Gallagher Introduction: Steps 1- 6

You might want to print out this document and use it as a checklist for your orientation.

1)  Tour the Blackboard Course Site

• Blackboard is, in effect, our school building: tour our virtual building so you will feel at home
• select all the menu buttons in the left frame; get a general sense of all the "rooms" in our "building"
• don't linger too long in any one place yet; just take a few minutes and "walk around"
• those of you familiar with Blackboard will note that this new version permits some new menu names that you probably have not seen before, such as "Bulletin Board" and "Weekly Units"  
• "Weekly Units," for instance, is the old "Groups" area, where you will find the discussion boards we will use for work space
  

2)  Get an Overview of the Course

• find out what you've gotten yourself in to
• go to Course Information on Blackboard (or follow the links below)
• take your time and read the first five documents:
• Community of Learners
• Course Description Simplicitus
• Course Description Augmentibus
• Course Goals
• Library of Congress: American Memory Collection
• especially spend some time in the American Memory Collection
  

3)  Meet the Staff

• find out who the "we" are when we say "we"
• go to Staff on Blackboard
• there are six of us on the instructional team: note our responsibilities and contact information (phone, email, IM)
• go to the Bulletin Board on Blackboard and read my introduction 

4)  Join the Class

• know who the "you" is when we say "you"
• go to (or stay on!) the Bulletin Board on Blackboard 
• post your introduction in the "Community" forum using "Add New Thread"
• note the mini-pep talk in the forum description about going beyond routine facts and creating a verbal picture of yourself in your introduction: please strive to go beyond name-rank-serial number to give a flavor of your personality
• attach a real picture or other image that represents you (you have seen some of the instructional team doing this!) to your post: if you don't have an image readily available, attach one before the end of the week in a "reply" to your own post  

5) Mix with Staff and Other Students

• start to get to know each other
• think of the activities here as the chatting with the people milling around before a traditional class or sitting on either side of you in a traditional classroom
  
• go to the Community space on the Bulletin Board several times this week, read the introductions by others, and reply to a few right there on the board
• go to the Caption Contest on the Bulletin Board and contribute one or more entries, savoring offerings by others
  
• find the Roster under Communication (choose "list all" to get everybody): note the student whose name appears after yours alphabetically on the roster (last student alphabetically should note the first student)
• go to Send E-mail under Communication: email the student whose name you noted (that student's introduction, for instance, might yield a basis for starting a conversation)
• AOL Instant Messenger: your screen names will be posted in the "Tabula Rasa" forum on the Bulletin Board; set up a buddy list on your IM right away and start interacting -- perhaps looking first for someone you haven't replied to on the bulletin board or to whom you didn't send an email (if you need to sign up for AIM, go to: http://www.aim.com/index.adp -- send your screen name to me)

6)  Know Where to Get Help

• I will check IM and email frequently till 11PM Monday and Tuesday
• my IM screen name is ProfessorClipper
• there is a Manual for Blackboard under Tools
• Here are the hours for the Lehigh Help Desk if you have problems with using Blackboard or other technical problems:

610-758-HELP / helpdesk@lehigh.edu
http://www.lehigh.edu/library/onlineref.html
Mon - Thurs: 8AM-8PM
Friday: 8AM-5PM
Saturday: 1PM-5PM
Sunday: 1PM-5PM