Week 2 Discussion 1 – Whose Fault was the Target Breach?

General Instructions for Discussion Assignments

In this class we'll be dealing with a lot of the big picture topics in Cybersecurity such as: policies, politics, legalities as well as technology. For much of this, there aren't facts to learn so much as there are ideas and perspectives to explore. Much of this is very new, and nobody has the answers.

 And that's where these discussions come in! The idea is that we can all learn from each others' perspectives. There's no ‟right” answer to the typical discussion topic, you should feel free to post ideas that aren't fully thought out, or even ones you don't agree with if you feel that a perspective is missing.

 With that in mind, the instructions for most discussions are a little different than you may be accustomed to. Each discussion will have three steps:

 

1. Initial post, due Thursday of the module week. Post your initial thoughts on the topic of the discussion. In some discussions you will be able to see what other students have posted, in some discussions you may have to post your thoughts without viewing any other posts. Your initial post is worth 1 point. If you wish to reply to the posts of other students at this time you can, however, you will not receive any points for those replies.

2. During the day on Friday, I will go through the initial posts. I may add further instructions to the discussion, and I may respond directly to some posts with comments or questions. When I have completed this, I will post an announcement to say that the discussion has reopened.

3. After the discussion has reopened (sometime during the day on Friday), and due Tuesday of the following week (or Wednesday if there is a holiday). After the discussion is reopened, you should look through the initial posts. If I have asked a question specifically in a response to your initial post, you must answer that question. And you must provide substantive responses to the posts of at least two other students in a way that adds to the discussion. Simply responding “I agree” or “I disagree” or repeating what the previous person said does not count as adding to the discussion – you are welcome to post that type of reply, but it will not count towards your points for the assignment.

 

Unfortunately, Canvas does not deal gracefully with discussions that have multiple due dates, and for that reason you cannot rely upon the to do list in Canvas. In each week's module there will be an assignment titled “Initial Discussion Posts Due”. This assignment has no points associated with it, it is simply a reminder to complete your initial post in that week's discussions. That assignment shows up in the modules, and should show up on your calendar, but until Canvas fixes this problem, it will not show up on your to do list.