Syllabus Creativity

8/3/2019 Syllabus Creativity

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Knight School of Communication

COMM 639: Creativity & Innovation

Summer 2011

Session II

Tuesday, Thursday 6 9 p.m.

___________________________________________________________________________

Professor Kim Weller Gregory, Ph.D.

Dana 102C

[email protected]

704.277.6773 (cell)

Office Hours By Appointment

Textbooks Gallo, C. (2011). The innovation secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely different

principles for breakthrough success. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Solis, B. (2010). Engage: The complete guide for brands and businesses to

build, cultivate, and measure success in the new web. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley

& Sons.

Additional readings posted on Moodle.

Description

Global flattening, digital communication tools, and a recessed economy have dramatically shifted

todays marketplace. Competition and change are two constant challenges for organizations. As a

result, innovation is imperative.

This course explores both traditional and cutting-edge approaches to innovation. Creativity,

collaboration, and design are still essential, yet contemporary organizations are realizing the potential of

new ways of thinking, such as right-brain approaches to organizing and open innovationor the

ability to create new ideas through harnessing the distributed knowledge of many. By building an

authentic, collaborative relationship among a community (employees and consumers), organizations can

tap into the creative potential of the crowd.

In this course we will investigate how creativity and innovation can be fostered through curiosity, play,passion, revolution, connection, dialogue, design, experience, storytelling, engagement, integration, and

failure. In addition, this course will explore how shifting communication practices shape knowledge,

networks, and innovation and their surrounding ideologies.


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Specific course objectives include:

1. Understanding historical foundations of shared knowledge, networks, and innovation.2. Exploring key elements for fostering creativity and innovation in todays hyper-connected

marketplace.

3. Investigating best practice for innovation including open source innovation, connectivity throughsocial networks, and community through authentic relationships.

4. Examining ways an individual can harness his or her own creative abilities, such as play, risk taking,and centering.

5. Increasing personal knowledge and skills at using digital tools and social networks to buildconnectivity and drive innovation, as well as metrics to measure and track success.

Course Policies

y Connections:Moodle: I will post general course announcements on Moodle (http://moodle.queens.edu/). Please

check our Moodle course site regularly, or you may sign up to have postings forwarded to your

email account.

Twitter: I will also share ideas and resources as well as post some course announcements on Twitter

using hashtag #639create.

RexMail: Due to FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regulations, I will contact you

through your Queens RexMail account rather than your personal or work email. Please check that

account regularly or forward incoming emails to a preferred account.

y Assignments: Please email me assignments electronically by 6 p.m. on the assigned day. Blog linksshould be sent to my Queens email account as well. Any assignments submitted after 6 p.m. will be

considered late. Typically, any late assignment that I choose to accept is penalized a minimum ofone letter grade for each class meeting that it is late.

y Writing: As students in a graduate program, your writing should be clear, coherent, and error free.Please make an appointment at the Center for Academic Success Writing Center for any extra

assistance (contact Jenn Goddu at [email protected] or 704.688.2765; also see

http://www.queens.edu/studentlife/resources/writing_center.asp). Written assignments should

follow APA guidelines.

y Grading: Some written assignments will receive letter grades that will be converted to a numericalscore for final grade computation. The grading scale is as follows:

A 100 90 Superior work. Creative.

B 89 80 Good work. Could improve in one of these areas: ideas,

argument, or grammar.

C 79 70 Adequate work. Could improve in two of these areas: ideas,

argument, or grammar.

F 69 & below Unacceptable work. Reflects unacceptable level of commitment

or skill.


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y Class Attendance: As a short session, we will meet twice a week for 6 weeks. Therefore, it isimportant that you not miss scheduled class meetings. For absences to be excused, you must

provide me with advance notice and compelling justification. If you must miss class, please try to

Skype in.

y Confidentiality: Confidentiality on all papers and projects will be honored. The names of people ororganizations may be changed for your coursework. Please see me if you have any questions or

concerns about your paper or project.

