Course: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI 101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Quinn
Module: Week 11 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 5 — Use Claude Cowork to build agentic workflows — projects, connected folders and file read/write, tasks, and memory.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 11 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Week 11 Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates assume a Tuesday/Thursday pattern with Week 11 meeting Tue Nov 10 and Thu Nov 12, with end-of-week work due Sunday Nov 15, 11:59 p.m.

(A) Module 11 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 11: When AI Starts Acting — Not Just Answering

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module. Bring your laptop — we're building live this week.

For the first ten weeks of this course, AI was a conversational partner: you prompted, it replied, you acted. Starting now, AI becomes something different: an agent that takes multi-step actions on your behalf. This week you'll install and open Claude Cowork — the desktop platform where Claude can read your files, write to your folders, execute tasks in the background, and remember what it learned from one task to the next.

The week's big idea: an agent isn't just a chatbot with a fancier name. A chatbot answers; an agent acts. That difference matters — for what you can build, for how you supervise it, and for the real risks it introduces.

The week's big question

"What changes — in terms of both power and responsibility — when an AI can reach into your actual files and act on them?"

By Sunday you'll be able to explain what an agent is, describe Claude Cowork's core features (projects, connected folders, tasks, memory), and walk someone through running a real file-read/file-write task.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all five out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Define an AI agent and clearly distinguish it from a standard chatbot (reply vs. multi-step action).
• [ ] Explain what Claude Cowork is — the desktop platform, paid plan requirement, app-must-stay-open constraint.
• [ ] Describe a Cowork project — its instructions, connected folder, context, and memory; how memory is project-scoped.
• [ ] Explain reading and writing files — how Claude reads an input file from a connected folder and writes an output file to it.
• [ ] Apply the agent safety checklist — least privilege, approval mode, output verification, never automating money movement.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

AI policy reminder: you are required to use AI on the tutorial, discussion, assignment, practice, and Studio — that's the point of this course. AI is not allowed on the Quiz, which checks that you understand the Week 11 concepts. And every week you catch the AI's mistakes — this week's Studio requires you to catch an error in Cowork's output.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline — I'd much rather hear from you early.

How to succeed this week

• Nail the agent-vs.-chatbot distinction before anything else. It's the conceptual anchor for the next four weeks. A chatbot replies; an agent plans and acts. Say it out loud until it's automatic.
• Actually install Cowork and run a task, even a tiny one. You can't understand what file read/write means by reading about it — you have to see Claude produce a file in your folder.
• Start the Studio early. Cowork tasks take longer than chat replies, and there's a readiness-check step. Don't leave it for Sunday afternoon.
• Use 'Ask before acting' mode for your first tasks. Watching each step gives you a mental model of how the agent works. Go faster once you understand the pattern.
• Verify every output. Open the file Claude wrote. Read it. It may have written to the wrong location, misread a filename, or invented a detail in a summary. Catching it is the whole point of this week's Studio.

If you can't install Cowork (free plan, or technical barrier), the Studio has a concrete doc-reading + planning alternative — reach out and I'll guide you.

(B) Week 11 Announcement

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Nov 9, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Nov 9."

Subject: Week 11 — when AI stops just talking and starts acting

Hi everyone,

Here's a thought experiment for this week: what if instead of asking an AI to help you draft a summary, you dropped your notes into a folder, described what you wanted, and came back to find a finished, formatted summary already saved to your drive?

That's not a future scenario — it's Claude Cowork, and it's what we're building this week.

Week 11 — Agents & Claude Cowork I is the pivot point of the course. For ten weeks, AI was a conversational partner. Now it becomes an agent: a tool that takes multi-step actions on your behalf, reads your files, writes to your folders, and remembers what it learned in your project from one task to the next.

The concept that changes everything this week: an AI agent is not just a chatbot with a fancier name. A chatbot responds to one message at a time, and you do the rest. An agent plans, executes, and delivers finished work. That difference creates new possibilities — and new responsibilities.

Three things not to miss:

1. Tutorial 11 — work through the core concepts (agent, project, connected folder, task, memory) with an AI coach. The tutorial explains it all; your job is to engage until it clicks. Submit your chat link by Sun Nov 15.
2. Studio 11 (50 pts) — build your first Cowork project, run a real file-read/file-write task, and then deliberately catch an error in the output. This is the hands-on core of the week. Start early.
3. Discussion 11, Quiz 11, and Assignment 11 all close Sun Nov 15 — the discussion is genuinely worth thinking about: what does change when an AI can touch your actual files?

Note on access: Cowork requires the Claude Desktop app and a paid plan (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise). If you don't have access, the Studio has a fully-credited alternative. Just reach out.

See you Tuesday — bring your laptop. We're setting up projects in class.

Prof. Quinn