MOST IMPORTANT--READ THIS
Weekly Sessions
There will be Live Classroom sessions held every week or so. Some will be on-campus and are part of the Inclass Meetings (see below).
They are planned at a time to accommodate as many of the students as possible. See Calendar or Discussion Board for the exact time each week.
This time is determined by the results of Scheduling Survey and is schedule to accommodate as many as possible.
Those who cannot attend, can review an archived recording of it.
Inclass (On-campus) Meetings
There will be (at least) four times during the semester when students will be able to meet on-campus, in-person for software instruction and assistance, Q&A, critiques and other activities to enhance their online experience.
- Initial Meeting (for orientation the first week)
- 1st Interim (for assistance
- Midterm (for review)
- 2nd Interim (for assistance)
- Final Meeting (for final exam) MANDATORY
Each student is encouraged to attend ;-) Each counts for 5 participation points..
The final meeting is mandatory because the final exam will be proctored. (Several final sessions will be scheduled to allow all student a time to attend). You cannot receive better than a D for the course if you miss this meeting and the final exam.
Because final meeting is required, the instructor will accommodate students who cannot attend any of the times scheduled so they can fulfil this responsibility
The weeks when these are scheduled are shown on the Schedule Page. Reminders will be given at the beginning of each week with a post on the WebCT Calendar and a message sent to the class mailing list.
Students who wish to attend in-person but cannot do so at the scheduled time needs to let the instructor know so he/she can be accommodated if at all possible.
External Email List
While the email feature within Blackboard (the CSN Online Campus CE or WebCT for short) will be used for this course, the instructor may want to communicate with everyone via their regular email account. This way the student doesn't have to log into Blackboard to get timely messages from the instructor.
To sign up for this course's email list go here. Be sure to use the email account that you check daily.
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GRC 175 Online
Procedures
These procedures explain all of the online features and tools that are used in this course.
QUICK REFERENCE INDEX
 Communications
There are several means to communicate with the instructor and other
students, some are WebCT features—e.g. Discussion Board, eMail—and
some are external to that environment—e.g. Class Mailing List, web
pages. To be most successful in this course, you need to be part of the
communication process, read all Discussion Board postings and your email
messages. Respond when appropriate.
The instructor is grateful for your comments and questions. When you
are confused about a policy, a procedure, any of the lesson materials,
the assignment explanation, etc., please let him know via the Student Problems thread in the Discussion Board. Please be specific. Send other communications of interest to the class using the appropriate thread in the Discussion Board.
Discussion Board 
The Discussion Board (also called a bulletin board) is where questions
and comments can be posted for all of the class members to see. It is permanent
and it is universal.
It is broken into threads. In order for everyone to be able to quickly
reference back to something posted, everyone needs to file their posting
under the appropriate thread. If an appropriate one doesn't exist, post it under Miscellaneous. The instructor may move your question/comment to another thread or create a new one for it.
Threads
- Main—this is where the instructor posts major communications
affecting the entire course.
- Notes—this is where the instructor posts comments
that are helpful tips, but ones that are not timely.
- Student Questions / Problems—this thread is set to be anonymous (so as not to embarrass anyone who may feel they are asking a "stupid" question. For purposes of getting credit for your participation in this course, you should consider sending messgaes with the Anonymous checkbox unchecked.
- Introduce Yourself—Used only at the beginning of the course to let all the students know about you.
- Live Classroom/Chat—questions about scheduling, followup comments from these interactive online sessions should be posted here.
- Participation—this is used for answers to extra credit questions I may offer periodically or general any comments that contribute to the class which doesn't fit into any other thread.
- Lectures—questions, class participation comments, clarifications
that deal with the course curriculum (learning materials) should be
posted here.
- Assignments—any clarificaitons or questions about the work you are to produce (be it exercises, projects, assignments) are in this thread
- Miscellaneous—for when you don't know how to classify your question
or comment.
NOTE: If you feel there is a need for a thread topic
to be created, email the instructor.
Chat Session: 
WebCT Chat is instant messaging with two or more people. It can be used by any students at any time. All activity in Rooms 1 through 4 are recorded;
if the instructor holds a Chat Session he will announce when it is and afterwards post the transcript of it for all to review.
Office Hours: Mostly Chat is used by the instructor for Office Hours. As often as possible, the instructor will be online and log into the "General Chat for All Courses" Chat Room. So if you want to chat with him, try there first. Appointments can also be set up to use chat, though the phone works better for those situations.
WebCT Mail 
The WebCT Mail feature is for sending messages to the instructor or other
students (individuals). You could send a message to the entire class by
selecting all of the class members from the Browse…dialog
while within Compose Mail Message. Always fill in the Subject box on your
emails with a specific title. Do not send general questions, comments about the course or the curriculum via email--use the Discussion Board. Use email for questions that refer specifically to you only (a particular score you received, won't be able to check in the course for a week, etc.)
Class Mailing
List 
The mailing list (also called a listserv) is so the instructor and class members can communicate in the event
there is a problem with WebCT or if you need to quickly communicate with
the entire class without logging into WebCT. For the most part, use the
Discussion Board (under the appropriate topic), to post your questions
and comments.
You are asked to sign up (subscribe to) the Class Mailing List . It is used
by the instructor to communicate with the entire class to supplement postings to the Discussion Board or to be used in the event WebCT goes down). Normally , you would sign up here for the listserv provided by csn.
