Course structure
Participation
Much of your learning will occur as you prepare for and participate in discussions about the course material. The assignments, analysis, and readings have been carefully chosen to bring the real world into class discussion while also illustrating fundamental concepts.
To encourage participation, 20% of the course grade is earned by preparing before class and discussing the topics between and in class. Evaluation is based on you consistently demonstrating your engagement with the material. Assessment is based on what you contribute, not simply what you know.
Preparation for class
To facilitate active participation in the class I request that you do the following before noon on the day of the class:
- a. One key point you took from each assigned reading. (One or two sentences per reading)
- b. One question that you would ask your fellow classmates that facilitates discussion.?
- Examples of technologies or issues that demonstrate a concept we discussed in class
- Reacting to a post and providing a reasoned disagreement
- Providing insights on how to solve class related problems
- Providing new ways of thinking about the strategic role of technology
- Adding additional insights to an existing post/comment
- Agreeing (or disagreeing) without providing a reason
- Simply listing a topic without providing an explanation
- Posting copyrighted material (it is acceptable to paraphrase the material and link to the original source)
- Using unprofessional or disrespectful language
- Material that does not fit the course goal
Briefly address and summarize:
I will also require that you identify, and are prepared to discuss, an article about a current event in the Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing arena each week. Each student is expected to contribute a link to an article to the online class discussion each week. An ideal article would be tied thematically to the topic of the week.
However, any article you find interesting and would like to share is welcome. The deadline for posting is noon on the day of class.
Participation during class
We will typically start each session with “opening” questions about the assigned readings and case study. Students called up to answer should be able to summarize the key issues, opportunities, and challenges in the case study. All students should be prepared to be answer these questions.
Another important aspect of in-class participation is completion of in-class assignments and contribution to any break out activities.
If for some reason you feel unprepared to respond to a question, you may say “pass” and I will call on another student. To earn full participation credit, keep the total number of “passes” to a minimum over the course of the semester. Another important aspect of class participation is completion of in-class assignments and contribution to break-out group activities.
Participation around classes
We will typically start each session with “opening” questions about the assigned readings and analyses. I may ask for volunteers, or I may call on you. Students called on to answer should be able to summarize the key issues, opportunities, and challenges in the analyses. All students should be prepared to answer these questions.
The site is public and the above activities provide you with a forum to demonstrate your insights and ideas to the rest of the world and to learn from others.
Suggestions for commenting
The comments should focus on professional topics (only). Typical comments are about a few sentences to a small paragraph. The focus should be on quality and not on quantity.
Ideas for comments include:
Comments that are NOT acceptable include: