design concepts both in print and visually on the digital media.

Who's the pirate in this "Pirates of the Carribean" shot?


Above is one of my favorite creations, which had the entire class chuckling...at least the ones who recognized the face immediately. I learned digital manipulation at its best with this exercise!

In my next post I will reveal the two original images I used to create the above image. Stay tuned!

In the mean time, it's Friday, have fun--go out on the town and spend some time with other students or family and friends. Get out into the real world and enjoy the sunshine!

Day of The Long Tail

You may be wondering just what do M.A. in Media Studies students study? Well, we study many things related to media. We look at media, the emergence of various mediums and the ways we communicate with them such as with the evolution of Web 2.0, and we study how all these changes affect us both behaviorally and socially. More on what we study will be coming in future posts. We also study emerging social phenomenon resulting from big media's effects on the masses, such as The Long Tail.



The above segment on the Long Tail phenomenon was shared by Derek in our class blog during our summer course in The New, New Media: Weblogs, Wikis, RSS and Emerging Social Media. Thanks, Derek!

You've got to see it through the end. The mood is foreboding but in the end as the segment suggests, "The audience is up to something." A must see for the masses!

Ha! Yep. That's us. The masses. We're watching. Check us out in Day of the Long Tail.

A Very Fond Farewell and Best Wishes to Our Own Tony Laing

Tony Laing, MPA
Senior Graduate Student Services Coordinator
Department of Media Studies and Film
The New School

Our very own Tony Laing, Senior Graduate Student Services Coordinator, is moving to Boston and accepted a position at Massachusetts College of Art as the new Diversity and Programs Exchange Advisor. His last day at The New School will be on Friday, August 25th.

In my lifetime, I have met and gotten to know many people. There are the star performers who put in just a little bit of extra effort and sometimes a LOT of extra effort in their jobs because they want to do a great job or get ahead not just in their jobs but also in life. And then there are those who won't put in just a little bit of extra effort and stay where they are in life.

Tony is definitely a star performer. He puts in the extra effort in his job and in his dealings with students. His efforts shine through and become obvious immediately to any one who's had the honor of interacting with him. He goes the extra mile for every one -- something that is rarely found today.

While we are all sad that you are leaving, We are also very happy for you and wish you the best of luck in your new endeavor! I know they'll love you at the Massachusetts College of Art as we do in the M.A. in Media Studies Program at The New School! They are very lucky to have you.

We think the world of you and we'll really miss you.
Thank you for all of your help these past two years. You've helped me feel connected to the program and to the University.

Tony, You're da bom!

The Medium Builds Outstanding Students

While in an online class, the medium is such that everything you say is a written record. This has the great advantage that you'll never miss what was said in "class" and you have a permanent record from which you can refer to at any time. It also is very apparent to your professors how much or how little you participate, so it isn't easy to just sit in class and read what others have written without thoughtfully saying anything. Regular participation is a crucial part of taking the courses remotely.

In most of my graduate courses, our professors required a minimum of logging in 3 days a week and participating with a thoughtful, well-thought out post that shows you've done the reading at least twice a week, and more if you want that "A." Not too bad. The pressure is on, however, when you have high caliber classmates who post more than that and participate more. I found this to be the case in all of my courses in the graduate program.

Students who participated often with well-written academic posts stood out in class. The star performers, they were the chattiest, posted the most, and commented on other students' posts in class, keeping the discussions lively, thought-provoking, and insightful. These are the markings of an online course, and I've found all of the courses I've taken online were very high caliber in this way. Thus, I think the quality of the online classes are outstanding. Additionally, the medium is such that it forces you to be a better or more hardworking student. If you participate less or you're not prepared, it becomes very apparent in the medium.

Accelerate Through the Program at a Rapid Pace
Since I was accepted into the M.A. in Media Studies graduate program in 2004, I was able to accelerate through the program quickly on a full-time basis while also working full-time as a Web Developer. I had a great job that wasn't stressful, great professors, and started off my very first semester on the right foot.

If it were not for the asynchronous nature of the online classes and the very "virtualness" of a cyber class, I would not otherwise have moved forward through the program at such a rapid pace. One student completed the program in less than 2 years while working full-time. She was able to do this because she also took a full-time load during the summer semesters. I would not recommend this to those who have many other life obligations, especially those who have a family because at this pace, you can burn out very quickly. But she was highly motivated, single, and wanted to get through the program at this rapid pace and move on with her life -- which is always an option for any graduate student.


Connect Physically Even if You're an Online-Only Student
Because I attended graduate orientation in NYC on campus, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to connect with the University, the faculty, and other graduate students who were just accepted into the M.A. in Media Studies program. The day after the early evening orientation for new graduate students, I was able to take advantage of onsite counseling on the best combination of courses to take my first semester. I fell in line outside the faculty offices with other graduate students to wait my turn for academic counseling. Then I had my picture taken for my I.D. card, checked in at the Bursar's Office, and made a final visit to the Financial Aid office to accept my Federal Stafford loan. I had to follow a software program that tells you in so many words that you have to pay your loan back when you graduate! After that, I spent a couple more days in New York, excited about seeing the city for the first time, and learned the subway system.


There is so much energy in the city! I highly recommend a visit if you're a new graduate student in the M.A. in Media Studies program. As I recommended in a previous post, attend graduate orientation for new graduate students if you possibly can. Even if you're not a new student, I recommend it, especially if you're feeling remote and removed or you are an online-only student. Introduce yourself to the faculty so you can place a face with a name. Meet other students in the program and exchange email addresses. Ask questions. Get to know the new graduate student coordinator who will be replacing Tony Laing.

Just remember that we're all in this together and it's important to network, get connected, and help each other out. These are the very reasons I started this blog.

Any Way You Like It
Some students take most of their courses remotely from all over the United States as well as globally. Other students choose to physically move to NYC to finish their last year in the program on campus while also taking online courses. Others will complete the program remotely but come out in the summer to spend the summer semester completing the production sequence on campus. This is particularly important for students completing a film/video production sequence because all of the equipment you'll need to learn as a documentary film maker is on campus. Even on campus students living in New York City take a combination of on campus and online classes because the online classes make it convenient to complete courses at home in the evening if they also hold jobs -- whether the job is part-time or full-time. Online courses really work well when you have many life obligations.

Nature of the Medium
The very nature of the online medium forces students to stay focused, work harder, and be well-prepared for classes with all the reading completed the weekend before each new week. Because everything is so much more evident in the medium, students who are not prepared or participate with minimum effort become very apparent very quickly.


The medium also enables students who are already highly motivated to complete the program become not just better students but also experts in time management. Juggling work, home, and family responsibilities while attending graduate school involves management your time wisely. It's not easy being remote, but if you're dedicated and completing an M.A. in Media Studies is something you really want without giving up your current living conditions, completing the M.A. in Media Studies online will enable you to complete it in a way that will work with your life. You just have to really want it, and it's yours for the taking.

The M.A. in Media Studies program which was founded in 1975 became available online in 2003 so that the University could reach more students world-wide. I would be surprised if this weren't the case -- this is, afterall, a master's degree in Media Studies -- the study of the rapid evolution of new mediums by which we can communicate -- and how it affects how we communicate globally and socially.

Light Years Ahead...An Understatement!
The New School is light years ahead of other traditional Universities in using the new medium of the Web to reach out globally to students from all over the world to provide the M.A. in Media Studies program -- the first of its kind -- through a remarkable University portal from which students can access their courses from anywhere in the world as long as you can access the Internet...light years ahead is an understatement!

And Just What ARE Those Darling Tag Clouds?

