CIS 1010 - Using Technology for Personal Effectiveness
and Collaboration
Spring 2007
MW
3:00 to 4:15 PM (16297) – Meets in Classroom South 200
Updated 4/23/07
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Astrid Lipp | |
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E-mail: |
WebCT Vista (http://webvista.gsu.edu/) |
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Phone: |
(404) 651-0877 |
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Office: |
RCB 922 |
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Building: |
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Office Hours: |
M 4:30 to 5:30
p.m. and W 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. for drop-in, or make an appointment by
e-mail or phone |
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Fax: |
(404) 651-3842 |
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Mailing Address: |
P.O. Box 4015, Atlanta, GA 30302-4015
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CIS
Department Office: |
(404) 651-3880 |
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Prerequisite: |
None |
Class Website:
WebCT Vista
The syllabus, as well as other class materials, including slideshows and assignments, will be available only to students registered for the course.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
Online
PDA simulator or PDA (if PDAs and service can be
obtained through donations, PDAs will be lent to the
student for the semester)
Headset
for voice interactions online using VoIP
COURSE DESCRIPTION
(FOR CATALOG):
This course introduces principles for designing a technology environment that enables personal effectiveness and collaboration. Students will use techniques for specifying requirements, identifying alternatives by evaluating currently available technologies.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to design a technology environment that enables personal effectiveness and collaboration. They will be able to use techniques for specifying requirements, identifying alternatives, and making decisions. An experiential approach will be used to evaluate and compare currently available technologies. Principles and techniques covered will continue to be useful in designing technology environments, as new technologies become available.
Objectives will be met through lectures, demonstrations, assignments, and a group project. Lectures and demonstrations will be designed to explain general concepts. Students will be required to spend time and effort outside of class working in the GSU computer labs or on their own PCs and any equipment on loan to them for the semester.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
· Students communicate effectively using appropriate writing conventions and formats.
The presentation and paper will be graded based on how clearly and convincingly arguments and are expressed and supported with evidence, and how well sources of supporting information are referenced using either APA or MLA formatting.
· Students communicate effectively using appropriate oral or signed conventions and formats.
Students will be able to use effective communication techniques for eliciting user requirements. Class exercises and test questions will evaluate students’ requirements elicitation skills and whether they can explain the purpose of each technique.
The presentation will be graded based on how effectively the presentation content is researched, how well the presentation is structured, how effectively PowerPoint slides support the points being made, and how effectively the presenter speaks without reading verbatim from notes.
Goal II.Collaboration
· Students participate effectively in collaboration activities.
Students will collaborate in preparing and delivering presentations based on their experiences in using a PDA or simulation and researching what experts have to say about computing devices and software. The presentation will be judged by the quality and quantity of relevant information presented and how effectively each student collaborated to combine the work of individual team members into a seamless presentation.
Goal III. Critical Thinking
· Students formulate appropriate questions for research.
Students will research hardware and software and identify evaluation criteria that are important for a specific user. In addition, students will formulate evaluation criteria based on their experiences with hardware and software. Results of students’ thinking will be evaluated as they contribute to class discussions, the paper, and the presentation.
· Students effectively collect appropriate evidence.
Student can locate hardware and software evaluations produced by others; they can also collect and organize evidence from their own experiences and those of their classmates. The quantity and quality of evidence presented in class discussion, the paper and presentation will determine grades.
· Students appropriately evaluate claims, arguments, evidence, and hypotheses.
Students can evaluate claims and evidence associated with assessing as well as comparing and contrasting specific hardware, software, and processes. The correctness and completeness of student evaluations in class discussion, the paper, and the presentation will determine a student’s grade.
Goal IV. Contemporary Issues
· Students effectively analyze contemporary issues within the context of diverse disciplinary perspectives.
Students will be able to apply principles of software design, HCI (specifically software usability principles), decision sciences, law, and communication to analyze and discuss how to design a technology environment for personal effectiveness and collaboration. They will be able to use selected hardware and software and articulate improvements needed. Skills in the use of hardware and software will be evaluated based on the completeness and correctness of assignment solutions submitted. The ability to articulate the current limitations of selected hardware and software will be tested on an exam.
