Instructor Contact

Dr. Malcolm Cecil

• Canvas Inbox is preferred.
• Email: mcecil@ccsf.edu
• CCSF Phone: (415) 239-3269 (Canvas Inbox is preferred). I will respond to telephone messages within 48 hours Monday through Wednesday, exclusive of holidays. 
• Office Hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays 1 - 2 pm via Zoom. Please use the Canvas calendar to book an appointment. 
• Office Location: ArtX 172
• I will respond to all course email within 48 hours Monday-Friday, exclusive of holidays. Once the course begins, I prefer to get messages through the Canvas "Inbox."
• You can visit my CCSF instructional website outside of Canvas

Communication Plan

• I will respond to your email messages within 48 hours during the work week (Monday-Friday), excluding holidays, or if you are notified otherwise.
• Your work will be reviewed, and I will comment on it within 7 days of the due date unless you are informed otherwise. Please note that you will receive private comments on your discussion posts, your course journal entries, and your project and final exams. Your online quizzes also contain feedback for your own self-assessment.
• I will participate in the weekly discussions but will not respond to each individual student. You may sometimes receive private comments on your discussion posts in addition to the feedback grade.
• If you do not log in to the course during the first week of instruction and complete the quizzes and online discussions available in modules 0 and 1, you will be dropped from the course. During the semester, if you don't submit an assignment or participate or communicate for a period of one week, you will receive a message to remind you to come back to the course. If you don't participate or communicate for a period of more than two weeks, you will be dropped from the course. This is to help you to keep up with the work, as the semester goes quickly. However, life happens! If you fall behind a bit you can submit a make-up work plan to me by email, and I may readmit you to the course. 

Building Community

The heart of this class is the discussion forum. Each week you and your classmates will analyze and discuss the issues that come up in the material this week. Each time this class is offered, I am humbled by the thoughtfulness of all of you, your posts, and your responses to each other inform my understanding of the topics. We learn from each other, from our varied experiences, from our different world views. I look forward to participating in discussions with you.

Instructor Announcements 

I will post announcements on the “Instructor Announcements” page in Canvas throughout the semester. Canvas notifies students according to their preferred Notification Preferences as soon as the instructor creates an Announcement. 

Q&A Discussion

• A “Q&A Discussion” is available on the home page as a quick link. The Q&A Discussion is for you to ask for the assistance of your classmates or the instructor.

A hands-on overview of computer operations, equipment common to digital video and audio production, industry standard software, media storage, and manipulation of video and audio media with proper management of files.

Prerequisites/corequisites/advisories

None

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to:

1. Apply basic knowledge of software and hardware commonly used in audio/video/multimedia production.
2. Move and edit media projects across platforms and between different software programs and convert to various formats.
3. Use foundational audio/video/multimedia production techniques as applied to creative media projects.
4. Explain issues and impacts of new technology in the broadcast industries.

Class Meetings

This is a fully online course; there are no in-person class meetings. 

Course Web Site

Students will use the Canvas Learning Management system [for assignment instructions, submitting assignments, viewing classmates' work, sharing resources, and viewing grades].  I can help with the course material and with some Canvas issues. But, if you need help uploading an assignment or with the mechanics of Canvas, Canvas help is the number to call.

For 24/7 help with Canvas, call 1-833-249-3993.

You can visit my CCSF instructional website outside of Canvas.

Textbook (not required) and required computer hardware and software

There are no required textbooks for this course. All of the learning materials are provided through Canvas, the CCSF Learning Management System.

Required Software and Hardware

You will need regular access to a personal computer every week for several hours to do the assignments for this course. Tablets and phones will not be adequate to do the assignments for this course. If you don't have regular access to a Mac or PC computer, you won't be able to keep up and complete the assignments.

Audio and video production is pretty demanding on your computer, so you will want to be using computer hardware that will be able to do the job. Most personal computers these days are either 'Macs' (made by Apple, running the Apple operating system called OSX) or 'PCs' (made by many different manufacturers, usually running a version of Microsoft's Windows operating system). Chromebook user? See below* 

We will generally be using computer software that is included with your computer when you buy it, or available for free on the internet. To be on the safe side, your computer should probably be no more than three or four years old so that it can run these applications without problems.