Once you are subscribed to the list(s) you can send a message to everyone in the class by using the address(es) below:
grc175de@lists.csn.edu—offricial class mailing list
Live Classroom  View Demonstration of How It Works
This is synchronous communication where students can view presentations online while using audio chat.
Weekly sessions are held for students to participate. Live Classroom sessions are scheduled and announced both on the Calendar and in the Discussion Board Announcements threads.
Also, students who need hands-on assistance can best receive this kind of help through Live Classroom by setting up an appointment to meet with the instructor in a session.
Etiquette 
Email: The following rules make for good communication and will expedite your non-WebCT
email communications with the instructor (if you are using Yahoo, Hotmail, etc):
- Identify yourself in your email (especially
if you don't have your name within your email address, e.g. ed.kanet@csn.edu).
Include a signature within your email message.
- Any answer you give within your message should refer/explain to the
question you are answering. Including the original message with your answer is preferred. This is best done by using the Quote button instead of just the Reply button.
- Be descriptive (short and to the point) in the Subject box. Give
your reader an accurate headsup.
- When sending an email to the instructor always begin the Subject box
with the name of your class: for example, grc
175, so that in a list of hundred emails, your email will not get lost.
More details about email
etiquette.
Chat Session: WebCT Chat is instant messaging with two or more people. All sessions in Rooms 1 through 4 are recorded;
if the instructor holds a Chat Session he will announce when it is and afterwards post the transcript of it for all to review. With only a couple students, it is not too difficult to manage a Chat—everyone
has at it. However, if there are three or more people logging in and all trying
to talk at the same time, it can be more than fun! but a little confusing
:-(
So the following rules will make any chat session more productive:
- If there are more than three people, you should wait to be
acknowledged by the instructor before you ask a question. To "raise
your hand" simply type "?" The instructor will then acknowledge
you by first name.
- If you want to raise a question or make a comment on a different matter
than what is being discussed: type "? (new)"
- While long comments are being typed, others CAN chip in.
- Before you send your message make sure that there is not a backlog
of questions. (You don’t want yours to get lost).
Strategy: Type your question or make your comment. Select it and copy
it so that it is saved in the Clipboard. Then “raise your hand.”
When it is your turn, you can paste and send quickly.
- You really only need to raise your hand if someone else’s question
is being addressed. That will also give you time to compose your question.
 Student Involvement
Class Participation here 
Distance education students must take advantage of opportunities to participate weekly in the class. Exceptional participation will raise a student's
final grade, above what the point totals indicate (see policy in the
syllabus).
These opportunities—embedded within the online reading material--are labeled CLASS PARTICIPATION.
You can answer those questions or give any other comments related to them to qualify for
participation credit.
Student Work /
Critiques here 
This section of the
course exhibits the work of both past and current students with brief critiques from
the instructor in some cases.
This is used not only for feedback to the individual students, but as
a means for other students to learn from the work of their peers. Commenting
on other students' work, by posting to the Discussion Board, also constitutes class participation and is REQUIRED
(5 critiques worth 5 points each are due by the end of the semester).
 Assignments
Submitting Assignments
ALL STUDENTS must submit
their work as links on their Projets Management Page. However, in order to activate the grading process that allows the instructor to
assign points to My Grades, the student needs to click on the "Submit" button in the Assignments Tool for that assignment / exercise.
NOTE TO STUDENTS: As you work on progressive assignments (building on the previous work) make sure you create a copy of it first before moving on, so that the link to your previous work will load the previous work. It is important to see a "snapshot" of all of the work you did. Don't make the instructor navigate around to find your work.
YOU
WILL LOSE POINTS if you fail to submit your assignments as specified above.
Consequences for failing to do this is a 10% decrease in your score—at best—or a failure to have graded—at worst.
Feedback
My Grades
Students can click on their My Grades link to see their points, the scoring and additional comments on a Grading Form
Email
Sometimes you may get comments sent to you via email (either in WebCT
or the class mailing list), depending on whether or not it was late or if others would benefit from the comments. (Don't worry, the instructor is not going to embarrass you in front of other students.
 Testing (general
information about Testing is
found on the Syllabus)
Quizzes
Quizzes are taken via WebCT. While they are an evaluation mechanism and
count toward your final grade, they are also used as a learning tool.
You may take quizzes two times, with the highest score appearing in My Grades.
To access quizzes, from your WebCT Homepage, click on Assessments link in the Course Tools list on the left side of the screen. Here you can see when a particular
quiz is available, how long you have to take it once you start and how
many points it is worth.
When you finish the quiz you can check the results to see how you did.
See Viewing Results below.
Essay questions (fill-ins, short answers) scores won't be available in
the View Results screen, nor will the total score be available in your
Grade Book, until the instructor grades them.
Quizzes are available for the entire week, with the deadline at 6:00pm on Saturday. You cannot make up a quiz unless you have made arrangements with the instructor.
Viewing Results
The results of any quiz the student has submitted can be viewd in the Assessments Tool by clicking on the View All Submissions buttons and then clicking on the respective "Attempt" link. Listed there are the questions, student responses, the correct
answers and sometimes additional comments on the answer given.
If you do not see
the results; if not, contact the instructor.
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