Hello everyone, and welcome to the Online Spring semester 2015.

This is just an introductory message to ONLINE STUDENTS, to let you know how we will proceed, to answer a few questions that you might have, and to set up some rules and guidelines. In the interest of time and avoiding confusion on my part, as to which class gets which welcome message, I’m making this a generic welcome message, and posting it all my online classes. We have all semester to get to know each other personally, once we all get up and running, and confortable, in Insight.

If you are reading this from inside Insight, then you have successfully logged in. However it is still worth making the crucial point about your e-mail address. Also, you might have gained access to Insight by using your login and password from a previous semester.

Your official e-mail address, created for you by City College, is the only e-mail address used by the college to send you important information. If you do not know your CCSF e-mail address, please login into your web4 account (your personal CCSF information account) and locate it there (web4). In the future, you can click the MYCCSF link on the CCSF homepage. You can forward this CCSF e-mail address to your preferred e-mail address. This is important so we can communicate in the event of technical issues with the online course server, and other matters that arise. If you ever forget your online password, the new password will be sent only to the CCSF e-mail account.

After the first day of class, we will correspond only through the Insight online interface e-mail that is provided there.

This week, 1/12, will be week #1 - Orientation. An easy week. We follow the school calendar as closely as possible. The first week is designated as ”Orientation”, which for us, is just familiarizing ourselves with the online interface and getting comfortable with the logging in and installing of software and so forth. This is also the time you will begin ordering your textbooks from the internet for best prices. For even less cost, you can use the e-book version from the publisher! Links are provided in this document and in the online course as well.

MABS 67 students will need to get their textbook and a copy of Access 2010 or 2013. The screens are slightly different so be flexible with instructions.

MABS 101 students will need to get their textbook and a copy of Excel 2010 or 2013.

MABS 406 students will need their textbook and a copy of Dreamweaver, the newest version CS6 or DW CC (the Cloud subscription version). There are huge differences between these two versions and I deliver instructions for both versions.

Be sure to check out http://www.collegebuys.org for the best price on Adobe products as well as Microsoft Office! The price for Dreamweaver CC (Creative Cloud), for either Windows or Mac, is currently $29.95 per month for the entire suite! You can end your subscription at anytime. You will only need the stand-alone Dreamweaver, not the entire suite. The single app creative cloud (Dreamwever only) is available from Adobe for $19.99 per month.

For Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 for Students, which includes Access, the price is only $39.00! Or get the Cloud version by subscription for $9.99 per month.

Textbooks

MABS 406 students will use:

Adobe Dreamweaver CC Classroom in a Book

MABS67 students will use:

Microsoft Access 2013 complete - Illustrated Series by Friedrichsen

MABS 101 - Excel Students will use:

New Perspectives on Microsoft® Excel® 2013, Comprehensive

For students in MABS courses:

Although the books are the department's official required texts, I do not give assignments directly from the books. Therefore, they are supplemental to the online lectures. If you already own what you deem "a substantial textbook" (not a quick reference or a "...for dummies" title), you are welcome to use that book but be aware that you will have to depend heavily on my furnished material!

CNIT Students

CNIT 131 book is required. Lectures and Assignments come directly from the textbook.( I did not write this course)

CNIT 132 book is completely online so no book is required at all.

Pace yourself.

Online courses have a way of getting out of control if you don’t stay on top of things. I do not expect you to "live" online. You do not have to login everyday. Attendance is automatically taken when you login. If you do not login for 3 consecutive weeks, or have not submitted any assignments for 3 consecutive weeks without contacting me, I will assume you have moved on to other things and I will disable your access to the course and you may be eventually dropped. Dropping is your responsibility so don't expect me to do it for you. But beware, there will be no "lurkers" allowed.

Attendance is Documented:

I am quoting directly from the Department of Education (DOE).

Recently, the DOE has taken the position that documenting a student's Last Day of Attendances (LDA) requires more than attendance in the student's electronic classroom. Thus the DOE requires evidence of the academic engagement for students enrolled in an online class. Such engagement is demonstrated through learning forums posts, completed assignments, completed quizzes and e-mail about academically related content with faculty. Interacting with a student about the time an assignment is due is not considered academically related. It must be about a concept related to the course content.

So when the last day of attendance is reported, it will be the last day that you were academically engaged.

Understand that no online course is self-paced. We follow the school calendar very closely. Midterm will be during Week 9 and Final during the last week of the semester. Some weeks start on a Tuesday if Monday is a holiday etc.

For my own sanity, I try not to log in on weekends or ever on holidays. You might want to set a schedule for yourself as well.

To help you pace yourself, I release only one week’s information at a time. The previous weeks stay there. There is a due date clearly stated for each assignment. Some span more than 1 week. No assignments are accepted after two weeks past the due date!

On Fridays, I usually release the following week’s lecture and assignments so you can get started on it during the weekend if you like. I also release lectures during the holidays so if you choose to work during that time, you can.

There are no on campus meetings. There are labs at the college for those who wish to use them. MABS 406, MABS 101 and MABS 67 labs are in Cloud Hall (C111) or The Downtown Campus 5th Floor lab and at also at the other campuses such as John Adams and Mission. CNIT students can use labs at the outlying campuses and the labs in Batmale and Science (lower level) at the main campus.

Whew…well I think I got it all in.

Oh, one last thing, in case of a server shutdown of Insight, visit my website for information - fog.ccsf.edu/~tcorbie. I will post any information I have there.

See you online. Let's have some fun. Let's get the party started in here..

Terry