If this course is full and has gone to a waitlist, please do not email me before the semester begins to try to add. The college will automatically be adding students from the waitlist as spaces in the class become available (be sure to check your email for notification so that you can pay your fees on time and avoid being dropped). The best way to get into the class once it is full is to join the waitlist. If you were not able to get on the waitlist but are interested in adding the class, please email me on 2/8 to see if there is room. 

I will not know if there is room for additional students to add the class until after the orientation period (which ends 2/9). If you are on the waitlist you will need to email me on 2/8 to confirm that you are still interested in adding the class. After students who do not log in to the class during the orientation period are dropped, I will email add codes to the waitlisted students (and others) who confirmed their interest in the class as room is available. I will go in the order of the waitlist first, then in the order that I received emails on 2/8 from non-waitlisted students.

It is important to check your email for a response on 2/10 because if there is room, you will need to officially add the class through the registration process as soon as possible. You will have access to the class website within 36 hours of when you are registered in the class; the longer you wait to add, the longer it will take for you to gain access to the class website.

Orientation Letter for English 102 Section 73930 (Spring 2010)
Class dates: February 8 – June 3, 2010

Welcome to English 102 online! In this class, you will build on the critical thinking, reading, and writing practice begun in English 101 through critical analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of literary works, along with writing of argumentative essays about literary works.

This class will begin on Monday, February 8 (the course will be available in Blackboard by 8:00 am on the 8th). You should plan to log in that day as there is a mandatory online orientation that must be completed by 11:59 pm on 2/9.  

If you do not complete all parts of the mandatory online orientation by 11:59 pm PST on Tuesday, February 9, you will be dropped from the course as a “no show” and your space will be given to another student.

Here’s how to get started:

  1. Go to http://www.canyons.edu/BBTutorial to view a multimedia tutorial about how to access Blackboard. This is not the orientation, but it will give you a chance to get used to how Blackboard works. If you’ve used Blackboard before, you can skip this step.
  2. Once you’re familiar with Blackboard, go to http://bb8.canyons.edu and click on the “User Login” button to log into the course. Remember, the class will not be available until 8:00am on the 8th, so if you try to log in before then, you will not be able to see the class yet.
  3. Once you log in and access the course, you will find instructions for the rest of the orientation (there will be an “Orientation” button on the left). Make sure to allow yourself at least an hour to complete the orientation.

To complete the online orientation, you will need the following:

  • Your student ID number. This is the seven digit number that you used for registration. If you do not have this number, please contact the Admissions office.
  • Your email address. You must have an e-mail address so that others in the class will be able to communicate with you.  If privacy is a concern, I recommend that you set up an email account just for use in this course, but please be sure it is one that you will check frequently.

If you have any trouble logging in, you can visit the TLC (BONH-209 at the Valencia campus or Room 306 at the Canyon Country Campus) for assistance – go to http://www.canyons.edu/offices/TLC for hours and contact information. You may also contact Blackboard technical support at (661) 362-3344 or bbsupport@canyons.edu (M-TH 9:15am-6:45pm: please allow up to 24 business hours for an email response).  


Class Textbooks:

  • The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, 8th edition (Meyer), ISBN: 0-312-46959-4
  • Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking, 8th edition (Ruggiero), ISBN: 0-073-53569-9
  • How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Alvarez), ISBN: 0452268060

Please make sure to purchase all textbooks well before the beginning of this class – you will need them every week, beginning the first week of the class. This class depends on close reading, and it is not possible to do well in the class without the books. It is also important to have the correct edition of the textbooks as the readings and other features do vary from edition to edition; if you have an older edition, you will not have all of the assigned readings.


Course Requirements:
 This course has a prerequisite of English 101 and meets CSU and UC transfer-level requirements for critical thinking, and, therefore, requires the same amount of total work hours (including time spent in class) as a traditional face-to-face class. Please do not take this class because you don’t have time in your schedule to take a “real class.” This is a real college class that requires the same time commitment as a class that meets face to face – the only difference is that the time of day that you complete your work is more flexible when you take an online class.

You should expect to spend about 3 hours per week logged into the class website, completing activities and participating in discussions to replace the “classroom” time this class would have spent if it met face-to-face. You also should expect to spend an additional 6 hours each week reading, writing essays, and studying the material in order to be prepared for “class,” just as you would for any 3-unit course.

In order to successfully complete this course, you will need to log onto our class’s site several times each week (there will be several assignments due each week) to take quizzes, submit assignments, and participate in discussions and other class activities.

Because you will be interacting with the other students in the class, it is important that you are able to log in several times each week to read what your classmates have written and post replies. You can work a little ahead, but this class is not self-paced, so you should not plan to fall behind and make up work later. While the class is not “real time” (you will never be asked to log in at a specific time on a specific day), and there are no in-person exams, you will need to log into the class website (and will have homework) most weekdays during the class.   

It is also important to note that travel plans are not an acceptable reason for missing or late work in this course. If you will be traveling during this class, you must make sure you have reliable internet access and enough time to complete class assignments during your trip because deadlines will not be extended. 


Required Skills:
 You will need to have:

  • Basic computer literacy, including the ability to use the internet and create documents.  At the very least, you should know how to navigate the internet, how to cut/copy and paste, how to “save as,” and how to attach documents to emails. 
  • Reliable, consistent high-speed Internet access with an up-to-date browser. In case of technical problems with your computer or Internet connection, you might choose to make use of the computer labs on COC’s campus. 
  • Access to current word document creating software (Microsoft Word strongly preferred)

It is important to note that this is an English course, not a computer skills course. If there are technical skills that you need assistance with, you may visit COC’s Online Learning website at http://www.canyons.edu/offices/distance_learning/info/minitutorial.asp for some tutorials.

If you are not sure about your computer skills or if anything listed here sounds unfamiliar to you, I highly recommend that you also enroll in Counseling 070 (Becoming a Successful Distance Learning Student), a one-unit short-term course designed to improve your success in online courses.

I also recommend that you visit the following site which will provide you with an evaluative tool designed to suggest whether or not you are well-suited for an online course: http://alt.usg.edu/sort/

Students who do well in online courses tend to share the following qualities:

  • They are good at motivating themselves to complete work by deadlines
  • They are strong readers and communicate well in writing
  • They have strong time management skills
  • They enjoy active, cooperative learning experiences
  • They have reliable access to the Internet
  • They have basic computer skills, including the ability to cut/copy and paste between documents, send and receive email attachments, and create and save documents in Word or rtf format

     

Once again, I want to welcome you to the course – if you have questions, please email me.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Brezina

Jennifer Brezina

Office:                   College of the Canyons/Valencia Campus: HSLH-345
Phone:                  (661) 362-5919
Email:                   jennifer.brezina@canyons.edu