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CS253 is online Fall 2020

Online

• This semester, Fall 2020, CS253 will be 100% online.
• Ignore the designated rooms for lecture & labs.
  • Nobody will be there.
  • Don’t come to campus for this class.
  • I’m not going to.

General

• The class is in three places:
  • https://cs.colostate.edu/~cs253 for viewing homework assignments, schedule, syllabus, etc.
  • Canvas, CSU’s LMS, for turning in homework & labs, taking quizzes & tests.
  • Microsoft Teams for viewing lectures & labs, and discussions.
    • Log in to Microsoft Teams with your CSU address (eid @colostate.edu) and eID password, not a personal account.
  • Piazza is not used.

Time Zones

• All dates & times mentioned are Mountain Time (currently Thu 21 Nov 2024 07:19:15 AM MST), the time zone used at CSU in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
• Your time zone does not determine deadlines; CSU’s time zone (Mountain Time) does.

Lectures

• Lectures will be live, recorded at the scheduled time for CS253, 9:30–10:45ᴀᴍ MT Tuesday/Thursday.
• You can join the lecture live via Teams and ask questions, or watch it later.
• See the schedule for the lecture topics & slides.
• The video recording for the lecture will be available in the schedule, marked with a TV icon: 📺

Labs

• Labs (recitations) will be recorded, not live. The recording will be available Monday morning.
• Watch labs online via Teams.
• See the schedule for the lecture topics & slides.
• Do the lab on your own.
• Ask for help via email or Teams.
• Turn in your lab work via Canvas. It’s due 10:00ᴘᴍ MT Saturday.
• The video recording for the lab will be available in the schedule, marked with a TV icon: 📺

Homework

• https://cs.colostate.edu/~cs253 for homework assignments, schedule, syllabus, etc.
• Turn in homework results via Canvas. It’s due 10:00ᴘᴍ MT Saturday (but not every week).

Quizzes

• Weekly quizzes are on Canvas, due 10:00ᴘᴍ MT Saturday.

Tests

• Midterms & final exam are on Canvas.

Getting Help

• Office hours for the instructor and GTAs are listed in the syllabus.
  • We will be online via Teams at those times.
  • You can do a text chat (start that way) or a video chat.
• For general discussions, use the Teams bulletin board / message board / forum.
• Send mail to your instructor at Jack Applin <Applin [snail] ColoState [period] Edu> -> mailto:Applin [snail] ColoState [period] Edu?subject=CS253. GTA email addresses are in the syllabus.

Advice

Make a schedule, and stick to it. Watch the lectures live if you can, otherwise watch them the day that they’re released, on the assigned day for the class. It’s hard enough to drag yourself to lectures each week. Now, when it’s from home? It’s really hard. It’s easy to fall behind when you know you can just “watch the lectures later”. You won’t. The homework, labs, quizzes & tests are due whether or not you’re up to date on the lectures. Just stay up to date.