Install and play with Audacity

Audacity is a free, open-source audio-processing program that was developed by audio researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.

Your assignment is to install Audacity and play around with it for at least an hour. There are versions for Windows and Mac OS that you can download here. There is also a portable version that you can download and run from a Windows flash drive here.

Study the "getting started" notes then play around -- record some audio, cut out some portion of what you record by selecting it in the timeline; paste it in somewhere else on the timeline; try effects like echo; change tempo and change speed, whatever you feel like trying. Explore the user interface. At the end of the hour, record a screenshot and post it on your blog with the label "Asst 20".

Install and play with Paint.net

Paint.net is a free image processing program that began as a project at the University of Washington and was then picked up by MicroSoft. It provides much of the functionality of a high-end image processor like PhotoShop at no cost.



Your assignment is to install Paint.net and play around with it for half an hour. Import an image and try changing its size, contrast, etc. Make it black and white. Crop it. Save it. Whatever you feel like. At the end of half an hour, take a screenshot and post it on your blog.

Add a link to your blog to the class roster

Our class roster is hosted by a database creation service from an Indian company called Zoho.

Our class roster application is very simple. To create it, I only had to define one form and one report.

Here is a copy of my form as it stands today:

Yours will have the same fields, but the values that you entered.

I also defined a report for our class roster database. Previously it had three columns:Last name, First name, and Email address. I have now added a new column: Blog URL.

After you set up your blog, enter a link to it in the class roster. Be sure to test the link (I will :-).

Print out a copy of the class roster and highlight your entry to turn in.

Using Twitter message conversations

Follow everyone on your team. When you are all following each other, have one team member address a message to all the other team members. Then each team member should say something in reply. Print out a screenshot that includes your contribution to the conversation to turn in.

Link to topic module

Play around with Twitter

Create a Twitter account if you do not already have one.

Post a "tweet" and print a screenshot showing your tweet to turn in.

The Twitter search box can be used to search for words within a tweet by a given user. What query would you enter in the search box to see all of Donald Trump's (@realDonaldTrump) tweets that contain the word "Biden"?

Find someone you want to follow and add your recommendation to our Cool Tweet database.

Link to topic module

Paint.Net tool settings -- the Rectangular Select tool

This is the menu of options for the Rectangular-Select tool:

The red line and arrow show two of the options.

The underlined option has five choices: Replace, Add, Subtract, Intersect and Invert.

The drop-down menu designated by the arrow gives three choices: Normal, Fixed Ratio and Fixed Size.

Experiment with the different settings, then answer these questions:

1. What is the difference between the Normal and Fixed Ratio modes?

2. What is the difference between the Replace and Add modes?

3. What is the difference between the Replace and Subtract modes?

Key points in Daphne Koller's presentation on Coursera

Online education is an application with significant implications for individuals, organizations, and society.

Coursera is increasingly focusing on continuing education and you may well take Coursera courses after graduation -- for entertainment or career advancement. In the future, CSUDH may come to see Coursera as a competitor, a collaborator or as a platform on which to post and market classes.

Read and or listen to the podcast interview of Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller.

She says a lot in the interview -- pick out the sentence or thought that you think is most important and post it along with a statement as to why you chose it in our class community under the "Coursera key points" category.

You can do this assignment alone or in a team of two or three people.

Print your statement to turn in.

Online discussion

You watched a video interview of Sal Khan and I asked you to formulate a discussion question on the video. You posted those questions in our class community under the topic "Questions for Sal Khan."

For this assignment, pick one of those questions -- not your own -- and answer/discuss it. Post your answer online as a comment on the original question.

Also print out the question and your answer/discussion to turn in.

Link to topic module

Presentation assessment

You have created presentations on some Internet application, implication or technology.

The assignment was intended to get you thinking about an effective presentation style for teaching and to explain a topic of interest to the class.

Now you will rate the presentations by giving them "plus 1" in our Google Community.

You each have two votes, one for most effective teaching document and one for the topic you find most interesting.

You cannot give both votes to the same presentation and you cannot vote for your own group.

Give a "Plus 1" for the two you want to vote for.

When you have voted, print out a screen shot showing your Plus ones to turn in and briefly explain why you selected the presentations you chose.

Link to Topic Module

Collaborate on a document

I have combined your answers to questions about the Wesch video into this draft of a jointly created document.

For a start, many people rushed through this document without doing a spelling and grammar check. Edit the document to correct a spelling or grammar error and print a screenshot showing your correction. (If it is unclear, indicate which is yours). Note that the word processor includes automatic spelling and grammar checking under the "Tools" menu.

(If you made a spelling or grammar error, what does that tell you about yourself? Just think about it, there is nothing to turn in).

Our goal is to provide a document that would be of value to someone just beginning his or her studies. To do that, we will collaboratively polish and improve the draft by adding comments in the form of a suggestion -- perhaps suggest a change to make it more readable, share a personal anecdote or give a word of advice.

When you have added your suggestion, make a screenshot showing and print it on a separate page to turn in. (If it is unclear, indicate which is yours).

Turn in both screenshots -- one with a spelling or grammar correction and the other with a more substantive comment.

Link to topic module

Application, implication or technology presentation

Our class covers Internet applications, implications and technology. Your assignment is to pick a single application, implication or technology and create a short presentation that teaches about it.

The target audience for the presentation is your CIS 275 classmates -- not techies. It should be self-contained, with adequate notes on the slides, but feel free to include links for further study if the reader becomes interested. Think of it as being roughly the equivalent of a section in a textbook.

The end product is a presentation file with slides and enough notes to stand on its own -- as a document to be read and studied, not the slides for a talk. (You will not be giving a presentation, just preparing the document).

