To: English Distance Learning Students
From: Allen Bradshaw, MCC English Dept. Faculty- Retired
Date: Spring 2012
Re: Welcome, Software, and Orientation (part of your class syllabus)
Distance Learning Students:
Welcome to Mesa Community College and to this English Distance Learning course. To help you better understand the technology of the course, and to help you prepare to start the course curriculum on the starting date of the course, read the following information closely.
The course in which you enrolled is a 16 week course, starting Tuesday, January 17, 2011, and ending May 10, 2012. This distance learning course is designed so students may finish before the scheduled end of the course, but they must finish within the 4 week winter intersession. There are advantages to taking English in distance learning format, but having extra time is not one of these advantages. You will need to spend the same amount of time on this course as if you were in a classroom. The time you will save is driving and parking time to and from the MCC campus, not to mention the gas! And the time that you spend on the course will be flexible - you will not be chained to Monday, Wednesday, & Friday at 9 am each meeting. You will be able to fit the course into your life schedule, not the MCC schedule.
Students who do not complete Ass. 1, Part 1 & 2 by Wednesday evening, January 18, will be withdrawn to make room for other students who are waiting to enroll. is the same as not showing up for class the first or second day.
MCC's English distance learning courses are Internet courses. The entire curriculum of the course, assignments, lectures, instructions, and examples are web pages that you must view with a web browser. These web pages are protected by a username and password, which you obtain by having an MCC e-mail account. Most of the communication between instructor and student is accomplished by e-mail, and class participation comes through an Internet web bulletin board. You must provide your own Internet connection (provider) at home.
Required skills:
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E-Mail:
MCC provides a student account through Google, and it is recommended that you use this mail for the course. This is a state of the art, free Internet e-mail account which you must activate yourself. Directions for the use of the account are provided through MyMCC or through this web address: http://www.mesacc.edu/mcconline/email.html .
You must also activate your MyMCC account. The username and password that you create for this account is used to communicate with your instructor and receive lesson instructions. You can activate this MCC account through the MCC MyMCC portal, at the address below:
https://orion.mesacc.edu/portal/
The MyMCC portal page is a valuable tool for this course. You will find a link to MyMCC on each of your assignment pages. This portal lists all the courses that you are taking. This portal page will also have a class roster of other students in your class, and their MCC e-mail address. You will also find a link there to log in to your MCC e-mail.
Although it is highly recommended that you use the MCC mail account for this class, if you prefer, you can use your own personal account by forwarding the MCC mail to it. Because the student portal page lists your MCC e-mail address, and all class distributed messages from your instructor are directed to your MCC mail address, it is mandatory that, if you use another e-mail program for this course besides your MCC account, you must have any mail from your MCC e-mail account forwarded to your personal mail.
You can accomplish this using the Help link from your google@maricopa mail account.
Canvas Distance Learning web site:
This class will not use the MCC WebCT site for its course. MCC is switching to a new distance learning software program called Canvas. About one week before the course begins, you will receive a mail message in your MCC mail with an invitation to join this class on canvas. Select the link provided in this mail and follow the instructions to log in and set up a profile in this course. Once logged in, you can converse with me either through the Canvas website, or through my instructor mail at fragw59371@mesacc.edu.
Software required:
Web Browser: The class in which you are enrolled requires specific software. You need to use a web browser that is current, has JAVA installed in it, and is connected to the Internet.
Word Processor: The other important piece of software is the word processor for the course: Microsoft Word. This is the word processor that is compatible with the instructor's word processor. Research assignments must be submitted in MS Word. If you do not have Word version 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, or the new 2010, then you may use the school computer lab or library to do the final copies of your paper. MS Word is listed as a software requirement for this course. All instructions within the assignment pages on how to format assignments are for MS Word.
There is an alternative if you do not have MS Word, and do not wish to purchase it (older versions are cheap on Ebay!): Open Office 3.0. Open Office is open source, free software that is very similar to MS Word & Office. Open Office is an office suite that includes a word processor. This is free software that are very similar to MS Word, and when documents are saved in MS Word format, the documents are very compatible with my MS Word processor. Formatting remains the same when converted to MS Word, and remains the same when converted back to. Most formatting commands are similar to Word's commands, but if you decide to use free software, you will have to read the directions for that software if the directions in the assignment pages of your course do not work. You should also know that the MCC Help Desk does not support Open Office. You can read more Open Office at this web addresses: http://www.openoffice.org/
Google Docs is also fairly compatible with MS Word, will save documents in MS Word format, and will correctly read MS Word documents that are opened. This word processor is now acceptable for this course. However, if you use Google Docs, be sure to save your document (export it) in MS Word format.
If you have any questions about setting up or using the software provided, or your mail account, please call the MCC Help Desk at (480) 461-7217. If all technicians are busy, you will be switched to voice mail. Please leave a message, including the best time to reach you and a phone number.
Distance Learning Profile:
MCC distance learning courses are designed for students who can not attend regular classes at MCC. The student profile of a successful distance learning student is one who is self-motivated, self-directed, and a mature learner. As most lectures and instructions are written, good reading skills and the ability to follow written directions are essential. Procrastinators do not do well in courses presented in this format.
MCC has a distance learning web page on the Internet for your convenience, with valuable information for distance learning students. MCC has developed a distance learning survey to help students decide if Internet distance learning is right for them. To take this survey, go to:
http://www.mesacc.edu/mcconline/index.html
There is also an orientation for distance learning students on this page.
Completing the orientation is up to you. If you feel that you know how to use the your e-mail account, and the class bulletin board, send an e-mail message informing me that you are ready to begin the content of the course, and that you will be using the e-mail address that you are writing from, and start work. The important thing is that you are technically ready to begin the course by the end of the orientation period (2 days into the course in fall session). The course curriculum begins in earnest on this day, and I will not have time to help you with the software that you were supposed to work with during the orientation period.
Accessing your assignment pages:
Your course is located at the web address: https://canvas.instructure.com/login However, you can not login until you have received your invitation to enter the course that will be sent to your MCC mail address (xxxxx@maricopa.edu) approximately one week before the course begins. Once you have responded to that invitation and set up your student profile, you can use the link above to log in to the course at any time.
When you login, you will normally go to a page that shows you the latest communications and graded assignments. Your menu will be on the left. Select Home or Assignments to see your syllabus and course assignments, or select Discussions to see your class bulletin board. Your e-mail inbox for the course is in the upper right side of the window.
It is very important that you have looked at the student instructions for using Canvas before the course begins. This link will take you to those instructions:
http://guides.instructure.com/s/2204/m/4152
If you have any problems, e-mail me at the listed e-mail address:
Allen Bradshaw: fragw59371@mesacc.edu