What Will This Course Be Like?

Now that you have gone through the syllabus, along with its technical details and policies, lets talk about how this course will actually look like.

Text & Reading

There will be a lot of reading. Most of the information for this course will be text that I have written write here on this website, text from the required book, or text from linked readings.

Code Examples

There will obviously also be a lot of code examples. These will show up in your browser and allow you to see exactly what is occurring to create each sketch. In addition, there will always be download buttons for the code, so that you can play with it on your own. Remember, you are learning a new language, this means you will need to take time to explore, play, dissect, rebuild, break, etc.

Videos

There will also be videos! There will be videos from me, your instructor. This are intended to discuss what is going on, demo how to do something, and talk about concepts.

This course also utilizes a lot of videos from the web on the topic of creative coding. In particular, there will be a lot of videos from Daniel Shiffman’s “Coding Train”. These are excellent resources for learning and exploring code. So, we will use them!

Pace

As mentioned a few times already, this course will take a lot of your time. We will ramp into the course slowly over the next few weeks.

This week is a chance for you to get the required text book, familiarize yourself with a few new tools on your computer, absorb the syllabus, and schedule out time in your week for class work.

Next week you will learn about the tools you will need to utilize for this course. This will include new programs for your computer, how to utilize github.com, and basic info about how to submit write-ups for the course.

Week three will be when we dive into the meat of coding with p5.js. You should work to make sure your computer is ready and setup between now and then. After we start with p5, we will stick with it for the rest of the semester.

Dates & Weekly Flow

Currently, I am planning on having weekly “modules” run from Thursday morning to Wednesday night.

Homework will be due before the start of the business day on Thursday (i.e. 8am Thursday morning). (That means this week is shortened, as you will have homework due by Thursday morning.)

Homework

You should consider anything within the course lecture content under a { TODO: } section to be part of your “homework”.

You will receive additional directives and notes about homework assignments on the Moodle Shell every week.

Each homework will be a public website that you create weekly. These links will then be submitted to a forum behind the Moodle firewall. This will allow you and your classmates to see each others assignments, without posting links for the whole world to see. I think it is critical that you are aware of the work each other is making. This is my current solution to address this need. Instructions will be provided how to do this over the next two weeks.

Getting Help

When you have problems in this course, you have a number of solutions available to assist you in solving them. The following list is the order I would suggest you follow for problem solving.

1. Google the problem.
   • A critical skill in creative technology is learning to problem solve. Part of this involves learning how to form a good google query. Your first go to for help should always be google.
2. Post to the course issues forum.
   • In a couple pages, you will follow along with a short tutorial that will help you signup for GitHub, then star and follow the “course repository”. Part of this repository is an “issues forum” where you can post questions and problems you are having. These “issues” will be e-mailed to you, and you can then respond to them.
   • The advantage to the GitHub issues forum is its advanced system for including formatted code. This will help with problem solving. <!– 3. Go to the 127 Media Arts Lab
   • The Media Arts Lab in room 127 of McGill hall has daily “lab monitors” who are hired to assist with problem solving and class help. Take advantage of these people and this resource. The lab hours, along with who is in during specific times will be located under the “Help” tab above. –>
3. This class has a Lab Assistant specifically hired for this course. They will check the GitHub issues forum as well as hold weekly times in the 127 Media Arts Lab. By utilizing these resources, you can utilize them. However, if you feel like they may have missed something, please e-mail them directly with your questions.
   • Email Emily
4. Get help from Stephanie
   • Stephanie, who is the primary instructor and TA for this class is another great resource.
   • She will hold regular lab hours in 127 throughout the week.
   • She will also monitor the GitHub issues forum.
   • If you need to contact her directly, please feel free to email her.
     • stephanie1.whitney@umconnect.umt.edu
5. Get help from Dr. Musick
   • If you have a high level problem, or need help that no one can offer, please contact Dr. Musick (me, the one writing all of this).
   • The best way to get a hold of me is to swing by my weekly office hours. These are posted (and updated) on the Instructor & help tab. This is the BEST way to work with me. Just come by during one of those posted times.
   • If you are a distance student or cannot make one of those times, please email me. (I will check my email at least once per day)
     • michael.musick@umonatan.edu

{ NOTE: }

A quick list of these links is available from the “Help” menubar tab above.