Introductions

Go to the Discussion area in Canvas. Open the Introductions discussion. Write a short personal introduction and post a large, easy to see picture of yourself.

I am interested in, and will read, all your contributions. I often will have occasion to refer back to these documents later in the course. I should add, however, that one of the secondary goals of this assignment is to be sure that you know how to use this Canvas discussion area.

Please write a short bio that includes the following:

  • Your name
  • Your background
  • What you hope to get out of the course
  • If you have a mobile device and or something like an Amazon Echo or Google Home device, tell us a little about them.
  • Any interests you might have that you want to share with the class
  • See my response below for an example of what to write.

Posting

Don’t reply to my personal introduction, reply instead at the top of the discussion area. In particular, you will see two possible places to respond to this thread. I want you to use the reply area immediately below the introductory text. If you want to comment on someone’s post, then you can reply directly to their post. It is perfectly fine to comment on someone’s post, it is just not the place to put your own introduction. If this is not clear, see the Week01 Discussion where an example is available.

Picture

Also include a recent, close up, picture of yourself in both your introduction, and in the Canvas Profile. Use my introduction as a guide.

NOTE: If you are having trouble posting your picture, use the Week01 discussion area to problem solve the issue with your fellow students. Problem solving is an important skill, and this is your first chance to engage in it. If you know how to do it, it is not cheating to simply post your solution in the discussion area. In fact, that is what I want you to do. The Canvas section on uploading profile pictures might help, or might just be confusing. (Later, I’ll show you a technique I use to display pictures on the web.)

Note the picture I use in my post. We have lots of students in this class. I have to be able to match faces to names. To do this, I need a good picture of what you look like now. The picture should be:

  • A close up. A head shot. Shoulders and above.
  • The lighting should be clear and bright.
  • It should reflect what you actually look like. Its not a glamour shot, not some amazing picture of you that due to a trick of the light makes you look Rihanna, George Clooney, Jin Akanishi, Amber Heard or some other famous person. I want to be able to recognize you. I like you just the way you are.
  • Not too big, and not too small. My picture is about 500X500 pixels.
  • If possible, and if you have not done so already, head over to your Canvas Profile, accessible from the Canvas Settings menu, and use this picture as your avatar. That’s the little round picture near the upper left of this post. Please use a tight close up for the avatar shot. (Even with the close up, the avatar shot is too small to help me really identify you in most cases, so please include the 500X500 picture in your post.)

Remember, I need a picture of you similar to the one you see in my personal introduction. One picture of yourself in the Canvas Profile, and another picture in the introduction post itself. The one in the introduction should be large (at least 500 X 500 and easy to see.

See the AndroidImageShare assignment for more details on taking pictures.