Electronic Class Groundrules

 

A "virtual" class, in many ways, is a blast and an excellent way to learn. You get LOTS of writing and reading practice, and will almost certainly be a better communicator before you're done. Certain problems, however, are common in electronic work, and it would be great if we could head-off most of them.

So please head the following:

  1. You need to check email and our Blackboard Announcements page on a regular basis. This means at least once a day.
  2. Also once a day (or more), you need need to check our online Schedule as well as any new Power Point shows in Blackboard.

  3. You may (sparingly) contact me by phone: 218-433-1214. Email is much preferred, though. I'm available 24/7 if you have questions or concerns.

  4. You need to read course materials, instructions, and peer/instructor communications VERY carefully.

    Most of us normally rely on face-to-face contact and body language for a lot of our communications with each other. We won't have much of that in this course, so it's VITAL that you READ extra carefully.

  5. Likewise, you need to WRITE with extra attention to clarity and precision.

    Email and other electronic writing sometimes lead to serious misunderstandings, even among friends, because, without body language and other cues, we can't always tell EXACTLY what someone means, or, even more importantly, we can't tell for sure what their attitude and tone are meant to be.

     So: when you send out emails for class or post messages or creative material to Blackboard, be aware of how thorough, clear, and precise you are. Consider how your addressees will read/hear your writing.

  6. If you don't know how to use Blackboard or other course technology, it is your responsibility to contact the Information Technology Services (ITS) Help Desk with questions (231-8685), view the tutorials located in Blackboard, and/or schedule a visit to the Technology Learning and Media Center (TLMC) in IACC. (I can't recall off-hand what IACC stands for; it's the very large computer resources building roughly in the middle of campus on Albrecht Blvd.) I'm afraid I have limited time to assist you with technical issues, so always first seek help through ITS or the TLMC.
  7. Be patient--I'm still learning about this online stuff too :) Let me know ASAP if you see problems, errors, inconsistencies, etc.




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