· Students effectively analyze contemporary multicultural, global, and international questions.
Students will be able to summarize research about different levels of access
to information technology and the consequences of this “digital divide” in the
Goal V. Quantitative Skills
· Students effectively translate problem situations into symbolic representations and use those representations to solve problems.
Students will be able to create Excel spreadsheets that perform calculations to solve problems, and students will be able to explain the results obtained. Quantitative skills we be evaluated based on performance on Excel assignments and class discussions.
Goal V. Technology
· Students effectively use computers and other technology appropriate to the discipline.
Students will learn to use either a PDA or a computer simulation of a
PDA. They will be able to compare
and contrast the capabilities of major categories of PDAs and smart phones (including those that use different
operating systems) that are currently available. They will also be able to
effectively search for information online, produce a properly formatted paper in
Word, use Excel to analyze problems that involve quantitative analysis, use
Access to store and retrieve data in the appropriate format, and have hands-on
experience with currently available tools that support brain-computer
interfaces. They will be able to
design and build a basic web page and use voice recognition software.
Students will also be able to use
the web conferencing tool called Elluminate Live!
during selected class sessions as well as to
collaborate with their teams outside of class via web conferencing
software. A student’s ability to
use web conferencing software will be evaluated during class. A student’s ability to explain the
capabilities and limitations of the hardware and software discussed will be
evaluated on exams.
GRADING SUMMARY:
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First exam |
20% |
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Second exam |
20% |
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Assignments |
15% |
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Group project |
20% |
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Final exam |
25% |
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Total possible points |
100% |
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Point Threshold
to Earn this Letter Grade for CIS 1010 |
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A |
4.00 |
93 |
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A- |
3.70 |
90 |
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B+ |
3.30 |
87 |
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B |
3.00 |
83 |
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B- |
2.70 |
80 |
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C+ |
2.30 |
77 |
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C |
2.00 |
73 |
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C- |
1.70 |
70 |
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D |
1.00 |
60 |
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F |
0.00 |
0 |
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WF |
0.00 |
0 |
Course Schedule
(Tentative and subject to change)
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Week |
Topic |
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1 |
Introduction Principles of Design Reading:
Chapter 5 (The Science of Design: Creating the Artificial) of
Herbert Simon’s
The Sciences of the Artificial, MIT
Press: Originally published
in 1969. Specifying requirements |
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1/15/07 – Dr. Martin Luther King University closed |
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2 |
Unit II. Researching Technology for
Personal Communications Online research |
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3 |
Referencing sources Assignment 1 due on January 29th (as a Rich Text Format or .rtf file attached to a WebCT e-mail message by 11:59 p.m.(submission of a 5-page paper about a mobile computing topic) Preparing and giving presentations using presentation technology Presentations will take place on January
24th and January 29th (your presentation should be
between 5 minutes and 6 minutes long; do a timed practice run, so you know
whether you need to cut or add material) |
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4 |
Online collaboration Synchronous and asynchronous collaboration Using VoiP and video Virtual teams |
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5 |
Exam 1 |
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6 |
Unit
Second Life The visual programming language Alice |
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7 |
Developing websites and podcasts (continued) |
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Full semester midpoint on 3/1/2007 (Last day to withdraw and receive a “W”
for full semester classes) |
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Spring Break No classes March 5 – 9! |
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8 |
Discussion of web site development in FrontPage 2002 continues |
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9 |
Discussion of web site development in FrontPage 2002
continues Unit IV.