University Policies

y University Closings/Cancelled Classes: QAlert: Sign up to receive campus emergency notificationsvia voicemail, text and/or e-mail at www.queens.edu/alert. If classes are meeting but you feel that

you cannot find a safe way to get to class, you should notify me as soon as possible. Should I need

to cancel class, I will notify you by sending out a message on Moodle and Twitter.

y Honor Code & Plagiarism:The Honor Code, which permeates all phases of university life, is based onthree fundamental principles. It assumes that Queens students: a) are truthful at all times, b)

respect the property of others, and c) are honest in tests, examinations, term papers, and all other

academic assignments.

Plagiarism is representing anothers words or thoughts as ones own, and it is a clear violation of

Queens Honor Code. It can take many forms, including word-for-word plagiarism or paraphrasing

without providing proper citation of source. To learn more, visit the Queens Center for Academic

Success located in the basement of Dana

(http://www.queens.edu/studentlife/resources/academicresourcecenter.asp)

or the following website: http://www.plagiarism.org/. Please contact me if you have any questions

or believe a violation of the Honor Code has occurred.

y Intellectual Property Policy: Queens University of Charlotte faculty and students adhere to theQueens Intellectual Property Policy. See Faculty Handbook, http://moodle.queens.edu,

and the Queens University of Charlotte website at http://www.queens.edu.

y Disability Accommodations: If you are a student with a verified disability and you requireaccommodations, please provide me with the necessary memorandum that was given to you by

Student Disability Services. Contact: The Coordinator of Disability Services: Sandy Rogelberg, 704-

337-2508.


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Major Assignments

Connectivity Project 40%

Purpose: To build and track connectivity and idea generation surrounding a topic or project about which

you have passion. (If you dont have a pet project, you can use the topic of creativity and innovation).

Assignment:

Blog. You will create a blog curating knowledge, ideas, and resources related to your topic. You will

create two short but cohesive blog entries per week for a total of 10 entries.

Each blog should do all of the following:

1. Link to influential voices related to your topic2. Invite dialogue on your blog topicthat is, pose a question at the end.3. Feed your Twitter account into the blog (see below).4. Note: One blog per week should include some type of image (e.g., Flickr, video blog, Youtube

video)

Twitter. You will use Twitter as a tool to build connections related to your topic. Please do the

following:

1. If you dont have one already, start a Twitter account and mention your involvement in yourtopic in your Twitter profile description.

2. Start following people who are relevant to your topic (at least 5).3. Tweet or retweet material at least 5 times per week. Include links in at least 3 tweets per week.

Space the tweets evenly throughout the week.

4. Create or use an existing hashtag. Please include hashtag #639create on all your tweets relatedto the course.

Analytics: As part of the assignment, you will do some basic tracking of the connections created fromyour blog and Twitter account (more later). For instance, how many visits were there to your blog and

how many comments did you receive on your postings? For your twitter account, how much did you

increase your followers, how many people @mentioned or retweeted you, and how influential are they?

Presentation. You will present your completed blog to the class at the end of the course. You will

report on your experiences trying to build connections and describe your key learnings related to

community and innovation. What worked? What didnt work so well?

Reflection papers/blog 30%

Purpose: To reflect on your learning related to creativity and innovation as it relates to you personally.

Assignment: Once a week (for a total of 5 weeks), write no more than a one-page reflection on your

learning in the course related to creativity and innovation. This is your chance to apply the course

material to yourlife. What is this course teaching you about your own creative capabilities and how

best to tap into them? What is this course teaching you about innovation (or the ability to see and do

things in new ways), both at the individual and organizational level? How might you use the knowledge

about organizations to do things differently in your own organization(s)? Be specific. Each reflection

paper should incorporate specific course material.


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These papers can be written as traditional papers or as blog entries.

Group Ignite! Presentation 10%

Purpose: To work in a small group to report on the creativity and innovation efforts of one organization.

OR to explore and report on one type of creativity and innovation effort using several companies as

examples.

