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Introductions

 

 

Welcome to your first assignment in this course about psychology and aging. When you complete this and reply to your colleagues you are done for this easy week.

The most important thing for you to remember is that if at any time you have any problems at all, either post "HELP" in the Discussion Board and ask a colleague, send me an e-mail wards@arc.losrios.edu  or Yahoo instant message, or call my  voice mail at 916-484-8160.  In a do-or-die emergency call my home at 530-477-5291. Please be mindful of the hour. If it's busy I'm usually on line so send me a Yahoo Instant Message

bullet Do NOT hesitate. 
bullet Do NOT wait a day or two and then get in touch saying, "I hate to bother you but...." 

My goal is to be here for you. If I am going to be away from my computer, I will let you know. If my computer crashes, I will find another computer and let you know. Otherwise, I will log on almost every day (except weekends and holidays) and respond to messages. You can expect a response from me within 48 hours -except on weekends and holidays. If you do not understand something, contact me immediately or use the class list to email a colleague.

Remember that you are required to enter the classroom twice a week to receive full credit for the week. (If you will be on vacation, business travel or for other reasons will not be able to enter the classroom twice during the week, please let your classmates know ahead of time (we will miss your presence and I'm sure you will miss the points :-) ). 

HELP FOR THE BEGINNER:

Note: Students find it helpful to write responses to the Discussion Board assignments outside the course and save them on disk. Then you can cut and paste them into the appropriate forum. You also have a back up if you lose your post.

The trick to copying and pasting is to:

  1. create your post in Word or some other program that allows you to type text
  2. use the "select all" feature under the edit menu
  3. use "control-c" key combination to copy what you have selected to the clipboard
  4. hit the minimize button at the top right part of the screen
  5. open your browser (Explorer, Netscape, etc.) and go to the course discussion board
  6. open either a reply or a new post message box and put the cursor where you want the text to be
  7. hit "control-v" and it should paste what you copied into the new message you've opened. 

( Good Practice from Joan Esterline Lafuze, IU East http://www.sbcf.iu.edu/goodpract/lafuze.html)

 

Most weeks our discussions will center around information you have gathered from the WWW. You will be asked to visit different web sites and post your findings at the "Discussion" link.

This week, after you have read the Orientation Link, Syllabus , surfed the site, and this week's lecture materials  (the links are located at the Assignment's Menu)  I would like for you to do the following: Remember to answer each item for full credit.

  1. So we can, get to know you please tell us your name, your major, why you are taking this class and then tell us two positive things people say about you. It's not bragging, it's an assignment!!
     

  2. Then , post at least one  comment, question, or explain one requirement regarding this course taken from the Orientation Link. It can be where to find something, a course requirement, what you think of something, etc. If you leave this out you will lose points.
     

  3. Explain how you did on the readiness quiz you took at the Lecture link?  If you did not find it go back and look.
     

  4. Explain what you think your biggest challenge will be this semester?
     

  5. Please share with us your opinion of the best method for keeping up with a class and not become a drop-out statistic. How will you arrange your schedule to fit around the requirements of this class.
     

  6. What is the aging network? Tell us one thing you do or do not understand about this Federal Act.  What do you suppose might be the value of this program?
     

  7. You must then respond to at least two of your classmates postings. This class is quite large. So in the beginning, (before the 50% drop happens) you will have many posts to choose from. After awhile, you'll get to know most of your colleagues. You will notice a large  portion of your grade is assigned to weekly postings. So make it a point not to miss them. Reminder, one response does not get credit and you must post your assignment (with a minimum grade of 2points) to receive credit for the responses or any extra credit.  Be sure to  post on at least two different days (it does not matter how you break that up).

That's it , you are done for this week. This was a short week so we could all get started together. Remember a 3 unit  online class takes the place of 3 hrs of in-class lecture plus homework time. Check the Assignment Link for next week's assignments. You will probably want to start with reading the text, then the lecture materials.  You will notice all the assignments are posted (except for the final posting of your term paper) so you can work at your own pace.

Use can use your back button to return to the assignment link or the link on your left.

Sue

 

 

 

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