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Getting Started
SUMMARY:
- Course material (notes, assignments, test, etc) are released sequentially each week, on TUESDAY.
- QUIZZES and EXAMS
- WRITTEN PART - tests knowledge of terms and concepts using multiple choice, true-false, and/or short answer.
It is based on the book and instructor notes (including web readings).
- PERFORMANCE PART - is hands-on, similar to the assignments.
- HOW TO LEARN
- The TEXT is the PRIMARY SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE. It is mainly a tutorial with examples, as
opposed to a reference book.
- My NOTES indicate WHAT TO READ IN THE BOOK and supplement the book. Instructor notes are
intended to summarize and outline important material.
Subject: Re:Assignment 1 entities Topic: Main
Author: Edward VanBlargan Date: September 11, 2008 2:24 PM
More to the point...I am outcomes based so however you achive the outcome
(doing it yourself of course) is the right way...so is up to me
(the instructor) to come up with things that force you to learn code. Maybe I
have not done so yet but that is cause its a bit hard with plain html but once
we hit Javascript & XML those that do not know the code will have a hard time.
So sure use dreamweaver but try to use split view so you can see code and
understand what is happening cuase I guarantee you will have to get into code
later in the course. Also the tests will ask code questions (but even there its
okay to use dreamweaver during the test to look up the code)
The following explains the organization and rules of the course, beyond what
is in syllabus.
Structure: course material (notes, assignments, test, etc) are released
sequentially each week and cannot be seen until released, just
like a typical in-class courses. You should keep pace and cannot skip ahead
or complete everything at once like a crash course.
Unlike an in-class course, there is no exact day or time you need to
check in, rather just complete
whatever is listed anytime during that week. Assignments and exams have specific due dates and time periods listed in WebCt so you know
when they are available and must be completed by.
Day of the week: Although there is no specific day or time
you need to login, class material is released the same day each
week. (The day for this course is TUESDAY). If the college is closed that day then there will not be
any new material that week. The college calendar has several no-class days
including breaks and holidays whereby in-class courses do not all miss
the same days but collectively they all meet for 15 weeks worth of class
even though the actual calendar has more weeks. As a result, online
classes that have material each week may really run longer than an
equivalent in-class.
Organization: All class material is in WebCt
where the course menu (on left side) has links for:
-
Course Content: has instructor teaching
material including links for:
-
Notes a hyperlinked table with a schedule filled in
each week with links to
- 'Notes" where each note link is an instructor created web page with
information on the topic for that week
- "ToDo" list with links to assignment instructions and test
reminders. Realize the dates are
release dates NOT due dates which are actually under "assignment" tab in WebCt
along with points and other info.
-
Syllabus has what the class covers and requires from
you, however, more (better) details and dates are found in the other links
discussed above so the syllabus for this class is not as important as
typical in-class sections for knowing what to do for the class. Probably
the most important things in syllabus are the class rules as opposed to
the actual due dates or what to do for assignments
and tests.
-
Assignments: has a link for each assignment (also called homework,
projects, assignments) and once in an assignment can see due dates, instructions, points,
and a submission area which in more detail are:
- Instructions: from instructor are usually an html web page, so click
the link to open and read the instructions carefully on how and what to hand in.
- Submission: has a textarea to type your answer, but typically for
this class only use the textarea for special notes and you will instead attach a file(s) with your work. To upload a
file click "Add attachment" link then browse your computer for your
completed file(s). Upload each file individually or upload a single .ZIP
file containing your work. If you have more than 1 file then usually
best to upload a ZIP file, but is your choice. Assignments often involve
creating a folder and/or many files which presents a problem when
handing in if you are not familiar with file/folder management in Windows
(or other) operating systems.
- Add Comment: optional for if you have any special comments for
instructor but usually nothing is entered
- Submit button is to click once you are ready to send to instructor
and must be clicked once before due date since simply attaching files
does not submit them. You could actually attach files without submitting
in which case you can retrieve later to modify your work. In that case
the assignment can act like a file storage, but again at some point you
must "submit".
- Once submitted, you cannot modify your submitted files but will see
what was submitted
- For any assignment, if you want to work on
a different project that is okay as long as you get approval first and
realize tests are the same for everyone. So if you substitute a project,
make sure you understand what the original was about in case that
material is on the exam.
- After some reasonable time past the due date, should be able to see grades under either assignment itself
or "MyGrades" link. In assignment will see instructor comments if
any; usually perfect scores will not have any comment which implies
"great job"; otherwise there usually will be feedback as to what was wrong or missing.
