Class Attendance
Adapting the course for online delivery
Students must attend class in Zoom to complete the course, no exceptions. The course modality is ‘remote,’ not online. I won’t accept papers from students who did not attend (been there, done that).
The discussion threads will allow you to ask questions about the course, and allow us to have more of the conversation we would have had in a physical classroom. Take advantage of them both to learn about different ways to approach technology, and to make sure you’re on the right track for the assignments.
- Printing press and knowledge transformation
- Guns, Germs and Steel (plant and animal domestication)
- Story of Stuff
- Story of Solutions
- Small is Beautiful (appropriate technology) (examples)
Students will be expected to respond to the prompt for each discussion forum, and also to reply thoughtfully (that means referencing the class, the readings, videos, etc.) to at least three other students’ posts in each forum (rubric below).
Proficient (22-25 pts) | Adequate (18-21 pts) | developing (<18 pts) |
▫ Student posted in each thread (minimum 4), one substantive post and replies to other students’ posts (at least three);▫ Substantive post shows clearly that the student has read the source material, thoughtfully responded to the prompt(s), properly cited any sources used, and provided logic and evidence to support his/her points that acknowledges the materials referenced in the prompt. | ▫ Student posted in each thread, including at least one substantive reply to another student’s post.▫ Substantive post demonstrates that student has read the material, but either hasn’t responded to the prompt, hasn’t supported his/her claims with any evidence or logic, or showed little effort in trying to understand the reading material;▫ Possibly student’s substantive posts were thoughtful, but there were no replies to others’ posts. | ▫ There’s something missing—the substantive post may inadequately address the prompt or fail to show the student actually did the reading(s), student may have failed to post in each thread, either the substantive post or replies to others’ posts;▫ Posts reflect minimal effort in trying to understand the material in question;▫ Student is engaging in discussion with other students, but not engaging the prompt and/or reading material. |
We will practice standard ‘netiquette’ (discussion forum behavior). Civility and mutual respect rule. I will deal with personal attacks privately, but firmly—we’re here to encourage everyone to participate, so avoid postings that discourage others from doing so.
- You need to post during the time window in which the discussion is taking place. It will be specified. Each thread will be available over a two-week period. But there are no make-ups.
- Follow basic online ‘netiquette.’ We certainly don’t have to agree–but we can disagree in a civil way, and use persuasion, logic and evidence to support our own ideas.
- If you’re writing a long post, use paragraphs to break up points and, to be safe, you might compose in something besides Canvas (and save as you go), and then paste it into Canvas–this will help you avoid the frustration of losing a post you’ve spent considerable time on.
You’ll do fine on this if you show effort to complete the requirements, and intellectual engagement in the process. This isn’t an opinion format–it’s a place to show that you have read/viewed the material, have something thoughtful to express about it, and keep the discussion going by responding to others’ ideas–that cross-fertilization is especially important for a course on a topic like technology, whose study can span many disciplines.
50 pts possible, 25 for each thread
