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CS253 is online Spring 2021

Online

• This semester, Spring 2021, CS253 will be 100% online.
• Many other classes are starting online, then going to campus, but not this one. We are online for the entire semester.
• Ignore any 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, and seeing your scores.
  • Microsoft Teams for viewing lectures & labs, discussions, and office hours.
    • 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 April 18, 2024, at 06:22 AM), 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, 1:00–1:50ᴘᴍ MT Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
• 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) are recorded, not live. The recording will be available Monday morning. The video recording for the lab will be available in the schedule, marked with a TV icon: 📺 and also in Teams.
• Do the lab on your own. This is not a group project.
• Get it right. This is not like the old days, where your best effort was good enough. Treat a lab as a small programming assignment: no copying, and it must unpack & compile.
• Ask for help via email or Teams.
• Turn in your lab work via Canvas.
• As shown in the schedule, they’re due 10:00:00ᴘᴍ MT Saturday, with a 24-hour late period for a 25% penalty.

Programming Assignments

• Turn in programming assignments (HW0, HW1, HW2, …) via Canvas.
• Writeups are available in the schedule.
• As shown in the schedule, they’re due 10:00:00ᴘᴍ MT Saturday (but not every week), with a 24-hour late period for a 25% penalty.

Quizzes

• Weekly quizzes are on Canvas.
• As shown in the schedule, they’re due 10:00:00ᴘᴍ MT Saturday, with a 24-hour late period for a 25% penalty.
• Be sure to actually submit your quiz, via the Submit Quiz button. If you don’t submit your quiz, then Canvas will wait until the end of the late period to automatically submit your quiz, and you will get a late penalty.

Tests

• Midterms & final exam are on Canvas.

Getting Help

• See Connect for how to connect to a CS Dept. Computer, and Connect with MobaXterm for a specific guide using MobaXterm on Windows.
• 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), an audio chat, 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.
• Avoid Canvas messages—nobody reads those. I wish I could disable them.

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.