1. Course Website
Organization
Simanta Mitra, Ph.D.
Department of Computer Science
Iowa state University
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2. Organization
There are four parts to the website:
1. The first part is the interaction area.
2. The second part is the course content area.
3. The third part is the grades area.
4. The last part is the help area.
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3. Course Interaction Area
 Announcements: All course related announcements will
be made here. In addition, we will also send out emails to
the class.
 Messages: This is like email – except it is embedded in
blackboard. You can use this mechanism to contact us
directly with your non-urgent questions. If you have an
urgent question – email me directly.
 Discussions: Here you can discuss questions related to the
class with your classmates. The TA and I will also chime in
to help. Do NOT post code or give away answers to graded
assignments here.
 We will also use blogs (collaborative) and journals
(personal) later in the semester.
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4. Course Content Area
 This is where all learning materials will be located. This
material is organized by WEEKS.
 Each week's contents will have reading materials, self-tests,
quizzes, possibly assignments, and sometimes surveys.
 The entire semester is divided into THREE units – each
about five weeks long. During the last week of each unit, we
will basically be reviewing the materials and getting ready
for the exam at the end of the unit.
 Do note that "tracking" is enabled – so we can check if
students are reading the materials etc.
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5. Grades Area
 This is where quiz, homework, programming project, and
exam grades will be posted. This will include comments and
feedback from your TA.
 I do maintain all grades separately on a spreadsheet – as it
easier to do final grade calculations. I will occasionally post
overall grades by email to the class.
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6. Help Area
 Aside from Blackboard help, we will have a link here to all
"how-to" articles that we will post this semester.
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