COMMUNICATING WITH TAS & JOEY

Subject line for all messages:  COM 260, Sec. #, your name, READ ME NOW

Anything else will be deleted!

CC your message to yourself as proof you sent it.

Joey and the TAs must be able to respond by “reply” directly to the sending address. DO NOT USE “reply to”.

 

GOALS OF THE CLASS

This class uses the following design: lecture, skill development, discussion. 

Lecture: (Mondays only in the lecture room.) The purpose of this is to help you learn basic concepts (like “digital” and “bandwidth”) by first reading about them and then hearing and seeing demonstrations of them.

There will also be reviews of lecture concepts in the labs several times in the semester.

Skill development:  (In 123 CADD.) The purpose of this is to help you learn basic skills (like web page design and report layout) by practicing them.

Discussion:  (In 123 CADD.) The purpose of this is to help you think analytically about issues (such as “convergence” and “new services”) by first reading about them, then by discussing them.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

You must have the following minimum hardware, software and capabilities:

· Computer.  (Since you do not have to pay for a book you can buy a computer lab pass).

· You must have e-mail. You must be able to save your messages.  

· Internet access.  Back up in case of problems.  

· You may want high speed access to download some files (or visit a campus lab).

GETTING HELP

If you have technical and software problems, questions about an assignment, don’t understand course concepts, don’t understand the overall use of technologies, etc., here are possible sources:

· Ask a friend for technical help, if they know how to use technologies.

· Visit a campus lab. Politely ask others for help.

· Student Computing Services has on-line help and training classes (http://www.scs.wsu.edu/).

· E-mail your TA (subject line—COM 260, Sec. #, your name, READ ME NOW). 

· Contact Joey via e-mail (subject line—COM 260, Sec. #, your name, READ ME NOW). 

· Contact your TA or Joey during office hours or make an appointment.

GRADING

GRADING is on an “A to F to –1” scale.

Failing to show up is worse than “F” because you made no effort. So the grade is less than “F” or “-1.”

GRADING DISTRIBUTION:

Lecture attendance/quizzes: 1% each of 9 weeks. Total = 9% 
You are expected to attend lectures.  There will be a quiz with two questions based on questions in the online readings. You can use notes for the quizzes.

Review lecture concepts attendance: 1% each of 3 weeks. Total = 3%  
Minus one full grade for each 5 minutes late. Leaving early counts the same as being late.

Skill development attendance: 1% each week of 11 weeks. Total = 11%
Minus one full grade for each five minutes late. Leaving early counts the same as being late. 

Discussion readings PARTICIPATION: 2% each (6 sessions) Total = 12% 
Attendance to discussion is required.  Minus one grade for each five minutes late. Leaving early counts the same as being late.

TA evaluation, last week:  attend, fill out the evaluation and get 1% “A”

Exams:
Exam I covers all material, lecture prep, discussion readings, lectures, etc., through Exam I: 15%

Final exam (Exam II) covers entire semester, lecture prep, discussion readings, lectures, etc.:  49%

Appeals. Contact your TA first if you find a mistake or want to appeal your grade. If you are not satisfied you should contact Joey.

EXCUSES:

· NO excuse after 24 hours have elapsed from a missed class unless there is an extreme emergency.

· Excuses are only given by Joey.

· Excuse requests must be in writing via e-mail to BOTH Joey and your TA.

· You must request an excuse at least 24 hours ahead when you know you will miss class for university competitions, job interviews, etc.

· You must request an excuse within 24 hours after missing class for medical reasons (or as soon as possible if it is a medical emergency).

· You will. receive the average grade for that type of assignment for the excused day (EXAMPLE: if you are excused from lecture and you have an average of 3.0 on the lecture quizzes, you will receive 3.0 for the missed quiz).

·  No variation in due dates or schedules. Make your travel plans now!

Missed exams:

· Only the most extreme problem will excuse you from an exam.

· If you fail to follow the “Excuses” rules above you will not be excused from an exam.

· No make-up exams are given for Exam I . Instead, if excused, you will receive the Final grade to replace the missing grade if you are excused.

· If you are excused from the Final exam you must take a make-up exam during the the first three weeks of the next semester.

Exam grading scale:

 

 

POLICIES OF THE CLASS

Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodations needed for the course. Late notification may cause the requested accommodations to be unavailable. All accommodations must be approved through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) in Administration Annex 206 (Tel. 335-1566).

