Welcome to what I guess may be your first online course and also your first college course. 

Let me begin by introducing myself.  My name is Anita Crawley.  I will be your instructor for DS 107, First Year Seminar.  

Here is a little about my background.  I have been a counselor and teacher at two community colleges for almost twenty years.  For most of those years we were living in Illinois, outside of Chicago.  Then, a few years ago, my husband took a position outside of Baltimore and we happily relocated to this very exciting part of the country.  During my years in Illinois, I was a career counselor and an academic advisor enjoying many aspects of my job especially helping students make career and educational decisions.  I developed a diversity course with a colleague and taught several other college courses.  In the late 90's I became interested in enhancing the work of counselors through the use of technology.  This has been my focus since that time.  The title of my current job is Distance Learning Counselor.  I look forward to facilitating your learning both inside and outside this online classroom.

Some of you may be wondering what the First Year Seminar course is all about and why you were strongly encouraged to sign up for it. Students take these types of courses from 2 and 4 year schools across the country.  There has been a significant amount of research that indicate students who successfully complete these types of courses do better in college than those who don't.

My approach to teaching the college survival course is very practical.  I expect that you will learn the information and skills you need to create an educational plan, to begin developing a career plan, and to figure out what it will take for you to become a successful college student.  College success means different things to different people.  My hope is that each of you will make tentative decisions about your educational goals and know how to accomplish those goals by the end of this 8 week course. 

The eight course topics are Communication, Time Management, Educational Planning, Learning Styles, Transfer Planning, College Life, and Career Planning.  Each of those modules last one week and will follow this week's module which is Orientation. 

In short, what you will be doing for each week is, read online information, apply the information to your situation, discuss what you are learning with me and with each other,  take open book/open internet quizzes that help you (and me) measure your learning, and turn in assignments that help you think more deeply and reflect on the module topics.  The course requires that you become actively involved in the material, none of which is very hard and all of which is available online.  Each week has a series of assignments that are due that week.  Inside the course, you will find a calendar and several other document that will help keep you on track.  There is no textbook for the course.

Speaking of getting inside the course, that is the next thing we want to do. 

Step 1 - To get into the course, go to http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/

Step 2 - At the top of the page select the MyMC Login button (If you have not previously been inside MyMC follow the directions at: http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/studevgt/onlinsts/mymc_login.htm

Step 3 - From inside MyMC, select the WebCT icon at the top of the page.  This brings you to your MyWebCT entry page.

Step 4 - Select the link under your online courses for this semester that says DS 107 - First Year Seminar

Now that everyone is inside the course, let me give you an overview of what you should be seeing.  There are two ways to get to the course materials.  If you like pictures, there are icons (fancy name for picture) right under the Welcome to DS107 title.  In order to find the page with icons once you are inside the course, you will need to look at the left navigation bar which will stay visible as long as you remain inside WebCT.  On that left navigation bar, select the Homepage link and you will be returned to the Announcement/Homepage. 

Let's look at the left navigation bar in a little more detail - it's the other way to get around the course.  In addition to providing access to each of the course components that are also available from the icons in the middle of the page, you will also see a link to the first module, the Orientation.  Each weekend I will make the next week's module available to you.  Each module is set up alike so you will know exactly what to expect.  I prefer using the left navigation bar because it stays with you as long as you are working within WebCT.

Announcements is one of the most important sections of the course.  Make it a habit to read all new Announcements each time you enter the course.  In this area, I will announce any changes (there won't be many), but I will also use this area to provide group summaries of the weekly topics and provide an overview of the next week's topic.  The newest Announcements will be at the top.

Now, we'll take a tour of the Orientation module. I call this the module outline.  There is one for each week.   The Introduction gives you an overview of what is covered in the module.  The Objectives list what I expect you will be able to do after completing the work.  Lecture materials contain a variety of things.  They may include step-by-step instructions about how to proceed through the lesson, or perhaps additional information about the topic, or maybe links to other pages that include the content of the module.  Make sure to click on each link within the module outline.  You know something is a link either if the words are underlined or if, when you pass your cursor over the words, the pointer turns into a hand.  Yes, I hope to teach you many tech tricks since you have decided to take this course online:-).  The next section in the module outline is Related Websites.  All links will provide you additional information about the topic.  Some are required reading and others are recommended.  You will find out which applies in the Assignment Summary section.  But wait, we're getting ahead of ourselves. 

Let me say a word or two about the Non Cognitive Predictors of Student Success.  Willliam Sedlacek, a psychologist from the University of Maryland, developed a system which measures non-cognitive variables or factors that lead to college success.  By "non-cognitive" he is talking about learning that typically is not academic in nature, but definitely affects your learning inside and outside the classroom.  The variables are:  positive self concept, realistic self appraisal, understanding and knowing how to navigate the educational system, long range goal setting, finding people to support your learning, leadership experiences, community service, and finding out about a career field.  Each module in DS 107 focuses on one or more of these variables.

