MMC 2121

MMC 2121

Summer 2018:: Reference Number 596126

ATTENTION: This blended course meets on Wednesdays in 71-140 from 10:00 - 11:40 AM during Session 1 (5/14 - 8/7/2018). Attendance is mandatory!

You will have access to the course on the first day of the semester at 8:00 AM.  

Faculty Introduction

My name is Neil Plakcy, and I'm an Associate Professor of English on the South Campus of Broward College. I am an author and freelance writer, a journalist and web developer, as well as a professor, and my goal is to help you understand mass communications from the practitioner's point of view. Learn more about me and my writing here.

Course Description

MMC 2121, Writing Fundamentals for Communicators, focuses on composing for print and electronic media web, beginning with the skills necessary to write with clarity and attention to user interactivity. 

Students will produce polished, published nonfiction work native to new media/new journalism formats. The primary media may include blogs, wikis, video compositions, white papers, press releases or other developing formats. 

Students will also learn to support composing in these primary media with other kinds of networked communication. Instruction will focus on developing advanced rhetorical skills appropriate for new media compositions.

Methods of Instruction

You will write blog posts, tweets, and other pieces of new media as well as respond to readings in discussion posts. This is a 3-credit hour course, and students should be prepared for reading, discussion and essay assignments each week, which will require a combination of on-line and off-line time commitment.

Learning Outcomes

The student should be able to demonstrate an awareness of elements involved in the communication process for each of the major media, trace development of each one, and identify the forms, functions and audiences
relevant to each major medium, including the print, broadcast and movie industries.  The student should be able to develop insight into the effects of media on the individual and on society and as whole.

Course Requirements
In addition to the required texts, you must have access to a computer with Microsoft Word and Internet access. If you do not have computer access at home, computers are available at various locations on the BC South campus, including the library and the Learning Resource Center. You must also have a
BC e-mail address.

Course Materials

Writing for the Mass Media by James G. Stovall (updated 9th edition). This book will be available at the South Campus bookstore. You may also choose to purchase it online-- however, remember the bookstore will price match if you find it less expensive elsewhere.

How to Register for this Course

Register for this course through your myBC website. Students must pay for the course before they will be able to log into the course.

Information Contact

For more information, about this course, feel free to contact me at nplakcy@broward.edu or call the South Campus English Department at (954) 201-8904.

How to Access this Course once you are Enrolled in this Course

The login date will be the first day of the session in which the course is scheduled. The only people who will be permitted to login are those students who have registered and paid for the course. There may be a delay of up to 24 hours from when a student registers and pays before D2L login is activated.

Obtain BC email user ID and PIN code before attempting to login to D2L.

At BC email address site, click on "ID Lookup", then enter your Student# (or INTL Student ID#) and PIN code (2 digit birth month and 2 digit year). Write down your email ID (not the @mail.broward.edu part), which is your D2L User Name.

Your D2L User Name is the same as your BC email ID.

Your D2L password is the same as your BC email PIN code.

The direct link for D2L login is https://bconline.broward.edu/