CGS 1000 Introduction to Computers and Technology

Course Syllabus

3 Credits

Spring 2013

(Last modified 1/10/2013)

Instructor: Wayne Pollock

Phone: 813-253-7213

Office Location: DTEC-404 (Dale Mabry campus Technology building, 4th floor)

E-mail: use the email in MyHCC

Office Schedule:    Monday–Thursday, 3:55–5:25 & 8:30–9:00;
                              Tuesday–Friday, 12:00 PM (noon)–1:00 PM; or by appointment.

Course Description:

Provides students with an introductory overview of the Internet, World Wide Web, impact of computers on society and business, historic development of data processing, basic functions and use of computer hardware, software applications, system software, basic skills in the use of word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation system and desk publishing software applications, basic skills using a Web browser and search engine, and careers in the field of computer science.

Textbook:

The following are required and sold as one bundle for a reduced price at the Dale Mabry Bookstore.

Our Digital World, w/SNAP 2010 Passcode Web-Based Training and Assessment, Gordon et al; ISBN: 978-0-76384-766-1

(If you purchase a used textbook without the SNAP 2010 Access Code included, you can purchase the code separately, from this link to EMCP Publishing.)

In order for you to succeed, you MUST have the textbook (and all required computer programs) during the first week of class. Students who do not have these items at the beginning of the semester almost always fall behind and they fail the course at a much greater rate than students who do have the required materials.

Textbooks and Financial Aid:  If your financial aid has already been awarded (with a credit remaining after tuition and fees), you can charge your textbooks to your financial aid account at the campus bookstore, starting one week prior to the beginning of the regular semester and ending the last day of the regular drop/add period.

The HCC bookstore is now on-line!  You can view book adoptions for a course, or purchase the books directly from bookstore.hccfl.edu.

Software:

The required software for this course is MS Office 2010 to include the following applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. Assignments completed using other versions of MS Office or different software (such as LibreOffice) will not be graded.

Students at HCC have the ability to purchase Microsoft, Adobe, and other software for heavily discounted prices from retail. Examples of software available through this program include MS Office 2010 Professional edition, Windows 7, MS Visio, other related Microsoft products, Adobe products, and many other, as well. These software products are the full versions and have the same benefits as software purchased off the shelf at a retail store.

Microsoft provides an official student discount program at MicroSoft Store  website (this used to be www.TheUltimateSteal.com).  One benefit of this is the software is available for immediate download.  Also this bundle may contain more applications than the hccfl.onthehub.com version.

An additional location is HCCs The Hub at http://hccfl.onthehub.com. Students will need to access a website at hccfl.onthehub.com and will need to provide their HawkMail email address to be properly authenticated (this may take up to a week.)  This program requires that students pay for their selected software products with a credit card and the software will be mailed to their home address.  Students will be allowed to purchase only one copy of a selected software product.

Some students may already have a student or “starter” edition of Microsoft Office 2012.  Generally, these do not include all the tools of more expensive editions.  Specifically, you may have Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but not Access (the database tool).  If so, you can either complete the Access assignments at the HCC Dale Mabry Open Computer Lab, or speak with a lab tech (in DTEC-416) about obtaining a version of Access you can use (Obtain an account from a lab tech, then download from Microsoft DreamSpark).

If you have a Macintosh computer, please see the Mac Users Information resource.

Computers with the correct software are available in the HCC Dale Mabry Open Computer Lab (DTEC 462) for student use.

The college provides wireless network connections for students and guests on Dale Mabry campus.  For students, select the network “HCC_Wireless” from the list of available networks.  Follow the on-screen steps by entering your HCC email address and network password.  For HCC guests: Select “HCC_Guest” from available networks.  Follow the on-screen steps to complete registration.  This network will be available between 7:00 AM and 10:00 PM.  These are the only official HCC networks; don't use others that may appear.

Storage Device:

Student attending campus based courses will need a USB storage device of 1GB or higher.  Online students who use the lab will also need a storage device.  Flash drives can be purchased at many retail stores and the HCC bookstore.

Course Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1) Identify and understand basic information technology concepts.

2) Identify and describe the hardware components of computer systems and articulate their use.

3) Manage personal technologies.

