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Read Me First! |
Issues in Software Engineering
MSWE 601
Adjunct Associate Professor Ira Glickstein, PhD
Welcome to UMUC's Online Classroom!
This document contains
important information you should know about the class.
So read this first!
Hi – This is your Professor, Ira Glickstein (call me “Ira”) welcoming you to MSWE 601, Issues in Software Engineering. Unlike the face-to-face classroom where I meet my students once or twice a week, this online class is organized in terms of weekly sessions.
Sessions “officially” start and end at midnight Friday. You may come into the classroom at any time during the session, at your convenience, look at the assignments, read the material, post your responses to the conference for that session, submit assignments, and so on. You should certainly visit the classroom at least once every week, and I would guess you would want to visit two or three times during an average week. Most of your submissions should be via the built-in WebTycho features, but, if you have something personal or private to say or report to me or one of your fellow students, you may use email or even call me on the phone. (My email address and phone number are listed below under Contact Information.)
I plan to visit the classroom two to four times on an average week to see how everyone is doing, moderate the conferences, answer questions, and state my opinions on the issues for that session. If I am concerned about your progress I will probably send you a personal email.
I plan to have the classroom ready for each week’s session by the previous Friday afternoon. In addition, I will usually open weekly sessions for student posting a week or two early, so, in case you’ll be away on vacation or business trips, you can post in advance and get full credit). Also, although the “official” end of each session is the stroke of midnight Friday evening, I usually review and grade weekly materials on Saturday or Sunday, and I won’t count your inputs as late if they are available to me when I do the review.
All times are Eastern Standard Time.
You should always enter the class through the WebTycho login screen [http://tychousa.umuc.edu/].
Some hyperlinks in the WebTycho
classroom open new Navigator Windows. In Windows 95/98, you can keep track of
these windows on your task bar. If you cannot return to your classroom
from your current Navigator Window, check the other Navigator Windows on your
taskbar.
I will be checking into the course 2-4 times a week and will be posting messages and announcements regularly.
If you have a non-personal query, you must post it to the Cyber Café instead of sending me a personal email. That way, all the other students will see your query and my response and it will save everyone lots of time. (Nothing you say in the Cyber Café will affect your grades, one way or the other.)
If you have a personal query or suggestion, you may contact me by email. Click on my name in the upper left area of the MSWE601 WebTycho screen to get my email address.
If you wish to speak with me by phone, my home phone number is 352 259-3101
You can expect a response within 5 business days, or less.
If you need assistance with the WebTycho system, help is available (but not directly from me:^). You can:
1. access the online WebTycho user guide at http://tychousa.umuc.edu,
2. attend a free online WebTycho orientation class at http://tychousa.umuc.edu,
3. use the "help" function in the WebTycho classroom,
4. contact WebTycho Support by telephone at 1-800-807-4862 (available 24/7), or
5. email WebTycho Support at tychosupport@polaris.umuc.edu.
Guidelines for Online Etiquette
· It is important to always be polite and professional, whether agreeing or disagreeing with colleagues.
· Remember NOT to write anything you wouldn't want to see publicly printed; computer messages are NOT absolutely PRIVATE.
· Since any E-mail message that you write can be (and may be) forwarded to others, students should not disclose trade secrets or company-confidential information as part of this course.
· Do not forward personal notes or messages to others unless you have obtained permission from the author.
· In the conferencing format, students will be responding to the entire class (public domain). If that is not what is intended, students should use E-mail to address one/several students or the instructor (private domain).
· Since there are no body language cues in the online environment, students should be cautious when using BOLD typeface (which gets attention--is it the type you want?), when using words or phrases that can stereotype people, when responding to ideas with which one feels strongly. Professionalism at all times is critical.
· Be sure to give citations for quoted materials or others' ideas, just as one would in hard copy.
· Since all communications are written, it is best to keep comments limited--one screen is usually sufficient for online attention spans.
· Be sure to re-read messages before sending, and edit as necessary.
Confidentiality of the Classroom
To facilitate communication and learning in this environment, it is very important that class members agree to respect the confidentiality of what has been shared in this class. Please DO NOT reveal /discuss any personally identifiable information (such as work site, comments about organization or persons, views of policies, etc.) verbally or by copying the information, without the express permission of the speaker/writer.
