INSC 102 Technologies for Information Retrieval FALL 2014 SECTION 002 Delivered online via Asynchronous Distance Education (ADE)

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1 INSC 102 Technologies for Information Retrieval FALL 2014 SECTION 002 Delivered online via Asynchronous Distance Education (ADE) Instructor: Rebecca Davis Office: 103 Communications & Information Building Office Hours: By Appointment COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is designed for undergraduate students who wish to gain a fundamental understanding of information technology concepts, computer functionality (in both hardware and software), usage of the Internet, influences of technology in society, plus recent challenges and developments in this area. Students will explore the role of computer literacy in today s world, different components of the computer, user experience in computer interaction, and learn more about topics such as using search engines efficiently, the process of database management, aspects of computer and information security, and different kinds of communication and data storage devices. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon satisfactory completion of the course, students will be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of: 1. Computer system components and hardware 2. Operating systems and application software 3. Communication networks and databases 4. Programming languages and program development 5. Web 2.0 and best practices for searching the Internet REQUIRED READINGS Textbook Vermaat, M. E., Sebok, S. L. & Freund, S. M. (2014). Discovering computers: Technology in a world of computers, mobile devices, and the internet. Shelly Cashman Series. Boston, MA: Course Technology, Cengage Learning. ISNB: Articles/excerpts Short readings will be assigned throughout the semester. Last Revision: 8/4/14 1

2 ABOUT THE COURSE INSC 102 will be delivered as an asynchronous online course, which means that each student will access each week s pre-recorded class sessions at a time of his or her choosing, during the course of that week. This course will have 1 2 recorded class sessions of no more than 75 minutes each, which will be made available to you each week. Other weeks may have no sessions (e.g., Week 8 and Week 15). UT School of Information Sciences (SIS) offers online courses for undergraduate classes, in order to help students cope with balancing their busy schedules of classes, homework, jobs, and extracurricular activities. In addition, online courses prepare students for future experiences in the 21st century workplace, in which online learn-on-demand courses are often used for continuing education, advanced certification, and professional development courses. By taking this class, you will be gaining both greater flexibility in managing your time, and valuable experience with this alternative learning environment. UT SIS has successfully used distance education to deliver graduate classes for many years, and began offering undergraduate online courses in Fall It is important to recognize that taking an asynchronous online course is different from a traditional class, or even a synchronous DE class, where everyone attends online at the same time. There are a few simple guidelines to follow (listed below), which will ensure that you have a successful experience. I promise you that I will uphold my responsibility to provide you with the same high level of support, access, and communication that you would want to have in a traditional classroom setting. The course is structured to make it a rewarding learning experience that will also have meaning for you both for your subsequent education, and in your future professional life. In some aspects, your part of the bargain is the same as it would be for a traditional class. I expect you to demonstrate critical thinking skills as well as commitment and involvement with our online discussions and your assignments. Learning is not a passive process; it is about students actively engaging the material through reading, thinking, discussing (online), questioning, practicing skills, and ultimately understanding. Bring your best efforts, a positive outlook, energy, and curiosity to each of the class sessions. Together we can make the class as interesting, relevant, and exciting as possible. COURSE COMMUNICATIONS To take this course, you must have access to a computer with high speed Internet access, and you must use a UTK account. You may use your own personal computer, or you may use the computers available in the various campus libraries or computer labs. The UT program, also known as Blackboard, is used for many course management tasks. We will use interactive tools such as the Discussion Boards. Each week s requirements will be posted in a separate folder labeled according to the week under the Week by Week Module tab. In that folder will be the list of readings for that week, a list of assignments due that week, a list of new assignments and occasionally some short supplementary videos or links to helpful websites. There will also be a Checklist tab which provides a list of the assignments due each week. You will be able to access all lectures and PowerPoint slides by clicking on the Lectures tab. There will be a link to the Collaborate recording. Blackboard is available at Blackboard Collaborate is the software used to deliver distance education (DE) courses at UT. Each class session, entitled Week 1, Week 2, etc., will be available as an audio recording, illustrated by PowerPoint slides or other visual aids. Last Revision: 8/4/14 2

