Because this is a complex course, made up of many elements, including humans, machines, and interactions between the two, this course description is undoubtedly longer than you're used to. You are nevertheless responsible for knowing and understanding everything on this page. Please e-mail me with questions before the end of the add/drop period. After that, I will work under the assumption that you have read, understand, and agree to these policies and regulations.

I would also like to acknowledge my debt in the creation of this website/course to Kathrine Aydelott and Wendy Hennequin, both of whom have been generous with their coding and class design/descriptions for this incarnation of 249S. Thank you!

• English 249s is a writing and computer course; you will both write traditional papers and hand-code HTML web sites . [General Description]


• You must come to class promptly, be courteous to me and to each other, do your (own) work, and hand that work in on time. [Class Policies]


• You must handle the computers with care and respect. [Computers]


• Your grade will be based on your writing, your web work, and your class participation. [Grading]


• I will be happy to meet with you either during my office hours, by appointment, or via electronic means. [Office Hours]

English 249s is a writing course and a computer programming course. We will work on several different kinds of writing this semester, ranging from a short web site analysis, to an exercise in writing for different audiences, to a more traditional expository paper. You will also learn the computer programming language HTML and will design your own web site.

In order to take English 249s, you must have completed English 105 and 109 (or their equivalents). Prior knowledge of the Internet and its workings, while helpful, is not required. Nor do you need to have prior experience with HTML; in fact, the less experience you have the more you will get out of class. In other words, this course originates in the English department, not in the Computer Science department. Those of you with extensive HTML experience might not be as challenged by the programming assignments as you would like.

Our topics for discussion and writing will be contemporary issues of technology, including the social and cultural impact of the Internet, and how these issues collide with and affect our writing. Discussions will take up a great deal of class time. For a good part of the semester, we will also spend one day a week on web-page development.

Although I, as your instructor, am in charge of the classroom, the class itself is structured as a seminar. This implies a lot of give-and-take between us. You will very likely have more experience in some areas than I do, and I will have more experience than you in others. We should consider this a good thing. We will learn together; I will not feed you information that you will then regurgitate for tests. There will be no quizzes in this class, and there is no final exam.

This further means that we must all be adequately prepared for each class session. This is not a lecture course; it is a discussion course and a workshop course. The class depends on your participation and preparation as much as it does mine. Class will suffer if either you or I fail in this regard.

In such an atmosphere, you will be treated as adults. If you need to go to the bathroom, you are free to do so, but please don't be overly disruptive. You do not need to raise your hand to speak, but please be careful not to interrupt others. If your neighbor needs help, please help him. Recognize there may well be people of extremely different backgrounds and experiences in our class, and please be respectful.

Class Policies

• Attendance: Come to Class.

If you are not here, you can't participate. As this is a seminar and not a correspondance course, your presence identifies you as taking the class. I do realize, however, that sometimes you can't be here. Those who must miss class for extracurricular obligations scheduled in advance (such as atheletic meets or religious holidays) should contact me beforehand; those who miss class for unforseen reasons (such as illness) should e-mail me that day. I will expect athletes and those absent for an extended period of time to provide proper documentation for their absences; those attending funerals or who have family emergencies should get documentation for the Department of Student Affairs.

If you do have a legitimate reason to miss class, I will excuse you, and the absence will not count against you so long as you responsibly make up the work. Note that scheduling conflicts, travel plans, and sleeping through alarms are not legitimate reasons for missing class. These are choices you make freely, and you must take responsibility for them.

Whether you have a legitimate reason or not for missing class, you are responsible for whatever we covered during that session and for being prepared for the next one. Need I say more?

• Tardiness: Be Here on Time.

Class starts at 11:00 a.m. I will start class at 11:00 a.m. (my watch, 'cause I'm the instructor). The beginning of class is my chance to greet you, to take attendance, to make announcements, and to change assignments and due dates if necessary. You may feel that sneaking in a few minutes late won't hurt, but in those few minutes I could have cancelled, changed, or rearranged a week's worth of work. Not to mention, I may not count you as present. On a social level, tardiness is unprofessional and rude; on a practical level it is distracting to the class and detrimental to the tardy person who has missed information. Please be respectful and arrive on time.

• Demeanor: Be Polite, Professional, and Civil.

I will treat you will politeness, respect and civility, and I expect you will do the same to me and to your classmates. Furthermore, I expect your full attention and cooperation when we are working with the computers. Together we might make other rules which will foster a more pleasant and professional working environment. Feel free to e-mail me with ideas.

• Due Dates: Turn In Work On Time.

Late work ruins your schedule and mine. If you are having trouble meeting a deadline, please contact me beforehand. I'm not out to get you, and we can usually work something out. Work will not be accepted after the due date unless arrangements are made at least one day before an assignment is due.

• Plagiarism: Do your Own Work.

Plagiarism is against UConn policy. Plagiarized work, intentional or unintentional, will receive a failing grade and disciplinary action on the university level. Do not buy or copy papers from web sites on the Internet. For one thing, I know where the cheat sites are and can prove that you haven't written the paper; for another, the papers are poorly written, and generally you'll get a bad grade even if I don't catch you.

