ENGL 1101 Online Orientation--Mr. Wei Yan

Mr. Wei Yan
Phone with Voice Mail: (229) 317-6860
Email: wei.yan@darton.edu (if WebCT cannot be accessed.)

How to Survive ENGL 1101—Online

1. How to access the online ENGL 1101 site?

Please go to the following URL for logon instructions: http://online.darton.edu/Handouts/WebCT4x_login/log_on.htm.

Once you have logged in, bookmark the site for fast and easy access in the future. It is recommended that you print out both the syllabus and the course calendar.

2. What do the icons on the course homepage represent?

Assignments—a place where you can access all the assignments (such as Information Datasheet, Un-Timed Essays, Timed Essays, etc.) and submit them.

Course Orientation—an access to the same orientation document as what you are reading now. It is placed at the course site so that you do not need to go to the orientation site every time you need to look up something in the document.
Discussion Forum—a public domain of the course, where everything posted is meant to be shared with everyone else in the same class. Therefore, this is not the place for any private communication and submission of your work or personal information. For these purposes, you need to use the email. Make sure you click into the right topic area every time you submit your response to the required readings. Read Questions #14 below for specific information about the discussion requirement.
Email—the WebCT email system you can use to communicate with me when you have any concern regarding the course. Read Question #8 below to learn more about using the WebCT email.
Lecture—a table of contents that lists all the available online lessons of this course.
My Grades—an access to the grades you have earned on individual assignments. You will receive numeric grades for the essays, but when I post your final grades I will need to convert them to letter grades. Read Question #12 below to see the conversion rubric. Read Question #14 to understand your discussion grade.

Quizzes/Tests—an access to the quizzes and tests when they become available. Read Question #11 below for more specific information about this requirement.
Syllabus—an access to the course syllabus that includes the requirements and policies of the course, a weekly schedule of learning activities, all the assignments and their due dates, online discussion topics, and other important information relevant to the course.
WebHelp—a place where you will be able to report WebCT problems and obtain tech support from specialists on campus.

3. What Internet browser should I use to access online course materials?

Please click on http://online.darton.edu/detection/plugin_detector.htm for detailed information.

4. What computer skills are necessary for the course?

Ability to type and save a file in the required file formats, and print documents with a computer;
Ability to surf the Internet;
Ability to send, receive email and handle attachments.

5. What information about myself do I need to provide to the instructor?

I will need your phone numbers and email addresses for communication purposes. I will also need to know your Regents' Test status and a few other things contained in an information datasheet for you to complete and submit to me during the first week of class. The datasheet will also give you a chance to communicate to me any of your concerns, difficulties, hopes, and suggestions. You can find the Student Information Datasheet from Assignments on the home page.

6. What do I need to do to succeed in this class?

Read the Departmental Comprehensive Course Guide and my syllabus to understand the requirements and policies of the course.
Follow the syllabus and complete all reading and writing assignments as they are scheduled.
Participate actively in the discussions of assigned readings. Make sure you post your responses by the deadline.
Print out the course syllabus. Know and remember all deadlines, and plan your time well to meet them.
Communicate with me whenever you have a question, a problem or difficulty, or a suggestion. DO NOT wait until the last minute. Be sure to submit your request for an extension of the deadline prior to the deadline.
Log in to the course to check for announcements and email at least once every day. I will periodically post new messages on the course home page.
Do not plagiarize.

7. How many times are we required to come to campus?

None. However, you may need to use the library and other resources on campus.

8. What email address do I use in this course?

You use the WebCT email. Unless WebCT is down, please do not use your other email addresses.

To send an email in WebCT, click the email icon at the course toolbar. Choose "Create message." Click "Browse for Recipients" next to the "To" box, select the name of the person you intend to email, and the rest will be the same as you do with other email programs. Since you cannot type in any email address in the "To" box, you will not be able to send email to my Darton email address directly from within WebCT.

To attach a file to the email, click “Add Attachments.”

9. Can I work ahead of the schedule?

Most of the time, you are able to work at your own pace. While you will have to abide by deadlines, you will have plenty of chances to use the syllabus to get ahead of the schedule. For example, you may certainly read the next week's selections if you find time to do so this week. You may also post discussion items early—as long as you post them under the right topics at the Discussion Forum. Basically, except for works that are not accessible in the syllabus, you may always complete tomorrow's work today.

10. How do I submit my work?

There are three types of major assignments in this course: 1) Online Discussions, 2) five Un-Timed Essays (such narration, description, etc.), and 3) two Timed Essays.

1) Online discussion items are to be posted at the Discussion Forum of the course site. (Read Question #14 below for a more detailed explanation about this assignment.) Please note the following in particular:

DO NOT send your discussion items to me by email.
DO NOT post them as "attachments."
DO NOT post them under the wrong topic at the Discussion Forum. Always click into the correct topic first.

2) Un-Timed Essays are to be submitted at the Assignments of the course site.

NEVER post them at the Discussion Forum.
ALWAYS send them as attachments.
Make sure you save a copy on your hard drive or a floppy disk.
DO NOT save your work as a .wps document (a Microsoft Works file format). Works saved as such will be returned.
The required file types are either the Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) document.

