Welcome to CS110!

Instructor: Shayne Evans (sve2@pitt.edu)
Office Phone: (412) 624-8439
Office Location: 5501 Sennot Square
Office Hours:
     Tues 9:00a-12:00p (3 hours)
     Tues 1:00-2:00p (1 hour)
     and by appointment
     * Look for me in 5501 and/or 5324 Sennot Square

The purpose of this course is to give students without previous experience the knowledge and skills needed to use computers effectively in college and beyond.

Emphasis will be placed on using software packages for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and databases, as well as using the Internet.

See the "Course Syllabus" on the left for more information.

Announcements:

4.18.2008 - 2:45p - Friday

  • The last date to take the final is Tuesday 4/22 at 8am in Sennott Square 5505.
  • Double check your grades and let me know if you find a problem.
  • Have a great summer! :)

4.17.2008 - 10:15a - Thursday

  • You must email me and receive an email back from me if you plan on skipping the final.
  • I put hypothetical 70% in for the scores on the final.  If your weighted grade is an A- or better, you can keep your current grade and skip the final by sending me an email.
  • If your weighted grade is less than an A-, you must take the final.
  • If you are taking the final next Tuesday instead of on Friday, please email me for directions.
  • It has been great meeting all of you this semester! :)

4.14.2008 - 9:47a - Monday

  • I've added HW7, and written the due dates for the remaining materials in the column on the left.  Hard copies are due in class or in my mailbox by the end of the due date.
  • I will have all of the grades and attendance updated by midnight tonight.
  • By 11:59p Wednesday night (4/16) I will have updated all the grades that I have at that time.
  • My deal:
    If you can achieve an A- or better as your weighted total with a score of 70% on the final, you are free to accept a 70% for your final score and skip the test.  There will be no attendance taken on the day of the final.  You must email me if you will not be taking the final and receive confirmation from me so that there is no confusion.

4.11.2008 - 10:40a - Friday

  • Today I will present material about PC Safety.  This topic includes viruses, worms, spyware, adware, and phishing, etc.
  • I am behind schedule in that I do not have your final HW7 ready yet.  I will assign that on Monday and potentially make it avaialable over the weekend.  It will be a review for the final.
  • I will also determine by Monday who I might excuse from the final, based on grades an attendance.
  • I also assigned Lab7 in class on Wednesday.  I will post it immediately.  There will be no part2 due to time constraints.
  • See you in class!

4.04.2008 - 9:39a - Friday

  • Today we will finish our discussion of the Internet, networking, and related topics.
  • Please remember that attendance is worth 10% of the course grade.

4.01.2008- Tuesday

  • Everyone can check their upgraded grades and attendance record! :)  I can make corrections/explainations as necessary.
  • I will also post the files from Monday's class soon, including Project5 and HW5.

3.26.2008 - 10:10a - Wednesday

  • Today we will continue our hands on exploration of some tools available to us on the Internet, including web browsers, FTP, telnet/ssh, etc.
  • I will post a document that will summarize the relevant information about the use of these tools.

3.24.2008 - 10:49a - Monday

  • Hello.  Today we will practice some hands on work with the Internet.
  • I will post of all the materials to date in the menu on the left.
  • I am not finisihed gradng the midterms, but I will be add many grades this evening.

3.17.2008 - 1:27p - Monday

  • It was nice seeing you all again!
  • HW3 is now due on Wednesday via hardcopy in class.
  • HW4 is also due by Wednesday via email before class.
  • Your midterm is still due by midnight tonight via email.

3.17.2008 - 10:21a - Monday

  • Welcome back!!! and Happy St. Patrick's day!
  • Your midterm assignments are due by midnight tonight via email.  Don't forget!
  • Hopefully not too many people forgot that HW3 is due today in class via hardcopy. :-x
  • Today in class we will begin a discussion of the Internet.
  • This marks the beginning of the second half of our course where we will hopefully have more fun. :)

3.07.2008 - 9:17a - Friday

  • No class today!  Work on your take home midterm.  Enjoy your spring break!  And we'll see you when we get back.

3.05.2008 - 9:57a - Wednesday

  • Today will be the last day of class that we work on the midterm, due Monday(3/17) at 11:59p via email.
  • I'm assigning a HW3 due on Monday(3/17) via Hardcopy
  • There will be no class on Friday(3/7).
  • Enjoy your break! :)

3.03.2008 - 9:15a - Monday

  • Today(3/3) and Wednesday(3/5) you will be given time in class to work on your midterm, due Monday(3/17) at 11:59p via email.
  • We will take a breif survey to help decide the future subject matter of the course.
  • We will not have class on Friday(3/7).
  • I plan to assign a homework 3 about Excel and Access on Wednesday(3/5).

2.29.2008 - 10:15a - Friday

  • Today I will present your midterm assignment.  I will also take questions on Access or any material we've covered so far in the course.  We will be likely to finish early.
  • I am sorry, but I still do not have the grades updated.  I am doing whatever I can to get them udpated today before I leave the campus.

2.27.2008 - 9:47a - Wednesday

      TODAY'S CLASS

     MIDTERM INFORMATION

  • I will assign a take home midterm in class on Monday.  It will require you to create a word document, a power point presentation, and a simple access database.  It will ask you to recall information about PC Hardware and Windows XP.
  • You will have Monday and Wednesday class time to work on the midterm.  You must submit a final copy of your midterm to me by 11:59pm on the Monday following spring break.
  • We will not work on the midterm during class on the Monday following spring break.

