Georgia Institute of Technology

CS6150 Computing for Good (C4G) Course Syllabus

OMSCS Spring 2022, College of Computing
Delivery: 100% Web-Based
Dates course will run: January 13, 2023 – May 4, 2023

Instructor Information
Course Instructor: Santosh Vempala Email: [email protected]
Instructional Associate: Dante Ciolfi Email: [email protected]

General Course Information

Description
How can computing help make the world a better place? Can we avoid wars, alleviate
homelessness, and improve global health using computers? What technical challenges arise,
and what humanistic issues must be considered and understood in the process? In this C4G
course, we explore problems faced by developing countries and underserved populations from
a computing perspective. The course will be project-centered, with teams of students choosing
project topics early in the course and working towards a deployed solution by the end of the
course.

Prerequisites
Graduate course in any ONE of the following topics: (A) Databases, (B) Networking, (C)
Logistics, (D) Web development, (E) Global Health, (F) Technology and Society, or (G) User
Interface Design.

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes

Once completed, the students should have the following capabilities:
• Think about computing for social good and all its complexities
• Undertake a significant, semester-long project working on a team: Identify a
problem/project/organization that you are passionate about; design, evaluate and deploy
a solution
• Develop a rudimentary understanding of a domain of social importance
• Develop an understanding of the key issues in humanitarian computing, including
sustainability, resource availability (or lack thereof), novice user design, and diversity in
user and stakeholder populations

Course Materials
Course Text
Geek Heresy by Kentaro Toyama (please click the link, then scroll to page bottom for digital
versions)

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Georgia Institute of Technology
CS6150 Computing for Good (C4G) Course Syllabus
Additional Materials/Resources
All other required and recommended reading will be provided as PDFs on Canvas. Outside
materials and technologies required are dependent on each project’s individual needs.

Course Website and Other Classroom Management Tools

All course materials and videos are located on Canvas.
C4G Public Website: c4g-dev.cc.gatech.edu

Course Requirements, Assignments & Grading

Assignment Distribution and Grading Scale

Assignment Weight Description

Assignment 1: Skills & Interests Exercise 1%

Assignment 2: Tech Survey 4%

Lecture Assessments 10%

Midterm Paper 15%

Project (total) 60%

Initial Goals (individual) 2% Indicate topic or area of interest, type of project,
potential partner organization(s), possible project(s),
and what makes you suitable for it.

Team Formation 3% Form a team, listing all appropriate skills and

experience of team members. If you prefer to go
solo, please discuss it with a TA.

Team Goals & Deliverables 5% Select partner organization. Discuss their needs and
formulate a project. Make a list of goals and list of
deliverables. Create a plan to engage the partner
organization and any other stakeholders.

Mini-Presentation (to TA) 5% Present a project plan to a TA. Create slides

detailing team, partner organization, project goals,
and strategy.

Team Webpage 5% Create a project webpage and announce it to the

class.

Initial Evaluations (with partner 10% Create a survey and evaluate the initial prototype
organization) with the partner and stakeholders.

Demo (present to TA) 10% Present functional demo to TA and implement TA

feedback.

Field Evaluation 10% Evaluate the deployable version with the partner
organization and make changes based on feedback.
Deploy or produce a deployment plan. Create a
sustainability analysis.

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Georgia Institute of Technology
CS6150 Computing for Good (C4G) Course Syllabus
Final Report 5% Include the problem being addressed with detailed
background information about users and
stakeholders, current approaches, their
shortcomings, and challenges to be addressed. It
should then motivate and present the solution
developed, its evaluation and deployment, and
sustainability analysis.

Final Presentation (recording) 5% Create a slideshow and video recording.

Peer Project Evaluations 10%

Grading Scale
Your final grade will be assigned as a letter grade according to the following scale:
A 90-100%
B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69% F 0-59%

Assignment Due Dates

All assignments are due at 11:59:00pm EST unless otherwise noted. All assignments are due
per the Eastern Standard Time Zone (EST). Eastern Standard Time is UTC -5. Eastern Daylight
Time is UTC -4. We will not accept assignments submitted late due to time zone issues. You
should update your canvas to account for EST if you are in a different time zone. There are no
exceptions.

