Welcome to ITC240, Web Application Programming 1!

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In this class you'll learn the difference between web pages and web applications. We'll work with PHP, the world's most popular server side scripting language to add functionality and MySQL, the world's most popular open source web database to store the data as we build web applications.

Canvas: This class uses the Learning Management System (LMS) named Canvas. Canvas can track assignments & submissions, online quizzes, grading, discussion forums and more! It's possible you could have more than one class inside Canvas and can even have separate Canvas instances to reach particular classes. Therefore the link to this class can always be reached via the following URL:

http://www.billnsara.com/

To reach the login screen for a particular class, click on the course number on the page above and you'll be prompted for your login.

No textbook, lynda.com videos instead: This class does not use a textbook, but instead uses a limited lynda.com video subscription. You'll be informed of how to access your video subscription during the first week of class. Most of us are eligible for free access to lynda.com videos once we have a King County Library card. Branches are in places like White Center, Burien, Bellevue, Shoreline, etc: https://www.kcls.org/usingthelibrary/locations/

Dreamhost PHP/MySQL Web Hosting: We require all students in classes starting with ITC240 provide their own dependable PHP/MySQL web hosting. The only approved host thus far is Dreamhost, who currently has a $29 deal for the first year. All students will be required to have their own Dreamhost hosting, at the start of the quarter. If you wish to use a different host, contact me in advance for permission. Educational discount details for Dreamhost are here: Dreamhost Educational Discount

USB Headset: If your classes are funded by financial aid, explain to them this is a requirement of the course, as you're required to do online interaction and listen to a lot of videos. Here is a good USB headset: Logitech ClearChat Headset

Announcements: As things happen in the class you'll be notified via Announcements. You can also scan through these to see what may have been covered on a particular day as I'll try to use this section to keep a record of where we're going and where we've been!

Modules as our Guide: Modules in Canvas allow us to move through the materials in a relatively sequential manner, and are the first place to look for what's required. To see where you are in terms of course progress, click on the most recent Module (Module 1 is all that is applicable at first) and click on the first item. When you scroll to the bottom of the page, you'll see forward and back arrows to help you navigate the items in the module. View the due dates for each item in the module to see when they're due.

Pages/Links: Near the top of the modules you'll find links to study materials named Pages and other items. These are to be studied to build a foundation to support the deliverables found in the module. Please study these items when they becomes available and before class if possible.

Hard Due Dates: There will be certain assigments and other class deliverables which must be complete by a posted due date. If you see an alarm clock icon, there are date restrictions on the item!

Typically the things that have hard due dates don't involve code. The items that will always have a hard due date are:

Discussions
Quizzes
Weekly Exercises
Video Question & Answers (lynda.com)

Some items, such as quizzes may not have the alarm clock, so please view the instructions for each deliverable.

Assignments: These make up the most detailed obligations for the class. These include web applications you build, but may include other items as deliverables. Generally you will be expected to submit a link to where your assignment exists on the web or upload a file by a specific date and time. Select assignments may be allowed up to one re-grade request. View the class syllabus for details on re-grades.

Video Q&A: We'll use videos as our main reference material, and I'll present video questions & answers as assignments with hard due dates. These questions will directly relate to specific videos in the Lynda.com video subscription, and occasionally elsewhere. The deliverable will be a word document of questions & answers and has a hard due date.

Quizzes: At intervals Quizzes consisting of online multiple choice questions will test our understanding of materials and concepts. Quizzes are dated and can only be taken once. I allow 24 hours to ask questions about a quiz when it is made public, so please let me know if anything needs clarification. Failure to take or finish a quiz by the due date will incur a zero score.

Discussions: In this class you'll be expected to participate in graded Discussions. These are discussion forums that allow you to post comments or answers to questions. We'll use this to keep our heads in the game and allow some class interaction. These are usually graded, and must be done on time, no re-grades! Remember to be polite as these are public.

Weekly Exercises: Most of us learn best when we type in fundamentals while learning web development. To that end you will be required to post a google doc to weekly hands-on exercises. These exercises will be code we work on during class that you will copy to a weekly exercise document. The weekly exercises must be linked on your staging page and submitted via Canvas. If they are not linked when I do the grading you will lose points. There will be no re-grades on weekly exercises, so complete these on time!

Online Participation via Collaborate: Although this class is designed to be attended live, if you are out of town or otherwise indisposed, you can usually attend this class live via Collaborate. Attending remotely via Collaborate is a privilege and should only be done when necessary or if you are all caught up and don't need help from me to complete class work. If you are having any difficulty completing work, you are required to attend class in person in order to receive live help during lab time. The live collaborate link is the following: Collaborate Live

Class Recordings: Collaborate not only allows live attendance of classes, it also records the class. Therefore if you miss a class, or need a review, I attempt to record all lectures. My goal is to post a link to a recorded lecture within 24 hours of a class. Click the following link to view the ITC240 Winter 2015 Class Recordings