CSCI 100-01Introduction to Computing Technology Syllabus

Fall 2020

Classroom location: online

Class schedule: online, MWF 12-12:50pm, and asynchronously

Prerequisites: none

Instructor: Dr. Don Allison

Office: Online, Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

Phone: 436-3439

Email: allisodl (at) oneonta.edu

Office Hours: MWF 5-7pm

Others by appointment using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra or Microsoft Teams

Catalog Description:

An introduction to word processing, database management, spreadsheets, desktop publishing, multimedia software, computer communications (the world-wide-web, Internet and E-mail, library searches, home page creation), hardware and software troubleshooting by installation and maintenance, scanning and digital images. Students will use a hands-on approach to explore a variety of hardware and software tools applied to a number of cross-curriculum projects.

Course Description (the inside scoop):

The purpose of this course is to provide a quick introduction to general computer use, and then to introduce you to the Microsoft Office suite, and to make you reasonably fluent users of Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. In addition, you will create your own personal web pages and will upload them to the Oneonta web server (assuming it still exists). You will complete familiarization exercises searching the web and using email. This is a very hands-on course, and we will spend a lot of class time actually doing projects on your computer. You do not need to have had any previous computer experience before taking this course. Because of this, those of you familiar with parts of the material the course covers will find some things moving along slowly. Just wait—we’ll get to the parts you aren’t familiar with soon enough.

Course Goals:

To become proficient at using a windowing computer interface, to develop fluency with the Microsoft Office suite, to learn to use some simple networking applications such as ftp and email, and to be able to construct interesting web pages. At the end of this course you should be able to use a computer to assist you in all of your courses.

Text and Software:

New Perspectives Microsoft Office 365 & Office 2019: Introductory, by Carey et al, published by Course Technology ISBN-13: 978-0357025741. Note that this book is quite expensive, so the bookstore has found a bundle that includes some software and saves you somewhere between $100 and $150, depending on if you wanted a printed book or an ebook. Make SURE you get the correct version of the book! In addition, we will be using Microsoft Office 2019 and other tools available on your computer in the Windows 10 environment. You will need a computer that can run Windows 10, as well as has an internet connection, in order to be able to complete this course! Office for Mac does NOT come with Access, so to be able to complete the Access assignments and exam on your Mac, you will either have to set up Bootcamp with Windows 10 and Office 2019, or you will have to set up Virtual Box on your Mac and then install Windows 10 and office 2019, or you will have to have access to a PC running Windows 10 and Office 2019. These are the only options IT has come up with for this course. In case you need help setting these up on your Mac, call the help desk at (607) 436-4567. If you need a copy of Windows 10 or Office 2019 for PC, they are free for students here. You will also need the data files that accompany the book. These can be downloaded from somewhere, hopefully—like here? http://www.cengage.com/resource_uploads/downloads/0357026209_631306.pdf

Tentative Schedule: (order of readings & other assignments, by due dates, course activities, course content by expected order of coverage, test dates and test coverage)

