This is the official web page for this course at http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/Spring10/Itse1356WebPage/ITSE1356.htm.
NOTE: The program named Blackboard will not be used for communication with students except in those cases where confidentiality is required, such as the reporting of grades to students.
Broken Links:
Occasionally one or more of the links that tie these online
documents together may become accidentally broken. If you
discover a broken link, or any other problem with the online documents,
please notify me as soon as possible so that I can repair the problem.
Communications via Email
If you send Email to me, it is imperative that you include your name and the
identification of the class in which you are enrolled (ITSE1356) on the
Subject line. I normally have a very large number students in any given
semester. If I have to search the rolls to identify you, I may not answer
your Email.
In addition, because I receive approximately 300,000 spam and virus Email messages each month, I use a very aggressive spam blocking program. If your Email message doesn't contain the identification of the class in which you are enrolled (ITSE1356) on the Subject line, your message will probably be put in quarantine by the spam blocker and I will probably never see it.
It is also important that you provide a telephone number where I can contact you. I receive many Email messages from students with invalid return Email addresses.
I have been notified that ACC will no longer forward my ACC Email messages to my preferred Email address. Please do not send Email messages to baldwin@austincc.edu. Send them instead to Baldwin@DickBaldwin.comQuestions via Email:
From time to time you may need to ask questions via
Email, and I encourage you to do so. However, please make
the question as specific as possible. For example, "What
is XML?" is not a question that I can easily answer via Email.
Orientation:
All students are required to complete the online orientation.
First complete the online orientation by clicking the Orientation Instructions
link below. Then send an Email message to
Baldwin@DickBaldwin.com certifying that you have completed the orientation according to the
instructions.
Check this area daily for messages from Professor Baldwin to
all students enrolled in the class.
Note that this bulletin board contains postings that are new to this
semester, in addition to postings that were carried forward from
previous semesters due to the fact that the information in those older
postings continues to be important over time.
I typically receive hundreds (occasionally thousands) of Email messages each day, many of them from my students.
When you send an Email message to me, make absolutely certain that the Subject line contains the following information as a minimum:
Include your current telephone number somewhere in the body of the message, and make it easy to find. If my Email or your Email goes down, I may try to call you on the telephone.
If you don't comply with the above, don't expect me to answer
your
Email messages.
10/07/09 Please Be Patient
Other than questions regarding registration, please
do not send Email regarding this course prior to the first day of
classes. If you do, I probably won't answer it. A great
deal of preparation is required to teach a course of this nature.
I have many responsibilities to take care of in the final days before
the course begins and I do not have the time to work with individual
students until after the course actually begins. If I reach the
point that I can accept Email regarding this course prior to the first
day of classes, I will post that fact on this bulletin board.
10/07/09 Computer Studies Student Information Form
The following is requested by the Computer Studies department, but is not a requirement of the course in which you are enrolled. Whether or not you provide the following information will not be taken into account when determining your grade in the course.
If you are willing to provide this information, please compose an Email message containing the following information and send it to Baldwin@DickBaldwin.com
If you do provide the information, please make the subject line of your Email message read as follows:
Last Name, First Name, Course Number, Student Information Form
DO NOT include this information in the message that you send confirming that you have completed online orientation. Send separate messages for those two purposes.
You should be able to copy and paste the following form into your Email client and then fill in the blanks. Don't be too concerned about neatness when filling in the form.
Last Name:_____________________
First Name:_____________________
Student ID:_____________________
Course Number: IT__ ____
Telephone Numbers
Home:___________Any issues that the instructor should be aware of:
Work:___________
Other:___________
Email address:_________
_________________________________________________
Reasons for taking the course:
_____Personal InterestPlease indicate the following:
_____Required by degree program, which is ______________
_____Work related - please explain in comments section below
_____Recommended by ______________________________
_____Other, please explain in comments section below
_____Hours working per weekWhat computer courses have you completed at ACC or elsewhere?
_____Number of credit hours enrolled in this semester
_____Number of computer courses completed at ACC
_____Highest degree earned
_____________________________________________________
What computer or computer related work experience do you have?
_____________________________________________________
Comments:
_____________________________________________________
10/07/09 Possible errors in online study guides and exam answers
The online study guides were created using a test generator program on a
CD that was provided by the author/publisher of your textbook.
Each of the exams will consist of 25 questions and answers randomly selected from a subset of the study guides by a test generator contained on the same CD that was used to create the study guides. Several versions of each exam will be generated with a different selection of questions on each version of the exam. Different students will be given different versions of each exam.
I will score your exam using the answers provided by the test generator. If your answer for each question matches the answer produced by the test generator, you will get credit for the question, even if the answer provided by the test generator is incorrect.
