New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
College of Computing Sciences (CCS)
CIS485-451/CIS 786-851: World Wide Web Standards, Fall 2001
Professor: Michael Bieber

Class Quick Links: [Home] [Schedule] [WebBoard] [Standards] [Definitions/Links] [Homeworks]

Course Discussion - Version 2.2

Weekly Discussion

Discussion on-line takes the place of discussion in the classroom. Each week we will discussing the standards topics and specific standards. During the second half of the semester we also will be discussing the development of a standard for distance learning through the Distance Learning Consortium project.

Here is the general flow of class discussion.

Note: comments may be posted by 9 a.m. the following morning and still be on-time.

 

By Thursday Night

The Standards Topic Team should post the standards topic presentation in the Standards Topic conference on WebBoard.

This will give me a chance to review your presentation before the weekend.

By Thursday Night

Each of Specific Standard Teams should post its specific standard presentation in that standard's conference on WebBoard. They should also update the three case study conferences for their standard.

This will give me a chance to review your presentation before the weekend.

By Monday Night

You can start posting your comments as early as you like. Please do not wait until Monday to start.

  1. read the Standards Topics readings (linked to the schedule)
  2. read the Standards Topics presentation on WebBoard
  3. read each of the Specific Standard presentations and case studies on WebBoard
  4. Single Discussion Comment (new format):
    Post a single comment in your assigned discussion conference that reflects on some or all of the readings, presentations and case studies for this week. Your comment should be several paragraphs long and try to tie together many of the ideas in the various readings and presentations. You should try to relate your comment to readings and presentations from the current week, but you can also relate them to materials from prior weeks.
    • please use appropriate TOPIC headers
  5. optional: please feel free to ask for or provide clarifications on any of the presentations - do this directly as a reply to the comment you are asking about in the presentation or case study conference, not in your discussion conference.
    • change the TOPIC header of your replies whenever appropriate

For the first week (9/5), feel free to comment on people's biographical sketches.

Between Monday and Thursday

Please do not wait until Thursday. Post these replies and follow-up comments as early as you can.

  1. post two useful replies or follow-on comments in your assigned discussion conference. (See the definition of "useful" below.) These should be replies to existing comments when appropriate. Or one could be a new comment reflecting new thoughts you have based on reading the discussion.
    • change the TOPIC header of your replies whenever appropriate

Additional Required Discussion across the Semester

In addition to the regular weekly discussion, I would appreciate your on-going input over the semester in several ways. Please add comments to the FEEDBACK and "ACRONYM/DEFINITION/STANDARDS/LINKS" conference when you are able.

I expect some participation in these conferences across the semester, so this also will be graded, to ensure at least a small amount of commenting from everyone.

Guidelines for Useful Comments & Replies

Comments and replies can contain all sorts of things:

Your comment can include questions, observations, opinions, contradicting information, examples from the real world, speculations, and tell us about something interesting you've read or found through some research, or pretty much anything else.

For your main weekly discussion comment, you'll want several paragraphs that tie together what you've read in (some or all of) the readings, presentations and case studies for this week. You can include the types of things in the paragraph above to enhance your thoughts.

For your two replies, you can include any of the things in the first paragraph. But please back up your points. Don't write just a sentence or two on each point you want to make. Instead have a few sentences that explain and justify each of your points.

Write for your audience:

Your audience is the entire class, not the professor. Class participants come from all varieties of backgrounds, course work and real-world experience. Several of you will be professional Web-workers. Others may have only browsed some Web pages and have little idea what goes on behind them. All of you should be able to post interesting comments and replies. And because of your varied backgrounds each of you should bring an interesting viewpoint.

Useful and Interesting:

  1. The most important criterion is for your comment to be interesting to the class. Remember that many in the class do not have a Web-background. Don't try to impress us with jargon. Rather, try to impress us with making your comment as clear and readable to everyone in the class as possible.
  2. The next most important criterion is that your comment be thoughtful. Be sure to justify your main point whenever necessary.
  3. The next most important criterion is that your comment be focused instead of rambling. Try to be moderately concise, making your points one time and then backing them up
  4. Please proofread your comment to ensure it is clear. Take advantage of WebBoard's spell checker.

Discussion Grading

Grading Discussion Regularity

I will grade you on your regularity of posting discussion comments and replies on-time. You can find a discussion record form on the course home page. Fill it in weekly. Turn this form in twice this semester: on 10/25 and 12/11. Follow the submission instructions on the course home page.

Grading Discussion Quality

I will be grading the quality of your discussion, based in part on the usefulness comments above.

last updated: 10/24/2001 - Version 2.2
this page: http://www.cis.njit.edu/~bieber/WWW-Standards-F01/hw-discussion.html