Evaluation

This class does not have a mid-term, but there will be an in-class final task to do. Grades are based on class participation and the completion of six tasks. Each task will focus on the topic listed in the chart below, but each succeeding task will build on the skills learned in the ones which come prior to it.

① Basics tasks

due by 2359 on Tuesday, 28 Jan 2014 | worth 10% of final grade

Task 01 will be broken up into several mini-tasks as you set up your web environment for this class.

You will accomplish task 01 by
  1. creating a blog posting for subtask 01.01,
  2. sending me an email telling me you have done subtasks 01.02 and 01.03,
  3. sending me an email with the URL, the username, and the password I will need to open the password protected directory you will create for subtask 01.05,
  4. and by FTPing subtasks 01.04, 01.06 and 01.07 to the web location you will have created with subtask 01.05.
You will to send me emails with the URLs that I need to use to access materials stored in the protected directory.

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② Web Development task

due by 2359 on Wednesday, 19 Feb 2014 | worth 25% of final grade

Task 02 will be the URL of a web site you will construct and publish.

I will start looking at your task 02 sites when subsequent tasks are due to find a link to the stored tasks 03, 04, 05, and 06 so that I may download each of them.

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③ Document markup task

due by 2359 on Monday, 03 Mar 2014 | worth 15% of final grade

Task 03 will be a marked up document that you will post in your web space.

You will mark up a text document of your choice so that it will be prepared for an e-reader of your choice.

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④ Spreadsheet task

due by 2359 on Monday, 24 Mar 2014 | worth 15% of final grade

Task 04 will be a formatted spreadsheet with additional functional applications that you will post in your web space.

You will modify an existing workbook to show your command of the tool.

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⑤ Relational Database Sessions

due by 2359 on Wednesday, 16 Apr 2014 | worth 15% of final grade

Task 05 will be a fully functioning relational database that you will post in your web space.

You will transform some Excel worksheets into Access tables, build a table, forms, reports, and queries.

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⑥ Presentation Sessions

due by 1100 on Tuesday, 29 Apr 2014 | worth 10% of final grade

Task 06 will be a self-running, narrated, professional presentation that you will post in your web space.

We will discuss topics, methods, and tools during the sessions.

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active involvement

due daily | worth 10% of final grade

You will accomplish this task each day with your engagement in class.

You will also be expected to create a blog posting and/or comment on a blog posting at least once in each two weeks.

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This will be a performance-oriented class

Your grade will be determined by the proficiency you show on six tasks. Though they are graded evaluations, they are also good learning experiences and can also be fun to do.

Due dates

graphic illustrating time Pay attention to the due dates. Tasks should be turned in by the end of the day they are due. Deadlines are listed for your time management purposes; there is no automatic loss of points for lateness. The only exception is the final task which must be turned on time because this task takes the place of a final exam.

If you finish a task early and wish to have me look it over for completeness, I will do so and provide you feedback so that you may alter things if necessary. Of course, I can only do this if you provide it to me early enough and if I have the time available in my schedule. If you finish a task on time or late, I will grade what I receive.

If circumstances render you unable to turn in a task on time, you may negotiate a new, later, delivery date with me. If you negotiate a new delivery date and meet it, you will suffer no negative consequences. If you do not negotiate a new delivery date with me, or if you miss your negotiated date, you run the risk that I will not have time enough to give your submission its due consideration. You always have the opportunity to discuss any circumstances that conspire to hinder your ability to turn in an assignment on time.

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Your active involvement
in enhancing the learning environment for your fellow students
will earn you full credit

You all start out with a passing score for involvement. It's up to you to determine if that score increases or decreases.

Active involvement includes asking questions about topics in such a way that your question and the answer also help your fellow classmates. You can ask questions in class, or by posting them on the class blog. I will respond directly to each question asked. Also, if I think the rest of the class can benefit from the question and answer, I will reformat the question to preserve the anonymity of the asker and post both question and response on the blog, so that everyone can benefit.

Active involvement includes posting comments to the class blog. You don't have to do this each day, but you will have to post a note introducing yourselves after the first session, you will have to post a note about starters you present in class on the blog, and you will surely have something to say about one or more of the other starters presented to you daily.

When you do a posting on the blog, be sure to use a label to identify yourself. At the end of the semester, I will look through your postings and if they are not labeled, you will not receive credit for them.

I will expect each of you to do at least one starter,
to post information about your starter to the blog,
and to comment at least once on a classmate's posting.

We should expect to see at least one posting from each of you all every four class sessions, whether you have done a starter or not. It's reasonable to expect everyone to have something to add to the blog conversations.

There is no doubt that everyone in the class will be an expert in at least one area and active involvement also includes offering to display your skills in an area related to the topic under discussion so that we may all learn from and with you.

Be active and involved, but remember: quality of input far outweighs quantity. During class, you will want to respect your fellow students by paying more attention to the class topics, and less to what is happening on social networking sites.

Attendance is a key indicator of your participation

I won't take roll daily, but I will notice your absence. It is very important that you do not miss classes. If you do miss classes, you would be wise to talk to me about it, either before or after the session you miss.

The amount of points earned for active involvement is a subjective judgment and I will be making the subjective call, at the end of the semester. Therefore, don't expect to see the score of 70 on your gradesheets to increase until near the end of the semester . You should have a feel for how well you are doing in this area if you follow the advice on this page.

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