Here's the survey!

http://tinyurl.com/youwl9

Please go to this survey and take it honestly. It will help us improve this course! 

Tags: survey

yes, that survey

Folks,

Sorry about the survey. We're reworking it so it's easier for you. We really do want you to take this survey, so we can keep making the classes better. The deadline won't matter (as long as it's done by next week). I will get it online ASAP and send that URL out. I am waiting on other people, too, so as soon as I know, you will know ;) 

Tags: survey

Module 5

Folks,

Module 5 is now in the link list. A student pointed out it was missing; sorry about that. Hope all is well. Your essays are quite interesting to read, and it's always refreshing when there are so many people with diverse backgrounds writing about their own interests.

After Module 5 there will be a course evaluation/survey online. I will supply you with the link closer to the end.

Cheers. 

Tags: module5+links

Gmail 2.0

You may have notices some differences to GMAIL this weekend. Google is slowly rolling out Gmail 2.0, which is faster and prettier. One big difference is a better contacts menu options (which I hope soon includes APIs!). Anyway, what it means to you is if it doesn't work for you, then:

1) Wait a few days to see if it works soon. They are updating things a little at a time.

2) If you want everything to work NOW, then click on the link in the upper left called "Older Version" and it'll resort to what you had a few days ago, and you can do everything you already know.

 Have a nice weekend.   

Tags: gmail+updates

Missing submissions

Folks,

Please pay close attention to due dates. Also, pay attention to turnitin.com submissions. This week several people have not submitted papers to turnitin.com and have also not submitted papers on time. These results in zeroes. Please please be cognizant of all steps on deadline instructions and syllabi.

Tags: turnitin.com

Reminders to save your lives :)

Folks,
A couple things.
Keep checking back on your gradesheets (for English 102). If there’s a discrepancy, I don’t want to wait until December 5th to deal with it.

Always submit final drafts to turnitin.com. For Eng102 people, I will no longer require drafts submitted there! Only final copies you want me to grade.

Never add all of your classmates to the Final Drafts in Google Docs, since they can then see YOUR grades and they could edit something before I grade it.

Always, make a separate blog post for each homework assignment, and please do each assignment as missing work adds up. 

Title every single blog entry correctly with Deadline # and Homework #.

Wikipedia is NOT your friend. Do not use it. You will not get any credit for it, AT ALL. 

I am now a stickler for due dates and will hold to them unless you’ve got a really good reason.

Good reasons = death, documented medical situation, birth, etc…
Bad reasons = “I took on too many responsibilities”, my computer is in the shop, I don’t have internet at home, “I forgot”, “I will get to it”

Status check: English 101 folks, I am grading Module 2 now. Module 1 is done. English 102 2513 folks, I am all caught up except WP2. English 102 7891 folks, I will have everything done before we meet again.

Yes, I am sending this blog post to all four sections. ☺

Tags: updates+grades+eng101+eng102+wikipedia+blog+turnitin.com+duedates

Extra Credit

Folks,

I am finding more and more people do NOT read the class announcements blog, so here's extra credit for those who do. You have until Midnight on Thursday October 11th to email me on my gmail account with the following information:

Subject should be "Extra Credit: Eng 101".

In the message, include:

your del.icio.us url web address and how many links you've saved there.

Also, I want a few sentences telling me if you find del.icio.us useful, and why or why not?

I am adamant about the cut off time/date for the extracredit. If you check the blog daily, you will be fine :) 10 Points will be awarded. 

Tags: extracredit

A few comments

Folks,

A couple updates and reminders.

1. I have finished grading Module 1 and will send you feedback within 24 hours. Most are good.  I will put some comments and your point totals in your Module 1 shared file.

2. SUBMIT everything to turnitin.com. The modules are up there for the entire semester now. If you fail to do so, I will not grade it.

3. Review MLA formatting! Too many people are having problems with headers and double spacing, etc...

4. Follow all deadlines closely. Most of the time in a course like this people don't do well because they don't complete the assignments on time. 

Tags: turnitin.com+grades+mla+module1

Please label everything

Folks,

When you are sending email or sharing documents with me and your classmates, PLEASE LABEL everything. I need you to include Section# and Assignment NAME. I've had a lot of "Untitled" documents or docs with just your name. Or emailsthat do NOT include Section #s. I get about 200 emails a day from 200+ students.  

Tags: logistics

turnitin.com formatting

When you submit your papers to turnitin.com the formatting will be stripped from your essays. This is NORMAL. Not a problem. The service only requires the text of the essays. Do not worry when it doesn't look the same. I don't assess this version; I assess the version on Google Docs.

Grading checklist

Folks, As I grade these I am concerned. There are two major things I need to remind you.

