Last updated: 8/31/03
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Syllabus, IST 3715 Computers, the Internet and Society

Computers, the Internet, and Society, IST 3715, for Fall 2000 is a course with seven course meetings and a Final Exam, along with substantial online work using the course web site for handouts, a computer conference for class discussions, and email for submitting and returning assignments. The major assignment are two quizzes, two papers and a Final Exam.

Content and Overall Schedule.

1. Overview. Week 1
   1. There is an initial class meeting to demonstrate the course web site and computer conference and to go over the assignments and content of the course.
   2. Computer information - files
      1. Operating systems - Windows
      2. Applications
         1. word processing, spreadsheets and data bases
         2. information becomes increasingly structured, can be used more flexibly
2. Computer operating systems and applications. Weeks 2 - 5
   1. Operating systems
      1. Common user operations
   2. Major categories of applications
   3. Harware and software trends
3. The Internet and its applications. Weeks 6 - 10
   1. What the Internet is, and how it works
   2. Internet applications
   3. Trends
4. Living with the Net. Weeks 11 - 14
   1. What is driving change in this area.
   2. List of social issues. Winners and losers.
   3. Globalization.
   4. What are the new rules?

There is a separate detailed Assignment Schedule on the course web site. This schedule is subject to changes during the semester. Changes will be announced on the course web site, and on the course computer conference. It is your responsibility to keep up with any changes.

Instructor and Office Hours

The Instructor is David Bowen / Department of Interdisciplinary Studies / Science and Technology Division.

Grading

The course grade will be calculated as follows:

Grading Scale

The "-" range for a grade is the lower three points, and gets averaged at the middle. For example, A- is 90 to 92 and gets averaged as 91. The "+" for a grade is the top three points, and gets averaged at the middle. For example, B+ is 87 to 89 and gets averaged as 88. A grade of 100 is an A+. Note that the highest grade recognized by the University is A.

On-line Grade Reports

There will be a link on the course web site for on-line grade reports. These reports will let you look at your line in my grade book. If you want to have this available to you, for the on-line information form:

• Choose "yes" for the item on-line grade reports
• In the associated text box, enter a password for your grade reports.

To get an on-line grade report, you will enter your first and last names, and this password.

Course passwords

You will have several IDs and passwords for this course:

1. Your UserID and password for your Internet Service Provider
2. Your UserID and password for the computer conference
3. Your password for on-line grade reports, if enabled
4. Your UserID and password for uploading files to your personal web site

It can a problem to keep all of these straight. Be aware that you can choose #2, #3 and #4 to match #1, if you want. Ask me for details.

Naming your homework files

In this course, you will turn your homework in as word-processing files. If two people use the same file name, then the file that is turned in second will replace the file that is turned in first, and the work of the first person will be lost. Losing another person's work in this way will lose you credit. Also, as the Instructor, I want the file name to tell me about the person and the assignment. Therefore, make up the names for your homework files with the following parts, in order:

• Your three initials. (If you do not have a middle initial, use the understroke character -- _ or Shift-dash -- instead).
• One-letter assignment code as follows:
  • "a" for Essay A
  • "b" for Essay B
  • "1" for Quiz 1 computer work
  • "2" for Quiz 2 computer work
• "cf3" to indicate Computers, the Internet and Society, Fall 2003
• Normal extension for your word processor. (Note: Macs do not use file extensions, so Mac files would not have extensions.)

So for example, since I use Microsoft Word, the file name for my Essay A would be drbacf3.doc

When I grade the assignments, I will add a "g" to the end of the filename and return it.

Also, as backup file ID, include the following lines at the beginning of each file:

1. Your full name
2. Course (IST 3715) and course name (Computers, the Internet, and Society)
3. Semester (Fall 2003)
4. Assignment (not just the code, write it out, e.g. "Essay A"
5. Word processor and version number (this is in case I have trouble reading it).
   (In Windows, to find the name and version number of any program, including a word processor, open the program, click on its "Help" menu item, and then on the "About" item on the drop-down menu list.)

For example, for my Essay A I would include the following lines at the beginning of the file:

David R. Bowen
IST 3715, Computers, the Internet, and Society
Fall 2003
Essay A
Microsoft Word 2000

The essay title and text would start after this header.

Overview of Assignments

• Essay A on an Internet Issue listed on the course web page of the same name. Five pages. Must refer to and make use of the course readings and online and in-class discussions.
• Essay B on a topic from either Release 2.1 or The Lexus and The Olive Tree. Five pages. Must refer to and make use of the course readings and online and in-class discussions.
• Personal web page. Can be produced with Netscape Composer, Microsoft Word, Microsoft FrontPage, or any other software. As with any web page, do not put anything in the page that you do not want to be public.
• Quiz 1 and Quiz 2. Written in class using MS Word and other applications once they are covered. Specific questions will be posted on the course web site. Not cumulative, aside from use of MS Word.
• Email. During the semester, send the following types of messages, writing which assignment it is in the message body:
  • Email1: Direct, simple email to the Instructor (d.r.bowen@wayne.edu)
  • Email2: Email to the Instructor, with an attached file
  • Email3: Email to someone else with a cc to the Instructor
  • Email4: Reply to another message with a cc to the Instructor
  • Email5: Email to a list, which includes the Instructor
• Final Exam. Similar to Quiz 1 and Quiz 2, except cumulative.
• Conference postings. Aside from the course sessions, the course conference is the place for public discussion about assignments, readings, questions and anything else relating to the course. You should make a minimum of thirty substantive conference postings during the semester and at least three by September 22. Substantive means:
  • Minimum of five lines on the screen. (warning - my screen may be wider than yours, and guess whose screen counts)
  • Relevant to course or to course assignments, including technical issues about Internet connection and use of software.
  • Under an appropriate topic.
• Attendance at class sessions as evidenced by completion of attendance form on course web site.
• Weekly course progress reports using form on course web site.
• You should also check the course web site at least weekly.