Web assignments using HTML must be hand-coded. Assignments written with composing programs such as Microsoft Word, Netscape Composer, and PrintShop's web utility, will receive a failing grade. [See Required Materials]

One important clarification: collaboration is not plagiarism. A person who plagiarizes claims work he or she has not done is his or her own; people who collaborate on a project claim that the work that they have done together is their own and generally all take credit. Collaboration is encouraged in this course.

• To Own or Not to Own.

As this is a computer course as well as a writing course, you necessarily need to have access to a computer, on which all of your writing and coding must be done. If you own your own, great; if you don't, you need to determine what computer you'll be using, and where you'll use it, before the end of add/drop period. Many of the dorms have their own computer labs, but be warned, they may not be well-maintained, they may be running old(er) programs, and their virus protection may not be updated regularly. There are a number of public labs on campus; additionally, our classroom may have open hours in the evening. I am not responsible for locating a computer for you, you are.

• History: This is a First!

This course has been running for about five years, and although it may seem strange, last fall was the first semester the course had been taught in a computer lab. Before that time, the students didn't have computers in class, and lab time had to be scheduled in MSB. We are fortunate now to have a classroom where we can all have access to computers and to the Internet.

Working in a computer-assisted classroom can, at times, prove frustrating for all of us. A room full of 20 students and 20+ machines can feel like a room full of 40+ people. I can only help one person at a time. Feel free to help your neighbors if you know what you're doing. If you don't please be patient. Again, we all need to exercise patience in the lab.

And just so you know, I am a native Macintosh user. Although I have used PCs, they are not as second-nature to me as they probably are to you. I may call on your assistance at times. Please help willingly and cheerfully. It will make all of our lives run more smoothly. Thank you.

But please remember that these computers are not yours. They are used by at least three classes each semester. The control panels and other settings have been arranged to facilitate the greatest efficiency, safety, and ease of use for all involved. You are hereby commanded NOT to adjust the settings for your own personal convenience. If something is particularly bothersome to you, you can switch seats, or you can talk to me about it after class. Changing settings can induce software conflicts, encourage virus infection, and can lead to loss of work. Students caught changing settings risk expulsion from the lab and failure of the course. I'm serious here.

• Class Time: So Much to Do....

We have 75 minutes per class to cover a lot of material each day. Class time is for class work, and not for checking e-mail, or for surfing the web for extracurricular reasons. Non-academic and unprofessional Internet use are also causes for expulsion and failure. On a related note, please turn off cell phones and all other electronic devices during class. If your phone rings, you should dash out of the classroom before I can yell at you.

For most of the semester, Fridays will be dedicated to learning how to hand-code HTML and building your web site(s). I will discuss in class the reasons why it is important to learn how to hand-code as opposed to learning to design web pages exclusively from an HTML-editor. All you really need to know here is that you are required to hand-code for this class. The use of editors is considered cheating. Don't do it.

Grades will be calculated on the following criteria:

• Web Site Analysis: 10%
• Audience Assignment: 20%
• Web Directory: 30%
• Dangers of Technology Paper: 30% [See Assignments for more details]
• Attendance/Participation: 10%

Note: there is no final exam in this class.

I grade papers primarily on two sets of criteria. First and foremost, I consider the thoughtfulness and sophistication of ideas (regardless of whether I agree with them). The second criterion is the quality of your writing, which goes hand in hand with the first. I cannot give you credit for your ideas unless you express them clearly and in an organized manner, unless your paper focuses on your ideas and discusses them coherently, and unless you use proper spelling, grammar, syntax, and citation conventions. More often than not, a poor grade reflects not a failure of ideas but poor writing quality. Don't despair. Writing well takes practice--years of practice. See my Grading Criteria for more information.

Participation takes into account the number of times a student is actively present in class, whether that be to comment, add to the discussion, or ask a pertinent question; or in other ways moves to improve his or her standing in class, whether that be to visit me in office hours, to visit the Writing Center, to help others in class, to add pertinent links to the Links page, etc. Your 10% participation grade is therefore based primarily on your attendance in class. The more you attend, the better your grade at the end of the semester.

A typical participation grade breaks down this way:

Base grades go up with participation as outlined above.

Notice, this 10% grade is based on "standard" attendance policies. If you miss more than two weeks of class during the semester (or more then four class meetings), your grade will start to suffer. If you miss significantly more, you will risk failure of the class. In other words, if I don't see you for several weeks at a time, you risk failing class because you aren't taking class; you aren't participating.

Office Hours

I will be available in CLAS 201, or in my office, CLAS 236, on Thursdays from 10:30 am - 11 am, and 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm. This time surrounds our class time. I am and will be happy to make an appointment with anyone who is not available during these times. Small details and quick questions can be addressed to me either before or after class, or via e-mail.

Office hours begin September 5. If I have to change my office hours, I will send a class e-mail announcement.