Information Systems and Supply Chain Management
Bryan School of Business and Economics
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
ISM 672: Web Programming (Online Course)
Fall 2013
Instructor: Dr. A. F. Salam
Associate Professor of Information Systems
Email: amsalam@uncg.edu
Course Website: https://blackboard.uncg.edu
Instructor Site: http://www.uncg.edu/bae/people/salam
Required Textbook:
Beginning PHP 5.3
Author: Matt Doyle
Edition: 2010 (Published Oct 2009)
Wrox Press– Published By Wiley Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-470-41396-8
Online References:
I)
II)
PHP Documentation Website: http://www.php.net/manual/en/index
Note: May be somewhat confusing to some
http://www.w3schools.com/ - Strongly recommend this site. This site has many
examples, which are easy to follow.
Introduction:
This course will provide students with a fundamental and basic introduction to
Web Programming. In this course, we will learn PHP as our primary programming
language along with related set of technologies such as HTML and CSS. We cover
fundamentals of programming, object-oriented programming concepts as well as
developing applications with MySQL backend database system. This set of web
technologies ensures that students are able to apply the PHP language in developing
introductory level Ecommerce applications. HTML and CSS combined with PHP
programs provide the user interface required in a web or Ecommerce application.
MySQL Database System provides backend data support for ecommerce applications.
Additionally, we also consider and discuss various issues related to information
technology and management in a digital economy.
Course Objectives:
After completion of the course, students should be able to:
1. Analyze programming principles for developing web applications.
2. Examine programming concepts for developing web applications.
3. Test technologies needed for developing web applications.
4. Evaluate programming techniques in developing web applications.
5. Evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities related to using Web applications and technologies.
6. Synthesize managerial and entrepreneurial issues related to using web applications in a new
or existing business.
Online Course and Navigation in a New Learning Environment:
ISM 672 being an online course makes use of a new and somewhat novel approach to
learning programming. In-class course in programming is different than an online
course. In a face-to-face course, you have the option of a rich interactive communication
with the instructor. But in an online setting, this communication is replaced by online
computer-based approach. The most important distinction between the two approaches
to teaching a programming course is that an online student has to be more responsible
in terms of keeping up and keeping pace with the delivery of the course. The student
has to manage time very effectively and must follow a structure that allows her or him
to manage the learning process effectively as well. Since there are no more classes to go
to at a set time, the imposed structure of a face-to-face class no longer exists. This
freedom is good on one side but it may be difficult for some if one is not careful and
disciplined enough to follow a study routine that works for the individual. So in short, I
strongly suggest that you plan ahead and set aside time for this course in your own
personal calendar taking into consideration all other constraints. A set number of hours
must be there for you to study, practice the examples in lecture notes and the textbook,
and complete the graded assignments in a timely manner.
Programming just like driving cannot be mastered by reading books or lecture notes.
You can read all about driving but you cannot drive unless you practice driving on the
road. Just like driving, programming is experiential learning. You must write
programs, find solutions to why your program is not working (called debugging) and
apply the programming principles in the process. Practice makes you proficient in
programming. You end up with more confidence in your ability to write high quality
programs. So please keep these in mind as you embark on your journey this semester in
ISM 672.
Student Study Hour Requirements:
As you can see, this course deals with a significant amount of concepts and
technologies that are new. I suggest that you set aside at least 7 to 8 hours of study time
per week depending upon the difficulty of the topic. These are suggested times and will
vary for each individual student depending upon the background and experience of
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each student. You should also be prepared to learn how to install, configure, test and
use different pieces of software technologies that are needed in this course. It is expected
that students be prepared to cope with the demanding and often frustrating elements of dealing
with software development, programming and testing. Software development requires many
hours of patience.
Student Responsibilities Related to ISM 672 Online Course:
Please note that this is a purely ONLINE course on Web Programming. There are
NO face-to-face classes in this course or face-to-face Office Hours. Every activity
including lectures, lecture notes, PHP Program demos, assignments and exam
submissions and all course related communication occurs over the Internet. Primary
means of communication and course material delivery occurs over the UNCG
Blackboard (BB) System and UNCG Spartan Email System. Since this is an ONLINE
course, it will be dynamic in the sense that frequent updates to some materials may
occur depending upon difficulty of the concepts covered during the semester. Students
will be notified via BB Announcements and Emails. So it is IMPERATIVE to check
Email and BB course site for Announcements and Updates.
Students are solely responsible for ensuring that they have a reasonably fast
and updated computer system (Windows 7 or Windows 8 or Mac OS X) and preferably
Broadband Internet connection to access course materials in a timely manner from the
UNCG BB system. Broadband connection is strongly recommended, since many of the
course materials are delivered via pdf documents, which are sometimes quite large.
Many of the pdf documents may contain embedded lectures. There are many video
lectures delivered through Blackboard as well. These video lectures demonstrate with
examples many fundamental programming concepts to help student master the course
materials.