4) Identify and demonstrate knowledge of different types of system and application software and understand programming and system life cycles.

5) Apply knowledge to produce and manage documents and reports using spreadsheets, word processing, presentation graphics, and database software.

6) Identify what an operating system is, perform file management, and identify how to change system settings and install and remove software.

7) Access and use telecommunications and Internet technologies.

8) Explain security and privacy issues as they relate to threats and types of malicious software, and procedures for incident response detection.

9) Explain ethical issues and recognize factors that influence decisions and social considerations of information technologies.

Department Open Lab:

Computers with all needed software for this course are located in the Open Lab in DTEC 462. Lab hours are:

Monday - Thursday  8:00am-10:00pm

Friday  8:00am-8:30pm

Saturday   8:00am-4:30pm

Academic Dishonesty:

The Computer Science faculty of the Dale Mabry campus is committed to the highest level of academic integrity for students completing CGS 1000: Introduction to Computers and Technology.

The following policies are strictly adhered to in assessing penalties for academic dishonesty.  Academic dishonesty is a violation of HCC’s Student Code of Conduct.

Any student submitting an assignment that is not his or her own original work will, at the discretion of the faculty member, for the first offense will receive a grade of 0 for the assignment.  For a Second offense, the student will receive a grade of F for the course.  At the discretion of the faculty member, she or he may report the incident to the Dean of Student Services for additional disciplinary action.

Any student currently enrolled in a CGS 1000 course who provides a student with her or his work for submission by another student for the first offense will, at the discretion of the faculty member, receive a grade of 0 for the assignment.  For the second offense, the student will receive a grade of F for the course.  At the discretion of the faculty member, she or he may report the incident to the Dean of Student Services for additional disciplinary action.

Any student determined to have used any resource during an exam other than resources approved by the faculty member, will, at the discretion of the faculty member, for the first offense will receive a grade of 0 for the assignment.  For the second offense, the student will receive a grade of F for the course.  At the discretion of the faculty member, she or he may report the incident to the Dean of Student Services for additional disciplinary action.

Students may not work on one file together and then submit it separately for grading.  Any student determined to have done this will, at the discretion of the faculty member, for the first offense will receive a grade of 0 for the assignment.  For the second offense, the student will receive a grade of F for the course.  At the discretion of the faculty member, she or he may report the incident to the Dean of Student Services for additional disciplinary action.

Types and categories of Academic Dishonesty described above are not meant to be inclusive or limiting.  Additionally, any combination of above offenses can result in, at the discretion of the faculty member, for the first offense receiving a grade of 0 for the assignment.  For the second offense, the student will receive a grade of F for the course.  At the discretion of the faculty member, she or he may report the incident to the Dean of Student Services for additional disciplinary action.

Plagiarism:

Remember, this is an academic environment. The act of plagiarism is not tolerated.

If you use content from a website in an assignment, you are required to include a citation.  It is never acceptable to cut and paste from a website for an assignment!  Students must paraphrase and write in her or his own words.  Copying another student’s discussion message and post as her or his own is an act of plagiarism.  (It is not plagiarism to include another’s work in your own if you include proper credit to the author and include a proper citation.)

A first offense of plagiarism will result in a grade of zero for the assignment.

A second offense of plagiarism will result in a grade of F for the entire course and, at the discretion of the faculty member; the incident can be reported to the Dean of Student Services for additional disciplinary action.

Communication:

Communication between the instructor and student is a critical success factor in any course.  You are to use the Blackboard email function to send messages to the instructor.  A response to your email will be received in two working days or less.

Grades can only be discussed in person, or via email only if you use your assigned HCC Hawkmail (CampusCruiser) email account.  (As per official HCC policy.)

Another method of communication is the GENERAL discussion board.  This is a place to post general questions about the course.  Use this board like you would if you were asking a question in the classroom.  Many times, a question you have is also a question another one or more students are thinking about!  The instructor as well as other students will answer these messages.  Do not send email to multiple recipients; use the discussion boards instead.

No appointment is necessary to see me during my scheduled, on-campus office hours.  You can just walk-in.  You can make appointments for other times as long as I’m available.  (Occasionally my office hours will be canceled on short (or no) notice, for example if the dean calls me for a meeting.  Before driving out to campus just for my office hours, you can contact me the night before to make sure I still plan to be there.)

