2. Welcome I would like to personally welcome you to Keyboarding I. I commend you on selecting this course. You will learn a skill that will help you everyday to be more efficient and one that is a valuable tool in any career path you enter. I hope you enjoy this class and learn a lot at the same time. A LITTLE ABOUT ME: I am also balancing work and a family like many of you. I have two kids 11 & 8 who keep me busy. I have a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and owned a business for fifteen years. I enjoy bringing the real business world into the classroom to teach students what they will need to succeed in today’ job market. I have been teaching for two years and I love teaching at RCC.
3. Instructor Availability My weekly office hour is Tues 9:00-10:00 pm. During this time I will respond immediately to your email. I can also schedule a phone call if necessary anytime during this course. I do respond quickly to questions during the week. I check my e-mail two times a day Mon.-Fri. and once a day on the weekends. Please contact me with any questions or concerns at kadams@rappahannock.edu.
4. Materials Needed & College Recourses Text Book: Keyboarding & Formatting Essentials – ISBN: 978-0-538-72976-5 Keyboarding Pro Deluxe Software – ISBN: 0-538-73006-4 Flash drive Word 2007 For more directions go to http://www.rappahannock.edu/distancelearning/Loginnew.shtml or view the myRCC single sign on help video at http://www.screencast.com/t/mzEoQAQy . If you need help, please contact the RCC Helpdesk at rcchelp@rappahannock.edu. Kristi Walker & Leslie Smith at also available for technical questions. Kristi- 804-333-6786 Leslie 804-758-6759 If disability assistance is needed please contact: http://www.rappahannock.edu/studentservices/counseling-services/students-with-disabilities/
5. Getting Started . Please print the syllabus and put the assignment schedule out for easy view, please be sure to check the official course start date and assignment deadlines. Keep up with assignments weekly. Please don’t get overwhelmed by trying to understand every assignment now. I will go over these weekly in an announcement on Blackboard which will be posted every Monday. Check this course Blackboard at least 2 times a week. Login to your student email account and make sure you know how to use it. When emailing the instructor please use your student e-mail address, no question is too small. After you finish this video please begin with the GETTING STARTED option on your course menu that will explain how to navigate our Blackboard course.
6. How to: Navigate Our Course Announcements: This is where my weekly announcement will appear. This will also automatically go to your student e-mail. Instructor Info: My Contact Information and office hours. Syllabus & Video: This is where the syllabus and video is located. Click on the syllabus and print. Discussion Board: This is where the discussion board assignments will be posted and class discussions will occur. Please use the Class Chat forum to chat about the class and campus events. Assignments: This is where you will find instructions and rubrics for weekly assignments. Quizzes & Surveys: This is where you will find quizzes, tests, and student surveys. The tests will show here, but you have to be in a testing center to take the tests. My Grades: This is where you can view your grades after assignments are turned in. The remaining buttons are for technical help. Please use if needed. I have attached the main menu and announcement screen of our course on the next slid. This is where the above options are located.
8. Getting Started with Assignments First thing to do in this course is follow the Getting Started instructions located on the main menu. Your assignment calendar is located in the syllabus for you to print off. Your weekly assignments will be listed again under the Assignment option on the main menu. This is where you will find detailed instructions for the week. You will have Discussion Questions in this course. This gives us a chance to talk about what we are learning. It is VERY IMPORTANT these are submitted on time. I will only except these 2 days late and you will loose 10 points for submitting any assignment after the due date. It is important to post discussion questions on time so the class has a chance to comment. When there is a discussion question due, your response to my question is due the Wednesday of that week and you will need to respond to 2 of your classmates posts by Saturday of that week. Please take this course a week at a time and remember to look at my announcements every Monday and follow the instructions under the Assignments tab on the main menu.
9. Grading/Evaluation The grading scale from the syllabus is listed below. 900-1000 A 800-899 B 700-799 C 600-699 D Below 600 F See syllabus for points assigned to each assignment and test
10. Technical Requirements Minimum System Requirements- Blackboard You can access Blackboard using most Web browsers but it performs best with Internet Explorer version 6 or higher or Mozilla Firefox. Note: Cookies and JAVA Script must be enabled within the Web browser. You may need to install software plug-ins depending on the course content. Listed below are a few examples: Acrobat Reader - Allows you to view Adobe Acrobat files. Apple Quick Time - Allows you to play online audio and video content. Shockwave or Flash – Allow you to view certain multimedia files.
11. Technical Requirements Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint Viewer - Allow you to view Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint files if you do not own the programs. Do NOT install if you already have these programs on your computer. Can be downloaded at http://www.rappahannock.edu/distancelearning/Software.shtml The following hardware and software are minimum system requirements to work with the Blackboard application: Platform: Windows 98, 2000, XP, NT, or ME; MacOS 9 or MacOS XHardware: 64 MB of RAM, 1 G of free disk space Modem: 56 K Anti-Virus Software: Make sure that you have a reliable anti-virus program and that its virus definitions are kept up-to-date.
12. Email and Blackboard Tips and Tricks If using AOL or other broadband internet providers, please open another browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. Make sure when sending attachments that the filename contains no spaces or special characters such as hyphens or % symbols. If you are typing a long email or discussion posting in Blackboard, you might want to type it in word and then cut and paste the information into your email message. Make sure to log out of Blackboard and Email when using a public computer.
13. Have a great semester!!! Take each week at a time. Allow enough time weekly to finish assignments and you will do great in this course. I look forward to working with you.
