Understanding Networks

There are two assigned books for this class, Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means by Albert-Laszlo Barabási, and Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser. We will discuss the material from these books in class, as it's all highly relevant to how we put networks together. Reading assignments are listed each week. I'll expect that you've read the chapters listed for the following week, along with any online links from the syllabus. Be prepared with questions about the readings, or disagreements or ideas from them that you want to explore further. Discussion of this material will be a significant part of the class.

Reading

There are two assigned books for this class, Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means by Albert-Laszlo Barabási, and Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser. We will discuss the material from these books in class, as it's all highly relevant to how we put networks together. Reading assignments are listed each week. I'll expect that you've read the chapters listed for the following week, along with any online links from the syllabus. Be prepared with questions about the readings, or disagreements or ideas from them that you want to explore further. Discussion of this material will be a significant part of the class.

• If it's a device where you can initiate contact with the outside world, refrain from using it when others are presenting or a class discussion is in progress. The one exception to this is if you are taking notes for the class.

Showing up on time, engaging in the class discussion, and offering advice and critique on other projects in the class is a major part of your grade. Please be present and prompt. Class begins at 3:30 PM, and I expect everyone to be in place and ready to begin at 3:30 PM. Lateness will hurt your grade. If you're going to be late or absent, please email your instructor in advance. Three non-emergency absences or more will lead to a failing grade. If you have an emergency, please let your instructor know as soon as you can. Please turn in assignments on time as well.

The Class Notes section of the site contains notes taken in-class or posted after class discussion by participants. In the past I've required everyone to take notes in the wiki for at least one class period. This semester it's not required, but I highly encourage it, as the notes can be very useful to both you and your classmates.

Showing up on time, engaging in the class discussion, and offering advice and critique on other projects in the class is a major part of your grade. Please be present and prompt. Class begins at 9:30 AM, and I expect everyone to be in place and ready to begin at 9:30 AM. Lateness will hurt your grade. If you're going to be late or absent, please email your instructor in advance. If you have an emergency, please let your instructor know as soon as you can. Please turn in assignments on time as well.

Networked Devices in Class

Though this is a class on networked devices, you should not let the use of them disrupt the class, or your direct participation in the discussion.

• If it's a device where the outside world can contact you disruptively, don't let it disrupt the rest of the class.
• If it's a device where you can initiate contact with the outside world, refrain from using it when others are presenting or a class discussion is in progress. The one exception to this is if you are taking notes for the class.

Mobile Phones

• Documentation: 20%

Documentation

As with other classes at ITP, you should keep a record of your work, and you should document your projects. An online site for them is helpful, both to you as a reference to point to, and to others as a place to learn from.

Class Notes

We'll keep class notes on the class wiki. A different person will be assigned each week to take notes in the wiki during class. More than one person can take notes if you wish, but at the least, the person assigned should take notes for everyone's use. You may put your notes up after class if you wish, as long as you put them up before the following class. Your class note-taking day is an assignment, and will count toward your grade.

Laptops

Laptop use is fine if you are using your laptop to present in class, or if we're in the middle of an exercise that makes use of it. Whenever classmates are presenting or we're in the midst of a class discussion, however, please keep your laptop closed. The quality of the class depends in large part on the quality of your attention and active participation, so please respect that and close your lid.

Mobile Phones

Please put them on vibrate or turn them off before you come to class unless they are part of your project. If you have an emergency that requires you to answer your phone during class, please tell your instructor ahead of time. Lab Assignments

Class Notes: We'll keep class notes on the class wiki. A different person will be assigned each week to take notes in the wiki during class. More than one person can take notes if you wish, but at the least, the person assigned should take notes for everyone's use.

Grading & Expectations

• Participation & Attendance: 40%
• Production Assignments: 40%
• Journal: 20%

Participation & Attendance

Showing up on time, engaging in the class discussion, and offering advice and critique on other projects in the class is a major part of your grade. Please be present and prompt. Lateness will hurt your grade. If you're going to be late or absent, please email your instructor in advance. If you have an emergency, please let your instructor know as soon as you can. Please turn in assignments on time as well.

Laptops

Laptop use is fine if you are using your laptop to present in class, or if we're in the middle of an exercise that makes use of it. Whenever classmates are presenting or we're in the midst of a class discussion, however, please keep your laptop closed. The quality of the class depends in large part on the quality of your attention and active participation, so please respect that and close your lid. Mobile Phones

Please put them on vibrate or turn them off before you come to class unless they are part of your project. If you have an emergency that requires you to answer your phone during class, please tell your instructor ahead of time. Lab Assignments

Production Assignments

For production assignments, you'll be expected to present your project in class on the day that it's due. If you're working in a group, all group members should be present, and should participate equally in the presentation.

Journal & Documentation

You are expected to keep an online journal of your work in this class. At a minimum, reference to each production assignment is expected, as well as reference to the readings, and thorough documentation of research.

You may choose to document your major projects in a separate individual or group site if you choose, but you will be expected to link your site to the main site, and contribute to the class site as well nonetheless. Please avoid flash, shockwave, or other sites that are not text-searchable, as they won't show up on search engines for others to use.

Blogs are great for documenting your process, as they're usually defaulted to organizing the information chronologically. However, projects summarized in a blog can be confusing. It's often worthwhile to set up a separate page or pages to summarize your projects when they're done.

Always cite the sources of your code, the places you learned techniques from, and the inspirations of your ideas. This is the equivalent to citing your sources in a written paper, and copying code or techniques without attribution is plagiarism. few ideas come out of the blue, and your readers can learn a lot from the sources you learned from or were inspired by.

Work on this as you go, don't put it off until the end. Your fellow classmates will find your notes as useful too.