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MySeneca (Blackboard)	Course Outline	Student Services

What You Need to Know!

This is a project-based course that prepares you for future careers through project-based learning. You'll apply academic knowledge to real-world situations, developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. Working on authentic projects, you'll gain hands-on experience, learn to collaborate effectively, and manage project timelines—skills valued by employers across industries.

This course does NOT follow the regimented course-work addendum where you are frequently tested by quizzes, tests and exams, instead, you will be assigned challenging assignments that you need to research, analyze, and complete often requiring innovative solutions to unforeseeable challenges, thus enhancing your ability to adapt to the dynamics of the continuously evolving cloud computing industry. You will learn to stay abreast of emerging trends. The culmination of project-based assignments, throughout the course, will ultimately equip you with the confidence, competence, and practical expertise necessary to excel in your chosen career paths beyond the classroom.

There are no formal teaching sessions in this course. You are expected to explore and learn by completing assignments and coursework. During tutorials and classes, you will receive some hands-on examples of the challenging topics, however, be prepared to address the challenges yourself. You will be expected to complete most of the work individually, but at times for more complex projects you might be asked to work in a team, so be prepared to collaborate with your fellow students.

Who should not take this course?

This course is ideal for students pursuing a career in computer science, information technology, or cloud computing. It is also beneficial if you are looking to enhance your expertise in cloud networking with focus on Azure technologies. However, you will have to learn by doing and problem-solving in multiple practical real-world projects.

If you are NOT ready to take on the challenges of practical projects, it may be advisable for you not to enroll in this course. Real-world projects demand a high level of commitment, critical thinking skills, and the ability to work effectively under pressure. Without these essential attributes, you may struggle to meet the course requirements and derive meaningful learning outcomes.

If you're considering a project-based course, be ready to dive into hands-on work, collaborate with classmates, and take the lead on tough tasks. If you're feeling unsure or lacking skills, it might be wise to brush up on basics first. Pushing beyond your limits can be frustrating and slow your progress. So, take stock of your readiness and pick courses that match your skills and goals.

Success Criteria: How to Ace this course?

To excel in this course and go above and beyond, you can set the following success criteria for yourself:

1. Commitment to Coursework:
   • Attend all classes regularly and actively participate in discussions and activities.
   • Be persistent and thrive to learn instead of targeting to completing assignments to get the marks and be done with it.
2. Complete Assignments with Excellence:
   • Stay organized by keeping track of deadlines, assignments, and course requirements.
   • Submit all assignments on time and ensure they meet the required standards and guidelines.
   • Seek feedback from the professors and peers to continuously improve the quality of your assignments.
3. Engage in Additional Learning:
   • Go beyond the required readings and materials provided in the course by seeking out additional resources, such as books, articles, and online tutorials.
   • Take advantage of supplementary materials recommended by the professor to deepen your understanding of course topics.
4. Collaborate and Network:
   • Collaborate with classmates, you can learn a lot from your classmates.
   • Build professional relationships with the professors, and demonstrate your enthusiasm to learn.
5. Seek Opportunities for Growth:
   • Challenge yourself by taking on extra tasks or assignments that allow you to apply your knowledge and skills in new contexts.
   • Volunteer for opportunities to present research, lead discussions, or assist with course-related activities to enhance your learning experience.

Prerequisites

You are expected to have a preliminary understanding of IaaS, PaaS, SaaS and have at least completed one basic project in a cloud environment. If you have never created a virtual machine before or are not comfortable with working with Linux commands, you need to do extra work to catch up. You are expected to be familiar with remotely creating, administering and diagnosing an interconnected multi-server environment.

This course also heavily uses Bash scripting for automating resource provisioning, configuration, and management. You must have a strong foundation in Linux CLI and Linux system administration. This course uses multiple Linux distribution, namely Red Hat Enterprise and Ubuntu Servers. You must have completed at least one course in configuring, securing, and maintaining Linux servers and workstations.

In summary, even though the pre-requisites will not be enforced at the time of registering for this course, in order to succeed in this course you must have:

1. Basic knowledge of computer systems and networking.
2. Basic knowledge of computer networking concepts, including IP addressing, sub-netting, and routing.
3. Proficiency in Linux command-line interface (CLI), executing commands, and working with Linux File Systems.
4. Familiarity with cloud computing fundamentals and Azure services is recommended but not mandatory.

What are online classes?

This is a project based course so there are no regimented tutorial schedule but there are weekly online hands-on demo sessions to guide and assist you in completing your setup and getting started with the coursework. Online sessions prioritize self-directed learning and proactive engagement from you to learn by doing with demo and hands-on tutorials.

Online class schedule and office hour details can be found in the Blackboard Portal. You are recommended to attend all the sessions regularly and actively participate in discussions and activities. Ask questions, share insights, and contribute to the learning environment.

Word of Wisdom

1. Keep failing, if you are not failing, it means you are not trying novel things.
2. If your script is running smoothly, and you do not have to bang your head to the wall and curse the whole world, you are definitely going wrong somewhere.
3. Treat stackoverflow as bible and use other people's code or ChatGPT, but do not be dumb! Add your flavor to your codes and be proud of your messy code compared to a nice clean code that someone else has created
4. Ask questions! Keep asking until you get an answer!
5. Don't mess up with coding savvy professors, I can run scripts that will find any line copied from another source, cheating gets you a zero mark, and do not test me there!

Cheating and Plagiarism

Do not Cheat! In simple words, if you copy the answers of your fellow students, or your answers match each other or your answers are not unique/copied from the internet, it is safe to assume that you cheated. In simple term don't copy another person's work (answers for tests, labs or assignments) and don't let another person copy your work.

Penalties are pretty sever as both students get zero for that particular assessment. The incident will be reported to the college's academic integrity counsel. The comment goes on your transcript. If the incident happens a second time, you could be expelled from college.

Seneca's Copyright Policy

• It is a violation of Canada's Copyright Act and Seneca's Copyright Policy to share, post, and/or upload course material in part or in whole without the permission of the copyright owner. This includes posting materials to third-party file-sharing sites such as Case-Study-sharing or homework help sites.
• Course material includes teaching material, Case-Study questions, tests, and presentations created by faculty, other members of the Seneca community, or other copyright owners.
• Most of the materials posted in this course are protected by copyright. It is a violation of Canada's Copyright Act and Seneca's Copyright Policy to share, post, and/or upload course material in part or whole without the permission of the copyright owner. This includes posting materials to third-party file-sharing sites such as assignment-sharing or homework-help sites. Course material includes teaching material, assignment questions, tests, and presentations created by faculty, other members of the Seneca community, or other copyright owners.

You can find more details about Seneca's Copyright Policy statement and its' enforcements in Seneca's Copyright Policy. If you still have any concerns, discuss it with the professor and program admin.

Seneca's Integrity Policy

• It is also prohibited to reproduce or post to a third-party commercial website work that is either your work or the work of someone else, including (but not limited to) assignments, tests, exams, group work projects, etc.
• This explicit or implied intent to help others may constitute a violation of Seneca's Academic Integrity Policy and potentially involve such violations as cheating, plagiarism, contract cheating, etc.
• These prohibitions remain in effect both during a student's enrollment at the college as well as withdrawal or graduation from Seneca.

You can find more details about Seneca's Integrity Policy statement and its' enforcements in Seneca's Integrity Policy. If you still have any concerns, discuss it with the professor and program admin.