1. When and Where
Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri ... Daily Touchpoints of 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM
I don't mean that you need to be sitting in front of your computer at 9 and 4pm every day, or any day.
Since we need to do the equivalent of a week's worth of material during every day of J-Term, we need to keep up a steady pace.
You needn't actually be online at 9:00 AM every day, but I will set
J-Web to close the submission slots for routine homework (multiple
choice comprehension questions, short response paragraphs) at 9AM on
the day they are due. I will generally spend the morning reviewing
submitted work, and preparing discussion questions that I will post to
the course blog at around 4pm. You'll have about two days to contribute to the official discussion for each assigned question before I close the topic and record a mark for your participation.
Note that "contributing to a discussion" is not the same thing as "answering the question." I ask you to read what your peers have written, and engage them directly, responding to and offering challenges in a friendly but intellectually critical environment, just as you would do if we were having a classroom discussion. (More about how the online discussion contributes to your participation mark later.)
- From 4-5PM I will usually be sitting at my computer, doing
nothing but answering questions, helping you to prioritize upcoming
assignments, and generally keeping the online discussions going.
- That won't be the ONLY time I'll be online, but it will be a very
good time for everyone to touch base if you want a quick response.
- If you have a scheduling problem that keeps you from meeting the class requirements, let me know the details and perhaps we can work something out.
Depending on how those online discussions go, I may schedule some online chats. I've also built a mandatory one-on-one telephone call into the assignments leading up to your final paper.
Most of the reading assignments and may of the exercises will be posted on the first day of classes, so if you want to work ahead, feel free. But I will expect you to check in at least once a day, to see what new discussion questions I have posted, and to join in the online discussion. (If you don't check in at least every other day, you will probably fall behind.)
About every other day there will be
an "Exercise" scheduled, but for some of the exercises I don't plan to
fill out the details until I know more about what the class is
interested in and where the class could use some extra guidance and
review.
- Some of the exercises I will be creating as we go, based on what
the
class is interested in, current events in the world of computer games,
or some idea that pops into my head that I can't wait to share with you.
- If there is an "Exercise" due Wednesday at 9am, I might not
publish the full details about exactly what I want you to do for that
exercise until 5pm Monday.
- If for some reason I have given you less than 36 hours notice
about an assignment, and you feel you can't do your best work because
you couldn't schedule it in, please bring the issue to my attention before the due date, so that we can make another arrangement.
Where
- The course website is here: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DennisJerz/EL250.
Each day has its own page. I'll begin the class by sending out detailed
e-mails that tell you exactly where you need to look in order to find
out what's due, but after a few days you should be able to figure it
out on you own.
- You will also have your own weblog (an online journal). Your online readers will be able to read it by going to http://blogs.setonhill.edu/YourfirstnameYourlastname
(according to the way your name appears in J-Web). You will also read
what your peers write on their own blogs, so some of the work you do
for the course will be in the comments you leave on your peers' blogs.
- I'll teach you everything you need to know about the weblog software. You will post entries to your weblog by going to http://blogs.setonhill.edu and logging in with the userid and password that I will give you via e-mail at the beginning of the course.
- Automatically graded multiple choice questions and some starter discussion questions will be available on J-Web.
- I will keep track of your grades in Turnitin.com, and you will also submit some work there.
- The most complete course information will be available on the course website. Always look there first, rather than at J-Web or Turnitin.com, to see what due dates are coming up.
