Technology and Global Development
15-502
Spring 2009
Media Assignment
Assigned:
January 27, 2009
Due:
In class, February 12, 2009
Assignment Objectives:
An important part of most development projects is effective marketing and public
relations. Technology increasingly plays a key role in creating and/or disseminating
relevant information to specific audiences in a timely fashion. A key factor in designing
these media-related materials is balancing the voice of the people at the heart of the cause
you are promoting, with the message that you think will have the most significant impact
to the audience you are targeting. The objectives of this assignment are as follows:
1. To give you experience in using technology to design a public outreach message
for a relevant cause.
2. To encourage you to think carefully about the messaging and its implications for
the people at the heart of the cause.
3. To encourage you to think carefully about the messaging and its impact on your
target audience.
4. To inspire creativity and responsibility in promoting important causes.
5. To build your confidence in effectively promoting important causes.
Assignment:
This assignment builds on your first assignment in this course – the research assignment.
Once again, you are a staff member working with the TechBridgeWorld
(www.techbridgeworld.org) group at Carnegie Mellon University. Your team, having
prepared with the help of your report on your chosen developing community, has traveled
to that community and returned with a commitment to improve access to health-care in
that community. Your new task is to now help them raise awareness about this cause so
that your team can attract sponsorship to support work in this community. Specifically,
your task is to create a media-piece (it can be a report, a video, an image, a set of images,
etc. – use your imagination and creativity) to capture the health-related needs of this
developing community and thus justify the project to potential sponsors. You are required
to use some form of computing technology in either the creation of this media-piece or
the dissemination plan for this media-piece. Once you have designed and created this
media-piece, you should write up a brief report that includes a dissemination plan for this
media piece (not more than 1 page), and justification for your design and dissemination
decisions (not more than 2 pages). Please make sure you cite all sources of information
clearly and accurately.
You will demonstrate your media piece in class on the due date – each of you will get 15
minutes to show us your media-piece and answer questions. The accompanying report is
also due the same day and should be emailed to one or both of the instructors before class
on the due date.
Collaboration:
You are not allowed to collaborate with anyone else on this assignment. Please direct all
questions to the instructors or the TA.
Grading Criteria:
The media assignment will count towards 10% of your final grade and will be graded out
of 100 points as follows:
Media piece
40 points
o Use of technology
10 points
o Clarity of message
10 points
o Overall impact
10 points
o Sources and references
10 points
Dissemination plan
20 points
Justification
40 points
Helpful Hints:
1. Enjoy the assignment! If you want a helping hand getting started, talk to the
instructors or the TA about where to start – we are happy to help ☺
2. You should have all the information you need for this assignment through you
research on the first assignment. Hence, the primary work in this assignment
should be focused on choosing a clear message and being creative about how to
deliver this message.
3. When you are designing your media-piece keep your audience and the people at
the heart of the cause in mind.
4. This assignment will be a good building block for your campaign assignment –
make sure you learn how to design and execute an affective messaging strategy.
5. This is not a design class so we won’t be focused on judging your artistic or
design ability – instead, our focus will be on the clarity, balance, and effectiveness
of your messaging strategy and execution.