GallagherIntroduction: Steps 7- 11 You might want to print out this document and use it as a checklist for your orientation.
7) Familiarize Yourself with the Bureaucratic Matters
- go to Course Information, and read all the other documents (that is, from Instructional Staff to the end) after the first five that you read before
8) Reflect on the Discussion Board
- the Discussion Board is the main "classroom" in our virtual school building (note: for our content work we'll be using the discussion boards under Weekly Units)
- so take some time to reflect on the goals of the discussion board and good practices there
- go to The Discussion Board file under Course Information and read the several documents there, especially the "Guidelines for Discussion Board Writing"
- for our purposes, web log ("blog") is virtually synonymous with what may be more familiar to you as a discussion board "post" (see the document on web logs here too)
- and web logs will be done on the discussion boards
- please spend considerable time on this important material about the discussion board, the heart of our community
9) Practice Finding Reading Material in the Course Documents file
- see how we will obtain other reading material, material that in a traditional course might be on reserve in the library
- go to the Course Documents file on Blackboard and find an article
- the articles will usually open in another window as an Adobe Acrobat file (pdf) -- if you need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader, download it from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat
- consult the Lehigh Help Desk if you have problems
- experience reading the article online, adjusting the zoom control at the top left till you find your comfort level
- print out the article as if you wanted it for future reference; please note that students report that the pdf files load and print out slowly, esp. if you have a dial-up modem, so it behooves you to have access to a fast printer and/or to plan ahead when you know you are going to need hard copies of the pdf documents
- thankfully, we will not have many Course Document files
10) Practice Transmitting Writing Assignments through the Digital Drop Box
- you may be submitting written work in Microsoft Word files via the Digital Drop Box and receive them back with comments the same way; the comments on your essays will be done with the Comment function (that, depending on your version of Word, highlights or brackets text with a pop-up box when you put the cursor on it) of Microsoft Word
- go to the Digital Drop Box under Tools
- find the sample Microsoft Word file in your drop box with comments
- save the file to your computer
- open and read the file: placing the cursor on the highlighted or bracketed material (different versions of Word show comments differently) will reveal a box with comments
- print out the file with the comments (if you have an older version of Microsoft Word, you may need to program the computer to do so): the comments usually print out like footnotes at the end of the text
- and then send the file back via the drop box (note that you must "send" not just "add" the file when in the Drop Box)
- consult the Lehigh Help Desk if you have problems
11) 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 technical problems with using Blackboard, the Acrobat Reader, the Drop Box, and so forth:
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