LECTURES
Our lectures will continue largely as scheduled (see our index), but will occur online in our course Google Meet (http://go-vxlab.csc.ncsu.edu/uxclassgmeet). Simply click on the link a bit before scheduled class time to join the lecture. Our next class on aesthetics will begin at 11:45 on Monday. We will only have one week on visual experience, rather than two. Please see below our list of pointers for using Meet during lecture, including how to ask questions.
PROJECTS (55%)
These will also continue largely as scheduled (index). Team meetings with me during lecture time will occur using ad hoc Google Meet sessions; look for the link I drop into your team’s Slack channel. Meetings with clients should also occur online, using Google Meet or other tools (e.g. as preferred by your clients). Our next deadline is for the generate stage, at end Saturday March 28th. Feel free to move faster. Turn in will remain online.
READINGS (20%)
Reading presentations will continue to take place during lecture on Wednesdays. To present, the one of the reading team will unmute themselves and press the “present” button. The rest of the team should also unmute as they take turns presenting. Turn in of presentation will remain online. Reading reactions are unchanged and still online, largely on the same schedule (due before topic week’s end).
ASSIGNMENTS (10%)
Exercises and questions will continue online, largely on the same schedule (due before topic week’s end). We may reserve time for some exercises during lecture.
QUIZZES (10%)
These will occur online during lecture time, as previously. However, we will not query students to ensure all have finished, we will merely turn off the quiz after 20 minutes. You may still ask questions during quizzes, but the entire class will receive the response. We still plan to present summary results to the class.
PARTICIPATION (5%)
Participation will continue to occur online through the course forum and presentation Q&A as earlier. In addition, you may ask a live, verbal question during remote lecture (see below for how).
LECTURE ETIQUETTE
Interactive discussion is more awkward with current videoconference technology than with in-person meetings, and quiet sounds are amplified. For these reasons, please mute your microphone. To ask a question during lecture, you may either type it into the presentation Q&A, or in the Google Meet chat, type “question”. Our TA will monitor the chat, and interrupt me if needed to ensure I see and respond to your question. He will also be listening closely, and ensure that all are muted. Please be patient: like you, we are still learning video conferencing tools.
LECTURE ACCESSIBILITY
We expect that bandwidth will be limited, especially over the “last mile” to your dorm room or apartment. If you have trouble making or maintaining a good connection, please try joining via phone. You can do this by clicking “use a phone”, then “call me.” If you still have trouble connecting, message our TA on our class Slack workspace (https://uxclassncsu.slack.com, @Ajinkya). For those cases when you still cannot make a connection, we plan to record the lectures for downloading and later viewing. We will place those in a folder on Google Drive (http://go-vxlab.csc.ncsu.edu/uxclasslectures). You may also record the lectures yourself, directly. Finally, to make lectures easier to understand, we will continue to use real-time captioning. If for some reason you do not see them, you may again turn them on yourself.
OFFICE HOURS
My TA and I will continue to hold office hours at the scheduled weekly time, but will do so using the class Google Meet (http://go-vxlab.csc.ncsu.edu/uxclassgmeet). Keep in mind that what you say is shared with all participants; if you need privacy we will be happy to call you via phone. Again, if you have trouble connecting, contact us on Slack (https://uxclassncsu.slack.com, @Ajinkya, @ProfW).
COURSE COMMUNICATION
We will make announcements via both our course blog (http://uxclass.csc.ncsu.edu) and email. For project issues and real-time problems during video conferences, we will use Slack (https://uxclassncsu.slack.com). For exercises, reading reactions, and discussion, we will use our course forum.
NO MAKEUP SATURDAYS
The university has reserved several Saturdays for making up classes missed this week. We will NOT use any of these days, rather we will dedicate only one week to our visualexperience topic.
STAYING IN TOUCH
As we isolate ourselves, we will all feel some loneliness and find remaining productive difficult. I encourage you to spend time online together, even if it is just by sharing ambient muted video while you work. Feel free to use our Class Google Meet (http://go-vxlab.csc.ncsu.edu/uxclassgmeet) this way, outside of lecture times and office hours.