Orientation Part IV: Communication

Select the following option (you have only one choice):

Submitting Assignment: Orientation Part IV--More about Communication

Your course (e.g., Mth 151, Mth 173, Phy 121, Phy 232, etc. ):

If you have one, please provide your access code.  You may leave this part blank if you do not yet have an access code. 

If you do not have an access code and have not already done so, you need to immediately go to http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/_vti_bin/shtml.dll/request_access_code.htm and submit the completed form. 

Once your access code is active you can view your posted work at http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/geninfo/labrynth_created_fall_05/menu.htm , as instructed in the email you received with your code.

Remember that it is crucial to enter your access code correctly.  As instructed, you need to copy the access code from another document rather than typing it.

Access Code
Confirm Access Code

Your Name:

Your VCCS email address.  Your VCCS email address is the address you were instructed in Step 1 to obtain.  If you were not able to obtain that address, indicate this below.

Copy the document below into your word processor or text editor.  Complete each task, and respond as indicated:

Task:  `q001. When you submit information via a form, the form will request your name, email address and access code. 

As previously instructed, your access code and your email address must be accurate, so they should be copied and pasted from a conveniently located file, not typed in. 

This is because any error in entering your access code will ikely cause the posting of your work to fail.  Incorrect access codes can cause also other problems with the system, and can inconvenience other students.

The email address you include should be your VCCS email address. It is very important that your email address be correct.  Spammers occasionally find this form.  If you do not give a correct address, then it is possible that your submission will be automatically deleted along with invalid submissions.

Please indicate these requirements in your own words:

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q002. It is rare that a valid submission gets deleted or overlooked.  However it can happen.  If you do not include the information necessary to identify you (most importantly your access code and email address), your submission will probably also go astray (an exception being Orientation assignments, which if submitted through the appropriate form require only your email address). 

The important point here is the following:

• You should retain your original copy of every document you submit. 

These are not typically large documents, and they are easy to handle.  You should also therefore consider emailing yourself a copy of each submitted document.

Restate the above in your own words,

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q003.  Other than the name and email address you enter when requested by the form, you should not include any other identifying information on the form.  This will ensure that, even in the unlikely event that someone stumbles on your access page, there will be nothing on that page to identify you.

Please indicate this in your own words.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q004. If you wish to maintain your privacy, then after accessing your information you should delete the history of your browser and close the browser in order to maintain the security of your access page.  In Internet Explorer you do this by clicking on Tools > Internet Options > General and choosing to Clear History and Delete Temporary Internet Files.

You should safeguard your code.  However if despite your best efforts you have reason to believe your access code has been compromised you may email the instructor from your VCCS account and request a new access code. 

Please indicate your understanding of this advice in the box below:

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q005.   Everything you submit should be submitted through a form.  If your work is formatted (e.g., for a lab report, because it contains graphs, or for some other reason) you may also 'back it up' by emailing the formatted document, but the document should first be copied and pasted into the Submit Work form and submitted.   If everything has been done according to instructions, it is seldom necessary for the instructor to look at your formatted file.

Please state this in your own words:

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q006.  Keep the Thread:  When sending messages don't assume that your instructor remembers the last message you sent. If your present message is related to the previous message, or answers a question posed by the instructor in a previous message, be sure you don't remove all that information when you send your new message. Your instructor will have less time to spend on your work if it is often necessary to go back and research previous correspondence to figure out what you are talking about. It is your responsibility to give the instructor everything required for a useful response in one message.

For example if the instructor poses the question 'now what do you get when you divide $400 by $10 / hour', don't send back a message that reads

Dear Instructor,

the answer is 40

Your student.

with nothing more in the message. Include the question, include your original work on the problem, and state your answer in a format that makes it clear you understand what you are doing.

State this in your own words.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

STUDENT QUESTION REGARDING PREVIOUS:

Is it ok if we use the reply feature on emails? Or should we just submit a new form with previous correspondence copied in.

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE

The 'reply' function is probably the easier alternative, and unless you remove it the thread will be maintained. So that's the preferred choice.

Task:  `q007.  Make it Self-Contained:  When submitting any documents or question:

• Make your message self-contained, so that it isn't necessary for the instructor to delay responses to other students by searching out additional documents.  (For example, answer a question posed in a previous communication from the instructor by inserting it into a copy of that document.  Other students are waiting for responses, so don't expect your instructor to go back and look up the document.)
• Be sure your document can be read efficiently by scrolling down the page, with no need to scroll right or left (this will not generally be an issue, since almost all your work will be submitted through text forms where this is not a problem)..
  