To the left is a screenshot of the tag clouds I created. If you take a look on the far right column of this blog, you'll see the tag clouds in their original size. They were created thanks to ZoomClouds. The way tag clouds work is the bigger the word in size, the more I've used it in my posts throughout this entire blog. It's a great search tool! I highly recommend creating tag clouds for your blog. I had the most fun designing my tag clouds. While taking The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis, RSS and Emerging Social Media with Professor Robert Berkman this past summer semester, we were thoroughly surprised and enjoyed learning about this new tool being used on the Web 2.0 aka the Social Web. They are the next generation of meta tags that search engine optimizers used, but taken to a new and very visible level. I think they draw attention in all their colors. As a class, many of us thought they were the cleverest invention and pretty darling, too.

Definitions: Tag Clouds Further Explained

According to Wikipedia's entry a tag cloud is the following:

"A tag cloud (more traditionally known as a weighted list in the field of visual design) is a visual depiction of content tags used on a website. Often, more frequently used tags are depicted in a larger font or otherwise emphasized, while the displayed order is generally alphabetical. Thus both finding a tag by alphabet and by popularity is possible. Selecting a single tag within a tag cloud will generally lead to a collection of items that are associated with that tag.


The first widely known tag cloud appeared on Flickr, the photo sharing site. That implementation was based on Jim Flanagan's Search Referral Zeitgeist, a visualization of web site referrers. Tag clouds have also been popularised by Technorati, among others.


The first published appearance of a tag cloud can be attributed to the "subconcious files" in Douglas Coupland's Microserfs (1995)."

A great visual example of tag clouds can be seen on del.icio.us as shown on their site's screenshot below:


Del.icio.us defines tag clouds simply as:

"...a list of tags where size reflects popularity."

I would change their definition to:

"...a list of visual tags where size reflects popularity."

ZoomClouds offers an easy way to create tag clouds for your blog or Web site.


ZoomClouds defines tag clouds as follows:

"Tag clouds are cool, informative, appealing representations about what's happening in your blog, or anywhere else.

With ZoomClouds you can put in a matter of minutes a tag cloud in your site, based on whichever RSS feed you like."

To Wiki or NOT to Wiki...Is That The Question?

On a lighter note, today I want to share this hilarious segment poking fun on the nature of the Wiki and Wikipedia. Check it out:

On Wikis and Wikipedia
While taking the graduate course "The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis, RSS, and Emerging Social Media" with Professor Robert Berkman over the summer, when the week came to learn about the nature of Wikis, we were given an assignment that was a real eye opener.


In the beginning, I was skeptical about Wiki's when we studied this medium simply from the nature of the medium and how it is run--that anyone may add to, or edit, any existing entry. As a class assignment, we were tasked with a research assignment on any subject we felt we knew a lot about. Since I felt I knew a lot about Basset Hounds from having had a beloved Basset in the family for many years, I chose this breed as a means to check for inaccuracies -- I felt fairly confident as a fact checker because I have first-hand experience with our family Basset Hound along with personal conversations with breeders and other Basset Hound owners. We were to compare the entry on Wikipedia online from a traditional encyclopedia entry, whether in print or online. I chose the Encyclopedia Britannica online.

Disappointed with the limited information on the breed on Encylopedia Britannica online, I signed up for the free trial so that I could see more of the original entry, reserved for members only. I was even more disappointed. There wasn't much information beyond the original entry. Plus I was distracted by all of the ads on the page -- as shown on the screenshot below.


Encyclopedia Britannica provided the following information with one small photograph of the Basset Hound:

"breed of dog developed centuries ago in France and long maintained, chiefly in France and Belgium, as a hunting dog of the aristocracy. Originally used to trail hares, rabbits, and deer, it has also been used in hunting birds, foxes, and other game. It is characterized as a slow, deliberate hunter, with a deep voice and a “nose” second in keenness only to that of the bloodhound. …"

In contrast, the Wikipedia entry was extensive and thorough -- an entire page full of facts and interesting information -- truly I was surprised and delighted. And I liked the fact that there were no ads on the Wikipedia entry -- or any Wikipedia entry for that matter. I found the information accurate to my knowledge based on my own experiences with the breed. I was very impressed with the extent to which many individuals have contributed their knowledge about Basset Hounds on Wikipedia. The Wikipedia entry included information about the breed's appearance, temperament, history, health and care, training, popular culture, and external links. Below are screenshots of the entire page devoted to Basset Hounds on Wikipedia.





I have since changed my mind about the value of Wikipedia as a source of information. While all encyclopedias including both Wikipedia and the more traditional encyclopedias such as Encyclopedia Britannica have their shortcomings, including inaccuracies, I will not hesitate to use the Wikipedia as a source of information in the future. As a graduate student, however, I am trained to do extensive research and not to rely on just one source, which is my advice to anyone conducting research. I will continue to research information thoroughly from a wide variety of sources including the invisible web, academic databases available to M.A. in Media Studies students through our University portal, etc., Google Scholar, etc. I would suggest the same to any graduate student. However, I will continue to use the Wikipedia as a fairly reliable source of information and look forward to continuing to use it for research and fact-checking purposes.

Although the Wikipedia has its shortcomings and inaccuracies, which are also inherent in the traditional encylopedias by the way, as a whole, the class reacted very favorably with the entries on Wikipedia as compared to a traditional encyclopedia entry. The entries on Wikipedia in most researched cases appeared to be more extensive as well for several students. The Wikipedia, I learned, is a great example of the phenomenon James Surowiecki talks about in his book, "The Wisdom of Crowds." Fascinating phenomenon!


Class Wiki
We also created a class Wiki which will eventually be integrated as part of the M.A. in Media Studies program -- an important addition that will help students be more "hands on" about studying the various emerging social mediums on the Web. It is a vital part of being a graduate student in the M.A. in Media Studies program. Any and all media studies graduate students are encouraged to contribute to the class Wiki.


If you are a current graduate student in the program, please feel free to contribute to the class Wiki any knowledge you have about the M.A. in Media Studies program, any inside information you may have about student resources such as the best coffee shops to hang out and meet other students, any favorite local restaurants, etc., -- anything you'd like to contribute to help other graduate students who reside in NYC or live remotely. This is what the class Wiki was created for and what it is all about -- helping each other feel more connected with the University and with each other while providing another voice that is at the same time many voices.

You may also add your personal experiences and reflections about the M.A. in Media Studies program in the class Wiki under "Student Experiences and Testimonials." We'd love to hear from you!

Just a Little Bit of Extra Effort Will Get You a Lot Ahead in Life...

As I headed home yesterday afternoon from a beautiful drive north of San Francisco and a very important meeting, I approached the ever so beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, an Engineering feat and beloved gem of San Francisco. At the toll booth, I stopped and rolled my window down about 5 inches, which is as far as I can roll that window since it broke a couple of months ago. I pulled up to the toll booth, looked to my left and saw the same guy who took my money the last time I was there a couple of weeks ago. As my window rolled down, it stopped as it made the usual loud sound with the motor stuck, leaving me only 5 inches of space to extend my arm.

I said, "I'm sorry...my window won't go down any further...it's broken."

I then reached my left arm out the window as far as I could to hand him my $5.00 bill and I noticed he never once made eye contact. He saw me struggling and simply extended his arm out to reach for my bill, but he did not so much as budge his body even half an inch to take the bill out of my hands. So I ended up reaching even further left as much as I could to extend my arm to try to hand the bill to him. He never budged from his original position. I think that's the position he maintains all day. It was a struggle to reach and stretch out as far as I could to get the bill to him, but it finally reached him enough that it touched his finger tips and that's when he finally made an effort to take it out of my hands. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if the bill flew off into the air during the exchange!