Disturbing class. In lecture, turn off cell phones and other alarms.  If you disturb the class in any way you will be asked to leave. You will also lose that day’s grade.

Lab rules. During skill development and discussion, turn off cell phones and other alarms. 
No food or drink. 
No surfing. 
No checking e-mail or messaging. 
Nothing except class work in the labs.

Appeals. Contact your TA first if you find a mistake or want to appeal your grade. If you are not satisfied you should contact Joey.

Cheating. All cheating and other violations of the following will result in an “F” for the semester and a report to the University regardless of the size of the assignment. See the conduct standards, academic integrity and procedures at the Office of Student Conduct: http://www.conduct.wsu.edu/.

1. All of your work is to be done independently by you. Do not look at another person’s work during quizzes or exams. Use your own words. Do not copy from readings or any other source for quizzes or discussions.

2. Complicity in cheating, allowing others to copy, and helping others cheat are not acceptable and will result in an automatic “F” for the semester and a report to the University.

3. Interfering with, copying, altering, accessing, hacking, erasing, and other forms of unauthorized activity committed against another student, instructor, TA or class material will result in an “F” for the semester and a request for dismissal from the University.

Other. No variation in due dates or schedules. Make your travel plans now!

You must notify Joey as soon as possible when you expect to miss or have missed class for a reason out of your control. Failure to notify as soon as possible results in “-1” for the missed work. See the “Excuses”section.

No incompletes except for the most extraordinary circumstances.

Leaving early counts the same as being late.

Lab rules. The 123 CADD Computer Lab is for developing skills, using eLearning@wsu for discussions and for some practice.  NOTHING else.

No food
No drink
No surfing
No personal messaging
No chat
No checking your e-mail
Nothing except class work
Turn off cell phone
Do not abuse equipment
Do not alter settings on the computer

Violation of above = removal from class, grade of “-1”; A repeat violation of above = removal from course, grade of “F” for semester.

LECTURE

Preparation.  Keep up with readings for each lecture. Lecture readings and study questions can be found through links in the Calendar.  Questions for exams come from lecture readings, lectures and discussion readings.

Attendance:  You are expected to attend lectures.  In order to receive your grade for lecture quiz you must submit written answers to questions posed during lecture.

Quiz grading:  “A”=both questions correct; “B”=one question correct; “C”=none correct (you attended); “-1”=you did not attend. You can use notes for the quizzes.

See the policy on “Excuses” in the grading section of this syllabus.

SKILL  DEVELOPMENT

In the lab, you will develop or practice skills: web page development, using graphic and other features of WORD, doing analytical searches, etc. If you already have the skill and you are bored, help the people around you.

Skill waiver: If you want to waive a skill, make an appointment to see Joey at least three weeks ahead of time to demonstrate your skill. The waiver gives you an “A” and you don’t have to show up for the lab.

Attendance is required. You receive a grade based on what time you show up: On time = A; 5 minutes late = B; 10 minutes late = C; 15 minutes late = D; more than 15 minutes = F; no show = -1. Leaving early counts the same as being late.

See the policy on “Excuses” in the grading section of this syllabus.

DISCUSSIONS

Discussions are based on assigned readings.  All discussions are electronic.  Discussions take place via eLearning@wsu online from any computer you have access to. You may use 123 CADD, but no talking.

There are two parts to discussion: PREPARATION and DISCUSSION.  Read each of the articles assigned for that week.  Prepare answers to the study questions for the discussions, and for the exams.  (Some of the concepts will be difficult, but try your best.) 

Discussion grading: Did you log in on time?  Did you participate?  Were you familiar with the reading content? Were your comments relevant to the readings?  Did you go beyond the readings and relate comments to implications to your career, self, family, society, others’ comments?

Minus one full grade for each five minutes late. Leaving early counts the same as being late.

You must provide substantive, thoughtful comments. Examples of thoughtful comments are here.
— “A” = 10 or more thoughtful comments
— “A-”= 9 thoughtful comments
— “B+”= 8 thoughtful comments
— “B”  = 7 thoughtful comments
— “B-” = 6 thoughtful comments
— “C+”= 5 thoughtful comments
— “C”  = 4 thoughtful comments
— “C-” = 3 thoughtful comments
— “D+”= 2 thoughtful comments
— “D”  = 1 thoughtful comment
— “F”   =  0 thoughtful comment
— “-1”  =  didn’t show

See the policy on “Excuses” in the grading section of this syllabus. 

