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Frequently Asked
Questions
About
English 101 Online
Where
do the classes take place?
Is
there a regular meeting time?
When
does the course start and end?
Can
I work through the course at my own pace?
How
long do I have to complete the course?
Will
I have to come to campus?
Will
there be hundreds of other students in the class?
Will
I become a nameless, faceless nobody lost in cyberspace?
How
many hours will the course take each week?
What
hardware and software do I need?
What
if I have the AOL browser?
Is
there a text book?
Are
there lectures?
How
will I find out what my assignments are and when they are due?
How
will I submit my work?
How
will I get my work back?
How
often must I participate, and how will you know if I do?
Will
the Instructor have office hours?
How
do I contact the instructor?
How
can I get help if I have technical problems?
Where do the classes take place?
They take place
wherever your computer is - home, work, on the road - anywhere you can
connect to the internet.
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Is there a regular meeting time?
No, there are
not fixed or regular times when the course takes place. To participate, you
log on to English 101 Online, read the materials and messages left by the
instructor and your classmates, and, after you’ve taken all the time you need
to react to what you’ve read, you post your own responses. You can do
this at any time of the day or night which is convenient for you, and so can
your classmates. Be sure to log on to the class at least 4 times a week,
though.
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When does the course start and end?
Check the Oakton
course catalog or website for the official start and end dates of the course.
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Can
I work through the course at my own pace?
No, this is not
an independent study or correspondence-type course. Participation and
interaction are vital to your learning (see 12 Tips for Success), and so it
is important that all students in the course stay on roughly the same
schedule. Although there is flexibility in when you log on to the course, be
sure to keep up with the weekly course schedule.
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How long do I have to complete the course?
English 101
Online is 16 weeks long, the same as the classes being held face-to-face at
Oakton. In fact, it will follow the same schedule they do in terms of
beginning and ending dates, withdrawal deadlines, and so on.
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Will I have to come to campus?
There will be an
one paper to be written in the OCC Testing Center
either at the Des Plaines
campus or the Ray Hartstein campus in Skokie;
no other visits to campus are required.
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Will there be hundreds of other students in the class?
No. The
maximum enrollment for online classes at Oakton is 15-20 students. Since
active participation in this course is required, you will soon meet your
fellow classmates online and begin to feel part of a learning community.
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Will I become a nameless, faceless nobody lost in
cyberspace?
Absolutely not!
In fact, you will probably be surprised at just how congenial an online
course can be. Not only will you have many direct communications with
your instructor, you will also be involved in many individual and group
discussions with your classmates. Far from being cold and impersonal, the
online environment enhances communication in ways that would not be possible
otherwise.
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How many hours will the course take each week?
For traditional,
face-to-face courses, the general rule of thumb is that you should expect to
spend 2-3 hours per week outside of class for each hour in class. So a
3-credit-hour class meeting for three hours a week requires an additional 6-9
hours of work outside of class, for a total of 9-12 hours. This rule of
thumb also applies for English 101 Online. You will spend the same
number of hours as in a traditional class, but you will have more flexibility
in when you spend them, and you will save time by not having to travel to and
from campus. Please make sure that you budget 9-12 hours per week for this
class.
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What hardware and software do I need?
The minimum
hardware you will need is an IBM-compatible PC with a 486DX processor or
better and 8 Mb of RAM running Windows 95, or a Macintosh with a PowerPC chip
and 16 Mb of RAM running MacOS 7.5.5 or later.
Your web
browser must handle tables, frames, and javascript. Netscape 4.0 or
higher and Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher meet these specifications.
For more details, please see:
http://www.oakton.edu/online/tech/minspecs.htm
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What if I have the AOL browser?
That could be a
problem. But there is a simple and inexpensive (free) solution.
The America OnLine browser is a modified version of
Microsoft Internet Explorer. To have all the capabilities that
you may need to access English 101 Online, you should first start America
OnLine, then minimize it . Then start a copy of
Microsoft Internet Explorer that either came with your Windows software, or
that you have downloaded directly from Microsoft and installed on
computer. In this way, you can use America OnLine to access the
Internet, yet use a full featured browser.
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Is there a text book?
Yes, The St.
Martin's Guide to Writing, Short 8th edition, by Rise B. Axelrod and
Charles R. Cooper. International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 10-0312-44633-0.
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Are there lectures?
No, no
videotaped "talking heads."
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How will I find out what my assignments are
and when they are due?
On the first day
of each 2-week module, a list of readings, and
assignments will be posted in the Module Activities area of the course web
site. Information about due dates is also contained in the Syllabus and the
Calendars areas of the course web site.
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How will I submit my work?
You will submit
your work in electronic form through the course web site - no paper involved.
Depending upon the assignment, you will post messages in the discussion
forums, send e-mail to your instructor, or attach word processing files to
messages posted in the forums or sent as e-mail. You will be given
specific, step-by-step instructions for each of these tasks beforehand.
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How will I get my work back?
You will also
receive responses to your work from your instructor and classmates in
electronic form through the course web site.
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How often must I participate, and how will you
know if I do?
You should log
on four times per week at a minimum. The WebCT software keeps a record
of the total number of times you have logged into the course and the most
recent time you have logged in, which allows your instructor to keep track of
your "attendance." And if you go five days without logging in, your
instructor will contact you directly to see if there is a problem with which
you need assistance. However, just logging in and reading messages
is not considered participation - you must also contribute to the
course discussions on a regular basis.
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Will the Instructor have office hours?
I will check
e-mail and postings almost every day in order to give everyone the greatest
opportunity to make contact. I am also available by phone and my
regular Oakton e-mail. I am also on campus at specified times, so you can
make an appointment to see me.
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How do I contact the instructor?
Sylvia Stacey
can be reached by phone at : (847) 635-1963
by fax at: (847) 376-7094
by e-mail at: sylvia@oakton.edu
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How can I get help if I have technical
problems?
Monday through
Friday from 9:00 AM through 5:00 PM, you can phone the Oakton Help Desk at
(847) 635-1965. Outside of those hours, first check the Oakton online
Help pages at
http://www.oakton.edu/online/tech/probcall.htm
Assistance is
also available through the Illinois Virtual Campus’ network of Student
Support Centers at:
http://www.ivc.illinois.edu/Students/map.htm
If you are
not able to get the technical help you need, please contact me and I will try
to expedite the process.
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Copyright (c) 2000
Oakton Community College. Last updated 8/16/08.
Courseware created by
Michael McNett
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