Heaven forbid if someone needs change from this man! The exact same incident happened two weeks ago with the same man. I had forgotten that this was the lane I wanted to avoid in the future -- three lanes in from the far right. Noted. Ugh.

I drove off, rolled my eyes in utter exasperation, and thought about how unfortunate it was that I picked the same lane with the same man who refused to make any extra effort, however tiny, to do a better job. To say I was frustrated over the experience is an understatement.

When I got home, I was determined to blog about my experience. It occurred to me that you may be wondering why I would blog about this in a blog geared for helping graduate students? I think I have an important point to make.


For any human being who wants to better his/her life, it's important to come up with some life goals, follow through, and be willing to put forth some extra effort to achieve those goals, while staying motivated. But even more important than staying motivated is knowing that you want to better your life and wanting to badly enough that you'll make the extra effort to get ahead--whatever it takes. This is one reason students go to college and obtain a Bachelor's degree.

However, as the stakes get higher such as in advanced learning where coursework increases in difficulty as in a graduate program and students are required to think and write even more critically about the world around them and to back up those views with credible, accurate research, the number of students who complete or go after the advanced degrees drop dramatically.


I remember attending two graduate ceremonies at Cal Poly for two of my sisters who each have an MBA--one also simultaneously completed a dual MBA/Master's Degree in Engineering Management. Both are Cal Poly undergraduate Alumni. At both commencement ceremonies for the College of Business, there were hundreds of students being recognized for completing their bachelor's degrees--a very admirable accomplishment worthy of recognition. When the graduate students were recognized in the same ceremony, there were 10 students...sometimes less. The contrast is striking. For example, for the Cal Poly graduate ceremony photograph below of a specific school (not the entire University), I counted only 3 graduate students in the photograph. They are wearing the distinctive green Cal Poly hoods reserved for graduate students.


Not all students who complete their bachelor's degree will go on to obtain a graduate degree for one life reason or another. Some have told me they hate school. For some it's not a life goal. For some, it takes too much effort. For others, it's physically not possible due to family and work constraints. For others, it's not enough of a priority to want to put in a little extra effort for a program that requires a LOT of effort from students, and even more so for those students who are remote and removed from the University.

Graduate students in the M.A. in Media Studies program at The New School who are not on campus students and work remotely are subject to additional difficulties:

1. Students have to be exceptionally motivated and really want to complete the graduate degree or it would be very easy to slip away from the program and lose motivation;

2. Much more preparatory work, writing, and participation is expected of online students; being unprepared and not completing the week's reading assignment ahead of time is not an option because it becomes readily apparent in the medium;

4. Students have the added disadvantage of feeling remote and disconnected from the support of the University and other students because of the "virtual" nature of the cyber class.

For these reasons and others, online-only students in the M.A. in Media Studies program at The New School who do complete the program are highly motivated students who put in more than just a little extra effort. They have to because the medium is such that it weeds out those who are not as motivated and do not want to put forth the extra effort, from those exceptional students who do.

These characteristics are the markings of successful graduate students completing the M.A. in Media studies remotely--they work hard, prepare for class, are motivated, and are more than willing to put in the extra effort--even despite some of the challenges they face in the medium. And, more important, they really want the master's degree. Truly, the medium builds outstanding students.

As I finish writing this post, I am reminded of the man at the Golden Gate Bridge toll booth who had no desire to put forth any extra effort while on the job. And I am sorry for him. Sorry that he won't ever be a star performer. Sorry that he has no desire to make a little bit of extra effort to get ahead in his job...maybe even in life.


Putting forth that little bit of extra effort is what distinguishes those who move forward and do great things with their lives from those who stay where they are. It's the difference between the star performers in any company who will contribute greatly, evolve, grow, and get promoted within the company from those who are the 9-5 workers who stay where they are their entire careers. It's what makes people who contribute great things to our society vs. people who don't. And it's what distinguishes any and all students, particularly graduate students who work remotely on their own, who get straight A's from those that get average grades--at any University. It's the difference between getting ahead in your life...and staying where you are.

Just a little bit of extra effort will truly get you a lot ahead not just in graduate school, but in life. Trust me. I know about this one.

The Last Few Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

Well here we are, already a couple of days past mid-August! The summer has certainly flown by. As we near the end of the week on these last few hazy days of summer, I just want remind students to start getting ready for the upcoming fall semester.

Soon the hustle and bustle from new and returning graduate students returning for Fall 2007 semester will be upon us. My friend and colleague, Melissa, is also looking forward to the start of the semester. We're both in a holding pattern -- just doing projects, writing in our blogs, working, etc., as we await the excitement of the upcoming semester. Even though we both took a summer course, we are still excited! I can't wait!

Get Your Housing Plans in Order
For on campus students, I recommend you firm up your housing plans if you haven't already. The Media Studies department should have sent you a packet on housing information. If you are still looking, a great resource is craigslist.org for NYC. Hopefully you're not all running around like crazy finding housing though I have heard from many friends who live in NYC that housing can be hard to find and for a lot of money, you get a teeny tiny space. But hey, it's New York City! That's the way it is. There are other benefits--like great places to eat with great food and reasonable prices, a great subway system, art museums, culture ... you get the jist.

Graduate Orientation
Whether you are an on campus or online-only student, or a combination, I highly recommend attending graduate orientation. It is well worth the experience to connect with the M.A. in Media Studies department and to place a face with a name. You'll meet some of the core faculty and other new students.

In 2004, I am certain I was the only online-only student who attended and it's made such a difference the duration of my graduate studies. Plus it was fun to visit NYC -- a place I had never visited but heard much about. I've returned every year in August to connect, to say hi to Tony Laing, and to enjoy the energy of NYC. New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude. I never found this to be the case at all. They are straightforward and upfront, outspoken to a T, gracious even though they may sound cranky at times, but they always smile back when I smile at them and they say "You're welcome" when I am courteous and say "Thank you." As they say, you either love New York or you hate it. As for me, even though I am a California girl, I love NY!


Open Registration on ALVIN is August 30th
Open registration on ALVIN starts August 30th, so it you're looking to add or drop classes you're currently registered for or make any additional changes to your course schedule, that is the day to get online and make the changes. Of course, current students will have priority according to number of units completed, and I am so looking forward to getting in there and adding one class that will apply to my M.A. in Media Management. Of course, the class likely won't be dropped by anyone since Competitive Strategies is a popular class for those students pursuing the Media Management Certificate, but I thought I'd give it a shot and even beg Professor Charles Warner to get in. Ever the optimist, I've got my fingers crossed!

Some Courses I Really Look Forward To
My seniority status will also help me get into Photography and Social Change, with William Crow, a class I couldn't get into in the Spring 2006 semester, even with my seniority. Will teaches it just once a year in the Spring, so I've decided to stay behind one more semester just to take the course...plus I may have to anyway if I'm not able to get into or add Competitive Strategies (it is currently full). Yes, I'm staying behind to take Will's class--the topic is important to me and worth waiting one more semester--even though at the present time as I write this, I need just one class to graduate with the M.A. in Media Studies. Competitive Strategies is the last class beyond the one I'm already registered for in the fall (Media, Corporate Responsibility & The Law) to complete the 12 units needed for the Media Management Certificate, and the course, Photography and Social Change is for ... well ... life enrichment on a personal level!