Assessment Methodologies:

This course uses a variety of approaches to teach and assess learning.  All assignments have start and end (due) dates; you must complete and submit assignments during this availability period.  See the weekly course schedule for all due dates.

Our Digital World: Weekly reading assignments are required from the textbook.  Assessment of student comprehension of the chapter concepts is demonstrated with the completion of course exams.

General Assignments:  In addition to the chapter exams, there are 4 assignment based on the material you read in the text and online.  These don’t use SNAP, and are submitted via Blackboard drop-boxes found in the course modules.

MS Office Software Application Training and Assignments: Some of the most important skills you can develop for college and eventual entry into the workforce are word processing, spreadsheets, database, and presentation software skills.  The course is designed to provide you with basic skills for each of the software applications.  SNAP 2010 is used to help demonstrate functionality/skills, practice, and assessment mastery of these basic skills.

(The SNAP tool is not part of Blackboard, but located on a separate website.  You will create an account there during orientation.)

Final Project: The final project provides an opportunity for students to apply the software skills acquired during the course.

Discussion Board Assignments:  The purpose of the discussion board is to have a dialog with your peers about a specific topic.  The goal of the discussion board is to create constructive interaction about current technology topics in society.  In addition, the discussion allows you to develop the necessary professional online communication skills required in today’s workforce.  The professional workplace online communication skills differ from those you use in social online communication.  Also, professional communications require attention to grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and tone of content.

The instructor will post the initial discussion question(s).  You will respond to messages the instructor and your peers post in the discussion board.  Each discussion board is only available during the assigned period, usually one week.

Missed discussion board assignments cannot be made up.  If you miss one and can prove extenuating circumstances, your instructor will use your score from one of the other discussion board projects for the missed one.  There may or may not be an additional late penalty.

All assignments are organized into learning modules.  There is one module for each week of the course, containing all the assignments due that week.  Note, discussion board assignments will span two modules, and should show up in both.  Each module (except the first) contains an optional make-up assignment that you can use to make up a missed assignment from the previous module.  (While the SNAP website allows you to view previous and future assignments, you can only work on and submit for the current module.)

Discussion Board Participation and Grading Criteria:

In order to earn proper credit for discussion boards, you must comply with the following instructions:

1) Access the thread on the appropriate discussion board and read the specific instructions posted by your instructor.

2) Initial Response:  Thoroughly respond to the question(s) posted within this discussion board.  A thorough response is a minimum of 250-300 words reflecting on your perspective and understanding of the assigned topic.  This posting must contribute to an ongoing discussion of the topic.  Including a question in a message is an excellent strategy for contributing to the ongoing discussion.

3) Responses to Others: After your initial response, post at minimum of 2 replies to other students’ postings.  Be sure to reply to at least two different students.  These postings should be substantive and contribute to the ongoing discussion.  Substantive messages posted to others in the course must include a minimum of 3-4 sentences and indicate whether you agree, disagree, or can offer a different perspective on the other student’s perspective.  Meeting the stated minimum requirements will earn a passing grade for the assignment, but to earn the maximum grade (points), your postings must be well-reasoned arguments.

4) Grammar: All postings and responses must use business writing style and etiquette.  Proper grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation are required*.  Remember, in an academic or professional environment, “text-messaging” writing is not acceptable.

5) Short trivial responses (one or two sentences), the use of slang, abbreviations, and acronyms will be penalized.  For example, “Yeah, you’re right! I agree with you because what you said is so true” is not a substantive response to contribute to the conversation.

6) Total days to post: You must participate in the discussion throughout the posting period, by posting on at least three separate days.

7) You are encouraged to research the topic using the Internet and World Wide Web to identify sources to support your response and posting.  Be sure to include the URL (Web address) and indicate it as the source of your supporting documentation.  No copying and pasting is ever allowed – review the plagiarism and academic dishonesty sections in the syllabus.

You are encouraged to type up your responses and posting in a word processor such as Word, to check for spelling, grammar, homonyms, and punctuation.  Once you have completed them, copy and paste the text into the discussion board window.

