Learning Online

Online students are expected to be familiar with Blackboard, the learning management system, in order to fully participate in the class (view announcements and course materials, engage in discussions, submit assignments, and take quizzes). We invite you to complete this tutorial on how to use Blackboard.

Communicating Online

Asynchronous – Email, Discussion Board, Blogs, and/or Wikis
Asynchronous discussions may be used to generate discussion solely among students in an online course. In this type of discussion, the instructor poses a topic and requires students to post a discussion, respond, and perhaps critique and evaluate their peers’ submission. For more information, we invite you to watch the following tutorials:

• Sending Email
• Using the Discussion Board
• Organizing the Discussion Board Posts
• Creating a Thread
• Replying to a Discussion Forum Thread
• Creating a Blog Entry
• Creating and editing a Wiki page

Synchronous – Virtual Classroom
Synchronous discussions are similar to chat rooms. The instructor will organize a specific time for a virtual meeting and will provide topics for discussion. Synchronous discussions move rapidly and responses must be read quickly, thus emphasizing the ideas being expressed rather than who is expressing them. Students may send a private question to the instructor and receive a private response. Instructors will often record and archive chat sessions for students to review, if needed. For more information, we invite you to complete the following tutorials:

• Using the Live Chat
• Using the Virtual Classroom

Completing Your Assignment

To complete your course assignments, take your online test, and view your grades, we invite you to complete the following tutorials:

• Submitting an assignment
• Taking a test online
• Checking your grade