Editing Building Successful Online Communities (Spring 2021) (section)

== Class format and structure ==

Given [[#Teaching and learning in a pandemic|the pandemic we've living through]], this course will proceed in a '''remote''' format that includes both ''asynchronous'' and ''synchronous'' elements (more on those below). In general, the organization of the course adopts a "flipped" approach where you consume instructional materials on your own (or in groups) and we will use our synchronous meetings to answer questions, address challenges or concerns, work through solutions, and hold semi-structured discussions in the form of '''cases''' which I'll discuss in depth below. 

The '''asynchronous elements of this course''' include two parts:

# All readings, recorded lectures/slides, tutorials, and assignments.
# Conversation and discussion that happens in the group chat over the course of the week.

I expect you to finish all readings and watch all lectures outside of our class meeting times '''before the class sessions on which they are assigned'''. Please note that this means I will not deliver lectures during our class meetings. Please also note that this means you are fully responsible for reading all readings and watching all recorded lecture material before you come to the associated synchronous part of class.

I expect you to check in and participate in our asynchronous group chat discussion at least 3-4 times a week and I plan to check and respond to conversation there at least daily throughout the quarter.

The '''synchronous elements of the course''' will be the two weekly class meetings that will happen via video/voice conference at the normal time on the course schedule. The synchronous sections will be conducted as described in the [[#Synchronous Class Setup|synchronous class setup section of the syllabus]]. Each session is scheduled to run for the full period although I will likely not use the full amount of time given that lectures will be pre-recorded. If we do use the entire time, I'll try to work in at least a couple breaks. 

I will use the class meetings to do several things:

# Discuss and work through any questions or challenges you encounter in the materials assigned for that day. 
# Discuss and/or answer questions about assignments that have come up over the previous work.
# Conduct each day's '''case study discussion(s)''' involving an instructor-mediated conversation with each of you.

=== Websites and Technology Expectations ===

Because this class is online due to the pandemic, there are a number of expectations that you will be able to connect to certain websites. In order to complete this class, I expect you to be able to access and use the following web resources:

* [https://wiki.communitydata.science/ wiki.communitydata.sciece] — This website will host the syllabus for the course. I expect you to be able to visit it regularly.
* [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1448701 This classes page in UW's Canvas] — We'll be using Canvas for posting announcements, uploading course-restricted files, turning in assignments, and distributing grades.
* [https://www.lib.washington.edu/help/connect/tools UW Library Proxy] — I'm going to expect that you can use the UW Libraries proxy to access material that UW subscribes to from off campus. You'll need to to get material to do the readings for class.
<!-- * [https://discord.com/ Discord] — Discord is a chat system that we'll be using in the course to stay in touch between class and to discuss things asynchronously. It has screensharing and voice chat as well which we are going to use for our case discussions. There is a mobile app as well as a downloadable desktop app that you may find useful but you should be able to do everything you need to while using the web interface version. -->
* [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software Microsoft Teams] — Teams is a chat system that we'll be using in the course to stay in touch between class and to discuss things asynchronously. It has screensharing and video/voice chat as well which we are going to use for our in person meetings. There is a mobile app as well as a downloadable desktop app that you may find useful but you should be able to do everything you need to while using the web interface version with Chrome or Edge. The desktop app runs for Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
* [https://www.panopto.com Panopto] — UW uses the video hosting service Panopto which I will be using to share all the lectures and recordings of the class sessions.
* [https://zoom.us Zoom] — UW strongly recommends that all courses be conducted in Zoom so I will be following their advice. Our case studies will involve Zoom.
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/ English Wikipedia] — Assignments for this course will involve contributing to Wikipedia. This means that you will need to have access to Wikipedia. Typically, Wikipedia blocks editting through proxies but if you contact me, I should be able to create an account for you and have it whitelisted.
* [https://docs.google.com/ Google Docs] — I'll be using Google Docs to host a series of web forms. This includes the form you'll need to fill out to tell me that you're going to miss class. You will need to be able to access Google to use this.

These websites, in turn, use a range of hosting providers including Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft. As a result, participation in this course requires students to access Internet resources that may not be accessible directly in some places outside of the UW campus. Anybody taking the class must ensure that they can access all Internet resources required for this course reliably and safely. For students who are off-campus and are in a situation where direct access to these required resources is not possible, UW-IT recommends that students use the official UW VPN, called [https://itconnect.uw.edu/connect/uw-networks/about-husky-onnet/use-husky-onnet/ Husky OnNet VPN]. UW-IT advises students to use the VPN with the “All Internet Traffic” option enabled (see the [https://www.lib.washington.edu/help/connect/husky-onnet UW Libraries instructions] and [https://itconnect.uw.edu/connect/uw-networks/about-husky-onnet/faqs/ UW-IT’s FAQs]). Doing so will route all incoming and outgoing Internet through UW servers while it is enabled.

However, students who are outside the US while taking this course should be aware that they may be subject to laws, policies and/or technological systems which restrict the use of any VPNs. UW does not guarantee students’ access to UW resources when students are off-campus, and [https://itconnect.uw.edu/work/appropriate-use/ students are responsible for their own compliance with all laws] regarding the use of Husky OnNet and all other UW resources.