LM1 – Introduction & Syllabus

The course introduction lecture recording is found below covering D2L, ciss100.com, and general course navigation and instructions.   The Syllabus is located in the LM1 submenu (drop-down Lecture Modules to LM1 and mouse over LM1 to see LM1 submenu that includes the Syllabus.  The textbook chapter 1 lecture recording is located below the introduction recording below

Note this page’s submenu and the submenu items are all required content for the 1st week. There is a short quiz on this introduction and syllabus material in D2L Brightspace (D2L) Lecture Module 1 (LM1) but don’t stress as there is no time limit to this syllabus quiz and it can be taken as many times as you like to ace it and establish a good starting grade (Note the remaining quizzes are timed and can only be taken once).

I will introduce this here and repeat it several times, in D2L, all components of each week’s LM, i.e. quizzes, Linux Labs (LLs) and Discussion Boards (DBs) are due on Sunday night by 9 p.m.

The Lecture Topics/Modules LM1 sub-menu items include (use a mouse roll-over on the LM1 – Course Intro, Syllabus, and Emails menu item):

1. CISS 100 Syllabus (Textbook, Grading, Outline, etc.)

2. Contacting your Professors (email & Information Design) noting these conventions are required for all CIS courses and departmental communications (e.g. Academic Advisement) but you should adopt and continue these practices in the business environment.

3. An introduction to Emergent Technology and Disruptive Change as we need to firmly establish and recognize today’s transitory environment.  Note this page is also available in Business – IT – Society.

4. Definitions, Publications & Resources – this optional material is not required but you may use these resources throughout this course since you will need to identify, collect, and assess resources throughout your professional careers. Resources include HVCC ITS Resources, Marvin Libary Resources, Publications, White Paper Search Tool, Google Scholars, Distance Learning Tips, etc.

Now, I am aware many of you have a good technological background however we don’t assume students have any pre-existing computer knowledge so we create a base foundation since it is imperative to create a solid comprehensive and detailed IT foundation. As an example – If you were to incorrectly use a term when corresponding with other IT/Business professionals you could harm both your company’s and your professional credibility and future. It is critical to use accurate, precise, relevant and professional communications concerning CS/IS/IT from this point on.

Student Expectations and Recommendations

Importantly, it should be noted that accredited Colleges base their system on the Carnegie Mellon Unit (CMU) when determining course contact and credit hours. CISS 100 is a 4 (CMU) credit hour course which requires 4 hours of class time and minimally 4 hours of work outside of class (8 hours) per week in a 15 week semester (Summer sessions require 9 hours per week citing the 12 week semester). Citing this, you should minimally be reading each chapter twice and researching sources for supporting and supplemental material as necessary (i.e. look up terms and concepts that are new to you).  Note that you should perform your first chapter read prior to the classroom presentation.

Recommendations

I have some strong recommendations for you to follow not only in this course but throughout your academic and professional careers.

1. Computer Science must be learned sequentially. Successive concepts can only be understood if you have knowledge of the basic principles. If you miss a concept it will critically affect your future studies and success. This requires exacting and precise attention to detail. Please stay abreast of your course materials and you will be responsible for all material contained in the readings and covered in class. To achieve this and succeed in Comp Sci you will need to continually reread past material until you retain 100%.

2. Computer textbooks are often misread by the uninitiated as they are written in what appears to be plain English, using words you have seen before. Because of this, students often read and erroneously think they understand the material but many of these familiar words have distinct and detailed meanings in Computer Science.

As an example, your Programming and Logic textbook uses the words “Reference”, “Literal”, “Constant”, “Keyword” and “Reserved Word” and your inclination is to read right through this passage as if it were an English or Sociology textbook. Your Networking textbook uses words like “Gateway” and “Bridge” and we all believe we know what these mean – correct? You may not even realize that you are missing critical concepts that will impede your progress if you cannot define or distinguish the difference between these words. As an example, what is the difference between a program and a process or memory and storage?  Understanding these concepts thoroughly is what will distinguish you from the hackers who pick up “C for Dummies” and call themselves programmers.