If you elect to challenge any of the answers provided by the test generator, you must do so in writing prior to taking the exam. If you encounter a question on your exam that you have previously challenged, you must make me aware of that fact when you turn in your exam. If you succeed in convincing me that your answer is correct and the answer provided by the test generator is incorrect, I will give you credit for the question retroactively. I sincerely request, however, that you don't waste our time by mounting frivolous challenges. Before you mount a challenge, please make absolutely certain that you are correct in your assessment.
Please note that I will not respond to challenges after I have submitted your grade for recording at the end of the semester. You must complete your last exam sufficiently far in advance of that date to make it possible for any challenge that you may mount to be resolved by that date.
10/07/09 Early submittal of assignments
You are encouraged to complete and submit the assignments as soon as you are
prepared to do so. If you submit an assignment early, I will attempt to
score it and return your grade to you within a few days. If you don't
receive your grade within five days following submittal, please contact me to
make certain that your assignment wasn't lost in the submittal process.
10/07/09 Incomplete assignment submittals
Please make certain that your submittal contains all of the files
necessary for me to execute your application without having to add any files.
In other words, I will copy your submitted files into a folder identified by
your name. That folder must contain everything required to work together
to make your application complete.
10/07/09 Requests for assistance on assignments
I frequently receive requests from students asking me to help them to complete
an assignment. I am always happy to help students understand XML and Flex
concepts that are germane to the course. However, because each assignment
is worth ten points on the student's final grade, it isn't fair for me to
help one student complete an assignment without providing the same assistance to
all students. Therefore, before you ask for assistance in completing an
assignment, please understand that it is highly unlikely that I will assist you
in completing the assignment. In all probability, I will simply refer you
to this posting.
On the other hand, if an assignment proves to be so difficult that a majority of the students cannot successfully complete it, I will make an accommodation for all students, such as curving the final grade to eliminate or greatly reduce the impact of that particular assignment.
10/07/09 Do not send executable attachments
If you send an email message to me and expect me to read it, DO NOT attach any
executable files, even if they are encapsulated in a zip file. This
includes files with the following extensions, just to name a few:
.exe
.com
.scr
.bat
.pif
.vb
If you do send such files, my virus blocker will simply reject the message and I will never see it.
The following file extensions should be OK:
.java
.class
.htm
.html
.css
.xml
.xsl
.doc
.zip (Provided the zip file doesn't contain any executable files.)
If you find it necessary to send a questionable file for any reason, you should also send another message without an attachment notifying me that you sent the questionable file as an attachment so that I can be on the lookout for it.
10/07/09 Completing your exams
You must complete your exams under Prof. Baldwin's supervision at the Northridge
campus during one of the times listed below.
YOU MAY NOT COMPLETE YOUR EXAMS IN AN ACC TESTING CENTER.
You may complete the exams during any class or lab period for this course.
You may complete the exams by visiting with Prof. Baldwin in NRG room 4238 during his office hours.
If you arrive at Prof. Baldwin's office about ten minutes before he begins a class, he can get you started on the exam and you can finish it while he is in his classroom.
You may also complete the exams by visiting with Prof. Baldwin during any of his scheduled lab periods for other courses that he is teaching provided that you make arrangements in advance. In that case, you should be able to find him either in the lab or in his office. You will find his teaching and lab schedule on the ACC web site.
Finally, if you see Prof. Baldwin in NRG Room 4238 at any other time, he will probably be able to arrange for you to take the exam at that time.
10/07/09 Grades
I have been notified that I am no longer allowed to send your grades to you via
email. Therefore, in order to view your grades on assignments,
you must establish a Blackboard account. Since I have never established a
student Blackboard account, I can't tell you what is involved. All I can
tell you is that you can probably begin that process at the following link:
http://acconline.austincc.edu/
Please be aware that only the individual grades showing in the grade book are of significance, and they are provided for information purposes only. The computations that purport to show your final grade are meaningless. I will compute and record your final grade according to the information contained in the syllabus and other related documents, and will cause that grade to be recorded at the end of the semester completely independent of the Blackboard grade book.
Also be aware that if you find any information in Blackboard that conflicts with information provided in the syllabus and its associated documents, the information in the syllabus and its associated documents will prevail. If you find such conflicts, please notify me.
If you are unable to set up your account and view your individual grades via Blackboard, please let me know.
10/07/09 Your official Email address
It is my understanding that as of 09/15/08, all ACC students will be provided an
official Email address by ACC, and that address will be reflected in all
official ACC student records. I have been told that you can cause messages
sent to that address to be forwarded to the Email address of your choice.
You should make it a point to either forward those messages, or to check your ACC
email address on a daily basis.
10/07/09 Confirmation of assignment grades
It is your responsibility to visit Blackboard periodically to confirm that you
have received a grade for all assignments that you have submitted. If you
submitted an assignment and your grade doesn't show up in Blackboard within a
reasonable period of time, it is your responsibility to notify me of that fact
so that I can begin searching the email archives for the assignment. If
you fail to do that, you simply won't get credit for the assignment when I
calculate your final grade.
-end-
File: ITSE1356.htm