ENGLISH 150: Reading and Composition (1A)

Thank you for your interest in Online English 150! Before our adventure in online learning begins on Monday, January 14. The detailed information below is intended to be honest and helpful.

Access Requirements:

No mandatory campus visits are required to take this course. The course, however, is not a self-paced course but an online community of learners working through a 17-week semester. It unfolds week-by-week with the whole class participating in weekly exercises and discussions together. If you are seeking an independent studies course, know in advance that this is not one. You do have to log on at least 3 different days a week to work in the course, but you can pick whichever days and times suit you. A new week of course content with assignments is released each Tuesday for you to work on during the week.

Students should always access the class web site in Moodle via MyCOM. For information about getting a MyCOM account, read the FAQ's on the MyCOM Portal login page. #6 on the Portal login page explains how to get to Moodle.

First Day of Class Instructions:

All enrolled students are required to login to the class Moodle website between 6 pm Monday, January 14, 2013 and 6pm Tuesday, January 15, 2013 to hold their spot in the class. If a registered student does not login to the class site during this 24-hour period, his or her spot may be given to a student on the waitlist. (The waitlist is long and there is a shortage of class spots to meet the demand; so know that I will honor the waitlist if you do not confirm your spot and begin the course as required.)

Waitlist & Add Codes: If you are on the waitlist or attempting to add the course, email the instructor, Ingrid Kelly, as soon as possible to indicate your desire to take the course and to receive course start up information. Please include your name, the section number of the class you wish to add, and your COM Student ID (if you have one) in your email. I do honor the official waitlist, adding students in the order they appear on the waitlist.

Course Materials

Required:

-Everything’s an Argument with Readings by Andrea Lunsford, et al. ISBN: 1-4576-0604-6; eBook version also available: ISBN: 1-4576-3348-5 (Be sure to get the 6th edition; please do not purchase earlier editions of the textbook. Also make sure your textbook is the version with Readings.)

A Writer’s Reference with Strategies for Online Learners (7th ed) by Hacker & Sommers. This reference book is a valuable information source for all writing concerns which you will find helpful throughout your college career for all of your courses. ISBN: 0-312-55199-1; e-Book Version: also available: ISBN: 1-4576-3002-8 (Please use a MLA reference with the new MLA 2009-2010 updates, if you do not choose to use the text I recommend. Don’t spend your money on older editions, as they are out-of-date and you will not be able to participate in buy-backs.)

Book Purchases:

Students may purchase their books online by visiting COM's online bookstore, or students may buy the books at the COM campus. Please purchase the editions listed, since content and pagination in old editions of texts do not match with course assignments. This is not a course where you can get by without reading the assigned texts because the quizzes and assignments are based on specific text passages.

What To Do When You First Access The Course Online: Be advised that Moodle works best with Firefox. Not all features function with Safari for Mac users. If you run into any technical problems, check your browser using the helpful information at the following link: http://ilearn.csumb.edu/BrowserTestFiles/index.php

You can also access moodlehelp@marin.edu for assistance

Take some time to familiarize yourself with these 2 helpful Moodle FAQs for students and bookmark them for future reference:

http://www.marin.edu/DE/faq.html

http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/Student_FAQ.

Finally, there is an important note that you should read and heed at the top right of your Moodle home screen: "Closing this browser does not end your session. In order to end a session you must click on Logout (top right side of browser window). If you do not log out, your session will remain active. The next person to use this computer will have full access to your account." Make yourself a sticky note to remind yourself to log out!

I hope this email answers your preliminary questions. I look forward to working with you in Online English 150 and in guiding you on your journey as you become a more confident writer and researcher. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions along the way.

_________

Cheers,

Ingrid Kelly

http://www.marin.edu/homepages/IngridKelly/