CS 006: Effective Use of the World Wide Web

 


Course Website:          http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~bradyj/cs6sum06/

 

Instructor:                    Jill Brady

Office:                         EBUII 110

Office Hours:              by appointment.

Email:                         bradyj@cs.ucr.edu

 

Teaching Assistant:     Aggelos Vlavianos

Office:                         EBUII 110

Office Hours:              TBA

Email:                         aggelos@cs.ucr.edu

 

 


Lecture:                       M, T, W, Th  8:10 – 9:30 am,  EBUII 141

 

Lab:                             T, Th 10:10 – 1:00 pm,  EBUII 135

 

 


Course Overview:

A detailed, non-technical introduction to the Internet, covering Web tools, e-communities, e-commerce, power searching, and verification of information, privacy, and other legal and societal issues. 

 

Lecture Topics: (subject to change)

Week 1: Course Overview, Basic Terminology, History of the Internet, Personal Security, Email Management.

Week 2:  Search Engines, Adv. Search Techniques, Information Credibility, the Internet and the News.

Week 3:  File Sharing, Information Use, Businesses and the Internet, E-Commerce.

Week 4:  Online Communities, Internet Software, Securing the Home and Office.

Week 5:  Network Failures, Moral/Philosophical/Political Issues, the Future of the Internet.

 

Lab Policy:

Lab is held twice a week, on Tuesday and on Thursday, 10 to 1.  Attendance is required, with one allowed absence.  Material covered in the labs will be included in the quizzes and exams.

 

Presentation:

In groups of three, you will research a relatively new Internet technology, and give a business presentation describing it’s strengths, weaknesses, application to the business world, and recommendation for your company to aggressively pursue, further study, or ignore the technology.   The in-class presentation should be 8 to 10 minutes in length, using PowerPoint slides.

 

Readings and Online Responses:

Four times during the quarter, you will be assigned an article.  You must read the article and post an intelligent, well-thought-out opinion on the website boards.  You must also read some of the opinions of your classmates (many of whom will have been assigned different articles), and post at least one response to an opinion you find interesting.  Continued discussions are encouraged.

 

Web Page Project:

By the end of the quarter, you will be an html master!  You must construct a web page, as interesting and unique as possible on the (appropriate) topic of your choice.  The page will consist of a main page, as well as several ‘sub-pages.’

   

Exams:

The order of exams is as follows:  Quiz 1, MT, Quiz 2, Final.  The first three will be in lecture, and the Final will be given at the scheduled Final Exam time and place.  Information covered in the exams will be from lecture, lab, and cursory material from the readings and presentations that all participating students should know.

 

 

Grading: (subject to modification)

            Lab attendance/participation               10%

Presentation:                                       10%

            (4) Readings and online responses:    5%  each         (20%)

            Web page project:                               10%

            (2) Quizzes                                          7.5% each       (15%)

            Midterm                                              15%

            Final                                                    20%

           

Holidays:

            There will be no class on July 4th, Tuesday.

 

Academic Honesty:

Don’t cheat.  List any and all outside sources where you find information, including website addresses.  Properly identify any directly-quoted statements, and remember that rearranging someone else’s sentences does not count as independent thought.  Plagiarism is taken very seriously, and will result in an F in the class.