Every week, usually on Tuesday, I will post details on this site about the work you are to do for the course. You can follow Twitter updates or sign up for email notifications on when new details have been posted each work (more on that below).

Once you get notification that new content is available, come to this site to find the details. Usually, you will find instructions on the reading for the day and links to quizzes and/or related discussion questions. You will also find an outline of specific things you need to write or do for the course and a reminder of upcoming due dates.

Since this is a blog, the posts for each day appear in reverse chronological order. The most recent post will be at the top of the page. You may need to scroll down to find the post you need. You can also use the All Posts by Title link the the menu bar at the top of the page to find the post for a specific day.

Keeping Up with the Website

 I send out a Tweet using the Twitter account @HokieTengrrl when new content is published on this site. You can also see that feed in the sidebar on the side, so even if you don’t use Twitter, you can scroll through the list in the sidebar to see what has been added.

I also added a “Subscribe Via Email” option in the sidebar. Use this option to get an email message whenever I add a new post to the course website. The process is simple: Add your email, and click subscribe. You’ll have to confirm your subscription. That’s it. The email messages will have information on how to unsubscribe if you decide you want to.

The Online Tools We Will Use

Since this is an online course, we will use a variety of free tools to get our work done for the class. I will provide instructions and help for all of the tools, so there’s nothing to worry about if you haven’t used them before. Here’s an overview of the tools we will use most often:

• Scholar: You will use Scholar to turn in Assignments, complete quizzes, and keep track of your progress in the Gradebook. If I need to make sure you see something, I will use the Announcement tool in Scholar to send you an email message.

• Google Drive: You will compose your major projects using your Virginia Tech Google Drive. We will use the commenting features in Google Drive for peer review and other feedback. You will need to share your work with me and with others in the class.

• Forums: You will post your response to discussion questions, rough drafts, and other work in a phpBB forum I have set up for the class. It’s similar to the Forum tool in Scholar.

• Mibbit: You can use Mibbit if you want to meet with me online, in real time, for a conference. Mibbit is embedded in the course website, and it’s easy to use. If you’ve sent IMs, you can use this tool.

Quizzes

Quizzes in this course are designed to help you identify the key points in the readings. All quizzes in this course are open book, but they need to be completed in one sitting. There are no redos. You will receive immediate grades on most quizzes.

All quizzes are due by 11:55 PM on the day indicated in the weekly updates (usually Mondays). Scholar will close the quiz at that point, and you will no longer be able to submit your work. Late quizzes are not accepted, and there are no make-up quizzes.