We'll learn more about hardware and software in this course, but here is a recommendation for the minimum that you'll need to complete this course. Additional software recommendations will be made during the course. 

PC
Hardware: Desktop or laptop computer with dual core or multi-core processor, and Windows 10 or later.
Software: Notepad, Internet browse: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Windows Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Audacity (free audio editing software)

Mac
Hardware: Mac Pro, MacBook, Mac mini, iMac using Apple OSX
Software: Internet browser: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Audacity (free audio editing software), GarageBand, iMovie.

If you have purchased software such as Adobe's Creative Cloud suite, ProTools or DaVinci Resolve you are welcome to use them for this course, but students will not need to buy any software for this course. 

*Most Chromebooks lack the processing power or appropriate software to do the assignments for this course. However, you may be blessed with a powerful chromebook and the patience to find apps that can do photo editing, audio editing and video editing on the chrome OS. 

Field Trips

This is a fully online course. There are no field trips for this course. 

Canvas

Students will use the Canvas Learning Management system [for assignment instructions, submitting assignments, viewing classmates' work, sharing resources, and viewing grades].  I can help with the course material and with some Canvas issues. But, if you need help uploading an assignment or with the mechanics of Canvas, Canvas help is the number to call.

For 24/7 help with Canvas, call 1-833-249-3993

Zoom Video Conferencing

If you wish to meet with me and you are unable to come to campus. We can meet in my Zoom room. Please use the CityZoom tool in Canvas to sign up for an available time in my office hours. 

Required Software

• Adobe Reader (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Update your browser (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Important Dates

If you decide to discontinue this course, it is your responsibility to officially drop it to avoid getting no refund (after 10% of course length), a W symbol (after 20%), or a grade (after 60%).

You must access the course through Canvas and complete the orientation quiz and post in the discussion before the end of the first week of instruction or you may be dropped by the instructor.  

Also, for after two weeks of consecutive, unexplained absences, the instructor may drop a student.

Pass‐NoPass (P/NP)

You cannot take this course P/NP

Attendance

During the first week of instruction
If you do not log in to the course during the first week of instruction and complete the quizzes and online discussions available in modules 0 and 1, you will be dropped from the course. During the semester, if you don't submit an assignment or participate or communicate for a period of one week, you will receive a message to remind you to come back to the course. If you don't participate or communicate for a period of more than two weeks, you will be dropped from the course. 

After the first week of instruction
As the semester progresses, it is important to keep up with assignments and participate in weekly discussions. It is very easy to fall behind in an online course. If you don't participate I will reach out to you within a week by email and / or phone to try to get you back on track. If more than two weeks go by without activity, I will drop you from the course. 

This is to help you to keep up with the work, as the semester goes quickly. However, life happens! If you fall behind a bit you can submit a make-up work plan to me by email, and I may readmit you to the course. 

Late Policy

Online classes are NOT self-paced, and you will need to manage your time effectively to stay on top of weekly deadlines. Due dates help keep you on task and maximize your learning, so please pay close attention to all deadlines. It's best to plan to complete and submit assignments before the due date. At the very least, you should give yourself some extra time in case of technical problems or other unexpected issues. Since the type of work in the course varies here are specific policies:

Weekly discussions are  due by Sunday at 11 pm. The grade for late posts will be reduced by 40%. No discussion points will be awarded more than two weeks after the deadline.

Weekly quizzes are due by Sunday at 11 pm. Quizzes cannot be taken after they close.

Projects will be accepted for a period of up to 2 weeks after the due date, during which they can be submitted at a reduced point value: A 10% reduction is imposed immediately after the due date, a 20% reduction will be imposed after one week. No work will be accepted more than two weeks after the deadline (except by special agreement with the instructor).

With the exception of the final exam, all assignments must be completed before the start of the final exam period, Dec. 13, 2022.  No work will be accepted after the start of the final exam period, (except by special agreement with the instructor).

Exams must be taken before they are due. No late exams will be permitted.

Exceptions

These policies are established in an effort to create a fair, equitable learning context for all students.At times, legitimate circumstances arise that make it impossible for students to meet a deadline. These circumstances include medical emergency and family emergencies. They do NOT include technology problems.If students contact me well in advance of a due date with a legitimate circumstance, a short extension can be negotiated. Your request must be validated by evidence such as a doctor's note. Circumstances must be validated by evidence such as a doctor’s note. We will negotiate a brief extension that is commensurate with the circumstance.