Dates	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Aug 24-Aug 28	Classes start Add-Drop begins Vesuvius Day	National Banana Split Day	National Dog Day Background email assignment due	Just Because Day	Add-Drop ends Sunday Stuffed Green Bell Peppers Day Web search assignment due
Aug 31-Sep 4	National Eat Outside Day	National Cherry Popover Day	VJ Day	Skyscraper Day	Last day to add a full semester course College closes after last class Newspaper Carrier Day
Sep 7-Sep 11	Labor Day National Salami Day	Classes resume National Ampersand Day	Teddy Bear Day	Swap Ideas Day	Make Your Bed Day Word tutorial 1 due
Sep 14-Sep 18	National Cream Filled Donut Day Word tutorial 2 due	Felt Hat Day	National Play Doh Day Word tutorial 3 due	Constitution Day	Rosh Hashanah Word tutorial 4 due
Sep 21-Sep 25	TAP Certification begins Miniature Goof Day Word Exam Sample Answers Word Exam	Autumn Equinox	Dogs in Politics Day Excel tutorial 1 due	National Cherries Jubilee Day	National Comic Book Day
Sep 28-Oct 2	Ask a Stupid Question Day Yom Kippur ends Excel tutorial 2 due	Confucius Day	National Mud Pack Day	International Coffee Day	National Custodial Worker Day Excel tutorial 3 due
Oct 5-Oct 9	World Teacher’s Day	Mad Hatter Day	Bald and Free Day Excel tutorial 4 due	American Touch Tag Day	Moldy Cheese Day
Oct 12-Oct 16	Columbus Day Excel Exam	Interim progress reports due International Skeptics Day	National Dessert Day	White Cane Safety Day	Dictionary Day Access tutorial 1 due Excel Exam Redo
Oct 19-Oct 23	Evaluate Your Life Day Word Makeup	Brandied Fruit Day	Last day to drop International Nacho Day Access tutorial 2 due	National Nut Day	National Mole Day
Oct 26-Oct 30	National Mincemeat Day Access tutorial 3 due	Black Cat Day	Plush Animal Lover’s Day	Hermit Day	Sunday, turn clocks back End Daylight Saving Time National Candy Corn Day Access tutorial 4 due
Nov 2-Nov 6	Deviled Egg Day	Cliché Day Election Day	King Tut Day	Guy Fawkes Day	Saxophone Day Access Exam
Nov 9-Nov 13	Spring Pre-enrollment begins Chaos Never Dies Day PowerPoint tutorial 1 due	Forget-Me-Not Day	Veteran’s Day	Chicken Soup for the Soul Day	Friday the 13^th PowerPoint tutorial 2 due
Nov 16-Nov 20	National Fast Food Day	Homemade Bread Day	Occult Day PowerPoint Exam	Great American Smokeout	College closes after last class Absurdity Day Begin Personal web pages
Nov 23-Nov 27	BREAK National Espresso Day	BREAK All our Uncles are Monkeys Day	BREAK Last day to withdraw National Parfait Day	BREAK Thanksgiving	BREAK Black Friday
Nov 30-Dec 4	Classes resume remotely Cyber Monday	Eat a Red Apple Day	National Fritters Day	National Roof over Your Head Day	Santa’s List Day
Dec 7-Dec 11	LAST DAY OF CLASSES Last day for Incompletes Pearl Harbor Day Personal web pages due	STUDY DAY National Brownie Day	Exams Begin (8 MWF) 8-10:30am (11 MWF) 11am-1:30pm (2MWF) 2-4:30pm CSCI 203 Christmas Card Day	(8:30 TR) 8-10:30am (11:30 TR) 11am-1:30pm (2:30 TR) 2-4:30pm Hanukkah begins	(9 MWF) 8-10:30am (12 MWF) 11am – 1:30pm CSCI 100 (3 MWF) 2-4:30pm CSCI 243 National Noodle Ring Day
Dec 14-Dec 18	(10 MWF) 8-10:30am (1 MWF) 11am-1:30pm CSCI 310 (4MW) 2-4:30pm CSCI 343 Exams End Roast Chestnuts Day	(10 TR) 8-10:30am (1 TR) 11am-1:30pm (4 TR) 2-4:30pm National Lemon Cupcake Day	National Chocolate Covered Anything Day	National Maple Syrup Day	Hanukkah ends

https://suny.oneonta.edu/academics/college-calendar/spring-key-dates-deadlines

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/

College Policies

SUNY Oneonta Course Policies and Procedures

Attendance Policy:

This course meets synchronously, MWF 12-12:50pm. You are expected to be on blackboard at those times, ready to participate. Since a large portion of the class consists of doing the projects from the textbook, you will be working on them during class and also outside of class in order to turn them in by the due date. I will be in Blackboard during class hours and office hours in order to answer your questions and help you where you need it. Normally, I don’t take attendance, but if people quit showing up to class, I will have to start.

Collaboration Policy:

Cheating or other academic dishonesty hurts others as well as yourself and will not be tolerated! You are expected to personally produce everything you hand in for this class yourself. Plagiarism can get you in trouble in the “real world”, and it will get you in trouble in this class. It is okay to ask your neighbor or a friend how to do something for one of the projects, but you should actually do the step(s) yourself when creating anything you are turning in. It is not okay to ask your neighbor or friend how to do something during any of the exams!