I am very happy to say that I was very lucky to get into Visual Storytelling in the Fall with Shari Kessler. I'm looking forward to Shari's class, Visual Storytelling, and learning as much as I can from her. Most inspiring is what Shari shares in her biography:

"Shari Kessler (MA. New School University, Media Studies; BS. M.I.T., Photography & Visual Design) is an editorial/documentary photographer and visual media consultant. Her artistic and corporate work in Latin American and Asia has given her a diverse and exotic portfolio, including assignments for the National Geographic Society; the Smithsonian Institution; Citibank; the BBC; Thailand Tatler magazine; US Agency for International Development; the World Bank; Operation Smile, and McGraw-Hill publishers.


Shari's images have been exhibited and published internationally; she was the first American to be invited to exhibit in a solo show in Hanoi, since the Vietnam/American war. Shari studied fine art black-and-white photography with American guru photographer Minor White; spent 15 years in the darkroom; and while now, she loves photoshop and good digital scans, she is happiest with her trusty old Leicas and color transparency film, shooting everything, except wars and weddings!"

Student Perspective: Online Medium vs. Onsite in the M.A. in Media Studies Program

Today I thought I'd share some thoughts from a colleague in the M.A. in Media Studies program, "A." I am leaving her name anonymous to protect her privacy. She is the author of two blogs, MotherPie, and FoundAroundNYC. Last year, "A" moved from Georgia to NYC. Because of her busy travel schedule, she continues to take online courses in the M.A. in Media Studies Program at The New School while living in NYC. I asked her to provide her thoughts on taking courses online vs. onsite and she kindly wrote the following, with permission to publish her thoughts on this blog to benefit other students. Following are her great insights:

"I’ve only taken one class onsite so it is really only a “dabble” and I thought I might transition fully to an on-campus student but I found out that my travel schedule and life is such that the online program just absolutely fits into my life much easier!!! Most of the students I met were curious about how the online class worked...and the main drawback they saw –- the self-discipline needed to work independently –- is what I love about the online environment.

That said, I found that I had to study and prepare for each week’s assignments in a much greater depth online as compared to the classroom. If I didn’t do as much preparation for the onsite class, it was easy to “dodge” the participation and “hide” the lack of effort. The level of accountability is much higher, I found, in the online classes and it requires –- at least with the classes that I’ve taken –- that the material be not just read, studied and understood, but --- in order to interact online –- the material has to be absolutely integrated. I had a really difficult time trying to understand the website design class (I had Jörg Müller in Spain) in the online environment and had to drop the class. That is the one class that is very hard for me and the online learning might have been over my head. It probably came very easy to you with your experience.

Melissa and I both found that we were, as online students, considered “step-children” of the program. I think there is a perception that the online classes are the more “legitimate” classes. I did find it hard to straddle online/onsite -- the advisory system isn’t set up to accommodate the student who wants to “do both”…. Melissa and I immediately bonded and it was fun to have a “friend” In the “real” classroom setting!

It would be nice to have had a more integrated approach for all the students – onsite and online – Really, I felt –- and still feel –- lost onsite. It did help to physically “be there” get a photo id, though! I was excited to have found, while living in Georgia, the media studies graduate program that was available online. I have absolutely loved ALL of my classes and it is exactly what I was interested in and I had no idea I’d be moving to NYC in the midst of it. I got my undergrad degree in 1979 so after that big gap, the online environment fit so easily into my life. I’ll be a teaching assistant for the political comm... class this fall -- onsite -– and am really looking forward to that."

As I mentioned in my last post, a cyber class is not for everyone. But for those students who really want to obtain the only master's degree of its kind in the world from a reknowned New York University, The New School, but can't move to New York City for one life reason or another, or lead very busy lives that involve travel, taking care of a family, or a fulfilling job where uprooting for a couple of years to complete a graduate degree is just not realistic nor possible, then taking courses remotely is a most viable option. From first-hand experience as an online-only graduate student , I can attest that despite the shortcomings of completing the graduate program online, the advantages are well worth it. I plan to attend commencement next May to physically meet several students I got to know in my cyber classes.

Making the M.A. in Media Studies available online in 2003, the same program that was developed in 1975 and taught on campus, was a fantastic move on the part of the New School--a testament to an Avante Garde University that has embraced the new medium to reach out to the global community to extend its teachings, to continue to educate students with a fine graduate education, and to teach students to think thoughtfully and critically about the evolution of the new media and how these changes affect society and our lives, and to understand that we are constrained only by the bounds we place on our own paths.

Certainly the Internet has taken away location and physical bounds--it is just now up to each and every student accepted by such a forward-thinking and technologically advanced University to take what the University offers in the way of a fine graduate education. The New School is a maverick university--light years ahead of other universities in harnessing the Web to extend its teachings. As a graduating student in the M.A. in Media Studies program, I've gained not just a thorough understanding of the new media but also to always think critically, to ask questions about the world around us, and never to accept "no" or "it can't be done" for an answer.

A Cyber Class is Not For Everyone

Last weekend, I went to San Luis Obispo to take care of some personal matters and to spend time with family. I haven't been to the Central Coast since January, which was also the last time I had my hair cut! Definitely it was a much welcomed trip not just to get my hair cut and visit family but also to unwind, relax, and, more than anything, to destress from the fast pace of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Every one is so nice and friendly -- even drivers are courteous! I had forgotten how nice and slow the pace of living is in SLO, having lived there for ten years while doing my undergrad work at the California Polytechnic State University, better known as Cal Poly.

Reminiscing On My Undergraduate Years On Campus
As I drove through the Cuesta grade and entered San Luis Obispo, I saw the familiar green Cal Coly State University sign and decided to visit my Alma Mater. Campus is closed for the summer on the weekend, but I decided to walk around campus to reminisce on the campus where I had spent 5 years as an undergraduate English major. Memories flooded back to me of being in the Student Union amidst the hustle and bustle of hundreds of other students, the lines waiting for latte or an ice cream, the University Union and the large soft chairs where students would spend their class breaks reading or sleeping while others walked hurriedly to catch the next class.


As I continued on and walked the hilly streets on campus to the library, I remember the "traffic" I'd go through to make it to the other side of campus, dodging other walking students and students on bicycles. The energy on an enclosed college campus, especially one as beautiful Cal Poly's campus nestled near the foothills of SLO amidst trees and lots of greenery and foliage is simultaneously exhilerating and motivating and safe -- a jewel of a haven for which potential new students from all over the United States would like to be a part. Even though I didn't know each and every student I would walk past during my undergrad years, I felt like part of a community -- a college community -- one that is easily seen and felt not only because of the very "physical-ness" of being on campus in person, but also because we were all there for the same reason -- for a degree from a nationally ranked University.

And then of course, I couldn't miss walking back to the Recreation Center and the pool that uses bromine not chlorine, empty but serene and calm, protected by the pool covers. I remember swimming laps at 7 am every morning for an hour each time, 7 days a week, and completing triathlons. It was easy to stay in shape when I was near other students also doing the same! I remember many summer days sharing half the pool with the nationally-ranked Cal Poly Men's Water Polo Team...and the great and very bold...ahem...ahem...!!! calendars for which they are now famous for. Ah...the joys of my undergrad years!

Feeling a Part of the University Community
The very sense of community I felt at Cal Poly so easily while I was "physically" there is something that is harder to attain when you're attending cyberclasses remotely, and I want to address this issue because it's something many remote students in the M.A. in Media Studies program have felt some concern about -- some more keenly than others. It's hard to feel connected when your only physical connection is the Internet and the University Portal and the rest is on a different plane and occurs "virtually." The online medium and cyberclasses are not for those students who would prefer to be on a "physical" plane.