Late and Make-up Work Policy

There will be no make-up work provided for missed assignments. Of course, emergencies.
(illness, family emergencies) will happen. In those instances, please get in touch with the Office.
The Dean of Students is equipped to verify emergencies and pass confirmation on to all your
classes. For consistency, we ask all students to do this in a crisis.

Technology Requirements and Skills

Computer Hardware and Software
• High-speed Internet connection
• Laptop or desktop computer with a minimum of a 2 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM
• Windows for PCs OR Mac iOS for Apple computers.
• Complete Microsoft Office Suite or comparable and ability to use Adobe PDF software
(Install, download, open, and convert)
• Mozilla Firefox, Chrome browser, or Safari browsers (Chrome required for onboarding quiz)

Canvas
This class will use Canvas to deliver course materials to online students. ALL course materials
and quiz/discussion assessments will take place on this platform.

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Georgia Institute of Technology
CS6150 Computing for Good (C4G) Course Syllabus
Proctoring Information
To verify the identity of all GT online students, all online students must complete the onboarding
quiz that uses Honorlock. Honorlock is utilized for student identity verification and to ensure
academic integrity. Honorlock provides student identity verification via facial and ID photos. You
may also be asked to scan the room around you. The onboarding quiz will be a practice quiz
that will not affect your grade in the course. You can take the onboarding quiz as many times as
you want. A human reviews all potential violations. The Honorlock support team is available
24/7. While Honorlock will not require you to create an account, download software, or schedule
an appointment in advance, you will need Google Chrome and download the Honorlock Chrome
Extension. Information on how to access Honorlock and additional resources are provided
below. You can also access Honorlock support at https://honorlock.com/support/.

Course Policies, Expectations & Guidelines

Communication Policy
You are responsible for knowing the following information:
1. Anything posted to this syllabus
2. Anything emailed directly to you by the teaching team (including announcements via
Canvas and Ed Discussions) 24 hours after receiving such an email or post.

Because Canvas and Ed Discussions announcements are also emailed to you, you need only
check your Georgia Tech email once every 24 hours to remain updated on new information
during the semester. Georgia Tech generally recommends students check their Georgia Tech
email once every 24 hours. So, if an announcement or message is time sensitive, you will not
be responsible for the announcement content until 24 hours after it has been sent.

Online Student Conduct and (N)etiquette

Communicating appropriately in the online classroom can be challenging. To minimize this
challenge, it is important to remember several points of “internet etiquette” that will smooth
communication for both students and instructors:
1. Read first, Write later. Read the ENTIRE set of posts/comments on a discussion board
before posting your reply to prevent repeating commentary or asking questions that have
already been answered.
2. Avoid language that may come across as intense or offensive. Language can be easily
misinterpreted in written, electronic communication: review email and discussion board
posts BEFORE submitting. Humor and sarcasm may be easily misinterpreted by your
reader(s). Try to be as matter-of-fact and professional as possible.
3. Follow the language rules of the Internet. Do not write using all capital letters because it
will appear as shouting. Also, the use of emoticons can be helpful when used to convey
nonverbal feelings. J
4. Consider the privacy of others. Ask permission before giving out a classmate's email
address or other information.
5. Keep attachments small. If it is necessary to send pictures, change the size to an
acceptable 250kb or less (one free, web-based tool to try is picresize.com).
6. No inappropriate material. Do not forward virus warnings, chain letters, jokes, etc., to
classmates or instructors. The sharing of pornographic material is forbidden.

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CS6150 Computing for Good (C4G) Course Syllabus
NOTE: The instructor reserves the right to remove posts that are not collegial and do not meet
the Online Student Conduct and Etiquette guidelines (above).

University Use of Electronic Email

A university-assigned student e-mail account is the official university means of communication
with all students at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Students are responsible for all
information sent to them via their university-assigned e-mail account. If a student chooses to
forward data in their university e-mail account, they are responsible for all information, including
attachments, sent to any other e-mail account. To stay current with university information,
students are expected to check their official university e-mail accounts and other electronic
communications frequently and consistently. Recognizing that some communications may be
time-critical, the university recommends that students check electronic communications at least
twice a week.

