Important note: if you are registered for the class, then read and follow the instructions on the pages carefully. After looking over the class, you will be required to do a simple orientation assignment on Etudes, due no later than the second day of the semester. If you do not complete the assignment then you may be dropped from the class as a no-show.
Second important note: if, after you read through all of this, you realize, "Hey! This really isn't for me," then please let the space go. I want you do be happy with the class, and I want you to do well in the class, and we all know that some people thrive online; others struggle. It may be your first online class ever, and you are definitely welcome here, but do realize that it is different; looking over the course should help you decide if this is right for you.
ok, let's get started
An online class is much the same as a live class. The readings are the same; you'll be writing the same sorts of essays. Still, there are some distinctive differences.
"Yeah, yeah. I know this stuff. I'm just gonna skim to the end. I don't wanna read all this..."
*sigh* not a good start
It is so tempting not to read the information on the course, but if you don't, you will have a very hard time. You will wonder, "Why didn't I get 20/20 on my discussions?" and "How come he isn't accepting my essay? I worked hard on it!" and "Where in heck are the stories we are supposed to read?"
And this is a short course; you do not have time to NOT KNOW any of that. This is also a Reading & Composition course, so please read on. When you get to the Orientation Tour page, follow the links; read those pages; bookmark them; take notes; stick those on your fridge door with a Dr. Who magnet; come back and follow the next link; read again. It will make this a whole lot easier.
a brief aside ("be ready to read")
Some of you will have looked me up on Rate My Professor. C'mon, I know you have. I sure would. What's the first tag that shows up (the one that students post most)? "BE READY TO READ."
Now, to be fair (maybe I'm just being defensive?), I do not have students read more than (or maybe even as much as) other English 101 teachers. I do, however, care how you read. You will see more of this in the opening lectures, but reading in college/university is RARELY about word recognition, getting the general plot/story, picking out bits to memorize. At least in your Critical Thinking (fancy talk for "thinking") courses, the focus will be on you being able to recognize, synthesize, and articulate your understanding of key issues and ideas, often abstract, challenging ideas. We read The Hunger Games for plot and action; we read college texts to grow, expand our understanding of life, the universe, and everything.
That means you need to read closley, carefully, completely, often more than once; it also means you need to take notes sometimes.
Right about now you might be thinking, "But I don't like to read."
I've heard that more than once (I've been teaching since 1976, so I've heard it a WHOLE LOT MORE than once). They (who are "they"?) expect you to read in college/university; even if they (?) are having you follow a "Minute Physics" YouTube clip, they expect you to grasp concepts and be able to make them your own. That is the same as close/analytical reading, and this class is, in part, designed to focus your interpretive/analytical skills in that direction.
Besides, this is an online class. You do not have a teacher lecturing while you take notes (you do take notes, don't you?). What you have may be better than that. You have everything written out for you, so you can go back and refer to the information as many times as you like. Sure, you should still take notes (you will see more on this in the first lectures), but at the very least you need to read all of the material carefully, or you will not get the course content that you need.
One more thing about reading: you need to be able to follow instructions. If you can't (or just don't), you will not do well in your classes. Imagine a math class where the teacher says, "Do all of the even problems on page 124," and you decide (or maybe didn't hear the teacher) to do all of the odd ones or ALL of the problems (probably this last situation is good for you, but it doubles the amount of time you have to spend...ugh!). If I write a discussion question that asks you to quote and document examples from a reading, and you skim over the question and miss that, chances are you will not do well on that discussion. If I have an essay instruction telling you you have to follow a specific format with the thesis statement, and you decide you know how to do a thesis, so you are going to ignore that instruction. You will not do well.
Summarizing all that:
you need to read closely to fully understand complex issues and ideas in what you read in college/university you need to read to find the examples necessary to support your own thinking when you express it you need to read carefully and completely so that you can demonstrate you know how to follow directions
OK, let's get back to the Orientation
are you ready for this course?
An online class is much the same as a live class. The readings are the same; you'll be writing the same sorts of essays. Still, there are some distinctive differences.
The class is more convenient for many of you. If you have a scattered or hectic schedule; if you live out of the area (I've had students from Peru, China, Australia), then being able to go online at any time of day/night is something you will appreciate.
Life is filled with trade-offs; this class is no different. What you gain in convenience you lose in the constant reminders you get in a face-to-face class.
Let's be honest: Quite a lot of students take online classes imagining they will be easy, far easier than their face-to-face counterparts. Some students imagine that pulling out their smart phones once in awhile is enough. Some figure that they can skate by without participating, that work is due "whenever," that the computer will take up all the slack and do the work for them. Really? If you imagine any of that, then this class is just not right for you; it is much easier, for example, to hide in a crowd in a live class than it is to vanish in an online one. Oh, you can avoid the Discussion board, sure, but you will fail.
Important note: this class is not less work. It may or may not be easier for you; a lot depends on the kind of learner you are and on your basic skill set. Here are some things you need to consider:
I am repeating this really, really good thing: yes, the class should be more convenient for you, and that is really a wonderful plus. You won't have to struggle to get up early and to fight for a parking space. If you tire of a lecture, you can just walk away for a little bit and play Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl on your 3DS for awhile and then come back when you are refreshed. However ...
- You are much more responsible for organizing your time and keeping on track. You need to meet deadlines (readings, lectures, discussions, papers are all due at specific times, and you have to keep track of the schedule regularly or you will fall behind). Note: The Course Schedule has all of the due dates, but be sure to look at assignments early. For example, you have some time before Essay 1 is due, but you need to look ahead at what Essay 1 is all about immediately to make sure you have time to complete it before its due date. These assignments take time, and if you procrastinate or forget to look ahead, you are going to struggle.
You need to have some very minor technical skills. You clearly can use the internet because you are here. You also need to understand how your e-mail works (for example, you need to familiarize yourself with attaching files). Here are a few other technical expectations:
You have to be able to set up your laccd e-mail account to receive announcements (you can easily have that account forwarded to your personal account; instructions are on the lahc.edu website.
You will need to become comfortable with our course message board (which will take very little practice). If you have never used Etudes, you will want to take the tutorials on the lahc.edu website.
You must be able to use a desktop or laptop computer. A tablet or smartphone are not appropriate for a writing class. You must have and be able to use your computer's full-featured word processing software (probably Microsoft Word); you'll need to set up your papers in MLA format which requires you to fiddle with the page setup and such. Actually, this requirement is true for all of my face-to-face students as well; their only advantage is that I can show them in class how to make changes to a Word document. You are either going to have to use GOOGLE and YouTube and friends who are brilliant at Word to help you). In any case, you need to send me files that I can read (right-text format or .pdf or Word files--this is explained in "How to Submit your Work," which you will be reading in a few minutes).
You must be able to open up and read the following file formats: (.pdf) Acrobat Reader is a free download, Word (.doc or .docx), Rich-Text Format (.rtf) the nearly-universal format. You need to be able to save files in at least one of those formats (not on GoogleDocs, not on OneDrive, not .odt files, etc.).
NOTE: Microsoft Office 365 is ABSOLUTELY FREE to our students while they are enrolled in classes; visit the LAHC Website and go to the Student Portal to view download instructions :)