Technology for Personal Finance Data capture Data analysis using spreadsheets |
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10 |
Guest lecture by Wendy Darling (web developer and owner
of Metro Girl) Identifying trustworthy online financial resources |
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11 |
Unit V. Using and Assessing Technology for
Personal Communications Bluetooth, SMS, mobile access to the Web (If we have time: technology for converting text e-mail to synthetic speech for replay on a cell phone and vice versa) |
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12 |
Unit VI. Technology for Personal
Organizing Exam 2 |
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13 |
Protecting information Identifying and avoiding the effects of malware, viruses and Trojans, phishing, social engineering, spam, spyware, cookies, and other threats to privacy of information Guest lecture on computer security (David Maynor) |
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14 |
Avoiding, identifying, and recovering from identity
theft Design of accessible websites Design for the sight impaired Design for the hearing impaired Culturally sensitive website design (translation,
colors and cultures, laws and the Web) |
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15 |
Frontiers of accessibility: brain-computer interfaces and wearable computers Guest lecture on wearable computers (Dr. Upkar Varshney) Guest lecture on direct brain interfaces (Luke McCampbell) |
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Project report due on last day of reading period |
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Final Exam
on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2:45 to 4:45 p.m., in our regular
classroom |
Course
Outline
Unit I. Techniques for designing a technology
environment (Week 1)
Specifying requirements
Identifying alternatives
Making and justifying a decision
Unit II. Researching Technology for Personal
Communications (Weeks 2 through 5)
Mobile devices and their capabilities
Bluetooth, SMS, mobile access to the Web
Technology for converting text e-mail to synthetic speech for replay on a
cell phone and vice versa
Preparing written documents
Online research
Technology to assist in writing and formatting
Referencing sources
Preparing and giving presentations using presentation technology
Online collaboration
Synchronous and asynchronous collaboration using VoiP and video
Virtual teams
Unit
Creating and manipulating digital media (text, photos, sound, and video) Personal publishing (blogging and print to order)
Developing websites (FrontPage) and podcasts
Unit IV. Technology for
Personal Finance (Weeks 8, 9, and 10)
Problem identification
Data capture
Data analysis using spreadsheets
Online banking, brokerage, buying, and selling
Identifying trustworthy online financial resources
Unit V. Using and AssessingTechnology for Personal Communications (Week
11)
Mobile devices and their capabilities
Bluetooth, SMS, mobile access to the Web
(If we have time: technology for converting text e-mail to synthetic speech for
replay on a cell phone and vice
versa)
Unit VI. Technology for Personal Organizing
(Weeks 12 and 13)
Organizing information
PDAs
Calendaring
Databases
Protecting information
Backup
Identifying and disabling malware
viruses and Trojans
phishing
spam
spyware
cookies and other threats to privacy of information
Avoiding, identifying, and recovering from identity theft
Unit VII. Technology for Inclusion (Weeks 14 and
15)
Voice recognition and speech synthesis
Design of accessible websites
Design for the sight impaired
Design for the hearing impaired
Culturally sensitive website design
translation
colors and cultures
laws and the Web
The “digital divide” and initiatives to bridge it
Frontiers of accessibility: brain-computer interfaces
Policies
Limits on Withdrawals
with a Grade of W
Starting in Fall 2006, all
undergraduate students are allowed to withdraw with a grade of W a maximum of
six (6) times in their entire careers at
· Prerequisites are strictly enforced. Students failing to complete a prerequisite with a grade of “C” or higher will be administratively withdrawn from the course in which they are in violation with a loss of tuition fees. There are no exceptions.
· Students are expected to attend all classes and group meetings, except when precluded by emergencies, religious holidays or bona fide extenuating circumstances.
·
Students who, for non-academic reasons beyond
their control, are unable to meet the full requirements of the course should
notify the instructor. Incompletes may be given if a student has
· A “W” grade will be assigned if a student withdraws before mid-semester while maintaining a passing grade. Withdrawals after the mid-semester date will result in a grade of “WF”. Refer to GSU catalog or Registrar’s office for details.
· Spirited class participation is encouraged and informed discussion in class is expected. This requires completing readings and assignments before class.
· Unless specifically stated by the instructor, all exams and lab assignments are to be completed by the student alone.
· Within-group collaboration is allowed on project work. Collaboration between project groups will be considered cheating unless specifically allowed by an instructor.
· Copy work from the Internet without a proper reference will be considered plagiarism and subject to disciplinary action as delineated in the Student Handbook.
· Any collaboration that was not authorized will be considered cheating and the student(s) involved will have an Academic Dishonesty charge completed by the instructor and placed on file in the Dean’s office and the CIS Department. See excerpt from the Student Handbook below.
