knowledge-kitchen / course-notes

Discord Messenger - Use Within a Database Design Course

Discord is a messenger / discussion application that we use for all course communication.

Roles

Every user is assigned a role.

• admins - graders, tutors, any course assistants, and the instructor are all given this role
• graders - graders are given this role
• tutors - tutors are given this role
• students - students are given this role

It is possible to send a message to all users with a specific role by including @role in the message, e.g. @graders.

Channels

An overview of the channels used in this course.

Channels are organized into categories. The categories are…

General Channels

Channels in the “GENERAL” category:

• admin - a channel for the admins to converse
• data-dibs - a channel where students can “claim” particular data sets they intend to use
• exams - a channel for discussion related to exams
• general - a channel for general conversation
• grading - a channel moderated by the graders for discussion about grading
• pronouncements - a channel for official announcements from the admins… only admins should post here
• quizzes - a channel for discussion about quizzes
• tutoring - a channel moderated by the tutors for discussion about tutoring

Student Channels:

Channels in the “STUDENTS 01” category:

• fb1258 - each student must create a private channel - replace fb1258 with your own NYU Net ID. This channel will be for semi-private communication directly between you and the course administrators without other students.

Discord only allows a limited number of channels in each category. If there is no more room in the “STUDENTS 01” category for your channel, please it into a channel named “STUDENTS 02” instead.

Extracurricular Banter

Channels in the “BANTER” category:

• These channels may be shared with other courses and are for general discussion.

Rules

To learn to use a team messenger app effectively and to keep discussions orderly and focused, abide by the following rules:

1. students should never post to the pronouncements channel - keep this for official announcements only
2. student-created channels must be placed in an appropriate channel category.
3. if you are targeting a message to a specific person, use the @username syntax to notify them, e.g. Dear @Prof - great to see you!
4. if your message is in reply to an earlier message, click/tap the reply button on the message to which you are replying rather than sending a new unrelated message from scratch. This way, everyone understands what your message is in relation to.
5. general messages and questions should be posted to a relevant public channel so others can see the discussion surrounding it
6. if a message is related to your personal performance or grades, send it as a private message in your private channel or discuss in-person
7. direct questions about grading to the graders - they have the word, “Grader”, in their usernames and there is a @grader role that can be used to target a message to all graders.
8. direct questions about tutoring to the tutors - they have the word, “Tutor”, in their usernames and there is a @tutor role that can be used to target a message to all tutors.
9. direct questions about other matters to the professor (@Prof) and the course assistant if there is one for this course - they have the word, “Course Assistant”, in their username
10. avoid using slang or culturally-specific abbreviations or shorthands when messaging with anyone you are not already friendly with… it’s easy to misintepret people’s intentions in textual messaging and your lack of formality may be interpreted as disrespect or insult by someone who does not know you as the kind gentle soul you truly are. Students are expected to abide by NYU’s student conduct policies in all their communication in this course, regardless of the platform being used.