Course: ATLS 2200
Instructor: Arielle Hein
Email: arielle.hein@colorado.edu
Office Hours: Thursday 12-2pm or by appointment, ENVD 234 (BTU Lab)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Web is a core (required) course that provides a strong foundation and overview of web technologies to all students in the Technology Arts Media (TAM) program. The course also serves as an introduction to web design and development to students majoring in TAM and pursuing a focus in web technology. Students will learn to design and develop websites and demonstrate a solid understanding of the primary front-end web languages HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Upon completion of the course students will be able to design, develop, and deploy and maintain web sites onto a server. Web is a projects-based course that offers hands-on introduction to web design and development, web imagery, and multimedia storytelling. Through project work and active participation, students will be challenged to express creativity and demonstrate conceptual and critical thinking.

The class lab sessions will feature a combination of lectures, demonstrations, discussions, open lab sessions and critiques. Students will complete a number of projects geared towards gaining a broad proficiency in new media applications and relating them to an overall understanding of the topics of technology, arts, and media within our society. Selected research, tutorials, and related readings will be expected to contribute to class discussions, projects, and critiques.

GRADING

Students will be assessed on conceptual ideas, technical skills, critical thinking, writing, oral presentation, participation and attendance. Student projects will be assessed on conceptual thought, creativity, originality and aesthetic qualities, demonstration of competent use of media tools, and work finished and presented on the due date. The final grade will be averaged from the project work, assignments, attendance, participation, writing and oral presentations.

In order to counteract grade inflation, I do not give out A’s easily. If you turn in all your work on time (and if it is satisfactorily completed), and if you attend class and participate, you are ensured a C. A’s and B’s are reserved for students who excel beyond average and competent work.

Grades will be determined according to the following breakdown:

Large Projects: 60% (6 in total worth ~10% each)
Small Homework Assignments: 20%
Midterm Exam: 10%
Final Exam: 10%

A = 90-100%, excellent work
B = 80-89%, above average work
C= 70-79%, average or competent work
D = 60-69%, below average work
F = 0-59%, unsatisfactory work

You are required to earn a C letter grade or higher in order to continue course work in the TAM program.

EXTRA CREDIT

There will be opportunities to earn extra credit throughout the semester. The combined maximum benefit of extra credit is limited to one letter step (e.g. B+ to A-, C- to C). Extra Credit is a useful tool when used in moderation (to make up for an absence or a missed assignment), but it is not intended to be used in place of a student exhibiting mastery in the subject matter of a course. Extra credit assignments will directly relate to the content and practices of the course.

FINALS SCHEDULE

Section 010 - Thursday, May 5, 4:30-7:00pm
Section 020 - Monday, May 2, 1:30-4:00pm

REQUIRED RESOURCES

MATERIALS

  • Notebook - low tech device for taking notes and sketching designs
  • Headphones - required while working on any project that uses audio
  • Portable Storage Device (USB jump drive) - All work must be backed up on a daily basis to avoid any project data being lost. Problems with the technology will not excuse late assignments or projects. Back up your work every single day before you leave class.

ATTENDANCE

Attendance is mandatory. Please inform me via email if you are going to miss a class. You are allowed 3 absences (not applicable to critique days), every absence after that will result in the lowering of the final letter grade by 10%. Tardiness (arriving more than 10 minutes late or skipping out early) counts as a .333 absence.

Individual projects that are turned in late will result in the grade being lowered for that project. Feedback through the form of critique is also essential; absence from any of the class critiques will result in a drop of one letter grade for that assignment.

COMPUTING DEVICES USAGE POLICY

Laptops and mobile computing devices can be a great asset to learning, but they can also be a source of distraction and actually impair the learning environment. Within ATLAS courses, computers, laptops and mobile computing devices should only be used for class related activities. Checking E-mail, “Facebooking,” working on assignments or projects for other courses, Instant Messaging, gaming and web-surfing are examples of unacceptable classroom behaviors. If you are found to be engaging in these activities during course time, Instructors reserve the right to ask you to leave the classroom.

Additionally, the use of a cell-phones or texting devices during class is expressly verboten (forbidden).

ASSIGNMENTS & READINGS

Unless otherwise specified, all assignments are due at the beginning of class on assigned due dates. All projects, must be turned in online by linking your project to your class assignment portal. Unless specifically stated, I do not accept homework via email. If your projects and assignments are not posted to your class assignment portal, you will not receive credit for them.

Large projects turned in late will be graded 10% lower for each day that they are late. Small assignments turned in late will be accepted for half credit for one week passed their initial due date. After one week, late small assignments will no longer be accepted for credit.

LAB POLICY

Food and drinks are not permitted inside the lab. This is not an open ITS lab, only students who are enrolled in the TAM program should have access to the computers in 113,104, 105, and 225. Do not under any circumstance prop the doors open or let anyone in. If they are authorized to use the lab they will have their buff one cards activated.

COURSE CONTENT

The instructor of this class reserves the right to show a broad range of course materials, some of which assume the audience to be adult in age and demeanor. should a student feel offended by something they have seen or heard, it would appreciated, but not required, to stay to be part of the dialogue to offer your perspective. however if the student feels that they cannot stay, they are welcome to leave the classroom as discretely as possible.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

This class is held in an academic university setting and due to the inherent nature of the internet and broad range of topics that your project work will explore it is inevitable that we will come across issues dealing with politics and religion. My role during such discussions will be a facilitator, a mediator, and as impartial as humanly possible. All students are encouraged to participate in open discussion and academic discourse.



UNIVERSITY POLICIES

A full list of CU’s academic policies can be found online at http://www.colorado.edu/policies.

Honor Code

All work/ideas/code must be original and created for this class. All code should be written from scratch by you - meaning that although some code is repeatable you should never copy and paste code from other sources and then find and replace your content into it.

All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; 303-735-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/.

If you fail to meet a guideline by accident, we’ll discuss the situation without taking it to the Honor Council. But if I discover willful intent on your part, I’m obligated to report that to the Honor Council, which has the authority to enforce non-academic corrective action. I retain the authority to enforce academic sanctions, which will range from an F on the project to an F in the course, depending on the severity of the breach of trust.

Classroom Behavior

Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student’s legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See policies at colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and at colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code.

Disabilities

If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least one week prior to the exam) so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or by e-mail at dsinfo@colorado.edu. If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary Medical Conditions: Injuries, Surgeries, and Illnesses guidelines under Quick Links at Disability Services website and discuss your needs with your professor.

Religious Rights

Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. See full details at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html.

Discrimination and Harassment

The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. The University of Colorado does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status in admission and access to, and treatment and employment in, its educational programs and activities. (Regent Law, Article 10, amended 11/8/2001). CU-Boulder will not tolerate acts of discrimination or harassment based upon Protected Classes or related retaliation against or by any employee or student. For purposes of this CU-Boulder policy, “Protected Classes” refers to race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or veteran status. Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) at 303-492-5550.