Assignment: Together with your group members, you will choose an organization that has shown

creativity and innovation in building new ideas, products, services, experiences, and/or connections. In

an Ignite talk format (5-minutes and no more than 10 slides (time to run automatically in less than 5

minutes), you will inform the class about your organizations creativity. Be creative and exude high

energy in your presentation. Ignite a passion in your audience about the topic! Start a revolution about

it!

Participation 20%

Your participation grade will be calculated with equal weight given to the following:

1. Blog comments. You will comment on each others blog once per week.2. Twitter follow and retweets. Follow at least 5 influential voices in field of connectivity and

innovation. Note: Follow #innovation and youll find a lively discussion. Retweet 5 interesting

tweets/links related to innovation per week spaced evenly throughout the week. Some

suggestions of people to follow related to innovation and social media:

@craighcollins, @briansolis, @mashable, @chrisbrogan, @zappos (social media)

@innovate (innovation)

@randfish (CEO & Founder of SEOmoz)

@SEOmoz (SEO software, analytics)

@zeldman (Jeffery Zeldman, Author, Web Designer, "Happy Cog" A List Apart Magazine,

An Event Apart www.zeldman.com )

@avinash (Avinash Kaushik, Analytics)

@copyblogger (Brian Clark, internet marketing)

3. Class attendance.

Tentative Course Schedule

Date Class Topic Assignments

T/May 17 Class meets in McEwen 206

Introduction to the Course

Creativity and Innovation in a Digital World

Historical Perspective of Knowledge, Networks

and Creativity

Have blog, twitter, & HootSuiteaccounts set up


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Th/May 19 Class meets in Dana 110

Guest Lecture: Michael Arena, Ph.D.,

McColl School of Business

Innovation: Cloud, Crowd, and Clusters

Texts:

Solis: Ch. 1-4; & Ch 20

Jarvis: pp. 1-39

Articles, Blogs & Websites:

Kamenetz: http://bit.ly/aNOsQH

Reflection Assignment: Reflect on the

difference between human and digital

connectivity. Assess your own current

level of connectivity today.

T/May 24 Class meets in McEwen 206 from 6-7 p.m.

Ignite #1 Presentation

Passion

Vaynerchuk video in class

Move to Vivace restaurant by 7:30 p.m.

Guest Speaker: Rick Mabe, Owner,Dragon Fly

Studios

Topic: Architecture & Design

Experience Design (Case blog)

Responsive Design (Marcotte)

Idea Labs

Texts:

Gallo: Chs. 1-7, 10-11

Vayernerchuk, pp. 1-14

Articles, Blogs & Websites:Salter: http://bit.ly/kPzpqd

Diefell: http://bit.ly/muZyiR and

http://www.wdydwyd.com

Case:http://bit.ly/l2Qzzt

Marcotte: http://bit.ly/D7orC (online

web-thing)

http://bit.ly/bcKwQS (responsive web

design article)

Blog #1 Assignment: Self-reflectionWhat is your passion? Where can your

creativity best be seen? What

revolution do you want to cause?

Th/May 26 Class meets in Dana 110

Open Innovation

Community & Relationships

Social network

Brogan http://www.chrisbrogan.com

Listening

Boyd blog & website

Social good, cause-marketing

McNicholas: http://onforb.es/l5A8C3

Ignite #2 & #3 Presentation

Texts:

Solis: Chs. 15-16, 18-19, 24-25

Jarvis: pp. 40-53

Gallo: Chs. 8-9


Boyd: http://www.apophenia.com

www.zephoria.org


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T/May 31 Class meets at Area 15 in NoDa

Curiosity

Imagination

Play

Graffiti

Guest Speaker: Patti Palmer,MA COMM 12

At 7:30 p.m. we will do a creativity exercise


Texts:

Foster (1996): Chs. 1-9

Gross & Gross (1993)


Wilson: http://bit.ly/jGw92t

Th/June 2 Class meets in Sykes Auditorium

OD on the Edge Meeting 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Michael Arena, McColl School of BusinessTopic: Optimizing Success in Start Ups

http://bit.ly/k0eGAq

Move to Dana 110 at 7:30 p.m.

