Assignment - Project Media Outreach

Photo of the CMSE hallway Display TVs

The goal of this milestone is to share what you are doing with the community outside the classroom without violating any laws and agreements such as copyright, NDAs, IP agreements, FIRPA, etc. Teams will put together a blog post (news article) and a single PowerPoint Slide to highlight their project and their community partners. The blog post will go on the course website (and may be highlighted on either the department, college or even university website) and the slides will be used on the hallway TVs outside the main CMSE office and maybe also on the website. You can also use this short description in your project README or as part of your final report abstract.

During class, the instructors will pass out this Media Release form. All students must fill out the form to get credit for this assignment. However, you are not required to release any of your personal information. You may want to review FIRPA website to better understand your rights about your data.

Do not put anything in the assignment that you are unwilling to share or that violates any agreements or laws. If you decide to include any personal information such as your names and/or your pictures then you MUST also check the corresponding boxes on the Media Release form.

If your team decides to release any videos and/or git repositories (Everyone must be in agreement) then you should change the permissions of the files so that the appropriate audience can access them. For example, if you are using gitlab you will want to set your repository to either publicly viewable or internally viewable. This way the instructor can link directly to your accounts without having to download copies.

Be creative, this is a fairly simple milestone (on purpose so you can be working on your primary project goals), however it is also an opportunity to show off a bit and share what you are doing with friends, family and possibly even future employers.

WARNING You are responsible for ensuring the content in your slides do not violate your NDAs, IP agreements, FIRPA and copyright laws and that the proper release forms have been submitted. Check with your community partner and your instructor if you need verification.

PowerPoint Slide

Here are some guidelines for the slide:

Please use a 16:9 ratio (1920 x 1080 pixels) slide so that it will appear nicely on the hallway TVs.
Include the team name.
Minimize the use of too many words. Use large fonts to make it easy to read.
Whenever Possible use striking visuals.
Verify that we are able to use any pictures. Include copyright details and image origin in the notes field.
Only use the community partner logo if approval has been given by the community partners.
Include the team member names and images only with everyone’s consent.
Simple animations will be allowed in the sides (if they are appropriate).
Thank the community partner in some way.

Blog Post

Here are some guild lines for the blog post:

Try to keep the post to around 1000 words.
Include the team name.
Include at least one image with the post. This image should visually represent the project in some way (more than just the community partner logo). A visualization or team picture would be appropriate.
Include member names only with everyone’s consent.
Describe how the project is important for the community partner.
Highlight what you are learning.
Thank the community partner in some way.

Submission

There are multiple steps required to get credit for this assignment:

Turn in the assignment files: Place a copy in your team drive and email a copy/link to your instructors. Make sure these files are turned in on or before the due date.
Sign the Media Release form: Sign and turn in a paper copy. Your instructor will have copies of the from in class so you don’t have to print them. However the instructors do need a physical copy for our files.
Final Approval: After your assignments have been evaluated and you have addressed the feedback from your instructors you need to email a copy/link of the final blog post and slide to your community partner (cc the instructors) for final approval before we can post to any public form.
Notify instructors of Approval: After the assignment due date you will follow up with your community partners (in a professional manner) to get approval to post (or not) your assignment. Once you have final decision in an email, forward that email to the instructor and let them know in writing that you have been given approval and you have followed copyright, IP, NDA and FIRPA rules such that everything is ready (or not ready) to post. Make sure you CC the entire team and the instructors. You must do this to get full credit for the assignment. Let the instructors know if there are any problems such as communication with the community partners.

Evaluation

This assignment will be graded on good effort attempt to follow directions and complete the project. As always instructors will pay close attention to professionalism. Points will be taken off for the use of any content that is in violation of copyright, NDA, IP and FIRPA laws.

Post Evaluation

If final approval has been given, your team slides will be posted in the hall outside of the CMSE main office and the blog post will be edited/added to the CMSE495 website. Links to the blog post will be also be posted to the CMSE495 Linked-in group.

Congratulations, you are done!

Written by Dr. Dirk Colbry, Michigan State University
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.