1. For each Deadline #, I need a post on your blog. If it asks you to reply to a peer's blog comment and then post about it, then please do it. If it asks for a Reading Reflection & Deadline Reflection, please do both. The way I grade the homework is looking for each and every step. Believe me, if you begin skipping things, the zeroes add up.

2. Everything that is suppose to be submitted to turnitin.com should be submitted. If final papers are Not submitted, I will NOT grade them.

Computer File Names

Have you ever notices that computer files have three or four letter suffixes after their titles? Many audio files generally have mp3, wav, or wma. Digital image files usually have jpeg, gif, or tiff. Most documents have doc, pdf, or rtf. To better negotiate and share documents in electronic formats, you should know a little about docs, pdfs, and rtfs.

doc—“doc” stands for “document” and represents a Microsoft Word file. If you do not have MS Word, you will either need another word processing program that can read MS Word files, like the open source program Open Office (http://www.filehippo.com/download_openoffice/), or an MS Word viewer (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=95E24C87-8732-48D5-8689-AB826E7B8FDF&displaylang=en). FYI, older versions of MS Word will not read newer versions of MS word doc files.

pdf—“pdf” stands for “portable document format.” Most computers come with Adobe Reader (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html) that allow you to read pdf files. You can not make pdf files without Adobe Acrobat (or one of it’s open source equivalents). You will not be required to make pdf files for this course; however, most of the resources in library databases are in pdf format. You will want to be sure to download Adobe Reader.

rtf—“rtf” stands for “rich text file.” Basically, it is the same thing as a “doc” but is readable by a variety of different word processing programs. When electronically sharing documents, you should try to default to rtf files. If you save and share as an rtf file, you usually do not have to worry about what program, or version, that the other person is using. You can easily save your documents as rtf files when you either initially save them, or click on the “save as” option (under the “file” tab). At the bottom of the save window is a “save as type” option. You can search through the options for the “rich text file” option. If you are using an online word processing program like Google Documents (http://docs.google.com/) or Zoho Writer (http://writer.zoho.com/jsp/home.jsp) you can usually export your files in a variety of formats including doc, pdf, and rtf).

To make sure that all of your classmates can read your documents, I highly suggest that you submit all documents in the rtf format. And if you don’t have MS Word, I highly suggest you either download Open Office or the MS Word viewer so that you can read other’s docs.

Tags: tech_tips

Grading Update

Folks,

All grades are done through Deadline #4. Now that we're four deadlines in, there's no more late work. If you aren't caught up, and don't have a really good reason (flu, death, medical) you don't have credit on those assignments. If you've had technical problems, consider 1.) using the library computers 2.) going to the tutoring center for help. We're quickly heading to our first paper, and I want to make sure no one gets a zero on that. Please keep working. Set aside time to work on Eng 101 weekly. Pretend you actually go to a weekly class, and use those few hours to get your work done. 

Tags: update, grades, technical_difficulties

Combining

Yesterday I was formatting Module 2 for you, and I realized since boh of my online Eng 101 sections are smaller that we should combine the student information. Since you know you have to be commenting on one another's blog posts, this will give you twice as many people to read. Also, it' twice as many people who can read your paper drafts and comment on them.

 On the instructor's side of things, it's one less file I need to open to assess you. Now that Deadline #4 is over and the smoke is clearning, I am going to begin to contact people who are struggling. Everyone who has emailed me for help, has received it. If you miss deadlines from here on out, I've got no love to show ;) .

Tags: grades, deadlines

Bibliographies and blogs

Several people had questions about formatting your bibliography sources on your blog. This actually should not be a problem. The only thing that won't work (for most people) is indenting. Also, if you are using URLS in your citation please cite as < http://www.google.com >. Please note the spaces after and before the carrots.

That should do it for you, when you need to cite bibliographical information in html. (Now I do know that if you know html coding, then this isn't an issue for you.)

Tags: mla, bibliographies, souces

RSS feeds

Ever spend way too much time going from website to website looking at all of your news articles, keeping up with your friends and family's blogs, and making sure you check your instructor's websites? Watch this short video to learn how to do this is all a lot faster!

Del.icio.us

Do you want to know why we use del.icio.us for this class, and my explanations don't make sense? Please watch this short video and you'll have no more questions.

Lectures Link

I have added a link to our Course Links that includes the URLs of all of the class lectures. Anytime your reading assignment asks you to read one of the "lectures", this is where you go.

Links fixed

The links for the syllabus & module 1 are both fixed. I moved them a more secure system. Enjoy.

Syllabus & Module 1

In the column above the calendar you will see a list of links. Right now there's the link to the syllabus for the class, and a link to Module 1. For this section of the class there are five modules, please begin with this one. I will get the rest of them online ASAP. Once you all have your gmail accounts, I will also share all of these documents to you.

Welcome

Welcome to English 101 online. This blog will house announcements, reminders, tips/tricks, and suggestions to become a better writer. I would check this blog each time you get online to work on your project.