-
Assessment: contains QUIZZES and EXAMS (also called tests) as links and time periods for each
test which include both exams (long, worth many points) and quizzes
(short, worth fewer points). Each test has a written part and performance part.
The WRITTEN PART tests knowledge of terms and concepts using multiple choice,
true-false, and/or short answer.
>>>> It is based on the book and instructor notes
(including web readings). <<<<
The PERFORMANCE PART - is hands-on, similar to the assignments.
- Tests are un-proctored (done at home) and available for
several days during which you can start at any time convenient
to you. This lends itself to cheating, but don't give into this
temptation. The rule is you cannot get help from or give help to
anyone on exams. For assignments it is okay if you get help from
others as long as the resulting project is not a copy or near
copy of someone else's.
- Tests do not have an exact day or time. Instead, there is a
period of several days during which you can take tests any time
in that period. So everyone will take during the same week but
you can pick the day & time in that week you want. Once
started, then you must complete within the minutes allowed.
-
Mail and Discussion: Communication is via email
or the discussion board. There is no real time interaction.
Use WebCt email system (not
regular email). When attaching files in WebCt, click BROWSE to
find a file but afterwards make sure to click the ATTACH button (just
browsing for a file does not really attach it). If you have a question
or comment you want other students to see then use the DISCUSSION system instead of
Private Mail. The bulletins will be broken into topics so try to post in
the relevant topic. One key component in successfully taking an on-line
course is to keep in contact with the instructor to better understand
what is going on and what is required for successful completion. So
keep in contact with the instructor even if just to touch base and
let them know all is going well. The instructor is there as a resource
and it is up to the student to utilize all resources provided to
complete which means not just getting a grade, but getting the most out
of the course possible
-
MyGrades: see your grades for all assignments and assessments
similar to what you see under assessment or assignment tabs (described
above) except here you see them all at once.
Beware, the "letter" and "percent" grades (your final or current
course grade) may not be up-to-date until sometime after the due date
since the instructor must manually change a setting to update those.
-
Calendar: has dates for tests, assignments,
and notes but you can see those just by looking at above links; so
really the calendar is redundant and not needed.
Beware, the instructor must manually change a setting for every
entry to appear in the calendar so sometimes the calendar is not
up-to-date (WebCt does not automatically put everything in the
calendar).
EXPECTATIONS (FROM YOU):
- Each week: look at NOTES link for that week to see what to read,
links to explore, and any instructor notes. Also check each week for mail
and discussions.
- Communication: use mail and discussion for course related
postings only. If instructor gives a stop and desist order for improper use
then follow the order.
- Due Dates: Do the tests and assignments on time.
HOW TO LEARN: Various resources are available including a) tutorials b) references manuals
c) examples d) articles on concepts and e) portals with various links to other sites.
- Tutorials and articles are often best to learn something completely new
- references and examples are quick ways to look code for a concept you already understand.
- Realize our course covers both concepts (like why would use one technology versus another on a web page)
and hands-on skills (like create a web page).
- There are 3 main sources of information and you can utilize any resources you want to learn.
- The basic resources each week are:
1. textbook
2. my notes
3. online and library readings
- Some people find the idea of choosing to be confusing, in which case just read
the book.
- For those who don't like reading books, you may find a quick study of my notes or online tutorials is all that is needed.
My general feeling is computer/web books are very well written but
you don't absolutely need then to learn since the technology is
standardized and there are many web sites that cover the material.
To that end...
- The TEXT is the PRIMARY SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE so you are
encouraged read the book but are not obligated to do so. It is mainly a
tutorial with examples, as opposed to a reference book.
- My NOTES indicate WHAT TO READ IN THE BOOK and supplement the
book. Instructor notes are intended to summarize and outline important
material instead of providing
complete computer based training (although sometimes I have detailed
material people find useful).
- Online and library resources often provide similar or even more
detailed material to what is in the book and notes, and often can be
used instead of the book. Online links are provided in the notes and the
book, or can be found on your own. In any case, all resources cover the
same topic and just provide different ways and levels of detail to learn
what is a mostly an objective standardized technology. My sense is the
college (or any) library is under-utilized for technology so when you
need to learn something do not forget the library.
Click to read material just for this course
Using WebCt
To simulate in-class lectures, I created digital videos of hands-on demo
shown below. But first read important notes about
Video files