Important
Points and FAQs
Here
are some general points and questions that usually come up at the beginning of
a term:
1) It is very important that you stay on task for the
entire term. There is a great deal of work
to do in a very short period of time.
Students who have fallen behind in the past have not done well. READ THIS AGAIN—IT CANNOT BE SAID ENOUGH
2) This is a history course that uses a computer; it
is not a computer course. I know how to
operate well within my system; conversely, I do not know your system (nor do I
want to). It is expected that you are
proficient in the use of your computer.
If not, you should contact the IT Help Desk at the college.
3) In respect to the above point, AOL has been very
problematic for some students. CTDLC,
the organization that coordinates much of the online learning in Connecticut,
strongly advises against using the AOL internet service provider (ISP). As an ISP, AOL censors what pages you can
look at, will not load all the material on some pages, and frequently kicks
users off line during timed exercises (all of which have happened to students
in this course). In a nutshell, AOL is
not recommended for this course.
4) Most online courses are best suited for students
who have good time management skills and good study skills. This course is no different. It is also important that you have good
writing skills as a significant part of your grade is by essay. There are very limited opportunities for
help; email is a stilted tool when it comes to extensive and comprehensive
communication. Online help is available
from the
5)
YES, the deadlines are REAL. All
work MUST be completed by the assigned date.
Each online test has an opening and closing date.
6)
Late papers will NOT be accepted.
The date given is a drop-dead date.
Make sure your paper is in (well) before that.
7)
In respect to the previous two points, DO NOT wait until the last
minute. Issues with technology are NOT
an excuse for not getting your work done.
8)
The material for the course is available all day, every day (as long as
servers stay online). That is one of the
nice things about distance learning. I,
however, am not available all day, every day.
I will be checking and responding to your emails every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday mornings. This
course is really structured for you to advance on your own, staying as a group
within certain parameters for discussion purposes.
9)
Extra credit is NOT an option.
You should devote all your energies to this course. There is more than enough work to do in six
weeks.
It is important to have all of these points understood before the semester begins. It will save a lot of questions in the future. Having said all the above, I am looking forward to the semester. Like you I will be doing this course online, meaning I will not be at Three Rivers this summer. For the last half of the course I will be traveling to and researching in Montana. I will be using public computers to check the site once a day, and downloading your work. I have done this many years now and expect no problems.