• You want a job, and you think the Web is the way to go...
• You need to complete this class for your Certificate...
• The title sounded interesting, so here you are...

Here is a key to the navigation links for this site:

• Start Here - the page you are on right now!
• Lessons - this is where you will find all the material for each lesson
• Homework - this is where you will find your reading and homework assignments for each lesson
• Grades - grades for assignments will be posted here
• Messages - a link to the E-Folio message board
• Resources - contains links to resources for each lesson
• Instructor - a link to the instructor's homepage
• CIS site - a link to the Computer Information Sciences department

The course content is the same as if you were in a traditional classroom.

The main differences from a traditional class are:

• You never physically enter a classroom with other students and the instructor. All communication with the instructor and other students is electronic (although I am available by phone and in person if necessary). You take responsibility for:
  • reading the online materials,
  • reqularly reading and responding to any class email,
  • knowing when assignments are due,
  • completing the assignments and submitting them on time.
  • checking to make sure that your grades have been recorded correctly.

You're in charge of your work schedule.

• In place of lectures, the essential course materials have been placed online at the class Web site.
  
• Homework is always turned in electronically, usually by posting a webpage at your account on the student server.

The similarities with a traditional class are...

• There is homework, due at a specific time each week.
• Grades are based on how well you complete the assignments

Homework is due according to the schedule of assignments given in the syllabus.. That doesn't mean that you have to wait until the last minute to do your work. In fact, the students who do the best in this class start their assigments early in the week, and give themselves plenty of time to work on them without rushing.

Take your pick-- Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, etc.

Email: adream@sonic.net
Subject: must contain CIS58.57.

You will find what is necessary to complete weekly assignments, and links to many terrific Web resources, in the weekly lessons. Also included are samples of work done by previous students as well as work done by others out there in the world. Use these resources to get good ideas, but make your Portfolio completely your own work.

As you may have noticed already, there are no required textbooks for this class. All of the resource materials you will use will be found online, either at the class web site, or via links to other pages, located in sites out on the Web.

Because the Internet is a dynamic, global environment, with sites owned and operated by individuals and companies with no connection to SRJC, it is inevitable, every semester, that one or more of the links to outside resource material will be broken--site owners change ISPs, update and reconfigure their sites, change the names of pages and folders, and even discontinue pages or entire sites--all without communicating with me. I will do my best each week to ensure that the resource links in the weekly lessons are viable, but, as you know, a link that works right now may be broken later in the day.

If you encounter a broken link within the class website, please let me know about it. In letting me know about broken links I need 3 pieces of information ... the name of the page in the class site where you found the link, the relative location on the page (top, bottom, near the middle, in section such-and-such, etc), and the URL of the link. That way I'll be able to go directly to it, and not waste time searching around for it.

It will be impossible for you to take an online class if you can't see and read the materials and submit your homework. So, here's what we assume:

From Your End
You MUST have regular, ongoing access to a reliable computer and internet setup, and you need to check your email every day.

If your monitor dies or your hard drive crashes; if your modem or service provider is flakey and you can only connect occasionally; or if you need to depend on someone else's schedule to use their machine, you must have a back-up plan. As an enrolled student, you have access to both the Santa Rosa and the Petaluma computer labs, and can use them any time they are open.

It is your responsibility to check your email every day, and to complete your assignments by the due dates...if you are unable to do this from home or work, you must make time to come in to one of the campus Labs and work there.

From Our End
You will find everything you need to successfully complete the class at the class Web site. The web server that hosts this website is very stable and relatively fast, with excellent technical support. However... as with any web site there may be a time when the server goes down, or when there is some problem with the phone lines, or with intermediate severs on the net between you and this server that interferes with your ability to get to the class Web site. Unfortunately, this can happen when it's least convenient for you, so I strongly advise you to plan ahead, keep up, and don't count on being able to do it all in the last few minutes before the deadline.

Next you should read the Syllabus page, and then go to the homework page and view the Class Check In and Meet the Class assignment.

Top