Fall 2005
Fall 2005
Essential Lab Course InformationThis assignment takes approximately 6 hours to complete, as follows:2 hours -- Read Course Information 3 hours -- Explore and practice using the eCollege Courseware 1 hour -- Complete a pre-assessment
Read the information and complete the activities in this lesson to become familiar with the course policies as well as the mechanics of online learning. Spend about three hours trying out the Courseware tools and tutorials listed--note that it ends with an assignment! Reference this information as often as needed. All the information in yellow boxes is published in the course syllabus. |
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Before you begin to explore the content of the course, try out your abilities to locate, evaluate and integrate Internet information using several sample searches. The results of the pre-assessment aren't graded, however, 10% of the final grade in the course depends on TAKING the pre- and post-assessments and other measurements of understanding, as requested. Your score on the pre-assessment will be reported to you within two weeks. You are not expected to know how to do everything on the pre-assessment, so don't become frustrated. You can expect a significant improvement in your efficiency and effectiveness by the end of the course. A link to the pre-assessment may be found in 01.3 Assessment or by clicking here.
21CIF will send you a username by email or regular mail that provides you with access to the eCollege Courseware at www.ivhs.org.
A password is required; a temporary password is provided along with your username. Change your password the first time you log in, in order to safeguard your account.
Logging on to www.ivhs.org:
1. Click here to open www.ivhs.org in a new browser window.
2. Enter the username and password provided by 21CIF in the boxes provided. See illustration:
3. Click "Go to Class"
4. Your name should appear in the tag "Welcome ______" on the ivhs portal page. Change your password by clicking "My Profile" and typing and confirming a new password, as prompted. Make a note of your new password.
5. When you are ready to log off, click "Signoff".
Regarding logging on to 21cif.imsa.edu:
The only reason to log on to the 21CIF site is to allow us to track your progress on MicroModule pre- and post-tests. Those tests are not part of this course, so you are not expected to log on to the 21CIF Portal.
If you successfully changed your password, you realize that work in this course involves having multiple windows open at the same time. It will be common to have the IVHS courseware, the 21CIF course materials, one or more search engines and word processing software open at the same time.
Skill #1 -- Toggling
If navigating between windows is new to you, learn to toggle. Here are a couple easy ways to toggle.
1. First, open several windows. Click each of the following links; each one is programmed to open in a new window:
(You could also open a word document, an excel spreadsheet, etc.)
PC users: Method 1-- Find the buttons on the bottom task bar, next to "START," for each window that is open. Move between your windows by clicking on a button. In the example given, there are 7 windows in use. (Note: if you had multiple windows open before you started this activity, Windows XP will group all three windows under one button for the internet browser you are presently using).
Method 2-- Hold down the "Alt" button and press "Tab" to go back to the window you had opened previously. Pressing Tab repeatedly takes you back through all the windows in the order they were last used.
Mac users: The "Apple button" and Tab key perform the same as method 2 above.
Skill #2 -- Minimizing and Maximizing Windows
Occasionally, you will want to see the contents of more than one window at the same time. This requires controlling the size of the windows you want to look at. Generally, the easiest way is to "drag" a window to the desired shape using the mouse.
1. If a window is covering the entire screen, it is "maximized." Size buttons are located at the extreme upper right of a window. To remove a window, press the "X" or the red button (Mac); to move it off-screen (but still available), press the "-".
To minimize a screen, press the middle button shown |
To maximize a screen, press the middle button shown |
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To maximize a Mac window, click the green (+) button 
. To minimize a Mac window, use the drag method described below.
2. A minimized screen has control points located at the bottom right corner of the window. Click in the area shown and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag it to the desired shape and size.
PC
Mac
Please note that eCollege courseware requires the use of recent releases of Internet Explorer or Netscape, as well as recent operating systems for your PC or Mac.
Please report any technical problems you may encounter during our time together to 21cif@imsa.edu with technical problem as the SUBJECT of the email. The more details you provide about your technical problems, the faster we can attempt to address them. Include operating system, browser version, and the verbatim text of any error messages when reporting errors. You will receive updates by our technical team as the problem is addressed.
Learning Tools
A number of resources and tools to facilitate online learning are available on the eCollege platform. The primary tools used in this course include announcements, discussion forums, chat rooms, webliography, journal sharing and gradebook. For practice using these tools, you may find the eCollege Demonstration Course (no log-in required) and Online Tutorials helpful (you must be logged in for the tutorials).
Announcements What's New Course Checklist |
The Course Home section of the eCollege environment displays important reminders and updates as well as a course checklist to keep track of completed assignments. Always take time to read the information provided in these announcements. |
Threaded Discussion Forums
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Asynchronous discussion forums are the primary means of communication within the course. A forum is a digital bulletin board: a place to post comments for others to see. Comments stay posted for the duration of the course, allowing other students and the instructor opportunities to interact and develop threads. Different activities have different discussion forums, providing each forum a topical theme. Discussion activities are found in the eCollege environment only, under the Exploration Headings: "Locate," "Evaluate," "Integrate" and "Conclusion." |
Chat rooms
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Synchronous discussion forums are an alternate means of communication within the course. As the name implies, participants must be online at the same time, in the same room. Any course participants may check into a chat room to hold a conversation at any agreed-upon time. This may be particularly useful for small working groups. At the beginning of the course, four chat rooms are provided: Main Room, plus rooms for small discussion groups. |
Webliography
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This annotated list of Internet sites is created by members of the course. As you find sites that may be of interest to others in the class, add them to the Webliography list. A brief description of the contents of the site will guide others who may find them useful. |
Document Sharing
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This feature of the eCollege courseware allows participants to attach documents to the course site, an easy way to share longer works. |
Gradebook
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A record of points earned in the course is available in the Gradebook |
The actual lessons for the 12 week course are located on the 21CIF website. In order to access the materials, follow the links found for each lesson in the eCollege courseware. You will find these listed under the navigation buttons in the left-hand frame, identified by titles such as 2.1 Problem, etc. The Lesson Directory contains all the links in one page for the entire learning experience.
Discussion Forums -- The primary means of group communication in this course is the Discussion Forum. Most weeks, starting with this assignment, a question prompts the discussion activity.
Please take a few moments to tell us a little about yourself and your work environment.
Provide a paragraph in response to the question below, including relevant information about yourself such as your teaching experience, current position, etc:
Write your introductory paragraph to the 01.2 Forum. (Links to all learning activities and Forums are found under the Unit button in the left hand navigation panel of this IVHS eCollege course. Throughout the course, similar Weekly discussion Forums will be used to post and respond to information.)
Once you have written and posted your introduction, move ahead to learning activity 01.4 Course Project Planning.
If you have any questions about any aspect of this activity, please email the instructor.
Email -- The secondary means of communication in this course is email. Official notices, reminders, encouragements, ideas, inquiries and course feedback are delivered to the email account you indicated when you enrolled in the course. Students may email one another using the email facility in the eCollege environment. Other means of communicating that are used include Journal Sharing and the Webliography (see courseware, above).
Chat -- One chat session is scheduled during the course for 04.1 Lecture. Attendance is optional. A transcript of the session will be saved in the Main Chat Room of the course for those who could not attend live. Chat rooms may be used by any small groups or individuals who wish to communicate live.
Contacting the Instructor:
Carl Heine:
office phone 630-907-5921, (fax) 630-907-5918, heine@imsa.edu
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