      OTHER NOTES

  • I intend to have all grades updated by Friday at 11am.

2.20.2008 - 10:49a - Wednesday

  • Proj3 is due before class via email.
  • We will continue to work on proj4 today in class.
  • Friday we will begin our look at Microsoft Access 2007.

2.18.2008 - 8:56a - Monday

  • Proj4 will be assigned today.
  • Proj3 will be due on Wednesday (2/20) before class via email
  • Grades should be updated before class.  Please let me know if there are any remaining errors by next Monday.
  • Last Friday we demonstrated the following: Cell Styles, Merge and Center, Wrap Text, Conditional Formatting, the CEILING() function, the RAND() function, and the IF() function

2.13.2008 - 9:00a - Wednesday

  • Today I will finish my lecture on Excel and assign project 3a, which will be due next Wednesday (2/20).
  • Dress warm and I'll see you in class.
  • Note: I plan to have all of the grades updated today.  If not before class, then by 5pm.  Please check your grades after 5pm and send me an email if there is a problem.  If I have not been contacted by Friday, I will assume that there are no errors.

2.11.2008 - 8:43a - Monday

  • Today we will begin looking at Microsoft Excel 2007.
  • I will post your updated grades online this afternoon.
  • Homework 2 is due today.
  • Project 2 is due today.
  • If you have not yet received your graded Project1, I should have it today.

2.7.2008 - 12:21a - Thursday

  • I will be demonstrating some Microsoft Word and/or PowerPoint 2007 features during lecture on Friday.
  • I will hand back your graded project1's on Friday.
  • See you then! :)

2.3.2008 - 9:50p - Sunday

  • Tomorrow, Monday (2/4) we will begin looking at the basics of PowerPoint 2007.  I will assign an introductory project and a simple homework assignment about Keyboard shortcuts.
  • Proj1 is due before class via email on Monday (2/4)

1.28.2008 - 9:02a - Monday :(

  • Hello! I will assign an project for Microsoft Word 2007 today.  It will be due next Monday(2/4) before class via email.
  • Depending on how today goes, I may or may not use Wednesday's class for similar project work.
  • I would like you all to help each other on this assignment.  If you find it easy, try to do something you haven't done before.  If you find it difficult, ask me or your fellow class mates for some assistance.
  • This is your chance to play around with Word 2007 and become familiar with its interface.

1.25.2008 - 9:53a - Friday!

  • I have your first homeworks graded.  I will hand them back during class today.  I have posted the grades in the Excel spreadsheet in the menu on the left.
  • I will present on Microsoft Word 2007 today.  This is the first software of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite we will look at.
  • You will begin work on your first project assignment on Monday (1/28) during class.

1.23.2008 - 9:19a - Wednesday

  • Today we will practice some Windows XP basics and try to take a look at Microsoft Word 2007.
  • I will have your first homeworks graded and give them back to you on Friday (1/25)
  • I will assign your first project on Friday (1/25)
  • P.S. I brought candy.

1.18.2008 - 12:40a - Friday

  • My goal for our class today (Friday) is to establish a common understanding of Windows XP terminology and basics.
  • Hopefully class will go smoother today than on Wednesday.  Unfortunately we won't have any computers in the room to gain hands-on experience.
  • Your HW1 is due today at the beginning of class.  I would like a hardcopy if possible.  I will probably not assign your next homework until next week.  See you all in class!

01.16.2008 - 9:25a - Wednesday

  • Today we will finally begin our (brief) study of the Windows XP operating system software.
  • If there is time remaining, we can discuss questions about the homework or hardware slides at the end of class.
  • Don't forget!
      - HW1 is due on Friday (1/18) at the beginning of class.
      - Friday is the last day for add/drop!

01.14.2008 - 10:33a - Monday

  • Hello!  I have just updated the PC Hardware slides to have a little more information that the previous version did.  For now that will be the final version, unless someone reminds me of something that I need to clarify in the slides.
  • I also noticed that the Introductory slides are not viewable.  I will try to upload a viewable version of those soon.
  • For today's class we will look at the end of the hardware slides and then begin our study of Windows XP.
  • Please note: The finalized syllabus is available in the menu on the left.
  • If you have not done so, read the announcements below.  We will begin using Office 2007 very soon.

01.11.2008 - 1:29p - Friday

  • Homework 1 was assigned, due next Friday (1/18) at the beginning of class.  It is available in the menu to the left.
  • I will need to cover more material and update the slides on PC Hardware to help you complete the homework.  I will take questions next week.
  • Enjoy your weekend!

01.11.2008 - 9:00a - Friday - PC Hardware

  • This is my first post on our new course website.  I will be adding all of the currently relevant material ASAP.
  • Today in class we will do a brief review, finishing the PC hardware lecture slides, and receive the first homework assignment.
  • I doubt we will do the hands on activity I had wanted to do until next week because I have more students than I expected and less time and computers than I need.
  • Important!  We will begin using Microsoft Office 2007 within one or two weeks.  Microsoft Office includes four pieces of software studied in this course, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access.

    It will be very helpful for you to have your own copy.  If you would like to obtain a copy of Office 2007 for free from Pitt, simply visit a Campus Computing Lab with your student ID.  As far as I am aware, the lab assistants will give you your own copy if they have not done so before.

    The instructor can give you additional advice about installing the software.  If you cannot install the software the Campus Computing Labs have all the resources you need to complete the work in this class.