Assignment - Communications
For this assignment, we will be looking at communications developments from approximately 1910-2010. In order to do this properly, you will need to understand the concepts of continuity and change over time.
We often think of history as a timeline or series of events in which change is linear much like a person walking from one point to another. In fact, when we look back to analyze periods in the past, we see that certain things stay the same for long periods while others can undergo rapid transformation. If we look at the 20th century, we might assume that everything changed from the beginning to the end. However, we can see that people still live in houses and apartments with their families, they go to work and school, then take time on the weekends to spend with friends and family.
Your task
You will fill in a worksheet, linked below, in which you look at which aspects of communications have changed over the course of the 20th century and which have not changed. Your purpose will be to look for continuity where you didn't see it before and to recognize change that hadn't occurred to you before reading this section of the course.
Continuity and Change - Communications
You will want to think as deeply as possible here. For example, you might note that in 1910, there were no satellite communications which seems like a dead-end. However, scientists knew about the concept of natural satellites and fiction writers had already proposed ideas about global communications systems.
Once you have filled in the table on the worksheet, you will need to write a set of notes that fills the page provided. Here, you should refer to the course readings and bring in any background knowledge that you have. You do not need to do any research for this assignment. If you do, you must cite it.
Your final task is to write a short composition of four paragraphs in which you address this question: Between the years 1910 and 2010, what remained constant in the field of communications and what changed?
Your composition will take this form:
1st paragraph - Introduce the topic and propose an answer to the question.
2nd paragraph - Explore the topic of what stayed constant by using your notes
3rd paragraph - Explore the topic of what changed in communications from 1910-2010
4th paragraph - Conclude the topic by summarizing and reinforcing your points and by drawing connections between them
This will be marked according to the rubric below. You will have to hand in your worksheet by scanning and uploading it or by handing it to your teacher on paper.