Assignment Turn-in Procedure:

Assignments should be printed out as PDF’s and turned in on Blackboard. Assignments are due on the dates shown above at the beginning of class, unless extenuating circumstances cause the due date to be impossible (say, for instance, a snowstorm takes the power down throughout the whole northeast). The latest due dates will always be shown on this syllabus (not the version on Blackboard). Assignments are due by the beginning of class on the day shown. There is a one day grace period, so that if something comes up, you can turn your assignment in the next day without penalty (you should NOT count on this!) After that, assignments may be turned in up to a week late with a 50% penalty. No assignment that is more than a week late will be accepted. Absolutely NO assignments will be accepted after the last day of class. Also, all assignments are due by the day of the exam on that topic, so no turning in Word projects after the Word exam—you should be working on the Excel assignments by then.

Email:

Any time you need to communicate with me about the course via email, you MUST put “CSCI 100” in the subject line. Otherwise it will get lost and I won’t see it.

Grading and Other Administrivia:

Exams:

There will be four exams and a web project. Each exam will count 15% and the web project will contribute 20% toward your grade.

Projects:

The projects are an integral part of the course, since this is where most of the learning will take place. They are to be done as specified in your text, and any PDF printouts that you are directed to produce should be printed, collected, and turned in via Blackboard on the day that they are due. There are a few exercises where nothing is specified to be printed out, or where you do a lot of work after the last printout. In this case, print out the last item you were working with in the tutorial and hand that in as well. If you have any question what to turn in, just ask! Projects contribute 20% towards your final grade.

Web Page Presentations:

As your final exam, you will spend the last week of classes working on your web pages, and posting them to the school server. This will contribute 20% towards your grade. The web pages are due the last class of the semester (this semester that is Monday, 7 December). This is the only assignment for which there is the possibility of extra credit, depending on how much you do over and above the requirements.

Grade Computation:

	Weight	Tentative Date
Word Exam	15%	21 Sept
Excel Exam	15%	12 Oct
Access Exam	15%	4 Nov
PowerPoint Exam	15%	18 Nov
Web Pages	20%	7 Dec
Projects	20%	See schedule above
Total	100%

Note: Your grade will be calculated by the formula above. There are no “bonus points” or “extra credit projects” in this course (except for the final web pages)!!!

Make-up Test and Late Assignment Policy:

Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day shown on the schedule above. Late projects may be turned in for half credit up to a week late, but will not be accepted after that without a really good reason. (There is a one day grace period on projects.) Since you already know all the due dates, you should plan to work ahead and turn in projects early if you know you will have scheduled absences. In no case will projects be accepted after the exam on the material covered in the projects!

You should plan to take all the tests and the final exam as scheduled. Any makeups will be allowed only for legitimate, school-approved excuses, and should be arranged with the instructor as soon as possible after you discover you can’t attend the exam (before the exam is given whenever possible). In any case, all work must be completed by the last class, including any makeup exams. Exams missed for unexcused absences, or exams not made up by the last day of classes will be recorded as a zero grade.

Additional resources:

For students wishing to explore further or to find answers to questions not covered in the text, there are many books and web sites on becoming proficient computer users. If you have any particular areas you would be interested in for further reading and study, please ask me and I can recommend a range of books for you to consider.

Additional unique aspects of the course:

Important: Unlike more traditional memorize and regurgitate courses, this course has a strong hands-on learning, or learning by doing component, represented by the projects. This enhances retention, reinforces understanding, and ensures that the student masters the material well enough to be able to use it in other projects. I have tried other approaches, including demonstrating procedures while students follow along, but what I have found works best is for students to work on the projects on their own, using the tools to be learned, while I answer questions during class, office hours or via email to provide individual instruction. Some students like this approach, while it doesn’t work well for others. Students more comfortable with a traditional classroom lecture/demonstration approach might want to switch to another section.

Emergency Evacuation:

Since I don’t know where you are living, it is up to you to know the evacuation procedures for your dorm or residence. If you are on campus, the procedures are described here: http://www.oneonta.edu/security/documents/EmergencyEvacuationProcedures.pdf.

Required ADA Statement:

Students Diagnosed with a Disability—All individuals who are diagnosed with a disability are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As such, you may be entitled to certain accommodations within this class. If you are diagnosed with a disability, please make an appointment to meet remotely with Accessibility Resources, 133 Milne Library, ext. 2137. All students with the necessary supporting documentation will be provided appropriate accommodations as determined by the Accessibility Resources Office. It is your responsibility to contact Accessibility Resources and concurrently supply me with your accommodation plan, which will inform me exactly what accommodations you are entitled to. You will only receive accommodations once you provide me with an Accessibility Resources accommodation plan. Any previously recorded grades will not be changed.