3 Blackboard has a student help section, labeled For Students, which has links to some excellent resources, including information about taking an online course, using Blackboard and plagiarism. I highly recommend taking a look at this section at the beginning of our course. ADE Success Guidelines for Students Accept that you must be more self-reliant in an ADE class: Although students are always responsible for knowing everything in the syllabus and complying with the requirements of the course, this is especially true for ADE. Try to manage your time well and let me know if you have any questions or are confused about an assignment or topic. Keep up with the weekly schedule outlined below: Because the schedule is flexible, it may be tempting to wait to do the readings or listen to the lecture. It s difficult to catch up once you get behind and it s impossible to be engaged in the weekly discussions. This class requires consistent work - the workload should be easily manageable as long as you keep up with it. Be fully engaged in the opportunities to interact with your fellow students and the instructor. These will include s and weekly discussion boards. CONTACTING THE INSTRUCTOR The best way to contact me is through . My is rdavis74@vols.utk.edu. I check my at least once a day, usually more often, and I will respond to your as quickly as possible, most likely within 24 hours. I welcome your questions and if you are ever unsure of an assignment or want clarification, please ask. It s never a bother - I would much rather you ask me than have to wonder about something. However, if you have questions about assignments please do not wait until the last minute and expect an immediate response because I am not constantly checking my . DISABILITIES Please contact the Office of Disability Services at 2227 Dunford Hall - telephone number (865) ods@utk.edu - if you need course adaptations or accommodations. They will work with you to arrive at the appropriate program and register you for services. Please let me know if you need to talk about solutions - I am happy to be of assistance. CCI DIVERSITY STATEMENT (College of Communication and Information Bylaws, Section II-C) The College of Communication and Information recognizes that a college diverse in its people, curricula, scholarship, research, and creative activities expands opportunities for intellectual inquiry and engagement, helps students develop critical thinking skills, and prepares students for social and civic responsibilities. All members of the College benefit from diversity and the quality of learning, research, scholarship and creative activities are enhanced by a climate of inclusion, understanding and appreciation of differences and the full range of human experience. As a result, the College is committed to diversity and equal opportunity and it recognizes that it must represent the diversity inherent in American society. The College is acutely aware that diversity and fairness are foundations that unite the College s faculty, staff, students, and the larger communication and information community (see for CCI s full Diversity Statement). STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES Do all assigned readings prior to each class lecture. For the lecture, I ll assume you know the information that s in the readings, and I ll build upon that information. Complete all assignments and submit them on time, using the format and procedure specified. Last Revision: 8/4/14 3

4 Check your and Blackboard regularly. I ll use the Blackboard Grade Center to return assignments and make clarifications, and to solicit student input. Blackboard will also be used for announcements, the discussion board and other interactive activities. Complete all weekly assignments. Each week you will have a Thought Question, and some weeks there will be other assignments due. These tasks are relatively simple to complete, but are designed to help you keep up with the class work. They are explained in more detail on Blackboard under the Discussion Board and Assignments tabs. Participate actively in the class by giving your best effort to the interactive activities using the discussion board. In addition, treat your colleagues with courtesy and respect by reading and reflecting on their online comments, and responding to them appropriately. Timely online attendance is required. The course schedule below lists which class lectures you should complete at your convenience during each week. It is essential that you keep up by listening to the lectures in the proper week, so that you can complete assignments as scheduled. Blackboard provides statistics about whether or not a student has attended a recorded class session, which allows me to take roll just as I would in a traditional class. o The statistics for attending the class sessions are checked each week. o Attendance (viewing the lectures) will count for 20 points. STUDENT EVALUATION Breakdown of assignment points Thought Questions: 13@15 points each: = 195 Thought Question Responses: 3@10 points each = 30 Face-to-Face Meeting: 15 Introductions: 15 Scavenger Hunt: 15 Exams: points each = 200 Assignments: 5@50 points each = 250 Final Project: 240 Attendance: 20 Participation: 20 Total points possible: 1000 Grading Scale A = points A- = points B+ = points B = points B- = points C+ = points C = points C- = points D = points F = 579 or below *Important note about grades: It s important that you complete all the assignments. It s much better to do what you can on an assignment than to not turn it in. All of these assignments are designed to help you learn the material and be actively engaged in the class discussions. Last Revision: 8/4/14 4

