MDST 3504

This class was really interesting and I really took a lot out of it. Driscoll is a pretty demanding professor but he's pretty compassionate and really cares about his students and wants them to do well. Class met twice a week and consisted of a lecture and many times an in-class activity. There was a lot of work - four large projects, weekly reading responses and quizzes (the lowest quiz grade was dropped), ten "side quests" (hands-on activities, you didn't have to do all ten but your grade suffered if you didn't), and weekly reading. Quizzes were relatively straightforward and the responses only had to draw from one reading. The side quests were not super interesting to me, I found them to be more of a burden that took up time rather than something that complemented the class. The projects consisted of two entries to a class internet history timeline (although it got modified after the shooting), a speculative fiction story focused on the history of the internet, and an HTML website adaptation of the story in the style of the '90s.
As a technology enthusiast, I found the content of the class interesting and Driscoll's passion for the material really shines. The content covered time from early military internet systems to the current web, with a week or two on each topic. I also appreciated that he had someone from the Center for Teaching Excellence come in midway through the semester with the goal of improving students' experience in the class and he implemented some changes right away. For anyone interested in the history of the internet, this is a must-take class that is really enjoyable and Driscoll is one of the premier experts in the field.