Program Particulars
The instructors will usually make contact with students
to welcome them to the course and give them special information
and specific instructions related to the course. Each of
the instructors will facilitate the learning process for
the students throughout the course. They will post forum
questions to be discussed during the course, grade all learning
assessments and provide specific feedback to enrich student
learning and will have as much communication with students
as is needed to satisfactorily complete the course.
Communication and contact with students is usually
accomplished through the internal messaging system in the
course, although external e-mail is available and is often
used, and sometimes the telephone is the best communication
tool and is used if needed and telephone numbers are available.
Courses last for 12 weeks (from
the first day of login until the final paper is due) and
are taught in a collaborative teaching/learning style. This
means that even though instructors facilitate the course
and assist all course members, students are primarily responsible
for completing their own assignments and for initiating
communication for any areas in which they need assistance
from their instructor.
For success as an online student,
you must be highly self-motivated and able to dedicate several
hours a week to do your online coursework. It should be
understood that online study will generally take a minimum
of eight to twelve hours a week per course.
The software we use for online
coursework is web-based and the course is conducted
in an asynchronous manner, which means that you will
not need to be online at any particular time. This means
that you do not need to log in to the courseware system
any specific number of times or at the same times as the
instructor or other students. All course assignments, however,
must be submitted on time in accordance with the assignment
schedules posted in the course syllabus with extensions
granted only with faculty approval.
Students are also responsible
for communicating with their professors and submitting
assignments in the manner specified by their professors.
You can and should do much of your work for the course offline.
Most of the reading will be from standard textbooks, although
a few articles are posted on the course website. You should
also type up most of the responses to the learning assessments
on a word processor and then copy and paste them into the
courseware.
On the course website (online)
you will get any articles and course materials to read and
review, submit your learning assessments from the course
assignments, and post replies and contribute to the threaded
discussions in the forum. Most of your communication will
be through the internal messaging system in the courseware
although external e-mail can also be utilized. This format
for online learning allows you to get online and complete
your coursework at times that are convenient for you.
There are no exams in the online
program but every course has a Final Paper or Final
Project to be completed. The topics for the Final Paper
are available at the very beginning of the course and they
are posted in the Introduction Section of the Course Information.
The instructions for completing the Paper are posted there
as well. You will complete the Final Paper on a word processor
and send it to your Instructor as an attachment to an email
message.
We are committed to helping every
student complete the course, enjoy the online learning
experience and achieve their best potential; but students
must take personal ownership and initiate communication
for getting the help they need immediately, rather than
waiting weeks after the fact.
You must possess
good computer skills and have access to a PC that meets
certain minimum hardware and software requirements in order
to take online courses. In general you must be comfortable
working with the Internet, e-mail and word processing (e.g.,
MS Word) and have access to a personal computer (Pentium
266 or higher) or an Apple Mac (G3 processor or higher).
You must also have access to the Internet for completing
the online portion of the coursework as described above.
The Academic Office
will distribute listings of available courses at the
beginning of each semester, with periodic updates announcing
the availability, schedule and registration times for online
courses along with the onsite course offerings. In order
to not prolong the completion of your degree, it is highly
suggested that online courses fulfill requirements for the
degree being sought.
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