TECH 4230 Timeline Evaluation Criteria

DRM TIMELINE ASSIGNMENT

What is a Timeline?
A timeline is a typically linear tool for graphically displaying information and key concepts
centered on a larger topic. In Dipity, the free service you’ll be using to create and develop
your timelines, the default view will be linear, but there are alternate views based on lists,
flipbooks, and maps. Since the free service we’ll be using is browser-based, your timelines
will use text, images, and colors, and will also include embeddable media clips (audio and/or
video) where appropriate.
Timelines have been associated with brainstorming sessions, as a way to visually chart
ideas. For the purposes of this assignment, we’ll be doing something similar, but with a more
academic twist: your timeline will serve as an annotated bibliography. However, rather than a
typical, text-only annotated bibliography, yours will be a media-rich one suitable for sharing
online.
Your end result will be a product that successfully chronicles the past, present, and possible
future of a specific current or emerging DRM-related technology or DRM-related technology
incident (such as the Sony Rootkit problem) in an equally specific field, but one that
accomplishes this by way of linking to articles, images, audio and/or video clips, and related
media. The result should be a “big picture” of the DRM technology or event in question,
starting with a point on the timeline that signifies a significant impact in the history of the
specific DRM technology or DRM-related event.
Your DRM timeline should include a minimum of the following:
• A combined total of no less than 20 events (“events” would be individual points or
items on your timeline. These timeline events should link to a variety of articles, audio
and/or video, with the following types: 5 journal articles, 5 trade publication or
newspaper articles, 5 embedded videos, 5 “online only” articles from blogs or related
technology sites (Engadget, Gizmodo, News.com, Information Week, etc.).
• Each event in your timeline must include a 2 paragraph (or 75 word) annotation or
synopsis from you, in your own words, entered in the “description” field of the event.
Each annotation should provide a brief overview of the relevance of the article or
media in the specific event, why the author should be considered a credible source,
and ultimately why you chose to link to or embed it as an event in your timeline.
• Each event should include a specific date, which you will enter into the “date” field as
you create each new timeline event. The date should not be when you entered it into
your timeline, but rather when the article or video for each event was originally created
or uploaded to their hosting venue (date of journal issue, date an article was written,
date a video was initially uploaded to You Tube, Vimeo, etc.)
• All articles, videos, and other materials linked to must directly relate to your topic, and
should not merely be the first handful of links from a Google search on the topic.
• No more than 3 of the above-mentioned sources should come from the primary
company that makes or develops the technology you are forecasting, since these will
be necessarily biased (basically, limit the amount of marketing / PR text you link to,
and go with neutral, third-party sources whenever possible).
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TECH 4230 Timeline Evaluation Criteria

Once you have created your timeline, you will then need to embed it directly within a
discussion forum I will create. To do this, when you are finished developing your timeline
click the “embed” button and then copy the embed code. From there, past it into a new
discussion forum thread during the week this assignment is due. Include a brief explanation
of what your timeline is about, what you chose the technology you did, and any additional
information you feel we would need to better contextualize your timeline as we examine it.
The following point breakdown will be used to assess your assignment, 20 points, maximum:
Evaluation criteria for this assignment is as follows:
Organization / Mechanics (5 points)
Information is well organized within the timeline, and appears to showcase the past,
present, and potential future of a narrowly focused DRM technology or DRM-related
technology incident. The timeline has been embedded directly within a discussion forum,
thereby allowing the instructor and fellow group members the ability to comment on it
within the forum. No grammatical, spelling, punctuation, or technical errors. All links work.
All sources are accurately documented in proper APA format.
Quantity of Sources (5 points)
A minimum of 20 sources are included, with the required number of each type of source
as listed on the previous page.
Quality of sources (10 points)
All sources are appropriate, relevant, and accurate, and useful for a paper on the given
topic. Preliminary information in annotations (that is, the bibliographic entries you
developed) begins with a brief overview of the relevance of the article or media in the
specific event, why the author should be considered a credible source, and ultimately why
you chose to link to or embed it as an event in your timeline.
Grading for organization / mechanics, and quantity of sources will be done in 1-point
increments. Grading for quality of sources will be done in 2-point increments.

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