Internet Studies

Instructor: Mr. B. Dunfee

Student Information

Required Materials

Two 3 ½ inch High Density (HD) Floppy Diskettes (blank)
One 1 ½ inch 3-ring Notebook (to be kept in the classroom and used as a Portfolio)
A second notebook of your choice to be used for note taking, etc.
Pencils and plenty of notebook paper.

Seating and Computer Assignments

You will be assigned to a computer for your use during this entire course.
You will be marked present if you are sitting in front of your assigned computer.
Do not use anyone else’s computer unless you are told to do so by your instructor.

Computer Security and Student Usage

Do not change the desktop environment, which includes the color, fonts, video display mode, screen saver, icon arrangement, and especially the wallpaper.
Do not download files onto your computer’s hard drive without specific permission from your instructor.
Do not install any programs on your computer. (The High School must own a license for every piece of software that resides on a school computer. Many licenses are for specific computers only and don’t apply to computers in our lab.)
Do not delete or rename any file on your computer’s hard drive or any other school computer unless it is one that you created.
Do not copy any software on any school computer for your personal use. This is illegal. If you want a copy, buy your own.
This class is not for recreational e-mail and surfing (Hawaii is for surfing.)

Attendance

Come to class every day that the class meets.
Arrive on time.
If you arrive at class late, you will be marked tardy as per school policy.
If you accumulate unexempted absences from the class , you will have school poilcy to adhere to. If you are absent too much you may lose your computer rights.
It is a proven fact that students who attend class regularly and arrive on time always do better and get higher grades.

Behavioral Expectations

Always listen for teacher instructions with little or no talking.
Stay busily focused on the assigned classroom task.
Take good notes. When your teacher is instructing you, write down everything you see on the board or the TV monitor and everything you hear the teacher say.
No food or drink is allowed in the computer lab - for obvious reasons.
If you have food or drink in hand when you arrive at class, you may place it where instructed until you leave at the end of class.
Show politeness and respect toward other individuals at all times. This includes but is not limited to using appropriate language and not touching the person, chair, or personal belongs of someone else.
All rules in the Student’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook will be followed.

Classroom Procedures

If you need help, don’t call out the teacher’s name. Instead, raise your hand or, if it’s lab time, get up and go to where the teacher is. Remember, the teacher is eager to help you and everyone else, but during lab times can only work with one person or small group at a time.
Plan your visits to the attendance office, guidance counselor, main office, phone, and snack machines outside of class time. If at all possible, try to do the same for bathroom visits!
Get permission and a written note before leaving the room for any reason. Your teacher understands your personal needs. We just want to keep order in the school and help you learn as much as possible.

Printers and Printing

The lab is equipped with printers, but these are only to be used when you are printing an assignment.
Paper and ink are expensive and in limited supply. Therefore we must conserve these valuable commodities.
Do not print pages for personal use. (Print these at home or at the public library.)
Follow the instructions given by your teacher on how to print correctly.
Pages that are printed must have a white background and must use a minimum of color.

Appropriate Material on the Internet

Just as Buffalo Independent School District is an equal opportunity employer, it also supports freedom of speech, on and off the Internet.
Access to adult and inappropriate materials by persons under 18 on and off the Internet is another matter, however. The school system is entrusted by your parents and the community at large with providing all students with a safe and orderly environment in which to learn. This includes prohibiting all forms of adult and inappropriate materials.
Therefore,
- Adult and Peer to Peer File transfer Sites are "off limits",
- If you accidentally come upon such a site, you should exit immediately and inform your teacher so that you will not be in violation to appropiate use contract.
- If you don’t, your Internet account may be revoked.
- E-mail and Instant Messenger Programs are in violation to school policy don not use except as directed in e-mail portion of lessons.
- If you do, your Internet account may be revoked.

Your Internet Account and Password

In order to complete the requirements for this course, you MUST have a Yahoo Internet account.
Internet accounts and passwords will be issued to every student enrolled in this course.
To keep the account, all you have to do is abide by the rules as defined in the Acceptable Use Policy that you and your parent/guardian must sign before getting the account.
Do not allow others to know your password.
Do not allow others to use your account and password, and do not use theirs.
If you forget your password, your teacher can look it up for you, but you may lose one or more days of Internet access.
Do not change you account password while you are in this class or you will be in violation of the class contract.
If your Internet account is revoked, your parents will be contacted and arrangements may have to be made for you to be transferred out of this class.

Portfolios

All projects produced in this Internet Studies class will be reported by a presentation that is kept in the student’s Portfolio.
The Portfolio will be kept in a 1 ½ inch, 3-ring binder, and stored in the classroom, except when the teacher designates that it should be taken home for parent/guardian evaluation (grading).

Grading

Your grade will be based on classroom performance, project production, tests, and portfolio presentation.
Your portfolio presentation will be partially graded by your parent/guardian.

Making Up Missed Work

Make up work is the responsibility of the student not the teacher!
Since almost all work done in this course must be done using a computer connected to the Internet, you will have to do your make up work at school outside of class time, unless you have access to an Internet connected computer at home or elsewhere.
Students missing tests due to an exempted absence have 3 days after their return in which to make it up.
Students missing one or more days due to exempted absence during a project period (several days each as announced by the instructor), may have their due dates extended PROVIDED they make arrangements for such within 3days of their return to school.
Other than allowed make ups and due date extensions, all late work will be deducted one letter grade per school day.