1 Due Date and DeliverablesIndex

Do not print this assignment on paper!

• On paper, you will miss updates, corrections, and hints added to the online version.
• On paper, you cannot follow any of the hyperlink URLs that lead you to hints and course notes relevant to answering a question.
• On paper, scrolling text boxes will be cut off and not print properly.

• Due Date: 23h59 (11:59pm) Monday January 16, 2017 (start of Week 2)
  • Your next assignment will be available in a few days and will overlap this assignment. Start work on this now!
  • Late assignments or wrong file names may not be marked. Please be accurate and punctual.
• Available online
  • Version 1 – 02:45 January 9 2017
• Prerequisites
  • Any text editor capable of creating a Plain Text .txt file.
  • An ability to READ ALL THE WORDS to work effectively.
• Deliverables
  1. One plain text file uploaded to Blackboard according to the steps in the Submission Method section below.

2 Purpose of this AssignmentIndex

Do not print this assignment on paper! On paper, you cannot follow any of the hyperlink URLs that lead you to hints and course notes relevant to answering a question.

This assignment is based on your weekly Class Notes.

1. Read excerpts of research to understand the bad effects of multi-tasking and distractions on learning.
2. Consider making changes to your own study environment to avoid multi-tasking and promote memory.
3. Answer three questions using the exact format described below.
4. Create a Plain Text .txt file containing the answers.
5. Submit the plain text file as course work to Blackboard using the exact file name.

3 Assignment: Multi-Tasking Considered HarmfulIndex

For full marks, follow these directions exactly.

READ ALL THE WORDS! below before you start to answer any questions.

1. In the Course Notes, read the one page of This is your Brain essay excerpts. (You do not have to follow any of the hyperlinks on that page, but feel free to also read some of the original essays from which these quotes are taken.)

2. After reading the above web page, answer the following three questions in your own words:

   1. Given that studies show that multi-tasking makes it harder for your brain to remember what you have been doing (see the readings), in what ways does your method of doing school work and homework suffer from multi-tasking? Label your answer to this question with number (I-2a) (including the parentheses) in the file.

   2. How would it be possible for you to single-task your schoolwork, to remember it better come exam time (and job interview time)? Label your answer to this question with number (I-2b) (including the parentheses) in the file.

   3. Do you find that your brain has been trained to “process information rather than understand or even remember it”? (As an example: When given an assignment question, do you Google for the answer every time, or do you remember the answer and write down what you remember?) Label your answer to this question with number (I-2c) (including the parentheses) in the file.

   Answer in your own words. There are no right answers, but no marks will be given to short answers that don’t address the question fully.

3. Put your three answers in a plain-text file on your computer. Each answer can be made up of long lines of text (with no word wrap) or each answer can be made up of shorter lines of text (e.g. less than 80 columns wide) with blank lines between paragraphs.

4. Create and edit a plain text file (not a word processor file) using the exact name assignment01.txt with no spaces or upper-case letters. This file name is 16 characters long and is all lower-case letters with two digits and one period. The name does not contain capital letters or spaces. There is only one correct way to spell the word assignment. Be accurate.

5. Upload your plain text answer file containing your three answers to Blackboard. Do not upload the essays or this assignment question file as part of your answer. Only upload your three answers, just your three answers, in Plain Text format.

6. For full marks, make sure you label each of the three answers exactly as shown above.

• Write and submit your own answers to the above three questions. There are no “right” answers here. You decide your own answers.
• Minimum length: Three answer paragraphs, one per question. No marks will be given to answers that are too short to fully address the question.
• Maximum length: five single-spaced pages (plus optional bibliography and/or references). (Nobody has yet written anything this detailed.)
• Do not upload the original essays or this file as part of your answer. Only upload your answer itself.
• The uploaded format must be plain text (Notepad or TextEdit or VIM), not a word processor document.
• You must not upload this file or the essay text with your answer.
• Plain Text Only. No word-processor documents accepted.
• For full marks, number each of your three answers exactly as shown above using the exact headings: (I-2a), (I-2b), and (I-2c). The case (capitalization) of each letter must be exactly as shown.
• Answers must be hand-typed original answers for this term. Any copy-and-paste in your answer file (e.g. from the Internet, previous terms, or other students) will result in a mark of zero. Write your own words.
• PLAIN TEXT ONLY: NO EMAIL, WORD PROCESSOR, PDF, RTF, or HTML DOCUMENTS ACCEPTED.