This issue of providing a sense of community was addressed by the Media Studies Department in the form of a 13th Street thread which was created on the University Portal. The intent is for students to virtually enter and start conversations with other students, network, etc., in order to help remote students feel more "connected" to the University and to other graduate students. The down side is doing so can become very apparent that you are indeed seeking to connect -- as though you have no real life outside of being on the Internet. This is amplified on an online medium because interactions are clear, written records. For these reasons, I rarely entered the 13th Street thread, which was originally created to emulate the "physical" location of 13th Street in NYC where on campus students would meet with other students, take a break between classes, have coffee, and generally, just network and "connect" with other students.

Staying Motivated and Connected When You're Remote
Another challenge to completing the program online is staying motivated. Because students are on their own when it comes to managing your time and studies, students who go into the graduate program and succeed are those that are highly motivated self-starters who really want the Master's degree. In an earlier post, I mentioned ways to network with other graduate students completing the M.A. in Media Studies remotely, such as finding students in your online classes who may live in your city or state and making arrangements to meet in person.

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet 2 students in the M.A. in Media Studies program who, like me, also reside in San Francisco. It was a great experience to meet in person at a local coffee shop in the lively Haight neighborhood of San Francisco, after having known each other for some time in our virtual classes or via email exchanges. It's the same phenomenon that happens with online dating. You know the person very well, just not physically, and then meeting in person changes the entire virtual relationship and helps you feel even more connected. It's a very interesting phenomenon that has a emerged as a result of the Internet and our high-tech age. Exchanging emails on a more personal level also helps, as one would do with a friend. You get to know each other better.

It also helped me to attend the graduate orientation in NYC when I was first accepted into the program. At that time, I also stopped in the University Union to have my picture taken for my my student I.D. card -- something that helps me feel connected because its tangible. Orientation happens each September, so even if you're not a new student, I recommend attending them just to meet students and faculty in person and to help you feel connected. Consider it a nice visit to NYC and stay for a few days. It's a real eye-opener. Attending graduate student orientation, even just that one time two years ago, helped me feel connected the duration I've been in the M.A. in Media Studies program. And it was also nice to place a face with a name.

Insights From Two Online-Only Colleagues Who Have Moved to NYC to Attend Graduate Courses On Campus
I have recently been in touch with two colleagues in the program who have since moved to NYC to attend courses on campus. One moved from San Antonio, Texas, and the other moved from Georgia. We stay in touch via email and fortunately, they both remember me! I asked them both for their reflections on comparing the two experiences--both online and on campus--and they provided me with some great insights, which I will share in my next post.

Also, for the first time in the entire 2 years that I've been in the program, while taking this summer's course, The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis, RSS & Emerging Social Media, I had two on campus students who took this online class (it also happened to be their very first online class in the entire program) mention during class how much they've struggled with the online medium. I'll share their insights as well in my next post.


Not For Everyone
I have to be honest and reflect that taking online graduate courses in the M.A. in Media Studies at The New School is not for everyone. While it is the ulimate in luxury by being able to attend a graduate class from a great University while in the comfort of your living room anywhere in the world, or anywhere you can access the Internet and even while traveling, or while in airports, it isn't easy to be such for many other reasons, such as feeling remote, removed and thus far away from the "physical-ness," and support, of the University and other students. Thus, it is also much more challenging to connect or even just to feel connected to the University and to other students in the program. And feeling remote is amplified in an online medium because of the very nature of the medium. However, for those students who appreciate the utter convenience of taking courses remotely, are good at self-motivation, have a full-time job or a family to take care of, or are students who would like to complete the M.A. in Media Studies at The New School without having to move to NYC, it is a great program and well worth some of the shortcomings of any virtual class. I considered moving to NYC when I was accepted into the program in 2004, but after I saw the high cost of living including high rent prices, I opted to stay put in San Francisco and decided I would complete the program remotely. It's not easy, but the rewards of completing the only master's degree of its kind in the world, are well worth the shortcomings.

What The New School Online M.A. In Media Studies is NOT

With so many online Universities advertising on the Web for various online degrees, I thought it worthwhile to mention what the online M.A. in Media Studies at the New School is NOT. First, The New School is not a for-profit online University. It is not like the University of Phoenix, for example. It is an established University with its campus in the heart of the famous Greenwhich Village in mid-town Manhattan. The history of The New School, formerly known as The New School for Social Research, and also formerly known as New School University, was originally established in 1919. During the Nazi occupation, the German academics left Nazi-occupied Frankfurt, shut down the reknowned Frankfurt School, and moved to NYC. There they established what they called The Frankfurt School, breathing new life to the former Frankfurt School in the new world. When the World War ended along with Nazi occupation, the German academics returned to Frankfurt to reopen the Frankfurt School. Subsequently, the Frankfurt School of the new world was christened The New School for Social Research and today, it is simply The New School.

More details about The New School's history can be found at http://www.socialresearch.newschool.edu/about/history.htm

The first program of its kind in the world, The New School’s Master of Arts Degree in Media Studies was founded in 1975 by Marshall McLuhan's colleague, John Culkin. The M.A. became available online in 2003.

Excerpt on the M.A. in Media Studies:

Master of Arts in Media Studies
"Some media studies degrees emphasize theory. Others focus on production. The New School's Media Studies master's degree is one of the few in the country that allows you to integrate coursework in media theory, media production, and media management. Whether you're a social activist producer or media manager, a filmmaker or media theorist, a web designer or a media writer, this degree program will help you put theory into practice, guided by a faculty of media professionals from all walks of academic, artistic, and commercial life, who strive to be humane and thoughtful citizens in an increasingly mediated world. In an era defined by rapidly changing information and communication technologies, your master's degree in Media Studies can give you the competitive edge you need to break through the noise."

The M.A. in Media Studies of the Media Studies and Film Department is housed under the umbrella of The New School, called The New School for General Studies.

What The New School Online M.A. in Media Studies is NOT is a for-profit online degree. It is the same degree that's been taught on The New School campus since 1975. The online M.A. was created and allows students from all over the world to attend classes through the University Portal in NYC. Of course, students who wish to continue attending courses in the traditional manner may attend on campus.

Contact Information:
Department of Media Studies and Film
70 Fifth Avenue, 12th floor
New York, NY 10011
phone: 212.229.8903 fax: 212.229.5357

Key Contact Person for Announcements for Internships, Student Assistantships, Events, etc.
Tony Laing
Senior Graduate Student Services Coordinator
email: laingt@newschool.edu

Who to contact in the Media Studies and Film Department.

Absolutely Hilarious Daily Show Segment on Latest in Social Networking Online

Since we are in our final days of our fantastic Web 2.0 summer course, The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis, RSS, and Emerging Social Media, taught by our very own Professor, Robert Berkman, I just HAD to share this hilarious Daily Show segment that our T.A., Derek, shared in our class blog. It was so funny I about fell off my chair watching it! A great way to end the summer! Thanks, Derek! You're da bom!!!

An Inside Look Into Our University Portal

To the outside world, our University Portal looks like the following:


Once a graduate student enters, it's a whole different world:


This is my classroom inside the comfort of my San Francisco flat, where I spend many hours in class, connected to our University Portal in NYC, well into the wee hours of the early morning:


And following is a sampling of our class threads for the summer course I'm taking that ends next week: The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis, & Emerging Social Media. Inside each class thread, which is posted on a weekly basis by our professor, Robert Berkman, is where our classroom discussions occur--all of which I've found to be academically stimulating, intelligent, and thought-provoking. I've found that unlike a traditional classroom, I have time to really think about how I will respond to our Professor's questions and to posts made by other students. I think I get a lot more out of my educational experience in this regard than I would in a traditional classroom. And there's a written record of the entire discussion in contrast to being in a traditional class where I am mostly busily taking "notes" so I don't miss what's said, which places me in a position of not having the time to really think thoughtfully about what I'd like to contribute. As in any situation, there are advantages and shortcomings to learning in either medium, but I've found the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages based on my first-hand experience with the new medium at The New School. I'll delve deeper into these differences in my next post.