Methods of Evaluation

Each week you will complete a variety of graded assignments. There are weeky Discussions, several hands-on practical projects, and a bi-monthly Quiz. Quizzes may be taken only once. These assignments can be completed after reading the online lectures and associated learning materials in the content modules. 

Exams

There will be online quizzes throughout the course online midterm and final exam. The material comes from the textbook, class lectures, and supplemental materials. If an exam is missed, a zero will be recorded as the score. It is your responsibility to take the online exams by the due date. 

Grading Policy

Visit the “Grades” in Canvas to keep track of your grades. I grade weekly and post grades and comments on the online Canvas gradebook.

  How do I view my grades, teacher comments, and an assignment rubric as a student?

Grades will be assigned as follows:

If taking Pass/No Pass, you need at least 70% of the total class points and complete the midterm exam and the final exam to pass the class.

An “F” grade indicates that a student attended, participated, and completed the course but failed to master the course curriculum.

An “FW” grade indicates the student stopped attending a course after the “last day to withdraw” deadline and subsequently did not submit any work or participate in any exams. Please check with your counselor and financial aid advisor for possible implications of the FW grade on residency and financial aid status.

Students seeking disability-related accommodations are encouraged to also register with Disabled Students Programs and Services located in Room 323 of the Rosenberg Library (415) 452-5481. Please see the DSPS website for more information and alternate locations.

I understand that students represent a rich diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. The City College of San Francisco is committed to providing an atmosphere for learning that respects diversity. While working together to build this community I would like us all to

• share our unique experiences, values and beliefs
• value each other’s opinions and communicate in a respectful manner
• be open to the views of others 
• honor the uniqueness of peers
• appreciate the opportunity that we have to learn from each other in this community

The CCSF Code of Student Conduct defines plagiarism as "the unauthorized use of the written language and thought of another author without proper quoting or citing and representing him/her as one’s own."

Intentional plagiarism is academic dishonesty. Plagiarism occurs when you accidentally or purposefully do any of the following in an assignment: 

• Use someone else's words verbatim or almost verbativ without attribution, 
• Use someone else's evidence, line of thinking, idea, without attribution, 
• Turn in someone else's work as your own, as in copying a peer's paper or purchasing a readymade paper, 
• Turn in previously submitted work as new work without instructor approval. 

Penalties for plagiarism may be any of the following, depending on the seriousness of the offense: 

• Grade of F on the offending assignment OR required revision of the assignment with reduced grade of C, 
• Grade of F in the course for repeated plagiarism, 
• Notification of the Dean of Students

For tips about how to avoid unintentional plagiarism, our librarians can help. More information and the link to chat with a librarian can be found on the library website: 

https://library.ccsf.edu/faculty-support/academic-integrity

Students who register in CCSF classes are required to abide by the CCSF Student Code of Conduct. Violation of the code is basis for referral to the Student Conduct Coordinator or dismissal from class or from the College. See the Office of Student Affairs.

Collaborating on or copying of tests or homework in whole or in part will be considered an act of academic dishonesty and result in a grade of 0 for that test or assignment. I encourage students to share information and ideas, but not their work. See these links on Plagiarism:

Encourage Academic Integrity and Prevent Plagiarism

Citing Information Sources

Student Expectations 

You will succeed in this course if you meet the following expectations:

• Complete the assigned activities. Please let me know as soon as you can concerning difficulties you may have in getting assignments in on time. 
• Complete the discussion posts and replies within the given window of time. Our discussions are much more vibrant when we all participate!
• Complete the weekly quizzes, the projects, and the final exam on time.
• Do your own and your best work. 

Instructor Expectations

Here is what you can expect of me:

• I will respond to your email or message within 48 hours during the week unless I inform you otherwise.
• I will treat you and your ideas with respect.
• I will grade your course assignments within a week. (If you have posted late work, it may take longer.) Grades on the final project and final exam will be done within a week.
• You will see your grades in the Canvas Gradebook.
• I will work hard to make this a great class.