Summary Weeks 1 and 2 and Update January 27, 2013

Writing

I am extremely pleased (on the whole) with the quality of your posts for Blog Post #1. Most were well written and informative. Here were the major problems: 4 students did not do the assignment; 4 did not do all parts of the assignment; 4 were late; one student did not put all parts of the assignment into one post; 3 exhibited significant writing and/or proofreading problems; 3 more may have writing problems which were not particularly evident.

How could you have made your post better? One important way was to find out about more about Dr. Pausch. I raised that possibility indirectly with the question "Do you know anything else about Dr. Pausch?" I wanted to see if any of you would look him up. Remember the class motto "I don't know. let's find out." If you don't know something, find out. Seventeen students already knew more about Dr. Pausch or looked him up and reported on what they found. If you didn't do this, we want you to look things up when you don't know something. Take advantage of the technological tools available to you. Be inquisitive. Create a desire to learn within you.

Mandatory Class Attendance

This was another bright spot this semester. We had only 4 unexcused absences out of a total possibility of 408. Excellent!

I am extremely pleased that the semester is off to such a good start. Keep it up.

Some Reminders

1. I have posted revisions to Projects, Activities, the Syllabus (Lab schedule) and Blogpost Assignments. Make sure you are using the latest version as indicated in the sidebar of the Class Blog.
2. I have made all photos available. You should have gotten a Gmail with a link to the page where you can find your photograph. You can also go to the Emergency page for the Manuals. Near the top, in the middle, are links to the photo pages. If your picture is not a picture of you, please let me know.
You can use your own picture of yourself BUT the picture must be a HEAD shot of you and you ALONE. ALONE.
3. The list of Groups and Podcast Assignments has been shared with you and is on your Google Drive. If you do not see it, remember to click More and then All items... Order your copy of the assigned book now. Eight of you will also have a chapter from a second book available for you in the Lab. This is indicated in the assignment column of the Doc.
4. I have also shared the Class Roster with Groups which is alphabetical by last name. This Doc contains contact information for all EDM310 students.
5. Several of you are still sending mail to edm310new. From now on send all mail to edm310help@gmail.com which is read by me and Lab Assistants or to strange.john@gmail.com. Do NOT send any mail to edm310new. I use that address only at the beginning of the semester.
6. Wordle and Java Problems Thaere have been some major security problems identified with Java in the last three weeks. As a result some of the browsers have introduced measures which prevent Java from working or require extensive permissions from the user. If you are having Java problems, set aside the Wordle project until the Java problems are resolved. I will keep you posted.

Thanks again for a wonderful start to the Spring 2013 semester. Keep it up!