Insights Into Taking an Online Production Course

I thought I'd post this question from my colleague, Liz, because it's an important one and I didn't want it lost in a comment section.

We are wrapping up our 8th week and starting our 9th and last week in our summer graduate class, The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis & Emerging Social Media, when Liz approached me in our class blog and asked the following question:

Question

I'm not sure if you've taken any production classes online, but I was wondering what your experience was with those types of classes online.

This is the first online class I have taken and though I like it, it has definitely been a struggle for me to adapt to this medium academically, and I would imagine it would be even harder with a production class.

Let me know your thoughts.

Answer

Hi, Liz!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! It's been a great summer while in Professor Berkman's class, no? I'm learning so much about Web 2.0.

As to your question, yes, I took Web Design & Production with Joerg Muller, who resides in Spain. He is absolutely the best. If you decide you wish to take a production class online, take the class with him. He has a Web site he uses for all of his lessons. Each lesson is well planned and he provides great examples of code you can follow to create a Web site. Make sure you've taken Digital Design and Foundations of Media Design which you can take online or on campus. Both courses, as you probably already know, are taught both online and on campus. I was lucky that I was able to take Foundations of Media Design with William Crow. He's absolutely the greatest professor! Now he only teaches Photography & Social Change in the Spring semester and his class fills up immediately. I may stay one semester just to take this class...he is so good and the class subject is worth it and something I'm very interested in. Social issues are important to me and I am recently getting into digital photography, so the class would be perfect for me and definitely will prove useful and valuable in so many ways.

If you run into any problems or you have questions should you take Web Design & Production with Joerg, he will respond right away, even though he lives in Spain! Other students in the class with more technical knowledge will help as well. And he may have a T.A. in the Fall semester, hopefully someone as great as Derek in our current summer course, The New New Media.

I highly recommend you purchase the book, "HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, Fourth Edition: Visual QuickStart Guide (4th Edition) (Paperback)" by Elizabeth Casto. Software you'll need to know and have installed on your computer are Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and an FTP program. I like Photoshop to optimize photographs but for Web graphic design, I prefer Fireworks. I do not use Dreamweaver as I prefer Homesite, since it's the tool I've been using professional as a Web Developer since 1998. Prior to Homesite, I used notepad to code my Web sites while an undergrad at Cal Poly. Looking back, I can't believe I hand coded HTML with what is now like a stone age tool--notepad. However, it was instrumental in learning how to write HTML code from scratch, and to write very clean code without a lot of nested tags. You'll learn all of this from Joerg. I highly recommend taking him as the online instructor for this class.

Overall, I felt it was a great experience to take Web Design & Production online, but going into the class, I also have a strong technical background, particularly with regard to Web Development. However, I found that helping other students was rewarding, and I helped out many students who were in unfamiliar territory and had many of the basic questions I had when I first learned to develop a Web site in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) back in 1997 as an English undergrad. Except in my case, I was in the computer lab asking the lab asisstants questions while I was on campus, and then I'd go come and code my little mini Web sites at home the rest of the time well into the wee hours of the morning--not much different than you would experience in an online production course, except you'll have the advantage of asking questions and getting it answered in the online medium--sometimes right away--from Joerg, another student, or the class T.A. All without leaving the comfort of your home. The way the Internet has changed the way we communicate makes this all possible, as you well know.

A friend and colleague who moved to NYC from San Antonio, Texas, was recounting last winter when the subway system went down completely right before the end of the semester. She said she lived in upper Manhattan and it was at least a half hour ride if she took a cab to make it to campus, which she couldn't afford, and she ended up not sleeping and spending all her time in the Knowledge Union to complete her production projects, and found a place to shower nearby. The labs stay open 24 hours for the last two weeks of the semester.

Tell me what you find difficult about adjusting to the new medium of an online class and maybe I can provide you with some insights that may prove useful. Since I've had the benefit of a completely online experience in the M.A. program, I can take this experience and compare and contrast it to my undergraduate on campus only experience while at Cal Poly. I think the main differences are the social and classroom experiences are very different. An online classroom is virtual and occurs asynchronously, while a traditional on campus classroom physically occurs is in person in real time at set times of the day to which everyone in class adheres to. An asynchronous class on the other hand, occurs in your own real time, and class is conducted when you are in the portal, whether the other students are attending at the same time or not...usually not because everyone attends at anytime. Online-only students tend to be autonomous, work full-time, and some may have families to take care of at night, which makes physically attending class on campus difficult if not impossible due to time constraints. I am immediately reminded of Tom's post in our class Wiki:

"I have done the Master's entirely online. It has allowed me to continue working full-time and raising my family. In addition, my job takes me on frequent overseas trips, but I have been able to continue to participate in classes through the online "Portal" from locations as diverse as India, Kenya, Botswana, Jamaica, and the Singapore, London, Amsterdam and Dubai airports!"

And now with wireless community networks growing all over the country, we can take our classrooms with us anywhere we happen to be. I think this is one of the greatest things about the online M.A. in Media Studies at the New School. If you think you want the best of both worlds, you can combine the online and on campus courses, which many students residing in Manhattan already do.

I'll have more on these differences in another post. You can syndicate my blog's feed URL to your RSS Reader if you want to keep up-to-date with all future posts.

I hope this helps and best of luck in all your future courses at The New School!

Elle

A Day in the Life of A Graduate Student

Good morning! I thought I'd share some insights into a day in my life as a graduate student in the M.A. in Media Studies. I am taking a great course from Professor Robert Berkman: The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis & Emerging Social Media. I am so busy every day! I post in our official class portal, check our class blog, check my own project blog which is the blog you're reading this post on as I write this, and I check our class Wiki for updates and any new additions I can make. This week, we've started a new thread to learn about RSS feeds, so I got all my reading done last night and discovered I already use this technology through my own Google Reader while doing some research about 3 weeks ago. Imagine that! Last night when I was up well past midnight (3:00 a.m. NYC time), posting busily in our class thread on RSS feeds, a light bulb went on in my head and everything clicked.

5:30 a.m. This morning, I awoke early and couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought I'd use this as class time while everything is quiet and logged into our University Portal to attend class. To my surprise, there was already feedback on my class post last night from our T.A., Derek, who's leading the class discussion this week on RSS. I responded to his suggestions and decided I want to add an RSS feed to my own blog so others can get linked to all my new blog posts. Very exciting!

6:30 a.m. More posts. I decide I'm hungry so I made some breakfast, some peppermint tea, and continued on with the Feedburner instructions on creating an RSS feed for my blog.

7:30 a.m. I've been at it with Feedburner.com to get my RSS feed to work and modifying the HTML code into this blog's template. The code I received from Feedburner wasn't working to my great frustration. Parsing Error. So I decided to try to manually link to the RSS URL they provided. Still same issue: Parsing Error. Bleh! After 4 posts for Derek's help in our class blog, I looked more closely at the code and it appears the parsing error is on Feedburner's end. I send them an email.