Points may be deducted at the discretion of the instructor for any of the following but not limited to:

1. Quality of the postings; responses do not contribute to the conversation, are too short/trivial, and/or do not answer the posted questions.

2. Postings were completed within the same day or 24 hour period.

3. Use of slang, “text-messaging speak”, poor grammar, incorrect spelling, inaccurate punctuation, and poor sentence structure.

Discussion Board Grading Rubric:

Initial Response:

0-10 pts

A thorough response that clearly addresses the topic and responds to the question(s).

Peer Responses (2):

0-10 pts

Minimum of at least two quality replies to at least two other students’ postings with 3-4 sentences.

Post on 3 Separate Days:

0-10 pts

Posts made over 3 different days.

Grammar/Format:

0-5 pts

Use of proper grammar, sentence structure, spelling, structure, and punctuation.

Quality:

0-5 pts

Overall quality of discussion (points for extra postings, Internet research and references, etc.)

POSSIBLE TOTAL:

0-50 pts

Turning in Assignments:

All assignments are due on the dates indicated in the Module Due Date page of Blackboard.  MS Office assignments will be submitted through SNAP.  Other assignments (when indicated in the module instructions) will be submitted through a Blackboard assignment drop-box found in the module.  Instructions for accessing and using both SNAP and Blackboard are found in the course.  All assignments have specific due dates.  Once the due date has expired, you will not be able to access the drop-box or submit to SNAP.

Late Assignment Policy:

Assignments are due on the dates as listed on the Module Due Date Schedule; NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS will be accepted.  Assignments in SNAP and Backboard that have not been submitted by the due date will receive a 0 for the assignment.

Although there are no late assignments or extra credit available, there are several opportunities for students to make up for missed or low-scoring assignments:

In addition to the three required SNAP Performance Evaluations for each of the four Microsoft Office applications (Access, Excel, PowerPoint and Word), there is one optional opportunity in SNAP.  The optional Performance Evaluation score will replace a missed (0 grade) or the lowest score for the application.  (That is, your best 3 out of 4 scores will be used, for each application.)

Students grades in General assignments (the ones done in Blackboard) will reflect the highest three grades earned out of the four assignments.

Additionally, an optional final exam (which is cumulative) is offered at the end of the semester to replace a student’s missed or lowest exam score.  Students grades will reflect the highest four scores earned out of the five exams offered.

Students are expected to keep up with the course work and complete/submit assignment on time.

Course Exams:

There are 4 required exams based on the textbook readings throughout the term that will be administered through Blackboard.  Exams are open from the start of the course, but all have specific cut off dates (see Module Due Date page in Blackboard).  No missed exams will be rescheduled.

Exam I – Chapters 1 and 2

Exam II – Chapters 3 and 4

Exam III – Chapters 5 and 6

Exam IV – Chapters 7 and 8

In addition, an Optional Final may be taken to replace the lowest exam score, and is not mandatory to complete.  Students may use the optional final to substitute for a missed exam or to replace a low score on one of the four course exams.  If the grade is lower than any missed exam, then the score is ignored.  If the score is to replace a missed exam, the value is counted into the final course points at the end of the semester.

Assignments Breakdown:

Grading Scale:

2,630 – 2,367

A

100-90%

2,366 – 2,104

B

 89-80%

2,103– 1,841

C

 79-70%

1,840 – 1,578

D

 69-60%

1,577  - 0

F

 59-0%

If you stop attending the course before it is 60% complete, and haven’t earned sufficient points to pass the course, you will be awarded an “FX” grade.

The “My Grades” tool considers any ungraded work to be a zero.  This means that until everything is graded, the tool shows you have an “F” in our course, even if you've done well on the taken exams and graded projects!

To see how you're doing in our class, you must add up all the points you've earned on graded projects and exams taken, and divide that by the total points you could have earned on those projects and exams.  For example, suppose you've taken the first few tests and projects, and have earned a total of 110 points, and those projects and exams were worth a total of 125 points.  Then your estimated grade is 110/125, or 88%.

Attendance:

Both campus and online courses have attendance requirements.  To be successful, students will need to access course materials, check-in frequently, and attend any class meetings.

