Course Materials
Assignment #5: THE FUTURE OF MEDIA EXERCISE
This assignment gives you the opportunity to use the information you've learned this semester about psychological processing and media, along with your own creativity and imagination, to predict what the media (and how we use them) will be like in the future. Here's what to do:
- Think about how the form and
content of today's media have evolved (e.g., early
television sets were large pieces of wooden furniture
with a small, blurry, nearly oval-shaped, black and white
display; and without videotape only live programs, based
on radio shows of the era, were available on the few
channels that were broadcasting; all of this is different
today).
- Think about what you've
read, discussed, and done (e.g., in the other assignments) in
this course. Look back at the fundamental concepts we covered first,
the research and theory about elements of the human information processing
system (attention, memory, emotion, judgment/decision-making, and behavior)
and the specific types of media processing we examined (presence in new
and old media, etc.).
- Use all of this information
and your own imagination to predict how the media of
today are likely to evolve over the next 20 years. What
will the form and content of television, radio,
newspapers, books, magazines, films, computers, online social media, and
virtual and augmented reality be like in the year 2039? Will they even
exist? You can focus on as few as two media or as many as
you can think of (including those not in this list), but
be sure to specifically use the
information from steps 1 and 2 above when you develop
your predictions (i.e., you must
"back up" your prediction with information from
this course, and, if you like, other sources).
- Now write an approximately 3 page (typed, double-spaced) paper describing your predictions and providing your reasoning for each one, What do you predict the form and content of media will be like, and why? Be sure to use in-text citations and end-of-paper references to properly identify your sources. Conclude the paper with your reactions to this exercise.
If you have ANY questions or need help, please feel free to ask. Good luck!