Introduction

Some very important information

The following information will allow you to make the most of your time in this course and enable you to achieve a more enjoyable and successful semester.

Using Moodle

All SCIS graduate courses are delivered through Moodle. Access to your courses is available after you log in through myAU (https://my.athabascau.ca/).

Submit your assignments using the upload feature on the appropriate assignment page. You may use the first step to attach multiple files, as well as delete or overwrite uploaded files. Before you proceed to the second step (submitting the assignment), make sure you have finished all your editing and completed uploading all files. After you hit the 'Send for marking' button, you will no longer be able to add, delete, or edit your assignment files.

Students have access to their active courses in Moodle until the course end date. After this, the course will be archived, and you will be able to access the archived version for a minimum of two years. You can log in directly to the main Moodle page at https://scis.lms.athabascau.ca to access an archived course.

This interface should be fairly easy to use, but if you have questions or concerns, please contact the SCIS technical team. Improvements and updates to Moodle are being made on a continuing basis.

Moodle Conference Guidelines

Computer conference participation is mandatory in this course. Your conference participation is worth 15% of your final grade. The information in this section will help you obtain the best possible mark.

Posting Expectations

You are graduate students, enrolled in a graduate degree program. You should at all times conduct yourselves as both Information Technology professionals and as graduate students. You are expected to be “computer savvy” enough to complete this course without significant difficulty. Should you encounter difficulties, expect to do some “legwork” (e.g., Internet searches), as well as seeking help or advice in the course conference.

• Since COMP 501 is a paced course, you should post to each topic as the course progresses.
• At the beginning of the course, introduce yourself to everyone by posting your biography (both personal and professional) on the Bios topic. Be sure to say why you are taking this course and what you hope to get from it.
• As the course progresses, you should post, at a minimum, once per week on each of the unit topics. Your posts can include questions, observations, ideas, or interesting or useful online references you have found—anything relevant to the topics in the various units.

You will find that the conference can be a great asset and will enhance both your learning in, and your enjoyment of, this course. You are encouraged to collaborate on assignments (though NOT on the exam), and the conference is an important forum for that collaboration. Please note that your collaborations should be via pseudocode discussions and thought-sharing; you are not permitted to share program code.

The RULES (for Conference Posting)

If you have a question about the course (e.g., a unit, example, or exercise), then POST IT. Do not email course questions to the instructor. If you do email course questions to the instructor, expect to be told to “Post it.” This does not apply to questions of a personal nature; for these, emails to the instructor are welcomed. (See, for example, Waiving Late Penalties below.)

If you see a question in the conference forum and you know the answer, think you know the answer, or are facing the same situation, then post accordingly. If you know the answer to a question, you are expected to post it. However, it is often merely enough to know that you are not alone when facing a difficult concept or exercise. It's not just that “misery loves company”; if you start a discussion with others who are facing the same difficulty, often you can solve it together, rather than each of you being frustrated alone.

You must post to receive marks for conference participation; however, “nothing” posts (empty posts, or posts that do not contribute to the discussion) will not count. Your posts must be relevant and meaningful.

Do not expect immediate answers from the instructor. Student input is first and foremost. The instructor will monitor the conference and will answer questions sitting unanswered, as necessary.

You are IT professionals and graduate students, so the rules of professional courtesy and common sense apply. Foul language will NOT be tolerated, nor will offensive postings.

Missing Web Links

Missing web links are a fact of accessing content on the Internet. They occur often, and frequently at the most inconvenient times.

In an ideal world, links would never vanish and course material would always have the most current links to the most current material. However, in the real world, web links disappear. Some vanish because they are “stale” or out-of-date. Web servers crash; people move on; things change. Sometimes a site will vanish because the owner did some “housekeeping” and moved everything to a new directory but did not update the links.

DEAD LINKS ARE A FACT OF LIFE.

Internet search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo, Bing) are your friends. Many times, entering the text of a dead link into Google will bring up the requested page in the first three hits. Even if the missing page does not come up, search engines will often provide numerous links to additional or alternative information that is as good or better.

If you discover a dead link in the notes or Study Guide, please post the dead link, along with any suggestions you may have for a replacement or alternative link, on the conference.