3) The two Timed-Essays should be submitted at the Assignments of the course site as well. Read Question #15 for more information about this requirement.

11. How do I take online quizzes?

Every student will need to take a few quizzes in the semester. To access the timed online quizzes, click on the "Quizzes/Tests" icon at our course site. The quizzes will be available from 7:00am till 9:59 pm on the same day of the assignment. Click on the assignment that has the correct date next to it.

Please hit "Enter" twice to create a new paragraph. Otherwise, the paragraphs will not show and your answer will turn out to be a big block of words.

Be aware that the clock starts ticking the moment you open the topics. Do not log out from the site until the quiz is completed. If you do, the computer will continue recording the time that lapses between the two logging-in's and will count every minute as part of your writing time. Anyone who is recorded to have used more minutes than required will not be able to submit.

When you are ready to submit, make sure you save your quiz first. Then, click on "Finish" to submit. When the confirmation message appears, click "OK."

12. How is my essay evaluated?

I use the grading criteria in the "Comprehensive Course Guide" to assess the overall quality of your writing. (Read the Course Guide at <http://www.darton.edu/programs/Humanities/guides/ENGL/ENGL1101.pdf>.) I would respond to your essay with corrections, suggestions, and comments. The following is a rubric for converting between numeric grades and alphanumeric grades:

A+ = 97-100, A = 94-96, A- = 90-92,

B+ = 87-89, B = 84-86, B- = 80-82,

C+ = 77-79, C = 74-76, C- = 70-72,

D+ = 67-69, D = 64-66, D- = 60-62,

F = 0-59

13. How is my work returned?

All your assignments will be graded and returned in WebCT, and grades will be posted in My Grades. Please DO NOT call or email to ask, "When are you going to return my essay?" I teach four classes this semester, which means I always have about 100 essays in my hand when I collect yours. It usually takes me a week to ten days to return your essay. I will return your essay once I grade it, and your grade will be posted in My Grades after I finish grading the whole class.

14. How do I complete the discussion requirement?

The discussion requirement accounts for 10% of the course grade. It involves responding to the discussion questions in the syllabus about the assigned readings, and posting your responses at the Discussion Forum of our course site on or before the deadline. Check the syllabus about the dates by which responses need to be posted. The cutoff time is 9:59 pm.

Your responses shall be complete and substantive, consisting of statements responding DIRECTLY to ALL PARTS of the discussion questions along with supporting details in the form of discussion, explanation, examples, etc. I will evaluate each of your responses in terms of completeness, relevance, substance, coherence, originality, and timeliness. Please note that you are not being evaluated for correctness. Late submissions are usually not credited.

You are encouraged to respond to each other's contributions by clicking on the item you intend to respond to. Such spontaneous responses may be much more flexible than the required ones in terms of length and structure.

Every time the class completes a discussion, I will post a summary to address the discussion questions. Every time you COMPLETE a discussion assignment, you receive a grade ranging between 60 and 100. If, for example, you answer 3 out of 6 questions, the maximum you can get is 50. I will post your first discussion grade and will update it periodically. Each updated grade represents the average of the sum total of all the grades you have received up to that particular point. You will receive a zero for a discussion that you fail to participate in or for a late posting without prior approval from me for an extension of the deadline. For example, if at a time of update, the class has completed four discussions, for which you have received 90, 92, 0, and 90, your average at that point is (90 + 92 + 0 + 90)/4 = 68.

15. How do I complete timed essay assignments?

Every student will need to complete two timed essays in the semester. For each essay, you are to write on one of the four given topics within 60 minutes. I will give everyone two more minutes to wrap up and submit. The only form of assignment that can be timed within WebCT is the "quiz," so do not feel strange when you see instructions about taking or beginning quiz once you are ready to write the timed essay .

To access the timed essay assignment, click on the "Assignments" icon at our course site. The topics will be available from 7:00am till 9:59 pm on the same day of the assignment. Click on the assignment that has the correct date next to it.

Please hit "Enter" twice to create a new paragraph. Otherwise, the paragraphs will not show and your essay will turn out to be a big block of words.

Be aware that the clock starts ticking the moment you open the topics. Do not log out from the site until the essay is completed. If you do, the computer will continue recording the time that lapses between the two logging-in's and will count every minute as part of your writing time. Anyone who is recorded to have used more than 62 minutes will not be able to submit.

When you are ready to submit, make sure you save your essay first. Then, click on "Finish" to submit. When the confirmation message appears, click "OK."

16. What is considered to be plagiarism and what are its consequences?

You are required to complete your written work independently. Copying each other’s work, letting a classmate copy a part or the entirety of your work, and borrowing language and ideas extensively from any outside source without proper documentation in your essays and tests are considered to be plagiarism. These acts of academic dishonesty will result in a zero on a particular work where such acts happen. Depending on the seriousness of the offense and the offender’s attitude, these acts may be reported to the Division Chair, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Vice President of Student Affairs, who may take further disciplinary actions against the student(s) at fault.

Current Students