Plagiarism & Academic Integrity

Georgia Tech aims to cultivate a community based on trust, academic integrity, and honor.
Students are expected to act according to the highest ethical standards. All students enrolled at
Georgia Tech and all its campuses are to perform their academic work according to standards
set by faculty members, departments, schools, and colleges of the university; and cheating and
plagiarism constitute fraudulent misrepresentation for which no credit can be given and for
which appropriate sanctions are warranted and will be applied. For information on Georgia
Tech's Academic Honor Code, please visit https://www.catalog.gatech.edu/policies/honor-code/
or https://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/18/.

Any student suspected of cheating or plagiarizing on a quiz, exam, or assignment will be

reported to the Office of Student Integrity. This office will investigate the incident and identify the
appropriate penalty for violations.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with learning needs that require unique accommodation, contact the Office
of Disability Services at 404-894-2563 or https://disabilityservices.gatech.edu/ as soon as
possible to make an appointment to discuss your individual needs and to obtain an
accommodations letter. Please also e-mail me as soon as possible to set up a time to discuss
your learning needs.

Student-Faculty Expectations Agreement

At Georgia Tech, we believe it is essential to strive for an atmosphere of mutual respect,
acknowledgment, and responsibility between faculty members and the student body. See
https://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/22/ for an articulation of some basic expectations that you
can have of me and that I have of you. Ultimately, simple respect for knowledge, hard work, and
cordial interactions will help build the environment we seek. Therefore, I encourage you to
remain committed to the ideals of Georgia Tech while in this class.

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Georgia Institute of Technology
CS6150 Computing for Good (C4G) Course Syllabus
Subject to Change Statement
The syllabus and course schedule may be subject to change. Changes will be communicated
via the Canvas announcement tool. Students must check Ed Discussions, email messages, and
course announcements to stay current in their online courses.

Course Schedule
Week/Dates Lessons Readings Deliverables
Lesson 1: C4G and BLIS C4G BLIS: Health Care Delivery Assignment 1: Skills & Interests
1 Introduction via Iterative Collaborative Design Exercise Due
January 9 in Resource-constrained Settings

2 Initial Goals Due

Lesson 2: BLIS Challenges and
January 16
System Design

Lesson 3: BLIS Deployment & Information Systems and Team Formation Due
3 Results Developing Countries: Failure,
January 23 Success and Local Improvisations

Lesson 4: Technology’s Law of Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Assignment 2: Tech Survey Due
4 Amplification (Kentaro Toyama) Change from the Cult of
January 30 Technology

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Lesson 5: V2V Introduction & Design and Deployment of a Blood Goals & Deliverables Due
February 6 Challenges Safety Monitoring Tool Team Webpage Due

6 Presentation to TA Due
Lesson 6: V2V Design &
February 13
Deployment

Lesson 7: V2V Feature ICT4D 2.0: The Next Phase of Initial Evaluations Due
7 Walkthrough Applying ICT for International
February 20 Development

Lesson 8: Designing Technology A Text Message a Day Keeps the Midterm Paper Due
8 to Improve Health and Wellness Pulmonologist Away
February 27 (Rosa Arriaga)

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March 6 Lesson 9: Project Guidelines &
Metrics

Lesson 10: LifeNet & Reliable LifeNet: A Flexible Ad hoc Project Peer Evaluations Due
10 Connectivity Networking Solution for Transient
March 13 Environments

Spring Break Lesson 11: LifeNet Evaluation & Sustainability Failures of Rural
March 20 Deployment Telecenters: Challenges from the
Sustainable Access in Rural India
(SARI) Project

11 Lesson 12: Ending

March 27 Homelessness (Protip Biswas)
Interview with Protip Biswas

12 Demo Due
April 3 Lesson 13: Digital Threats to
Democracy (Mike Best)

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Lesson 14: Lessons from Digital
April 10
Green (Kentaro Toyama)

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Georgia Institute of Technology
CS6150 Computing for Good (C4G) Course Syllabus
14 Lesson 15: History of C4G Field Evaluation Due
April 17

Final Presentation Due

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April 24

Finals Week Final Report Due

May 1