9:30 a.m. Checked my emails and responded to those who have written. Not much is new, except I got one from a good friend and awesome lawyer who practices in SF. Yes, he's more than happy to let me use him as a referral for my job hunting which is going on full speed this week! I received a confirmation email from Feedburner, but no word yet on how they're going to address the parsing error on their end. Bleh.

9:50 a.m. I'm going to "throw in the towel" for now and do some other research, check if Derek's responded to my inquiries in our class blog for help on the RSS issue (sorry for the many frantic posts, Derek!). New emails streamed in...checking those now. It's no wonder I opted not to sign up for an email notification each time someone posts something new in our class blog. My inbox can get so inundated. Instead, I added the RSS feed to our class blog into my Google Reader.

10:05 a.m. Time to strength train this morning then get showered and ready for the rest of the day. Checked our class thread and class blog one last time before I go...

12:00 Noon Preparing for an interview with a very prestigious communications and media company. I'm doing research on both Wikipedia and the company's Web site and found plenty of interesting information about the company.

1:00 p.m. Talking to my good friend Alexa about lunch tomorrow in the City and she wishes me good luck on the interview. When she found out the name of this company, she was flabbergasted...she recognized the name and reputation of the company, and exclaimed, "Wow!!! They are HUGE...HUGE!!!" The name is certainly prestigious, highly respected, and very well-known to many people in the Bay Area or what was formerly known as The Silicon Valley. Big name. I'm excited. Time to get dressed and ready for the big interview. In the meantime, I get an email from another well-known company (one of the major search engine companies for bloggers) and was invited in to meet with the project manager for a contract project. I know her from 2 jobs ago. She wants to set me up with their paperwork to do intermitten contract work. When it rains, it pours!

2:30 p.m. Headed for my interview in Belmont. I'm really looking forward...very prestigious and well-known company (I'm getting redundant--sorry!)--so well known, they could call Bill Gates with a phone call and he will answer the call.

3:10 p.m. Found the company with a little difficulty. Called the Editor-in-Chief to ask where the building was. Found it, and entered. Saw a very simple sign on the door--no visible company name on the building. They like operating in "stealth mode." Cute. Ha.

3:30 p.m. Started my interview and spoke with 4 people.

6:30 p.m. Ended my interview. Woa! Didn't realize it ended up being a 3-hour interview...probably partially because I asked so many questions!

7:20 p.m. Arrived home. Forgot what traffic is like on the 280 during the afternon rush hour.

7:45 p.m. Ate dinner quickly...I have a lot of homework to do for class.

8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. I'm in the University Portal in class and also in our class blog and checked out any updates to our class Wiki project. Whew! This summer course, The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis & Emerging Social Media, is intense! It is remarkably project-driven! I'm rethinking about whether or not I want to do an optional paper! Why did I volunteer that to my professor?! He's now expecting a 20 - 40 page double-spaced paper on finding ways to research the credibility of bloggers! ACK!

11:00 p.m. Worked on the RSS feed to my class blog project. I'm still getting parsing errors. Arghhh!

12:00 a.m. I'm going to hang in the towel because I'm so tired I can't see straight. I'll look at my code again on my blog project in the morning...with fresh eyes.

2:00 a.m. Well...I thought I was going to hang up the towel but here I still am--bleary-eyed but still working away furiously. More like sleuthing furiously. Finding bugs in HTML is unique experience. It requires dedication, a lot of time, resistance to frustration, patience, and occasional bursts of "Aha's!" The effort is worth the payoff when you finally find the problem.

So here I still am. I decided to keep working on getting my RSS feed to work and the extra effort was well worth it. I finally figured out how to get erroneous code off my first blog post that was throwing the parsing error. Since it's not visible, it was hard to remove! What finally took the invisible codes that WORD makes (never, never use WORD to check your spelling and then cut and paste it back into your blog's editor) was when I took the post's HTML code out of the "Edit HTML" window and pasted into the "Compose window." This process deleted the invisible code. Then I saved, republished, then clicked on the orange chicklet (see Syndicate link on the far right column) to go to my RSS feed page generated by Feedburner. It finally worked! What a relief! I'm going to call it a night...or early morning.

I'd say good night to all but I know the Internet never sleeps!

We live in exciting times -- a High Tech Information Age where the rapid evolution of technology is barely keeping up with the need for instant gratification for information and constant upgrades of electronic gadgets to make life easier. Exciting times!

Afterthought
Not all my days are like this, nor should you expect that yours will be this hectic. I do find time for leisure and rest on many other days. I was scolded very recently by my Chiropractor who's been treating me for stress for the last year to slow down and keep a good balance. He said, "I don't think you realize how broken you are." He was talking health-wise as regards to stress. He told me to go to a spa. I'm going to take his advice. Ha! It is so important to balance your life between graduate school, work, and a personal life in order to succeed. Staying healthy and fit is key to your success, along with hard work and a lot of motivation. It's not easy being a graduate student, especially when you are remote from the safety and support of the University. More on staying healthy as a graduate student at The New School in another post. We aren't always 100% computer nerds/intellectual thinkers! We also like to do fun things.

M.A. in Media Studies: On Campus, Online, or Any Combination Thereof

The New School: After a summer rain, August 2005

Several classmates, who I've kept in touch with since first starting the graduate program in 2004, have moved to NYC to complete their last year on campus. They have very mixed feelings about their experiences from going to an online-only status to being an on campus student. I'll go in-depth on the experiences of these students in another post.

On campus students residing in NYC also take the online courses as a combination because of the utter convenience of taking the course at any time or any place with Internet accesss, or simply because a particular course is only offered online and not on campus. I heard rumors of some on campus students commenting, "How come only the online students get to choose Visual Storytelling." For students not familiar with this course, it is taught by Shari Kessler, a graduate of the M.A. in Media Studies program, with a remarkable resume as an editorial photographer and visual media consultant. On campus students in NYC who also take online classes, find time to log into class online and participate during the day while during their lunches or breaks, or late at night after tucking their children into bed, even in the wee hours of the morning for students who are night owls. Students who reside in New York State but not in NYC also take the courses on an online-only basis, just as would an out-of-state or overseas student.

When I took the course, "Web Design and Production," my professor, Joerg Muller, taught this class through the University portal in NYC while residing in Spain. Students attended class all over the U.S. and also overseas. Imagine a course with students logging in from Bangkok, London, Rome, Vienna, Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and even New York City! The possibilities are endless. The program brings students together from all over the world. Thanks to the Internet, this global cyber classroom is possible. The future of education is happening now.

I am currently taking a summer graduate course with Professor Robert Berkman, "The New New Media: Weblogs, Wikis, & Emerging Social Media," and we started a class Wiki which we hope will continue to evolve and eventually become a staple to the M.A. in Media Studies program so that new and current students may contribute their knowledge and experiences of the program. The class Wiki is a living document, subject to change at any time. There are plans in the near future to integrate our class Wiki into Wikipedia.


Following is what was written about the online aspect of the M.A. in Media Studies program in our class Wiki. As with any Wiki entry, it is subject to change and therefore evolution. I thought I'd share the current entry:

"The Internet is changing the future of education and revolutionizing the classroom. Imagine a unique cyber-classroom with students from all over the U.S. and the world.

The Media Studies and Film Department offers the option of an online program of study to students who wish to complete their graduate degree in its entirety online. Online students attend classes from their home on their own schedule, or anywhere in the world where they can access the Internet and participate in class discussions via the New School Online University "Portal." This option is well-suited for students who reside in other states, live outside of the United States, are not able to move to NYC to complete the graduate degree on campus, work full-time, or have children. Many students who reside in New York state but not in NYC take the courses. Online courses are also open to students attending the regular program on the New School's campus. Many on campus students take the online courses to augment their regular schedules because of its utter convenience. The flexibility of the online courses enable students who work full-time during the day or have families to take care of at night to easily take courses at times suited for their busy schedule because the online courses are taught asynchronously. Thus, students can "attend" their virtual classroom at any time of the day or night. The online courses are the same courses taught on campus. The only difference is the "experience."