Students are solely responsible for successfully installing ANY and ALL software such
as XAMPP for Windows 1.8.2 or MAMP for Mac (if you have Apple Mac computer) and
NetBeans IDE 7.3.1 and Adobe Reader (latest version) and Apple Quicktime Video
Player (latest version) on their respective computers. Please follow the links as well as
documentation and lecture demo video under BB course Menu Item “Course Pre-req.
and Required Software”. Under this Menu item you will find the following items
related to ALL required software that we need for this course (see Figure below). All of
these softwares are free for learning and development. The following figure
provides information and instructions for downloading and installing required
software for this course.
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Please NOTE: Every student MUST install and test all of their required software
installation by August 23, 2013. This is a hard deadline because you CANNOT expect to
function as a proficient student if the software you need for the course do not work on
your computer. If all the required software do not work properly, You WILL fall
behind. Each student is solely responsible for making sure that her/his ‘system’“computer, required software and Broadband Internet connection”-ALL work
properly throughout the Fall 2013 semester including the Exam Week in December
2013. The course Instructor cannot be held responsible for any and all ‘system’
components mentioned above. Failure to submit any assignments and/or Exams or
Quizzes in a timely manner due to any ‘system’ problem mentioned above is the sole
responsibility of the student.
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Instructional Methods: The course is delivered online through a mixture of readings,
video lectures, exercises, and assignments via UNCG Blackboard course site.
Exams and Quizzes: This course will include one online Mid-term and one online Final
Project (Project II). There is no Final Exam. Online participation in Midterm is
mandatory-- no make-up examinations are given for any reason (except for verifiable
medical circumstances with prior notification) and in that case, the grade for the
Midterm may be transferred to the Final Project (Project II) at the sole discretion of the
instructor. All Exams and Assignments are delivered through the UNCG Blackboard
system and students are required to complete these Exams, Assignments and Projects
through the Blackboard system as well within the prescribed time and procedure as set
by the instructor.
Attendance Policy: There is no in-class meeting in this course and as such there is no
attendance required in the sense of a face-to-face class. But the instructor may hold
online discussion sessions on various topics and it is expected that students attend those
sessions asynchronously (each student participating at a different time) while the topic
is considered.
Communication: Students are expected to communicate with the instructor primarily
via email as necessary. The instructor will make every effort to respond to student
emails within 48 hours. Many times the instructor may respond to a set of student
emails that revolve around the same problem topic via posting of audio or video
demo lectures or with sample programs and notifying the students via email of the
available solution to their questions.
Technology Applications Technological advances in computing are addressed
throughout the course.
Ethical Perspectives: This course will address ethical perspectives in the context Web
Programming and related technologies.
Global Perspectives: This course will address global perspectives only in the context of
technology, its impact and management.
Demographic Diversity Perspectives: This course will not specifically address the issues
of demographic diversity.
Political, Social, Legal, Regulatory, and Environmental Perspectives: This course will not
specifically address the perspectives of Political, Social, Legal, Regulatory, and
Environmental issues except those that are relevant to the use Web Programming and
related technologies.
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Grading: Grades for the course are based on examinations, assignments, projects as
shown in the table below. The final grade for the course will be determined as follows:
Note: Details about the Assignments, Projects and Exams will be given in time. Each
Assignment and Project is to be completed by Individual Student unless otherwise indicated
by the Instructor. Detailed Course Schedule will be posted in time.
Course Components
Assignments
Practice Assignments
These are NOT graded
and are NOT to be
submitted
Used in Discussion
Board to Clarify
Concepts
BB Online Discussion
Participation and
Contribution
Mini Term Paper Blog
Midterm Exam
Final Project II:
Ecommerce App Dev
Using PHP, HTML, CSS
and MySQL Database
Point Distribution
30
0%
Due Dates
NOTE:
Detailed Schedule
will be posted in
time with Due
Dates
10% (Based on
Active and
Meaningful
Participation)
10%
25%
25%
NO FINAL EXAM
Total
100%
The relationship between total points and letter grades is as follows:
95 <= X <
90 <= X <
87 <= X <
83 <= X <
80 <= X <
76 <= X <
70 <= X <
0 <= X <
100
95
90
87
83
80
75
60
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
F
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Honor Code Policies: University (UNCG) students are expected to conduct themselves in
accordance with the highest standards of academic honesty. Academic misconduct for
which a student is subject to penalty includes all forms of cheating, such as illicit
possession of examinations or examination materials, forgery, and/or plagiarism.
Students will NOT make, borrow, or “share” copies of their project assignments or files
with other students. Plagiarism is defined as presenting as one’s own work that work
which is, in whole or in part, the work of another person or persons without giving proper
credit to the appropriate source (this includes any published material available on the
Internet). This includes submitting work done by another as one’s own work. Helping
one another is allowed on practice assignments only but NOT allowed on assignments
that are to be graded. Copying another person’s work is cheating. This practice violates
the UNCG Honor Code and defeats the purpose of this course. No credit will be received
for shared work, and other penalties may be imposed. Please refer to the UNCG Honor
Code Policies as applicable to online courses.
Posting Grades: Grades for courses, offered in the ISOM Department, are not posted
and are not supplied over the telephone or email. Final semester grades will be posted
on UNC Genie. Interim grades will be posted in a timely manner in the Blackboard
grading area.
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