Feel free to copy my presentation style -- a relatively simple slide with text annotation and sometimes questions for thought (those little stop signs) or pick a style you think works better.

Use Slides, the Google Drive presentation program, for this assignment. When you have a presentation that you have all worked on and are proud of, print a copy to turn in along with the document's Google Drive address (its URL).

This assignment will count double and there will be bonus credit for the best ones.

Link to topic module

Looking for a good question

Questions are more important in education than answers.

Read this blog post on projects to provide Internet connectivity at any point on the Earth.

Your assignment is to come up with a question after reading the post.

It should not be a simple factual question that can be answered by reading the post or a simple Google search and you are not expected to be able to answer the question.

Do not blow this assignment off by asking the first question that pops into your mind -- try to ask an interesting question.

Type your question to turn in -- also indicate whether it deals with Internet applications, implications or technology.

Link to topic module

Under the hood of a survey application

The purpose of this assignment is to reinforce your understanding of the information flow between a client and server on the Internet and the functional components of a computer. It also gives you practice collaboratively writing a short document.

Now that you have completed the student background survey, write carefully worded answers to these questions:

1. I used a survey-creation program to enter and format the survey questions. Where was that program while I was creating the survey?
2. After I finished drafting the survey, where were the survey questions stored?
3. While you were completing the questionnaire, what program were you running?
4. Where are your answers now?
5. While you were completing the survey, where was the survey-completion program and when did it get there?

Be specific and use the words client, server, memory, storage, program and data when appropriate. For example, don't just say something is stored at "Survey Gizmo" -- be more specific.

Use the Google Drive word processor for this assignment. When you have a clearly written answer that you are proud of, print a copy to turn in and send me the link to your answers in an email.

Be sure to set the sharing permission so that anyone with the address can view it, but only your team members can edit it.

Link to topic module.
Link to topic module
Link to topic module
Link to topic module

Do you get enough back in return for your privacy?

The purpose of this assignment is to get you thinking about Internet privacy and its costs and benefits. It will also give you practice writing a short, Internet document and, if you do it with a partner, with collaborative writing.

Watch these videos:

• Google video on the benefits of personalized search
• Google video on the benefits of personalize ad targeting
• Sixty Minutes segment on online privacy

Then write a short document that:

1. Summarizes in a sentence or two and links to the CBS video.
2. Summarizes in a sentence or two and links to the Google videos.
3. States your view on the issue -- do you get enough back in return for giving up aspects of your privacy?

Don't forget to include the links -- assume the reader is online.

Print the document to turn in.

Link to topic module on Internet privacy
Link to topic module on writing short documents

UCLA learning behaviors survey

The purpose of this assignment is to focus your attention on learning behaviors that have been found to correlate with academic success by UCLA researchers. It also illustrates an online survey application and gives you practice with Internet writing.

Complete this learning behaviors survey. Don't rush -- really think about your answers.

When you have finished, print a screen shot showing your responses and submit the form.

I will not pay a bit of attention to your particular responses -- the purpose is to help you look at your own learning behaviors.

Next, write answers to these questions, written using the Google Drive word processor

1. Which of these learning behaviors is easiest for you?
2. Which of these learning behaviors is hardest for you?
3. Which new one, if any, are you willing to try this semester?

Print the answer using the print command in the Google word processing program and turn it in.

Link to topic module
Link to topic module

The UCLA survey covers many other characteristics of freshman students -- for more information, see this blog post.

Create a simple databse

This assignment will introduces an online database service, Zoho Creator.

Start by signing up for a 15-day free trial, which includes all of the premium features or a limited Forever Free account, which is sufficient for this assignment.

Your assignment is to create a simple database with at least one form with at least three types of field and one report. Add at least three records to your database and print copies of the form and the report showing at least three records to turn in.

The database can be for any application you choose, but, if you do not have any better idea, you can implement the sample animal database we demonstrated in class:

When your database is finished add a date field to the form then add a new record, entering your name instead of a date. What happened when you entered your name in a date field?

Crowd sourcing -- best Twitter reference sheet

You created reference sheets for the Twitter user interface and posted them to our class community on Google Plus. Review the various reference sheets and vote (+1) for the one you think is the most useful. Also post a short statement saying why you chose the one you did. The best reference sheets will get extra credit.

You can not vote for your own post.

Print out your post to turn in.

Craft a question about the Khan Academy

This assignment has two purposes -- to introduce you to Sal Khan and the Khan Academy, an important Internet education service, and to get you to think about good questions.

Read the associated topic module, then watch this TED Talk by Sal Khan of the Khan Academy.

After watching it, formulate a question that a teacher might ask a class about the talk. Try to come up with a question that would get the class thinking or stimulate discussion -- it should not be something trivial like a fact that could be looked up in the talk transcript or using a search engine. Make sure it is a question that you could answer intelligently.

When you have crafted a carefully worded question, print it out to turn in.

Also post it to our class community under the topic "questions for Sal Khan."

Link to topic module

Simple blog post

In a previous assignment, you answered a question on a talk by Michael Wesch. Post your revised, well-written answer to that question on your blog. (Be sure to state which of the three questions you are answering).

Print and turn in a screen shot of your blog post.

Link to topic module

The Twitter user interface

This assignment has two purposes -- to familiarize you with the Twitter user interface and to provide collaborative writing experience.

The Twitter user interface has seven links (A-G above). Experiment with and write a short description of what each is used for.

Your answer should be a document that describes each letter and its function.

Post your document on Google Drive then post a link to it in our class Google Plus community. Note that you should post it in the "Twitter user interface" category. (Only one team member should post the link). Be sure to share your document publically readable so others can see it.

Print a copy of your document and the link to it in the class community to turn in.

Link to topic module