Section 3 How will we communicate?
Canvas.
We will be heavily relying on Canvas, UT’s Learning Management System. Each week, the topic, assignments, and assessments for that week will be posted to Canvas. Please check Canvas regularly.
Piazza.
We will be using Piazza as our class' discussion board. Piazza will be the preferred and quickest way to communicate with the teaching team.
You must read the discussion board at least once per day, and should post course-related technical or administrative questions or problems there. You are encouraged to respond to your class-mates posts. I expect you to make good use of the discussion board when you have technical or administrative questions or problems. Our TAs and I will be closely monitoring the discussion board.
Course-related announcements will be cross-posted on the discussion board. Every time I check throughout the semester, you must have read at least 85% of the discussion board posts (as recorded by the discussion board, so you must read them through the website, not through emails).
You are responsible for any and all information posted to the discussion board by any of the course staff. You are expected to read all announcements within twelve hours of being posted.
Emails to you.
In this course, email will be used as a means of communication with students. You are responsible for regularly checking (at least every 24 hours) both your CS email and your email officially registered with UT for class work and announcements.
Emails to the Instructor or TAs.
Emails to course staff should begin with "CS311 <section number>" in the subject line, followed by a brief description of the purpose of your email. I teach multiple classes, and by following this format, I can ensure I can better address your questions in a timely manner. If you miss this detail, a response to your email may be delayed altogether.
Please make a sincere effort to find your own answers by checking the syllabus, Piazza, announcements on Canvas and in class before contacting the teaching team via email.
Please do not expect to get detailed answers to technical questions by email. If you have no other choice but to send an email, please spend extra time to ensure that you are both brief and clear. Email is a valuable tool for communicating with the instructional team, but be sure to use it judiciously and follow the rules of good email etiquette (e.g., no flaming, spamming, etc.). It may be easy for you to dash off an email question, please be mindful that it takes a lot of thought and effort on part of the teaching team to answer it.
Do not use Canvas messages to contact the teaching team. If you use Canvas Messages, you may not receive a reply.
Last-minute assistance requests by email will not be supported. To ensure successful and timely results, please plan for sufficient lead time to account for the time to do your work including the additional time for the waiting period for assistance.