Now everyone has different learning curves, aptitudes, and sets of experiences.  Minimally I find that students must repeatedly read the material in order to fully understand the concepts and terminology and students seeking A’s must often read the material 3 or more times.

My recommendation is to repeatedly look-up any vocabulary you do not know and research the topic further online.  When in doubt, there is absolutely no shame in seeking assistance when you cannot find the information or you need clarification and you should seek assistance/clarification as we all build our content knowledge base and communication skills in this manner. Furthermore, asking questions is a requisite skill of consultants and IT/IS professionals. We (the faculty) are here to ensure that you succeed but we also respect you as responsible adults. Please keep me abreast of any circumstances which may impede or promote your accessibility, understanding, and learning.

HVCC D2L Brightspace (D2L) Learning Management System (LMS) 

To locate the HVCC D2L Brightspace (D2L)  LMS goto www.hvcc.edu=>student’s tab at top of page=>MyHudsonValley Portal/D2L Brightspace (This means goto hvcc.edu and navigate to the student’s tab followed by the MyHudsonValley Portal/D2L Brightspace icon)

In the D2L design, each Lecture Module is self-contained.  A lecture module typically contains a chapter (i.e. reading) from the primary textbook, supplemental readings not contained in the text, a Linux Lab (LL) whose directions are listed on this site under the Ubuntu Linux menu tab, a discussion board (DB) and a quiz.

You will find that I have included powerpoint slides at the bottom of the Lecture Modules Folder for your convenience as these can serve as a shell for note-taking.   If you print out the PowerPoint slides, please use the outline format in an effort to save a tree. Printing out the slides in advance will allow you to have information readily at hand during discussions and additionally will allow you to annotate the notes with supplemental material.

HVCC Computer Login and D2L Access Assistance

If you are experiencing login or D2L problems you may contact the Distance Learning office by emailing dlhelp@hvcc.edu or calling their hotline at: (518) 629-7070. You will also find considerable information on their Website located here: https://www.hvcc.edu/dl/index.html

Other computer-related support questions can be answered by the Computer Learning Center and they may be reached at 629-7891 or https://www.hvcc.edu/learningcenters/clc.html.

If you have not received your username and password please contact the Registrar.  The Registrar’s Office is located in the Guenther Enrollment Services Center, room 136 – Phone: (518) 629-4574 and email:registrar@hvcc.edu

Information Technology Services (ITS)

ITS has all the necessary documentation to connect to the HVCC WiFi network, configure mobile devices (ios, Android, etc), access Citrix (Microsoft Office via the Web), the OpenNX Ubuntu virtual environment, etc.  The ITS Website and its documentation may be found by navigating from the HVCC Website as follows: www.hvcc.edu => Quick Links (at top of the page) => Information Technology Services => Documentation (in left panel).  Again recall you can search a Webpage using ctrl-f in Windows and Linux and command-f in Mac.

Course Intro – Day 1 Video 

As I presented on the homepage, I record every lecture and present them unedited… warts and all 🙂

 

Day 2 – Chapter 1 Presentation 

We cover 1 chapter per week and the chapter numbers correspond to Lecture Modules.  There is a quiz associated with each chapter located in D2L and the quiz will remain open until Sunday night at 9 p.m.  Note that the quiz may also contain any other material presented in class or directed reading on this Website (www.ciss100.com).

 

I will not do this for future Lecture Recordings but to provide guidance with identifying important content in the recordings, the required additional topics I introduced in this recording were the Business-IT-Organization triangle, the Information Hierarchy, the Internet of Things (IoT), Dark Data, Haptics and the Boot Process.

Lastly and in closing

From this day on – you are IT professionals. Many of your fellow students, colleagues and family members will come to you with questions and you may have the opportunity to staff the College’s Help Desk.  You should consider it your duty to understand the Computing System at every institution and workplace from this point on.  Please familiarize yourself with the HVCC Academic Computing Environment (ACE) environment. Please pay special attention to security since it would reflect poorly on you if you were to catch or spread a virus.

Thank you and I look forward to working with and assisting everyone,

Professor James Looby – Computing and Information Sciences