READ ALL THE WORDS

4 Blackboard Submission upload methodIndex

1. Follow the directions above to answer the three questions above in a plain text .txt file using the exact name assignment01.txt with no spaces or upper-case letters. This file name is 16 characters long and is all lower-case letters with two digits and one period. The name does not contain capital letters or spaces. There is only one correct way to spell the word assignment. Be accurate.

2. Upload the assignment01.txt file from your local computer to the correct Assignment area on Blackboard (with the exact name) before the due date:
   1. On your local computer use a web browser to log in to Blackboard and go to the Blackboard page for this course.
   2. Go to the Blackboard Assignments area for the course, in the left side-bar menu, and find the current assignment.
   3. Under Assignments, click on the underlined assignment01 link for this assignment.
      1. If this is your first upload, the Upload Assignment page will open directly; skip the next sentence.
      2. If you have already uploaded previously, the Review Submission History page will be open and you must use the Start New button at the bottom of the page to get to the Upload Assignment page.
   4. On the Upload Assignment page, scroll down and beside Attach File use Browse My Computer to find and attach your assignment file from your local computer. Make sure the assignment file has the correct name on your local computer before you attach it.
   5. After you have attached the file on the Upload Assignment page, scroll down to the bottom of the page and use the Submit button to actually upload your attached assignment file to Blackboard.

   Use only Attach File on the Upload Assignment page. Do not enter any text into the Text Submission or Comments boxes on Blackboard; I do not read them. Use only the Attach File section followed by the Submit button. If you need to comment on any assignment submission, send me EMail.

   You can revise and upload the file more than once using the Start New button on the Review Submission History page to open a new Upload Assignment page. I only look at the most recent submission.

   You must upload the file with the correct name from your local computer; you cannot correct the name as you upload it to Blackboard.

3. Verify that Blackboard has received your submission: After using the Submit button, you will see a page titled Review Submission History that will show all your uploaded submissions for this assignment. Each of your submissions is called an Attempt on this page. A drop-down list of all your attempts is available.
   1. Verify that your latest Attempt has the correct 16-character, lower-case file name under the SUBMISSION heading.
   2. The one file name must be the only thing under the SUBMISSION heading. Only the one file name is allowed.
   3. No COMMENTS heading should be visible on the page. Do not enter any comments when you upload an assignment.
   4. Save a screen capture of the Review Submission History page on your local computer, showing the single uploaded file name listed under SUBMISSION. If you want to claim that you uploaded the file and Blackboard lost it, you will need this screen capture to prove that you actually uploaded the file. (To date, Blackboard has never lost an uploaded file.)

   You will also see the Review Submission History page any time you already have an assignment attempt uploaded and you click on the underlined assignment01 link. You can use the Start New button on this page to re-upload your assignment as many times as you like.

   You cannot delete an assignment attempt, but you can always upload a new version. I only mark the latest version.

• I do not accept any assignment submissions by EMail. Use only the Blackboard Attach File. No word processor documents. Plain Text only.

• Use the exact file name given above. Upload only one single file of plain text, not HTML, not RTF, not MSWord. No fonts, no word-processing. Plain text only.

• Did I mention that the format is plain text (VIM/Nano/Pico/Gedit or TextEdit or Notepad)?

• NO EMAIL, WORD PROCESSOR, PDF, RTF, or HTML DOCUMENTS ACCEPTED.

• No marks are awarded for submitting under the wrong assignment number or for using the wrong file name. Use the exact 16-character, lower-case name given above.

• WARNING: Some inattentive students don’t read all these words. Don’t make that mistake! Be exact.

READ ALL THE WORDS. OH PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE READ ALL THE WORDS!

Author: 
| Ian! D. Allen, BA, MMath - idallen@idallen.ca  -  Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| Home Page: http://idallen.com/   Contact Improv: http://contactimprov.ca/
| College professor (Free/Libre GNU+Linux) at: http://teaching.idallen.com/
| Defend digital freedom:  http://eff.org/  and have fun:  http://fools.ca/