5 ASSIGNMENTS (See Assignment Due Dates document on the course site for all due dates) Each week s assignments will be posted in separate folders labeled according to the week under the Assignments tab. All assignments should be submitted through Blackboard and there are instructions on how to submit assignments under the Assignments tab on the course site. Please do not your assignments to me. Thought Questions: Each week (except Weeks 1, 8 & 16) there will be a Thought question, pertaining to the topic covered for the week. Your response must be at least 200 words (you can use the word count tool in Word to do the counting for you) and preferably no more than 300 words, although I m flexible on the maximum word count. These questions will not require you to do further reading or research; the answers will be either asking for your opinion related to something you will already have read or done, or a reflection based on your own experiences, or a thought-provoking exercise in creative problem solving. Thought Questions are due by the following Thursday at 11:59 pm EST and should be posted to that week s discussion board. Each Thought Question is worth 15 points. If your response is less than the 200 word minimum, 5 points will be deducted. Please include the word count at the end of your response. *Late Thought Questions will not be accepted and no points will be given if the response is posted after the deadline. Responding to a classmate s posting (Thought Question Responses): Respond to 3 postings by classmates at some time during the semester. These postings should be made on 3 different weeks so you are responding to 3 different topics. Your response to your classmate s posting must be at least 100 words and should be thoughtful and should directly address their post. It must be posted within 2 weeks of your classmate s original posting date. Each of these responses is worth 10 points. Please make an effort to help us all ensure that every student gets a response by responding to a different student each time. If your response is less than the 100 word minimum, 3 points will be deducted. Please include the word count at the end of your post. You will have until Tuesday, December 2 by 11:59 pm to post all responses. Individual Assignments: There will be 5 individual assignments during the semester. Additional details and instructions will be provided on the course site. Due dates will also be posted with the assignments and there is an Assignment Due Dates document on the course site under the Assignments tab. The assignment links will not be available after the due date. These assignments are each worth 50 points. Scavenger Hunt This quick assignment will help you learn to navigate the Blackboard site and will help me know what questions or issues you may have about Blackboard in general and our site in particular. More details about this assignment can be found on Blackboard, in the Week 1 Assignments folder. Final Project For the Final Project you will prepare a PowerPoint presentation that relates to a particular topic that was covered in the course and that you found interesting. There are two parts to this assignment: The PowerPoint presentation and a 2 page paper. The Final Project is due Tuesday, December 2 by 11:59 pm and is worth 240 points. This is the largest single assignment for the semester. More details about this assignment will be posted on Blackboard later in the semester. Last Revision: 8/4/14 5

6 Exams There will be two exams in this course. More information about these exams will be posted on Blackboard. All exams are open-book and open-note. Each exam is worth 100 points. Submission of Graded Assignments Instructions will be provided the first time you submit an assignment. Submit the assignments via Blackboard, unless instructed to do otherwise. There are instructions under the Assignments tab on the course site on how to submit assignments through Blackboard. The file name should make it clear what assignment it is and who you are. For instance, if I were submitting my first individual assignment, I would name my document file: Davis Assignment 1. Please use Microsoft Word for the regular written assignments. If this is a problem, let me know. If, after reading the instructions, you still have questions about this, either me or post them to the Discussion Board under the Q&A thread so you can get help. Late Assignments *Late assignments will not be accepted in this course and that includes everything listed in the Assignment column of the Course Calendar on page 8 of the syllabus. The links for the assignments will not be available on Blackboard after the due date and there are no make-up assignments in this course. *If you miss the due date then those points are lost. * It is your responsibility to view and complete the assignments on time once I post an announcement and send an to the class informing everyone that the assignment is available, where to find the assignment, and the when the assignment is due. *Please do not send s asking for extensions on assignments as all assignments coming up are indicated on the Course Calendar and extensions will not be granted. On the Blackboard course site there is an Assignment Due Dates document under the Assignments tab indicating the due dates for all assignments in this course. *When you click on the Checklist tab there will be a list of what assignments are due each week. *Thought Question links to the Discussion Board will continue to be available so that you can do your Thought Question Responses but late Thought Questions will not be accepted. *Blackboard does provide the date and time for every assignment submitted and every post made on the Discussion Board. CLASS PARTICIPATION: INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES In our ADE environment, class participation will occur using the interactive tools available on the Blackboard site. The Discussion Board allows both the instructor and class members to post and answer questions, and to share thoughts or ideas with the group. Here are some ideas of how you can be involved in our online conversation: You can post questions under the Q&A thread on the Discussion Board based on what we have read or thoughts or questions you have about the class You can use the Discussion Board to post items from the news or even your own experiences (both successful and frustrating) from working in organizations that relate to topics covered in class You can use the Discussion Board to let your colleagues know about helpful web resources that you find, that relate to topics covered in class You will be asked to use the Discussion Board to respond to in-class activities. Last Revision: 8/4/14 6

