Welcome to the Computer Literacy – Getting Started Presentation. My name is Susie Feero and I ’m your instructor for this course.
This presentation is designed to introduce you to the course site and a little about the course itself.
The course website is available on UAS Online. You will need to visit the course site a couple of times each week for the list of activities and to participate in online discussions. This course does not have a specific class meeting each week but we are on a schedule and there are due dates for assignments. The course itself is designed into 3 units: 1) Digital Basics, 2) Applications, and 3) Online Resources. These units are based on a national set of standards for computer literacy. These standards are called IC3 (also known as Internet Computer Core Competencies). The list of competencies is in the syllabus and also posted within each unit.
The syllabus is a very important document so be sure you take the time to read through each section. Contact your instructor if you have any questions or concerns. The e-book title and ISBN are listed here with an image of the front cover. If your ebook doesn ’t match this cover, please contact your instructor via phone or email. The ebook is split into 3 sections: 1) Concepts, 2) Issues, and 3) Skills. We will use a combination of these sections throughout the courseEach chapter in the ebook includes learning objectives and “ self quiz ” set of quick questions. It’s a good idea to use the key terms and quick questions as a self-check.
An abbreviated course calendar is posted on the last page of the course syllabus. Assignments will be posted on Sundays and due the following Monday so you ’ll have 8 days to complete the activities for each week. If there are any changes to the calendar, an announcement will be posted to the course site and the link to the calendar will include the revision date.
Here is a list of contacts for this course. The contact information such as email addresses and phone numbers are available in the syllabus too. I ’m available to help you with course content and the technologies used during the course. I often work from home but check my email and voicemail on a regular basis. Wendy and Robin are the academic/technology facilitators. They are available to help you with the technologies used during this course. Amanda Johnson is in our distance education office. Contact Amanda if you need to checkout a headphone/microphone headset. Sandra Burgess is in our advising office. Contact Sandra if you have questions about financial aid, dropping or withdrawing for the course.
This list includes the communication tools we ’ll use during this course. The website is listed here because I use the announcements and assignments to communicate to you each week. The discussion board tool is used for discussions that happen asynchronously. You can post to the discussion board on any day and at any time within the specific discussion activity time frame. This is similar to how we communicate via email. The posts are available for others to read when they access the discussion board. If the discussion board is a required activity, it will be included in the list of activities for the week. The discussions will work better if you post before mid-week and then reply to other posts by the end of the week. We will use a web conferencing tool called Elluminate for homework help and office hours sessions. These are optional but many of you will find it useful to attend these sessions. Be sure to view the “Getting Started with Elluminate” instructions posted in the “Start Here” section on our course website. The other communication tools we’ll use is email and the phone. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions, concerns, or problems accessing course materials.
Each week you will have a reading assignment in the text along with a set of activities to complete. These will be listed in the “Course Activities” section of the course site. Activities that are graded will include point values in the activity title. Activities without a point value are considered preparation and practice activities. There are demonstration activities such as exams and projects at the end of each unit. Additional information regarding these activities will be posted to the course site a couple of weeks before they are scheduled.
I expect to grade and post assignment grades and comments within two weeks after the due date for an assignment. You will be able to view your grade using the “mygrades” button located on the main course menu. Contact your instructor if you have trouble viewing your grades after the first assignment is graded. All graded items are assigned a point value. Your final grade is based on the points you earn and the total points available. The grading scale is a letter grade with + and -. The scale is available in the course syllabus.
This is the end of the presentation. Be sure to contact your instructor if you have any questions or concerns.