SECURITY

Keep your network ID and password secure.  Use virus software and a firewall.

 

  COURSE CALENDAR

 

MONDAY—Lecture. Welcome.

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Skill development—NO LABS THIS WEEK

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Discussion —NO LABS THIS WEEK

MONDAY—Lecture. Administrivia, orientation to the class.  Review syllabus, policies, etc.

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Skill development—Welcome by your TA. Administrivia, orientation to the class. 

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Discussion —Welcome by your TA. Administrivia, orientation to the class.

 

 

MONDAY—(Monday is M.L. King Day Holiday)

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Skill development—Welcome by your TA. Administrivia, orientation to the class. 

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Discussion —Orientation to eLearning@wsu, electronic discussion (Chat), etc.

 

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: Why study techs? Boolean logic & search engines

Lecture—Graded quiz every lecture. Searches (Boolean logic, search strategies); Why you need to study technologies (comments of professionals).

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Skill development—Reports and presentations (using WORD and Power Point)

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Discussion—CHAT/DISCUSSION READINGS: Convergence & Site Evaluation(electronic—Use eLearning@wsu Chat)

 

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: Basics of technologies

Lecture—Basics of technologies: signal, channel, bandwidth, frequency response, the EMS.

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Skill development—Reports & Presentations (finish Word and Power Point). Spreadsheets (calculations, random numbers, data analysis).

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Discussion—CHAT/DISCUSSION READINGS: New services & advertising. (electronic—Use eLearning@wsu Chat)

 

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: More technology basics

Lecture—More basics: more EMS, information, transmission and modulation, analog vs. digital, human info processing and its relation to technical standards.

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Skill development—Finish spreadsheets (calculations, random numbers, data analysis).

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Discussion—CHAT/DISCUSSION READINGS: Speech  (electronic—Use eLearning@wsu Chat)

MONDAY—(Monday is Presidents’ Day Holiday)

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Skill development—Intro to web page design (basic HTML)

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Discussion—CHAT/DISCUSSION READINGS: Telehealth (electronic—Use eLearning@wsu Chat)

 

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: Even more basics

Lecture—Even more basics: AD transfer, compression. DTV standards and implications.

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Skill development—Intro to web page (FTP, testing the page, adding anchors).

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Discussion—Lecture review/Review for Exam I.

 

MONDAY—Lecture—Exam I.

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Skill development—Review/practice web page design, some Java Script (NOT Java programming), what is code?

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Discussion—CHAT/DISCUSSION READINGS: Business technology decisions (electronic—Use eLearning@wsu Chat)

 

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: Policy

Policy: new crimes, regulators

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Skill development—More javascript? Frames. Debugging

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Discussion—CHAT/DISCUSSION READINGS: Use of technologies (electronic—Use eLearning@wsu Chat)

 

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: Security, copyright, etc.

Lecture—More policy: ©, ™, patents, security.

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Skill development—Using the WEB for analytical thinking (solve four problems).

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Discussion—REVIEW lecture topics

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: The future

Lecture—What is the future? (AT&T video)

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Skill development—Databases (example using Access). Academic searches (Griffin, Proquest, Findlaw).

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Discussion—NO DISCUSSIONS. Please attend Murrow Symposium workshops on Thursday.

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: Artificial intelligence (Make sure you take notes during the video)

Lecture—AI and its relation to communication. (Part of AI video)

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Skill development—Intro to audio editing (using Audition Editor)

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Discussion—CATCH-UP DISCUSSION, if needed.

MONDAY—Prep for lecture: : Com theory and consumer electronics

Lecture—Technology and communication theory. Consumer technologies. HD vs. blu-ray, etc .Nothing due this week

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Skill development—Journalists and other info seekers sources.  Using census, reverse lookup, etc.

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Discussion—REVIEW lecture topics

MONDAY—Catch up, if necessary. Class evaluations;

Review for Final Exam (Exam II)

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Skill development—TA evaluations. Attendance required

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NO DISCUSSION-Study for Final

FINAL EXAM IS: Wednesday, April 30, 1-3 p.m. in the lecture room

 

KITCHEN SINK