Greetings CAPP 385 Students,

Welcome to 'The Internet: A Practical Guide.' Another UM term is underway. My name to all my students and colleagues is Phil. It is my pleasure to help you through CAPP 385 this DE Term 3. We need to get to know each other better before we start so I have gone first and shared something of myself with you if you follow the link above. Your first assignment is to post a brief biographical sketch in the Web Tycho Class Conference area under the Main Topic designated for Class Biographic Sketches.

During this first week, please share with your small group (yes, you will be assigned to one on the first day) why you are taking this course and just as importantly, what is it that the other students and I can help you achieve this term. See also Week 1 Individual Assignments and Week 1 Group Assignments.

This course is an exciting introduction to the Internet - and we use the Internet as the medium of exploration. This course is designed to give non-programmers the skills to create a web site they can be proud of. I have had students with few computing and internet skills successfully build attractive web sites - and learn a great deal about the Internet - with little concerted effort on learning a programming language.

We will explore the Internet and record our findings in our virtual classroom on WebTycho and on our personal web site. Your course project will have you build a web site on a topic of interest to you; you will draw information for your exploration of related search engines, on-line databases and libraries, mailing lists and newsgroups, multimedia resources and advanced telecommunications on the Internet. (Certain of the activities are optional, for I know that resources are limited for a variety of reasons.)

You will need reliable, continual access to the Internet throughout the course.

We will use three web sites in this course extensively:

• WebTycho,
• my personal web site (yes, this is it), and
• a Class / Group Web site on the UMUC European Division Student Server that I will set up in a few days.

So you will find yourself spending a lot of time on the Internet and the Web.

That is the first thing about this DE course that is different.

Secondly, I want each of you with authorized access to Internet Relay Chat (See Chapters 27 and 28 of the Nutshell text) to get an ICQ number so we can come together during the first week and 'chat' with each other in groups of 4 or 5.

Those who are deployed to locations where ICQ access is denied should be able to use the I-chat plug-in for Netscape and MS Internet Explorer. With that we can enter the chat room on Web-Tycho and both demonstrate the technique and exchange ideas.

Thirdly, is that during this term we will be using email and email attachments as a backup for our discussions. Hopefully you are familiar with email protocols; have a look at my guidance for sending emails just to be sure.

We can post formatted text documents to WebTycho that do not have graphics, charts, spreadsheets, etc. embedded in them. Some areas will take HTML coded text in the dialog area; many areas will allow text and html files to be uploaded. However, WebTycho cannot handle files within files (whether connected with visible or invisible links) unless they are compressed within an archive (a zipped set of files). Thus web pages (.html files) with pictures or other images linked to them will have the links broken if posted to directly to WebTycho. Yes, if you have looked at the Tycho tutorial, you know that certain areas take .html files - but to display properly they must be one file type only (all text or .gif or .jpg).

Both to give us practice and to overcome this missing feature in WebTycho, each of you will have a web site on a UNIX server. You will learn how to establish your site and upload both web pages and files to your site and link them all together.

As a back-up and troubleshooting measure, we still need to be able to share web site pages outside the web environment. For this we will use compressed file archives. An archive can contain several files and be uploaded to WebTycho and downloaded intact or attached to an email message and recovered completely if properly prepared and transmitted.

We will practice the procedures (both for sending and receiving attachments and for compressing and decompressing collections of files) before we need them so you do not bash your head against a brick wall some dark and lonely night. This can be a frustrating process for the uninitiated so please be patient as I confirm that each of us knows how to share complex files via email attachments.

I have posted the course syllabus and various supplemental Guidance files and handouts on this web site. Please read them. The Full Syllabus differs little from my Preview Syllabus for CAPP-385, but I have added a number of hypertext links to help you see the details behind the headlines. Please follow the links so that you understand the full scope of the course. If you do get lost, see my site overview.

We will spend much of this first week confirming our skill with WebTycho, email, and IRC/ICQ procedures, both in general and for Distance Education courses. We will confirm access to each other, get to know new colleagues and establish a routine. I have set the stage for this course in the syllabus; after you read it, I want you to discuss with your assigned small group your special concerns about the subject and state your desires for areas we should emphasize over the next four months. You will control the content and conduct of our exchanges, for I will concentrate first and perhaps principally on those concepts you ask me to cover. I will also ask you to comment on certain topics relevant to our subject during the course.

It is your responsibility to post each assignment on WebTycho on time (or elsewhere as designated). Start early. Complete your work in advance so you have a chance to critically review it for content and quality of ideas. If you just hit the cut-off date early in the course, you have an excellent chance of being late on subsequent assignments. Keep a copy of each assignment just in case. If you cannot meet a deadline, please e-mail, fax or call me for a week's extension prior to the due date. The course is sequenced and timed reasonably as it is, and you can expect that if you are late on an assignment, you will just make it harder for yourself to complete the next portion of the course successfully.

I have a flexible personal schedule and work out of my home. See the contact details on this web site for how and when to get in touch with me.

I am frequently out for short periods (that sometimes become longer than I intended), so if your concern is urgent, and I am not in, leave a message on my "answer phone" (hold on for at least seven rings) or fax me your question. Of course, watch out for my email response to you and continue trying to reach me directly by phone. If your email goes down temporarily, use a friends account to email me or fax me to keep in touch.

Please post in the WebTycho Class Conference, Main Topic: Biographic Sketch, your email address, location, and (optional) your telephone number.

Should you be unable to check WebTycho and your email at least once every 48 hours and respond to questions within that same period, please notify me.

If you have a particular worry about your course of study or find yourself in difficult circumstances, contact me right now instead of waiting. (Naturally, should something come up later in the course, get in touch with me at that time.) I want to deal with your concerns now so we can get on with the task at hand - which I view as helping you learn as much as you want to learn. Whether it is difficulty with the study material, finding adequate time or surroundings for your study, personal emergencies - whatever - I am truly here to help you succeed.

I trust you had a joyous holiday break with family and friends, avoided both the millennium and flu bugs, and recharged your batteries.

I look forward to hearing from you concerning questions asked and points raised above. We shall have an exciting and fruitful term with your help.

Yours Faithfully,

Phil