Campus/Face-to-Face students are expected to attend class meetings.  If you cannot attend all class meetings, students are encouraged to seek registration in an online version of this course that does not required face-to-face meetings.

1. Class attendance is a requirement for this course.
2. Students earn 5 points per class attended.
3. In order for Students to earn attendance points they must arrive to class at the designated class start time and remain until the class is dismissed. It is considered disruptive to the educational process for students to arrive late or leave early.
4. The instructor may penalize students who do not participate in class activities as deemed appropriate by the instructor.
5. If you miss a lecture or arrive late, you are responsible for the material presented, handouts distributed, and any announcements made that day. The instructor will not provide notes for missed classes.
6. Children are not allowed on campus; due to regulatory requirements minor children cannot be in classrooms, buildings or any location on campus.

If you have a need to arrive late or leave early, you are required to speak with the instructor concerning the need.

Distance/Online students must log into Blackboard and access the Attendance link in Blackboard, at a minimum, two days day per week to document course attendance. Failure to do so may result in administrative withdraw for non-attendance.

1.     Students must log into the course and click on the Attendance link at least 2 days per week and submit assignments by their due date, to document course attendance and to earn 10 attendance points per week.

2.     Student course participation is defined as timely submission of assignments and completion of other course requirements.

Additionally, distance/online students are required to attend the mandatory orientation held at the start of the semester.  Failure to do so may result in administrative withdrawal for non-attendance.  (Note, students don’t earn attendance points for the orientation week.)

Classroom Policies (online and campus):

All students are expected to follow the Student Code of Conduct and the guidelines set forth in the College Acceptable Use policy.  Classroom computers are to be used at all times for official course purposes.  Use of computers for general web surfing, email, chat rooms, etc. is not allowed.  Violation of this policy can result in a grade deduction of 10% of the final course grade for each incident and possible loss of computer privileges.

The use of audible electronic equipment such as cell phones during instructional time (for classes held on campus) is strictly forbidden.  All personal electronic devices are to be turned off during the class period.  Students identified using or viewing the electronic devices during class time can be asked to leave the classroom for that day.

A student shall not, without the instructor’s express authorization, make or receive any recording, including but not limited to audio and video recordings, of any class, cocurricular meeting, organizational meeting, or meeting with the instructor.  Further you do not have permission to post our class lectures/course materials on the web.

Consequences of Dropping or Withdrawing

Dropping or withdrawing may have an impact on financial aid, veteran’s benefits, or international student visa status.  Students are encouraged to consult with a financial aid, the VA certifying official, or the international student advisor, as appropriate, prior to dropping or withdrawing from class.

Request for Accommodation:

If, to participate in this course, you require an accommodation due to a physical disability or learning impairment, you must contact the Office of Services to Students with Disabilities, Dale Mabry campus: Student Services Building (DSTU) Room 102, voice phone: (813) 259–6035,  FAX: (813) 253–7336.

Backing Up Your Work:

Always back up your work and save them until the end of the semester.  If you lose your secondary storage media or the media becomes corrupted, you are responsible for any lost assignments.  To avoid this issue, create backup copies of the files on the media and store them in a safe place.  You are encouraged to back up all work on a regular basis.

Academic and Educational Resources:

Please be aware that as a student at Hillsborough Community College, you have many academic resources available to you.  Below are few that you may find useful as you progress through this course.

Dale Mabry Learning Commons

Students can receive tutoring help with difficult concepts and material.  This office is located on the 2nd floor of the Dale Mabry Library.

Phone:  813.253.7445

Web Link:  http://www.hccfl.edu/dm/student-services/learning-commons/tutoring-assistance.aspx

HCC Library

Phone:  813.253.7381

Web Link:  http://www.hccfl.edu/library/

Dale Mabry Writing Center

Students can receive help with papers, articles, and other types of academic writing. This office is located on the 3rd floor of the Dale Mabry Library.

Phone:  813.253.7536

Web Link:  http://www.hccfl.edu/dm/student-services/learning-commons/writing-assistance.aspx

HCC Live

For Blackboard assistance or other general HCC questions, contact

Phone:  1-877-736-2575 (M-F 9:00am-6:00pm)

Live Chat: http://hcclive.hccfl.edu/

Help Ticket: http://hcclive.hccfl.edu/