Experience

Branding

Analytics

8-9 p.m. Guest Speakers: Reena Arora & Eric

Hill, Queens University of Charlotte,

Marketing & Community Relations

Texts:

Gallo: Chs. 12-13

Solis: Ch. 26


Ideo: http://www.ideo.com/about/

http://bit.ly/a250QX

Kaushik: http://bit.ly/91JLtr (see web

analytics info)


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T/June 7 Class meets at Belle Acres

Guest Speaker: Jack Dillard, Co-founder Brew

Pub Poets Society

Storytelling

Collaboration & Sharing

Visual Connectivity

Harris: http://bit.ly/2kaNPP

Texts:

Gallo: Chs. 14-15


Svoboda: http://bit.ly/9NYXnB

Sacks: http://bit.ly/h3yIeV

Schomer: (see Fast Talk Dare to

Share)

http://bit.ly/fbGSg8

Chaey: http://bit.ly/iPsRWe

Storytelling: Podcast

http://www.iloveagoodstory.com

Botsman: http://bit.ly/2EyATe

Pecha-Kucha:http://www.pecha-kucha.org

Th/June 9 Class meets at Laughing Buddha yoga studio

(Dress comfortably. You may participate in the

yoga session to whatever extent you feel

comfortable.)

Integration

Texts:

Hanh: pp. 5-20

T/June 14 Class meets in McEwen 206

Guest Speaker: Cathy Anderson,McColl

School of Business

Topic: The Individual Creative Process

Left vs. Right brain thinking


Texts:Pink: pp. 1-67

Th/June 16 Class meets in Dana 110

Drive

Failure

Patti Palmer re: Inventors.

Ignite #6 & #7 Presentation

Texts:

Jarvis: pp. 91-102

Gallo: One more thing epilogue


Tischler http://bit.ly/gUeSVq


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The Future of innovation



Watch & Drinker:

http://bit.ly/jwMNa4

Penenberg: http://bit.ly/fm0WdR

Th/June 23 Class meets in Dana 110

Project Presentations

Projects Due

Individual Projects Due


Project Presentations Reflection AssignmentDue

Th/June 30 Final Exam Period


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Reading List

Chaey, C. (2011, May). Brave new co-working world. Fast Company. http://bit.ly/iPsRWe

Foster, J. (1996). How to get ideas. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Gross, D. D., & Gross, T. D. (1993). Tagging: Changing visual patterns and the rhetorical implications of

a new form of graffiti. Et cetera: A Review of General Semantics.

Hanh, T. N. (1991). Peace is every step: A path of mindfulness in everyday life. New York: Bantam.

Jarvis, J. (2009). What would Google do? New York: HarperCollins.

Kamenetz, A. (2010, September). How TED became the new Harvard only bigger. Fast Company.

http://bit.ly/aNOsQH

Penenberg, A. L. (2011, January). Everyones a player: How video games are infiltratingand

improvingevery party of our lives. Fast Company. http://bit.ly/fm0WdR

Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York: Riverhead.

Saks, D. (2011, April). The sharing economy. Fast Company. http://bit.ly/h3yIeV

Salter, C. (2011, February). Syyn labss league of extraordinary nerds. Fast Company.

http://bit.ly/kPzpqd

Schomer, S. (2011, January). Fast talk: Dare to share. Fast Company. http://bit.ly/fbGSg8

Svoboda, E. (2010, November). Collaborating for a cure. Fast Company. http://bit.ly/9NYXnB

Tischler, L. (2011, April). John Maeda mulls RISDs backlash against his cyber-style leadership. Fast

Company. http://bit.ly/gUeSVq

Vaynerchuk, G. (2009). Crush it! Why now is the time to cash in on your passion. New York:

HarperCollins.

Watch, D., & Drinker, R. (2011, May). 4 things the U.S. can learn from innovative foreign companies.

Fast Company. http://bit.ly/jwMNa4

Documents

Syllabus Creativity