7 This portion of your grade will be based on your efforts to join the interactive online conversations. If your contributions exhibit both quality of thought and frequent participation, you will earn top points for this aspect of your grade. Participation will count for 20 points. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Please refer to Hilltopics Student Handbook. It can be accessed at: or a print copy obtained in Student Services or the Registrar s office. The responsibility for learning is an individual matter. Study, preparation and presentation should involve at all times the student s own work, unless it has been clearly specified that work is to be a team effort. Academic honesty requires that all work presented be the student s own work, not only on tests, but in themes, papers, homework, and class presentation. Cheating, plagiarism, providing unauthorized help and other acts of dishonesty violate the rule of academic honesty; the offender will be subject to penalties as set forth in Hilltopics. The instructor reserves the right to use plagiarism detection software, such as Turn It In. ABOUT THE COURSE CALENDAR The next section of the syllabus has the course calendar. There will probably be changes and adjustments as the semester progresses, but I will give you plenty of notice if or when that happens. Whenever the name of an assignment is indicated in the assignment box, it means that assignment is due by 11:59 p.m. EST on the following Thursday unless otherwise notified. Check the Assignment Due Dates document under the Assignments tab on the course site for any exceptions. For instance, Week 1 indicates that Introductions Discussion Board posting and the Scavenger Hunt are assigned. That means those assignments are due Thursday, August 28 by 11:59 p.m. NOTE *The instructor has the right to make changes to the schedule. Last Revision: 8/4/14 7

8 COURSE CALENDAR Week Dates Topics Reading Assignment 1 8/20-8/22 Review syllabus Learning about Blackboard Introductions (Discussion Board) Scavenger Hunt 2 8/25-8/29 Intro to Computers and the History of Computers See BB Week 2 Assignment 1 Thought Question 1 3 9/1 9/5 Digital Literacy See BB Thought Question 2 Week 3 4 9/8-9/12 The Internet See BB Week 4 Assignment 2 Thought Question 3 5 9/15-9/19 Computers and Mobile Devices See BB Thought Question 4 Week 5 6 9/22-9/26 Programs and Apps See BB Week 6 Assignment 3 Thought Question 5 7 9/29 10/3 Apps Part 2 See BB Thought Question 6 Week /6-10/10 Exam 1 Exam 1 No lecture 9 10/13-10/17 Digital Safety and Security Fall Break See BB Week 9 Thought Question /20-10/24 Inside Computers and Mobile Devices Input and Output See BB Week /27-10/31 Digital Storage See BB Week 11 Assignment 4 Thought Question 8 Thought Question /3-11/7 Operating Systems See BB Thought Question 10 Week /10-11/14 Communications and Networks See BB Week 13 Assignment 5 Thought Question /17-11/21 Information and Data See BB Thought Question 12 Management Week /24-12/2 Thanksgiving End of the semester Thought Question 13 Due: Final Project (12/2) No lecture 16 12/4-12/11 Exam 2 Exam 2 Last Revision: 8/4/14 8