Please note: being out of town is a valid reason for missing a class. It is not a valid reason for missing a weekly course progress report, conference postings, updating your personal web site, turning in a report or checking the course web site. All of these can be done using the Internet, and Internet access is widely available at public libraries, work sites and other public institutions. If you are out of town for work reasons, and your employer does not provide Internet access, then I expect you to find the local library or other site where you can carry out these class assignments.

Assignment Schedule (* marks days on which I may be late for office hours)

Texts (available at Barnes and Noble bookstore at Macomb University Center):

• Steve Sagman, Microsoft Office 2000 for Windows, Peachpit Press, 1999.
  Referred to as MO2 in the table below. References are to Chapter numbers.
  NOTE: You are expected to be able to use the program features as you read them.
• Esther Dyson, Release 2.1, Broadway Books, New York NY. 1998.
  Referred to as R21 in the table below. References are to Chapter numbers.
• Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, NY, 1999. Referred to as LOT in the table below. References are to Chapter numbers.

NOTE 1: "Restricted" Vs "Open" labs. eCommerce and Computers, the Internet, and Society both meet in Room 128 Macomb University Center on Tuesday evenings. If the other class is meeting that night (and you are not taking it), you are free to use the lab that night on a restricted basis -- sit in the back, no interruption of the other class.

NOTE 2: I will allow you to redo assignments and turn in missing work after the course is over. Such work will not appear in your regular grade, but it will be taken into account in a Change of Grade, and it will eventually appear on your official transcript. The University will allow me to file a Change of Grade up to one calendar year after the end of the semester in which you took the course. For this course, that is through the end of the Fall 2004 semester. I will not accept major assignments during the last month of this period. If you are redoing an assignment, the original assignment with my comments and grades must be turned in along with the redone assignment. If you plan to make up work after the course is over, course reports are still required, every week.

The above is a liberal policy for late work and makeup assignments. The downside is that I am also allowed to be late in grading the makeup work, especially during the summer and at the beginning and end of each semester. If my workload for grading makeup is heavy, it can take a semester or more for me get around to your work. I will usually tell you or email you when I have graded your work and turned in a Change of Grade form. It often takes the University a month or more to record that change. If either of these delays puts the Change of Grade beyond one year, that is still OK, if I can make the statement that you got the work in by the one-year deadline.

Also, after the course is over, staying informed and on track shifts from being my responsibility to being yours. I will still be available for discussions, questions, reminding you about where the coruse web site is, and what your course passwords are, but it becomes your responsibility for locating and contacting me. If exams or quizzes need to be made up, if there is more than one person who needs this, one of that group must accept the responsibility for contacting the others and scheduling a date that is acceptable to all (including me, of course).

Computer Conference assignments

• For IST 3715, during the semester make thirty contributions to the course conference (postings or replies with a minimum of five lines). These contributions must be substantive, concerning the readings or other points from the conference. For example, "Gee, I thought that was right on" is not substantive -- it does not make a contribution. As an alternative, you can agree with another comment, and then explain it further, extend or go beyond it, or apply it in a new way. To get everybody started, a separate requirement is for three contributions by the second class on September 16:
  • Introduce yourself: Introduce yourself to the class.
  • How I use computers and the Internet now.
  • What I would like to learn about computers and the Internet.

  NOTE: This does NOT mean that you have to log on to the computer conference more than once a week. You can make multiple contributions during a single session.

Essays

The AGS 3340 first essay assignment is to write a five-page double-spaced essay describing and discussing one of the issues on the "Social issues for Essays" web page for this course.

The essay should be written for a general reader, say a magazine reader or a newspaper reader. Specifically, the essay should not be written "to" the Instructor. A general reader will not be interested in whether or not the essay was written for a particular course, or to fill a particular assignment, so these aspects of the assignment should not be mentioned in the essay.

The essay should have the following parts, in this order:

• Your name, the course number, the date and the name of the assignment
• A descriptive Title; that is, a title that describes the specific contents of the essay. "Essay A" is not descriptive in this sense, because it is general and does not describe the specific content
• An Introduction that describes generally what the reader should expect in the essay; a road map for the essay.
• A Body that contains the information in the essay and addresses the specific points above. The Body should contain detail to support the general answers. References to readings can be made "in line", for example "as Howard Gardner states in Creating Minds,"
• A Conclusion that summarizes the main points of the essay as a whole.
• A Bibliography (not counted within the five pages). I do not particularly care about the specific form of the bibliographic listings. Each entry should include author name, title, date of publication and pages referenced, or equivalent information for a web page

The Essay will be graded on the following basis:

• Content. 40%. Content includes the ideas, arguments, concepts, and references to the readings and the computer conference discussion.
• Form 40%. Form includes the presence of the parts Title, Introduction, Body, Conclusion and Bibliography, and the organization of the essay in a logical and progressive manner. The essay should flow well or naturally from one topic and part to the next. The essay should have a consistent voice (first person, second person, etc.) and tense (past, present, future) throughout.
• Mechanics 20%. This includes grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other mechanical aspects of writing.