Now onto the last section of your module outlines, the Assignment Summary.  Here you will find details about the weekly readings, assignments, discussion and activities.  You are probably thinking, this is a lot of information, how will I ever find it once I leave this orientation session.  You are right - there's a lot to this course and it does take a while to figure out how to find all the materials you need to complete your assignments.  Here's a hint.  At the end of each module outline is a reminder to use the Table of Contents.  All documents are listed there and some students find this to be the easiest way to find the materials for a module.

Ok, we have reviewed the Icon navigation system, the left bar navigation system, the announcement page and the module outlines.  Now let's look at the other components of the course.  All of these can be found from either navigation system.

First, and most important is the syllabus.  PRINT this document, read it, take the quiz about it, and keep it close to where you plan to do your work for this course.  Many online students print a good deal of this course and create a binder to keep themselves on track.  If you decide to do this, put the syllabus and the assignment sheet in the front.  I would discourage you from printing the tutorials.  They are very lengthy.  The syllabus is the key to course expectations.  Make sure you understand everything on there thoroughly.  Ask questions on the Discussion Board if anything is not clear.

Ah, the Discussion Board, the heart of the course.  This is where we will have weekly discussions.  If you are part of the on campus orientation, we will practice using the discussion board.  Here are several resources you can use to remind yourself how to use the discussion board:  the student manual linked on your MyWebCT entry page, the help function at the top of WebCT, the WebCT tutorial that is part of the Orientation module, or the tutorial linked on the Distance Learning page at:  http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/distance/lessons/students/student_tutorials.html 

During Module #2, you will learn more about what is expected from academic online discussions.  However, you can get information about online communication from the syllabus which contains a grading rubric that describes what I am looking for from your contributions on the discussion board.  Since this is the online version of class discussion, it is up to all of you to make it as interesting as you can.  Let me encourage you to participate enthusiastically.  That participation can make a significant difference in the quality of your first online learning experience. 

The discussion board has a topic for each module.  They will be revealed to you as each module is opened.  There are three additional topics on the discussion board.  One is the discussion practice area, another is the student lounge, and a third is an area where you can ask questions about the course.  The student lounge is a place where you can talk about things that may or may not have to do with this course.  I won't participate, but I generally stop by to see what's happening.  Please don't embarrass me:-).  The questions about the course Topic is where I would like you to ask all questions unless they are personal.  You can email me through WebCT for personal questions, but please ask all others on the discussion board.  You can be certain if you are confused about something, there are other students who are also confused.  If I, or another student, can answer your question once, publicly, this saves us all a lot of time and you typically get a quicker answer.

I have mentioned that you will be turning in assignments for this course.  We won't use email, but we will use the discussion board and the Assignment Drop.  Exact directions for turning in assignments can be found on the syllabus and on each module assignment summary.  Let me share with you that I think the Assignment Drop is one of the magical functions of WebCT.  Briefly, this is how it works.  You download an assignment handout from the Assignment Drop, fill it out according to directions, and upload it back to the Assignment Drop.  I then download your submitted assignment to my computer, grade and comment on it, then upload it back to the Assignment Drop.  You then download it with my comments to your computer and read what I have said.  If you have questions or want to add comments, just email me.  It is all very cool how this can happen "at a distance."

All quizzes and the final for this course are open book, open internet, untimed, and you can submit the quizzes as often as you like until you are satisfied with your grade.  The quizzes are meant to be learning opportunities and not a test of your ability to memorize facts.  However, I do expect that you will do this quizzes alone.  Please note, most of the quizzes will only be available for a limited period of time - generally from Saturday to the following Friday at midnight.  All assignments are due Friday night at midnight.

Please check your grades on a regular basis by selecting the Grades link on either of the navigation systems.  I generally grade your work the weekend after it is due.  This is an 8 week, compressed class.  I have taught it over 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 15 weeks.  This is definitely the best format, but there is no time to get behind.  As you will read in your Orientation week materials, the best approach is to get online every day, but you can get by with getting online Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  There is a penalty for turning assignments in late, and some assignments simply can't be turned in late.  The strictness of these policies are designed to get you ready for the expectations of college learning.  It really is very different than high school.  All details are included the course materials.

Frequently, students forget to use the Calendar.  It's a great way to see where you are in the course, what is due by Wednesday and what must be turned in by Friday.  It can be accessed from both navigation systems.

The last tool is one that allows you to easily print the course materials.  It is much easier to use this than to print each screen individually.  The documents are printed one right after another which saves a few trees (not many). 

I hope this audio presentation of the on campus orientation has been helpful.  I look forward to getting to know all of you and facilitating your first online experience.  Hopefully, you will enjoy online learning as much as I enjoy teaching online.  Anita