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Dear Virtual Psychology Student,

Welcome to the 100% online edition of Psychology 101: Introduction to Psychology at College of the Canyons. I am Professor Rick Howe and I am your actual instructor.  Please read this entire letter for details about logging in to the course and the amount of work required.  If you have any further questions that this letter does not answer, please send me an e-mail at rick.howe@canyons.edu.  I will do my best to get back to you within 24 hours.

When do we start?
 This course will be available on COC's Blackboard course management system beginning Monday, April 9, 2012.  Instructions for logging in to Blackboard are located at http://bb.canyons.edu.  We will be using Blackboard 9.1 for this class, so please be sure to click on the "Blackboard 9.1 Pilot Program" link to log in to the class.  The course will be available by 8:00am on Monday, April 9.

Expect to hit the ground running, so to speak, as we will begin work very quickly.  Because we will be moving quickly, and I anticipate a high demand for this class, you will be dropped from the class if you do not log in to Blackboard by 11:59pm Pacific time on Tuesday, April 10.

Is everything for this class done online from the comfort of my own home?
 That is an excellent question.  This course is advertised as 100% online, which means that all work will be done online and there are no classroom meetings.  However, in order to maintain the academic integrity of the class and insure the transferability of the course units, the four unit exams will be proctored at either the Tutorial Lab at the Valencia campus of COC (Bonelli Hall 209) or another suitable facility closer to you. If you are not local to the Valencia campus (local being defined as living in the Santa Clarita, Antelope, or San Fernando Valleys) you will need to find an authorized, alternate educational facility, such as a local community college or university to take each exam. If this applies to you, you would contact the proctoring facility prior to the exam, obtain their contact information and then contact Kimberly Haglund (661-362-3349 or kimberly.haglund@canyons.edu) in the COC TLC lab to get everything set up. Since there are a large number of students taking 100% online classes at COC, Kimberly will need some time to verify the status of the facility and send out exam details to the proctor.

 
Required Materials and Technology
You will need to purchase a textbook for this class. I would recommend purchasing the textbook prior to the beginning date of the course as class work will begin immediately thereafter. We will be using Psychology: Third Custom Edition for College of the Canyons (ISBN: 9781256164098), available while supplies last in the COC bookstore.

Given that this is an online course, you must have:

1) a reliable computer with reliable internet access;

2) a valid e-mail address that you check regularly, preferably daily; and

3) a good browser.  I recommend that you use Mozilla Firefox, however other browsers such as Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, and Opera should work fine as well.

Are You Ready for Online Coursework?
As noted above, your work for this class will be completed using Blackboard, an online course management system.  Since this is an online class, I will assume you are familiar with using internet browser software (such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.), with sending and receiving e-mail, and with attaching a file to an e-mail message. If you are unsure of your skill level and whether or not you are ready to take a class online, you can visit this site to take a number of self-assessment surveys designed to help you determine your readiness.

 
If You Think This Class Will Be Easy…
If you are already familiar with taking online courses, this class will likely feel comfortable. If this is the first time you have taken an online course, I’d like to point out the differences between the online environment and the traditional classroom. The most important point to be made is that learning in the online world requires good time management skills and a consistently high level of self-motivation.  Since I will not be visible to you in a classroom, it is possible that you may forget about the work required for success in this course. There is a significant amount of effort required, including discussion boards, chapter quizzes, assignments, and exams.  We will cover approximately two chapters per week, so expect to spend about 10-15 hours per week completing the reading assignments and other work for this class. If this sounds like more than you can manage without external prompting, perhaps a more traditional class is for you. If you are highly motivated, then this is the course for you. This class promises to provide you with a good overview of the field of psychology, as well as the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of students from many different backgrounds.

 
If you have questions about this course you may contact me by phone at (661) 362-5906 or e-mail at rick.howe@canyons.edu. If you have general questions about distance learning at College of the Canyons, please visit the COC Distance Learning Web Site.

 
Sincerely, 

Professor Rick Howe, M.A.
Psychology Department
College of the Canyons