If the email address that appears next to your name in the Class Member list isn't the address you'll be using for WebTycho classes, you're required to update your active email address in UMUC's Interactive Student Information System (ISIS).
To do this,
1. go to http://www.umuc.edu/gsmt/ostuserv.html,
2. click on ISIS,
3. enter your social security number and PIN (personal identification number, used for IRIS touchtone registration), which will bring you to the "change options" function, and
4. enter your correct email address.
Students may retrieve their PIN at http://www.umuc.edu/studserv/studserv.html.
Hints for Successfully Completing Online Courses
Designate certain times each week that you will work on this course. With the flexibility of a distance education course, it is easy to let things slip until the last minute. Plan ahead. Avoid procrastination. It will even out the workload and reduce the tension.
Have a specific achievement goal for each log-on session. This will help you to concentrate on what you need to get done. Without a goal or plan for a session, it is very easy to be tempted by numerous Internet and non-Internet distractions--and then find that little was accomplished during the on-line session.
Rather than type text directly into WebTycho's input boxes, create your material off-line on your word processor and then "paste" it into the box.. This is usually more efficient than trying to create your material while logged on to the course. With your word processor, you can make changes quickly and in a more relaxed environment until the material is the way you want it for posting. This also provides a backup of your material should you be disconnected from your ISP.
If you are assigned to an online team or study group, work with them! Do not stay silent while others try to get organized or struggle with a problem. Be an active participant from the start. Say hello and try to help. You may have the best ideas of all and not realize it. Also, your team can be a great source of information for you--they can answer questions, provide advice, and tell you where to get other assistance.
Submit your work prior to the
clearly specified deadlines!
§
You will NOT be able to submit to the weekly Lesson
Conferences after I close them. You will receive zero credit for Attendance and
Participation for that week if you fail to make proper postings by the
specified end of the weekly session. The earlier in the week you submit, the
better your chances to receive extra credit for being the first student to make
a “significant” point.
§ For the Research Paper and the Final Exam, you will generally lose one letter grade if your paper is submitted after the deadline, but within five days of the deadline. If you submit more than five days late, or fail to submit, you will receive zero credit. Zero credit for the Research Paper and/or Final Exam will most likely cause you to fail this course.
Individually graded assignments--such as your Research Paper and the Final Exam--must be posted to your individual assignment folder, unless instructed otherwise. In this class, the required format for files uploaded to the student assignment area is Microsoft Office Applications, especially MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. You will need PowerPoint 97 and MS Word 97 (or later) to read the Course Content.
In some sections of WebTycho, such as the study group area and the conference area, you can upload a file from your computer so that class members (or members of your study group) can download it. These files can be MS Word documents, spreadsheets, or even PowerPoint presentations. Your must realize, however, that:
· Only those students/faculty who have the same application on their computers can read the files. Make sure your file submissions are readable by PowerPoint 97 or MS Word 97.
· You must use the proper extension in your file name (the three characters that follow the period after the file name and "tell" the computer which application was used to create the file -- for example, .doc for Word documents, .ppt for PowerPoint presentations, and .xls for Excel spreadsheets).
· Files uploaded by students may contain viruses. Almost always, the student who uploads an infected file is unaware he or she has a computer virus. To avoid these types of problems, save files you download to your hard drive or floppy and run a virus check on these files before opening the files. The WebTycho program cannot contract viruses because it only transfers files; it does not execute them. Viruses also cannot be hidden in plain text files.
WebTycho also allows you to upload web pages. Netscape
Composer (along with the most recent versions of Word and WordPerfect) allows
you to save your files as HTML. These files are cross platform and can be
read by any browser. However, you must store any .jpg or .gif image files
associated with these pages on your own web server space.
Your instructor
encourages expression of "controversial" technical and business ideas
and will give extra "participation" credit to students who express such ideas in a logical
way, even if I do not happen to agree with
your conclusions.
To incite open discussions and lively class participation, I will, from time to time, express ideas in a "devil's advocate" way - please do not report me or other students who may do so to "the authorities".
(Of
course, certain technical facts are established beyond serious question, and
you will lose credit in your submissions if you state things in an illogical
way. Also, this call for open discussions excludes unprofessional
insulting remarks and extreme political views, etc.)
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