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We'll use the blog to communicate with each other throughout the course.

Value Added

You will add value by enhancing the learning environment for your fellow students.

You all start out with an assumed perfect score for involvement. It's up to you to determine if that score decreases.

Adding Value includes asking questions about topics in such a way that your question and the answer also help your fellow classmates.

Adding Value includes posting to the class blog. You don't have to do this each day, but you will have to post a note introducing yourselves after the first session, you will have to post a note about starters you present in class on the blog, and you will surely have something to say about one or more of the other starters presented to you daily.

Value Added 7.01: Starter

A starter is a student-led, short presentation used to help get the class focused and started. I will expect each of you to do at least one starter. You will need to make a blog post before class. This should be about something that caught your attention from your newsletter subscriptions or some other resource (must be technology focused). This counts as one of your blog posts. The blog post does not need to be long nor does the presentation need to be long. Actually, I prefer them to be only 2-3 minutes. Longer is not better. Brief and clear is best.

Value Added 7.02-7.07: Six Blog Posts

We should expect to see at least one posting from each of you every four class sessions, whether you have done a starter or not. It's reasonable to expect everyone to have something to add to the blog conversations. Your introductory blog post does not count towards this

Value Added 7.08: Comment

Comment at least once on a classmate's posting.

Value Added 7.09: Engagement

Your Engagement grade will reflect participation.

Be active and involved, but remember: quality of input far outweighs quantity. During class, you will want to respect your fellow students by paying more attention to the class topics, and less to what is happening on social networking sites.

If you are uncomfortable speaking up in class you should at least chime in a few times during the semester. You can be engaged by making extra comments on peers' blog posts or post questions or helpful comments in the blog forum posts area.

Attendance is a key indicator of your participation

It is very important that you do not miss classes. If you do miss classes, you would be wise to talk to me about it, either before or after the session you miss.

Value Added 7.10: Professionalism

The vast majority of UNC undergraduates are appropriately professional. This is probably the most infectious (good or bad) trait for all of us. As our professionalism goes, so does everything else. Professionalism helps us to connect with others, face reality, build trust, extend compassion and empathy, exhibit humility, finish well, embrace the negative, and make productivity leaps. These are timeless and transcendent qualities: they are not specific to any religion, place, people, or era. Professionals are not perfect. They do make mistakes! Professionals do not heap contempt on themselves or others when things go wrong. They own it and get back on track.

• What are the Characteristics of Professionalism?

There is no doubt that everyone in the class will be an expert in at least one area and Adding Value also includes offering to display your skills in an area related to the topic under discussion so that we may all learn from and with you. The amount of points earned for Adding Value is a subjective judgment and I will be making the subjective call, at the end of the semester. You should have a feel for how well you are doing in this area if you follow the advice on this page.

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