Many students who reside outside of NY state will do a combination of online work during the school year and attend a summer session on campus to complete the required production sequence. This is especially crucial for those students who choose a film, video, or audio production sequence."

Building a Rapport With Other Online Graduate Students

What is it like to develop a rapport with a fellow graduate student in the M.A. in Media Studies program through the online medium? The classes and class discussions are the same classes taught on campus at The New School for many years. The cyber class discussions are held in a very similar manner as traditional classes except there is more depth to the online discussions. Students have more time to get their bearings, really think about the discussion topic, and post a thoughtful reply. In a traditional classroom, there isn't as much time to really think about what you want to say. At least in my experience, this has been the case. I was also busily writing everything down so I wouldn't "forget" what was discussed and I would sometimes miss what other students have said in class because I was either busy writing or I didn't hear what was said. These issues are nonexistent in an online classroom at The New School.

Definitely there will be more to discussions to follow regarding the differences between a traditional classroom and a "cyber" classroom, and I will go in depth on my thoughts as well as what information I've garnered from other Media Studies graduate studies who have experienced both. More on this in another post...


Going back to my topic on building a rapport, it starts in class with your colleagues. This happens easiest with students who contribute and therefore post frequently, and also to students who make it a point to thoughtfully respond to comments made by other students. This is inevitable and required in most, if not all, class discussions. I recall one conversation that really stands out in my mind. It was about 10:30 p.m. Californiatime and I was busily posting in a class thread. When I went back to clear my cache, I discovered another student had just posted, a colleague, Jedd, who at the time resided in San Diego. I was in San Francisco so I said hello and replied to his post. I wrote something smart and thought-provoking, relevant to the class discussion. He was glad to have a fellow classmate on the same time schedule and we volleyed a few more times regarding the class topic. Had this been in a traditional classroom, the same scenario would likely have occurred outside before entering the classroom, as a conversation while waiting for class to start, as a quiet aside during class (though less likely), or after class. The greatest part is we were able to do it real time in cyberspace as part of the class, but removed from it while NYC slept.

Sometimes I'll have similar conversations with students during my lunch hour at work, or at home in the wee hours of the morning. It can happen at any time of the day or night. The discussions can become even more insightful and thought-provoking when other students chime in and thoughts are taken to other tangents where we end up in great discussions about other issues and possibilities, much like a brainstorming session. Other times students do not chime in but I do know they read the conversations as we've had many discussions on whether or not a student is "participating" when just reading posts and not responding. We decided in one class that it is a form of participation where the student is actively engaged but not actually physically participating. I disagreed with the validity of this argument at first until I had this great discussion with another student, Shannon, who helped to change my mind. Such multiple perspectives coupled with the permanence of the online discussions, help to inscribe and inspire new ideas in all our online classes. And they are instrumental to helping you build rapport with other graduate students.

Proactive Networking Works

Arnold Hall Building From Across The Street

One of the first things I did when I entered the program was I decided to be proactive and start networking with other students immediately. While in NYC at the graduate orientation, I met with other new students and exchanged email addresses. I've emailed these students to stay connected and it helps to form a sense of community. I also introduced myself to all the Professors who attended the orientation, met the Chair, Carol Wilder, and also met Tony Laing, the Graduate Coordinator for the Department of Media Studies and Film. Tony will be one of your greatest allies while in the program. He is a gem. He is a key person who will help you with any questions or problems you may have. If it's not something he can take care of because it's out of his jurisdiction, he will route you to the right person. I have since corresponded with Tony many times and each time, he responds immediately and in a gracious and professional manner to all my email inquiries. For all new students in the program, particularly those that will be online-only students, I highly recommend attending graduating orientation to start feeling connected. You can also obtain your student ID while you're in town. Ask Tony for a student planner as well. And make sure you introduce yourself to Tony as well. He will remember you.

While in my courses, I built rapports with several key students, particularly those that had similar views -- they tended to be the students who responded to my posts. With these students, I've maintained contact via email, even after completion of the course. I also sought out the students who live in California and was surprised to find two in San Francisco. I set up a meeting with these two students who seemed excited to meet a fellow colleague. It was great meeting in person after having shared a couple of classes and knowing each other online. It's an interesting phenomenon to have that familiarity with a person from knowing them academically and meeting them for the first time. The familiarity is there but the newness of placing a face to the knowledge of "knowing" that person in an online class is a very different experience. It's like knowing someone for a long time but meeting them for the first time combined because the face and the personal contact is all new. I think those who do online dating experience the same phenomenon. It's very similar to the dating tactics of the older generation where prospects answered personal ads and communication and getting to know one other before meeting was via telephone. Today it's online personal ads via the Internet, emails and instant messaging to get to know the other person. The Web is really changing the way we communicate and meet other people.


So for me, building relationships with other students starts with a proactive mindset and action will get you there. Start networking with other students while in your classes. Find students in your class that live in or near your city or state so you can set up to meet in person. Network with students who live outside of your state as well and arrange to meet if you're ever in their state or country for that matter! I have several students I've made plans to meet during commencement next May. It will be a new experience coupled with the familiarity and history of being in class together. If anything, it is an exciting prospect! So go out and be proactive and seek out other grad students. They will be just as excited to network and connect with you.

Welcome to the Graduate Student - Insider Blog

The New School: Arnold Hall Building

Well hello and welcome to the Graduate Student - Insider blog. I created this blog to share my insights and experiences as a graduate student in the M.A. in Media Studies at The New School in New York City and to hopefully provide enlightenment to new and future students. Also I hope that any existing students who are in the program would share their insights as well.

I've been in the program since Fall Semester, 2004, and I have been very happy with the program. I must say I couldn't have picked a better suited graduate degree that will help me move forward in my professional career. Not only that, but the program helps us think about the social impacts of the New Media and how it is changing the way we communicate worldwide. It's very exciting.

I originally planned to move to NYC to be an on campus student but decided to stay in San Francisco where I currently reside to complete the program. After seeing the cost of living in NYC, I thought I would stay where I was at and complete the program 100% remotely, as many existing students form all over the U.S.and worldwide are currently doing. Some are doing a combination of attending classes on campus and onsite; some are strictly on campus or strictly online, while others complete the program primarily online but complete the production sequence during the summer semester onsite which is another option, which is necessary for students interested in film, video, and audio production. It was easy for me stay remote since I chose the Web/Multimedia sequence to fulfill the required production sequence. There is remarkable versatility to what The New School offers in that regard and I must say this University is light years ahead of the traditional universities in making available an advanced portal system to provide a very high quality and esteemed graduate education. Saying it is "light years ahead" is truly an understatement.

One of the first I things I did as an online-only graduate student to feel connected was I flew to NYC to attend the graduate orientation in person in 2004. That single first act has made all the difference while I’ve been in the graduate program. It was extremely helpful to meet my professors and fellow graduate students and instrumental in helping me feel connected to the University these past two years. I've met many other online-only students from all over the U.S.and worldwide in my courses who felt removed and distant from the program, from the professors, and from other students for the simple reason that they physically are not on campus taking the courses. But what helped me was I decided at the onset to be proactive and over the course of two years in the program, I stayed connected by doing a number of things which I will share in my next post.