We will use Microsoft Teams for much of the communication in this class. You should have already been added to the course Team. If not, please let a member of the course staff know, so we can get you set up.
Teams includes a chat tool that permits text chat, audio chat, and audio/video chat. I prefer to do one-on-one help with text chat, but will also move to audio or audio/video chat as students ask. Feel free to send me a note when you have a question. I may not reply promptly, even if I appear to be on teams or to have read your question. However, I generally reply relatively quickly.
You should also feel free to use the chat tool for meeting with other students. Teams appears to be Grinnell’s recommended video chat tool for students.
As in most text chat programs, you can use @name to tag someone.
@staff should send a message to the class staff, but only if you click on the suggestion that pops up.
When you type a bit of program code, you can use backticks to set it off.
If you have a lot of program code, you can begin it with three backticks.
As you might expect, we will hold most of our class meetings in the “Class Meetings” channel. Teams permits you to share audio and video. I ask that you generally keep your audio muted, except when you are called on in class. (You might also unmute to tell me that I’ve missed a question.) You can choose whether or not to share your video. I prefer to see faces. However I value your personal privacy much more than I value my ability to see your faces. If you are comfortable sharing your face but not your personal space, consider trying one of the Teams backgrounds.
We will regularly do breakouts in Teams, often in pairs. The class mentors and I will visit you in the breakout rooms. You will need to share screens in breakout rooms. You can share your screen or an application window using the icon with an upward arrow. If you find that bandwidth makes screen sharing difficult, consider sharing only a window and shrinking that window.
We have a channel for questions and answers. You should feel comfortable asking questions in that channel. You should feel comforable answering each other’s questions in that channel. The course staff (primarily the course instructor) will regularly check that channel for questions. We prefer that you title your questions. You do so by clicking on the A with a pen unerneath the message. You should see an “Add a subject” line where you can type the title or subject. You must also enter something below the subject. You submit the question by clicking the paper airplane button in the lower-right-hand corner.
I tend to use the announcements channel primarily for announcements of events on campus. I also use it to announce changes in deadlines and such.
Feel free to use the Class Chat channel for building community. I am unlikely to spend much time on this channel unless you explicitly tag me.
The Whatchaupto channel is an easy way to let others know when you are working on CSC-151 in case they want to chat with you. It builds upon a similar channel my summer research team used. They recommended that I consider it for my classes, too.