Academic
Honesty
Students may have
general discussions about assignments with fellow classmates. Each student must
develop his or her solution to the assignments, unless assignments are
identified as team projects. Students may not ‘share’ work in any form or any
portion of an assignment except on team assignments. It is the student’s responsibility to keep his/her work secure. Failing to
adequately protect one’s work does not relieve the student from academic
dishonesty charges.
University regulations will be enforced regarding dishonorable or unethical conduct (Cheating, Plagiarism, Falsification, Unauthorized Collaboration or Multiple Submissions). The penalties for incidents of academic dishonesty can lead to expulsion from the University (see General Catalogue p. 64, Student Handbook p. 130 or http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwcam/academichonesty.html). In this class, there will be zero tolerance for dishonorable or unethical conduct. Electronic or physical sharing of answers will be considered cheating and will not be tolerated.
Cheating: Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include sharing information with another student during an examination, intentionally allowing another student to view one’s own examination, and collaboration before or after an examination which is specifically forbidden by the instructor.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism includes any paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism frequently involves a failure to acknowledge in the text, notes, or footnotes the quotation of the paragraphs, sentences, or even a few phrases written or spoken by someone else. The submission of research or completed papers or projects by someone else is plagiarism, as is the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one’s reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. Any work, in whole or part, taken from the Internet or other computer based resource without properly referencing the source (for example, the URL) is considered plagiarism. A complete reference is required in order that all parties may locate and view the original source. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility. (Please review the definition of plagiarism before you submit a presentation slideshow or paper. Your instructor is obligated to file a form with the Dean’s Office, if there is evidence that you have committed plagiarism in your paper.)
Unauthorized Collaboration: Submission for academic credit of a work product, or a part thereof, represented as its being one’s own effort, which has been developed in substantial collaboration with assistance from another person or source, or computer based resource, is a violation of academic honesty. It is also a violation of academic honesty to knowingly provide such assistance Collaborative work specifically authorized by an instructor is allowed. (Collaboration on all assignments other than group projects is forbidden. If your instructor discovers that you have had unauthorized assistance from or collaborated with anyone, the instructor is obligated to file a report with the Dean’s Office.)
Penalties: If a student is charged with Academic Dishonesty, for each charge, a zero (0) will be given for the assignment, a minimum of fifty (50) points will be deducted from the final course total points, and a written Notice of Academic Dishonesty will be given to the Dean’s office. The student will also receive a copy of the notice.
Rationale for CIS
1010
Students who complete this course will be able to use various technologies effectively. Not only will they be able to identify and evaluate sources, but they will also be able to use appropriate technology to present their findings as documents and presentations.
As part of the SACS review process, the use of mathematics across the disciplines is encouraged. In fields as disparate as chemistry, physics, biology, economics, statistics, and accounting, both quantitative and qualitative data are collected, organized and displayed in tables. Electronic spreadsheet software was developed for capture and analysis of such data. Students will learn how to identify problems, capture information, analyze it, and understand the results.
According to a recent survey in Computerworld magazine, more than 80% of
In his book The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman argues that technology is making national boundaries and distances irrelevant. Friedman includes the following among his rules for how companies can cope in a “flat” world:
Rule #2: And the small shall act big…One way small companies flourish in the flat world is by learning to act really big. And the key to being small and acting big is being quick to take advantage of all the new tools for collaboration to reach farther, faster, wider, and deeper. (p. 345)
Rule #3: And the big shall be small…One way that big companies learn to flourish in the flat world is by learning how to act really small by enabling their customers to act really big [through use of web and collaborative technology]. (p. 350)
Rule #4: The best companies are the best collaborators. In the flat world, more and more business will be done through collaborations within and between companies, for a very simple reason: The next layers of value creation—whether in technology, marketing, biomedicine, or manufacturing—are becoming so complex that no single firm or department is going to be able to master them alone. (p. 352-53)
The Americans with Disabilities Act is more than fifteen
years old. While physical access is
expected, access to online resources lags behind. Students should be aware of barriers
limiting access to digital resources and technology and how major barriers can
be overcome. To communicate and
collaborate effectively with people outside of
Poverty, both in the