  Explain your understanding of these requirements.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q008.  Please understand that to make it possible to work individually with a large number of students, your instructor works with you mainly by responding to your assignments and questions. Your instructor will generally not initiate contact with you. It is your responsibility to initiate contact with the instructor by submitting assignments and questions, and you can generally expect a reply to be posted by the end of the day after it is sent, seven days a week. 

An exception is when the instructor is out of town for a conference or on personal business; this typically happens a handful of times during a term.  There would also be an exception should in the event of injury or illness (neither has interfered with the instructor's schedule in well over a decade of distance offerings but either remains possible).  In the event of a planned absence (usually not lasting more than three days) you should be notified by email in advance so you can plan accordingly.  In the event of an unplanned absence you would be notified as promptly as possible.

If a reply is not posted within this time you should resubmit your work. 

• However if you do resubmit, be sure to indicate at the beginning that the work has already been submitted.

Please restate this in your own words.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q009.  You will normally use web forms (e.g., the Submit Work form) to communicate information.  However some documents are formatted in such a way that the text-only format available on the form is not sufficient.  In this case you should still submit a text version of the document using the form, but you may also send a backup copy using your VCCS student email.

Any email you send should contain access information in the precise format prescribed in the message you received with your Access Code.  This syntax should be copied and pasted, as indicated in that message, rather than being typed in. 

Any email should also identify your course (e.g., Mth 173 or Phy 121, etc). in its subject line.

Emails must be sent from your VCCS email account.  Messages sent from other accounts may or may not receive responses, but it will not be possible for the instructor to search such messages, and information sent from other accounts risks being screened out by our network's SPAM filter.

Please indicate how you will include your course and access information when and if you send email messages:

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q010.  Any document you submit to the instructor must be a word-processed document. It is not possible for the instructor to efficiently insert comments into Excel documents, scanned documents or documents submitted on paper or by fax. 

Don't spread things over multiple documents (e.g., a word processed document with an explanation and a spreadsheet document with some tables and graphs) but copy and paste everything into one document so the reader doesn't waste time flipping from one document to the other.

Tables and graphs from Excel and other programs can be copied and pasted into word-processed documents. 

• Note that for most purposes graphs need to be described in words.  the important skill is not the use of a computer program to construct a graph, but your understanding of the essential properties and the meaning of the graph.

The only exception to this policy is tests, which are completed in an approved proctoring situation, and are done on paper and in your handwriting (see also instructions previously provided regarding testing).

Please summarize your understanding of this policy.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q011.  It is usually much more efficient and effective for the instructor to work with you through forms and your Access Page than face-to-face.

The instructor enjoys working face-to-face with students, but this is not feasible in an asynchronous course.  It is not possible to respond meaningfully to your submitted work, and at the same time to accommodate the desire of a class full of asynchronous distance students for individual face-to-face meetings.

For this reason the instructor's office hours are conducted by responding to information received through forms, and face-to-face meetings are normally restricted to matters that have already been addressed to the fullest possible extent via electronic communication (e.g., access page and forms) and have proven impossible to resolve efficiently by this means.

This policy makes it possible for the instructor to respond fully to your submitted work and to do so in a timely manner.  It also ensures that all students, local as well as non-local, get equal attention from the instructor.

Please explain this briefly in your own words.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q012.  When you take a test you must submit the Test Taken Form (at the General Information page, just below the Submit Work Form) to alert the instructor to be on the lookout for your test. If a test has gone astray (rare but tests can be misrouted) we can more easily trace it if we know promptly that it's missing.

Please state this in your own words:

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q013.   Save all communications from the instructor; you're responsible for doing so. You are also responsible for keeping track of what you have sent the instructor, who can provide more timely and more complete responses if time isn't wasted rereading something re-sent by a student who wasn't weren't sure whether it was sent in the first place. Once your work appears at your Access site (explained when you get your access code), however, you may assume that it is safely stored in at least two places.

State this in your own words.

**** our response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Task:  `q014.  

If you submit a document and get a form confirmation, then the document has been received.

It might happen that you submit a document then realize you didn't submit your identifying information.  If this happens, then submit it once more, and be sure to carefully include your information.  However, do your best to get it right the first time.

Please respond with a statement detailing your understanding of the process of submitting a document.

**** Your response (insert your response beginning in the next line; the next line is blank and doesn't include the #$... prompt):

#$&*  (your response should have gone on the line above this one)

Now highlight and copy your document, paste your copy into the box below. 

Double-check to be sure you have accurately filled in the information at the beginning of this form.

Then click on Submit Form. 

It is suggested that you save a copy of your document as a backup.

When you submit this document you will have complete Orientation Step 6.  Your next activity will be Orientation Step 7.