HELLO ALL & WELCOME TO THE CLASS!

IMPORTANT!

If you have been in my classes before, there are a couple of changes this term you need to be aware of!

·       Our weeks begin on Monday & end SATURDAY night at midnight PST.

·       Everyone is required to respond to BOTH TOPICS by Thursday midnight PST each week & to the required other two posts (one under each topic) by the close of the week, Saturday night at midnight. You will lose 20 points for the week if you do not meet this criteria (The first week  I'm lenient, so don't panic!)

Once you have access to the classroom, read through the syllabus, all course documents inside the folder under the 'Weekly Assignments' tab labeled 'Important Course Documents' & peek inside the first few weekly folders to get an idea of how the course is organized, then get started by introducing yourself (there is a folder under 'Weekly Assignments' for that). Due dates are posted on the cover of each weekly folder.

Try downloading Firefox if you are using IE & seem to be having problems on the website

This course is intended to expand your horizons, inspire your creative thinking & expression, help you develop good research skills, share pertinent information with others & learn about or increase your knowledge on the subjects we cover.

Assignments are all threaded discussions making the course 100% interactive. Everyone is expected to:

·     Research the topics

·     Hone your research down to a few paragraphs that contain the important aspects of your findings &   share them in your own words

·     Include personal insight on what you`ve discovered

·     Document your resources, include relevant links & POST!

• The purpose isn’t to report facts, but to provide analytical evaluation & interpretation of the facts you come across as well as personal insight.

Although there is no required minimum word count (none of us appreciate ‘filler’) your responses to the topics, other posts & the two papers ARE your grade in this course, so put the effort forth that you would be using to study & prepare for formal `tests` in classes that require them. Look at these assignments as `research essays`.

ALL email to me should be sent through the Angel website, with your full name in the subject line. I do not accept emailed attachments.

Angel Learning Navigation Tips

If you have any technical problems contact the WAOL Help Desk.  

Here are some ways to help you navigate the Angel website

Problem:

You don`t see a text box where you can reply to other posts.

Solution:

To respond to other posts go into one of the assignment folders & look at the top left where it says `Directions`...see the - sign? Click on it, then scroll down & you should see the text box.

Problem:

The viewing area is too small

Solution 1:

Do you see the file folder on the left upper side of the screen with the little tack pointing downward?  Right next to it you will see 4 little arrows pointing left click on them and they will open the screen wide and hide your task bar.

Solution 2:

To the right above your name there is an arrow, click on it and the banner will disappear, increasing the size of the window.

Problem:

You cannot find all the posts

Solution 1:

At the top left of the page, right next to `New Post` is the option `threaded view` with an arrow to the right of it. Put your cursor on the arrow & you`ll see an option for `Search View`. Click on that option.

Solution 2:

At the top of the reply bow there is a small plus (+) sign with the word post next to it  - if you click on that it will open up all the replies. Or up at the top of the page right above the directions there is a dialog box that is currently set on threaded view - you can change that to nested view and see what everyone wrote all at once.

Problem:You cannot find all of your posts

Solution:

Click on the little square icon to the right of where you choose the search method (where it says `search view) then on `view` & choose `All Posts`. After that, click on`Replies` right above the posts.

Problem:

Viewing only the posts you want to see

Solution 1:

At the top just right of the center of the page you`ll see the words `All posts`. Put your cursor on the down arrow & you`ll have (numerous) options ranging from `Unread posts` to `All posts` to `My Posts`, etc.

Solution 2:

You can get more room by changing your computer's screen resolution.If you are using Windows 95/98/XP, right-click on your desktop and then click properties. Now, click the "settings" tab on top of the new window. There should be a slider marked "screen resolution." If you turn up the resolution, everything on your screen will get smaller; consequently, you can view more information.

Posting Pictures:

On the toolbar, between "Insert/Edit Web Link" and "Insert/Edit Equation" is a button for inserting images. It works, as you can see. To upload an image from your computer, click on the image, then click "Browse Server" then "Browse" to choose a file, then upload picture.

Your pictures may not be coming through as you want because it is tricky. You will need to right click on the picture you want and then copy the url. Then you will need to click on the icon that looks like two mountains with the sun and past the url in the window and then press okay.

Viewing your weekly Grades

Click on Grades at the above toolbar.  Once you are in the new screen, go to the category drop-down tool bar and click on grades in the drop-down tool bar, once you do this, you should be directed to a new screen. In this screen click on Run and you should see your grades.

If you go to tab (grades), You should see Choose report.  Under that, go to report and click drop down buttton and you should see "gradebook grades" click on that, and under "select report vew" there should be a drop down button click on "table" and you should see your grades.