ENGL. 2332.WS3 Course Orientation

Welcome to Online World Literature I! This course introduces the student to a multiplicity of literary histories beginning with the classical Greek period through the seventeenth century with an emphasis on written analysis. Students will read representative selections, analyze, and discuss philosophies, societal mores, social milieus, and social concerns.

Course Notes

1. Start to organize yourself early. Use a binder and divide it according to the weekly modules. Important information should be printed out and saved in the binder, this way you have a copy of the information you can easily refer to whenever you need it. Such a notebook becomes a portable classroom, allowing you to study away from the computer.
2. If you do print any course documents, be sure to regularly check the online versions, as dates, page numbers for readings, and so on might change.
3. In fact, log in to Blackboard daily or at least three times per week--any less can be risky, as you may know about course updates too late.
4. Course announcements will be posted by way of Blackboard “Announcements,” the Blackboard home page, and/or Blackboard email.
5. Online literature courses require good reading comprehension skills. If you have difficulty understanding what you read, I do not recommend this course. You must have the reading comprehension level necessary to read and understand the assigned works and lecture notes. You must have the self-discipline to follow instructions and submit work on time; otherwise, you will become increasingly frustrated with this course. And if you think the amount of time you will spend on this class is the same as a traditional course, you are wrong. Because there are no face-to-face meetings, and thus no teacher to explain assignments and readings, you will need to spend "extra" time preparing and completing assignments.
6. In short, this course is reading- and writing-intensive; you should easily spend at least seven-nine hours per week on course work.
7. This course is also fast-paced; do not get behind—a late assignment ( late policy info. in syllabus) is better than no assignment. Remember, because this course is online, you will not only have to read the literature but also all of the assignment instructions, so plan AND work ahead.

Completing Course Assignments

Every week you should,
1. Review due dates on the Assignments Schedule.
2. Read the appropriate material.
3. Respond to the discussion prompt in Turnitin.com (log-in instructions below).
4.Complete the Unit assignment, and submit it in Turnitin.com.
5. Begin working on the next unit.

Course Material

All course information is in Blackboard, but you will submit all (including discussion posts) assignments in Turnitin.com (Turnitin registration tutorial: http://turnitin.com/static/knowledge_base/enrolling_in_classes_newtii.html. You will need the following Class ID 3301653 and password collin to join the class).


The following is a breakdown of the tools in Blackboard:


Announcements: Announcements are course-wide notices sent by your instructor. Announcements appear on the Announcements screen AND as a pop-up message when you log into the course.
Assignments: The schedule and instructions for all course assignments are posted here, as is information about how to submit assignments in Turnitin.com
Course Information: This section includes basic information about course policies and student expectations; you can access the syllabus and FAQ documents here.
Email: You can email your instructor and classmates with this tool.
Grades Info.: You can access information about how your assignments will be graded and how to access your graded assignments.
My Progress: The My Progress tool displays a report that includes information about your participation in the course.
Resources & Research: You can access information about the course readings, MLA, writing/research, and the writing center.
Tutorials/Help: This is really self-explanatory; if you forget how to do something or where to go, review these tutorials.
Who's Online: You can use the Who's Online tool to chat in real time with users who are enrolled in any of your courses and logged in to the Blackboard Learning System at the same time you are logged in.

 

Technology & Skills Inventory

You should


Technical Support

For assistance at any time, visit Collin's Blackboard Support Center.

Please be aware that the instructor cannot serve as a technical consultant for problems with your own computer. If the problem is connected with Blackboard, click on the link above. Should your computer or modem fail, it is your responsibility to acquire access to another during the duration of the course. In an extreme, temporary emergency, I am glad to e-mail content pages to students that they may then hard-copy print. I can do this on a temporary basis only, 1-2 weeks -- not for the entire semester.

I look forward to working with you this semester, and I hope that you find the course challenging and interesting!