Course
Information

Course
Resources

Course Requirements

You will find a detailed schedule of due dates for all the class activities on the Course Calendar.
You can also use the Course Checklist to keep track of due dates.
After reading all of the requirements, proceed to the CourseQuest.

Use the following links to locate information on this page:

Getting Started
Introduce Yourself
Personal Web Space
Assignment

Getting Started

This class is intended to be a practical approach to the skills needed by today's information technologies, media specialists, librarians, and educators. Whether you're interested in the role of the school media specialist, public librarian, or another type of information technologist, this course is designed to be flexible enough to address the varied needs of students.

Keep in mind that this class contains students with a wide variety of educational, work, life, and technology experience. Try not to compare yourself to other students. Instead, focus on your own strengths and weaknesses. Be sure to email your instructor if you have questions or concerns about the specific projects and how they can better fit your professional needs.

Course Updates

Your instructor will be sending out periodic class updates to review important course information and assignments. Please read these carefully. If you have questions, please reply to these updates for clarifications or questions. If you think you've missed one of these communications, check the Course Email Archives.

Oncourse Overview

Since this is an online course, much of the sharing and discussion will happen using the OncourseCL online learning environment. However since you'll be experiencing many different technologies in this course, be sure to read the activity guidelines carefully to determine where projects should be shared.

Use the following documents if you have questions about Oncourse CL:

Oncourse contains a menubar on the left side of the screen for easy navigation. Use the following instructions to help you use the resources for this course:

The SYLLABUS links to all of the course materials.
The ROSTER shows the class list. You may wish to include a personal profile and photo so we can learn a little more about you.
The GRADEBOOK is a place where you can track your progress. If you lose a point, I'll provide a comment indicating the problem.
The FORUM is the area for posting general information and class introductions. We'll also use this area for our Flashlight assignment postings and discussions. This is where you'll share your course project.
The MESSAGES area contains a place to send and receive mail messages. You might want to check the settings. You can have these messages sent to your personal email if you wish.
The CHAT area can be used by anyone who would like to share in "real time" with anyone in the class. There are no required course chats.

Below you'll find your first assignment. This will get you starting making Oncourse postings. Required course assignments can be found in yellow boxes. Directions for the specific items you should post are listed in green.

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Introduce Yourself

The biggest drawback to an online class is the lack of face-to-face communication with your instructor and your peers. I'll be sending out weekly course updates that will hopefully help you feel connected to me. I'll be reading your assignments which will help me feel connected to you. We can email personally whenever you have something you'd like to share or discuss. I LIVE on email... in the motorhome our living room, dining room, bathroom, and bedroom are all within 38 feet, so I'm always available. When I'm "on-the-road" I'll usually provide information in the weekly update. In this case, it should still take less than 24 hours for a reply.

Let's get to know each other. These introductions will help you get to know all of your classmates.

Your first assignment involves posting some information about yourself and getting to know your classmates. Some people like to share photographs, personal websites, favorite movies or books, family information, or other tidbits that will help the class get to know you. This is important because you'll be involved in lots of online discussions. This is all done in Oncourse so "outsiders" won't be able to see the information.

Enter the Oncourse materials, choose the class page. Click MESSAGE CENTER from the list of options on the left. You'll see a General Discussion area. Click the Introduce Yourself discussion. Read the directions. Click COMPOSE to write a message. Be sure to include your name in the Subject Line and write your message in the space provided. Using the tools above the message area, you may wish to insert a photo or a link to a favorite website. If you need help, check the "Help" discussion for the directions. Then, post your message.

Introduce yourself to the class. Put your name in the subject of the message. Include your name, a little personal and professional information about yourself, as well as the reason you chose this course and how you feel about online courses in general. This will be a good chance to share a little about your interests and expertise with libraries, information inquiry, and technology. Tell us whether whether you've created web pages before and if you've ever used Flash. Provide an example. Also, tell us what makes you laugh and how you like to spend your spare time (like you have spare time). If you know how to use HTML, you may wish to insert a photo or favorite website. If you need help, check the "Help" discussion for the directions.

When you're done entering the information, post your message.

During the first week of class, read the messages posted by classmates. If you want to share something you have in common or ask a question, enter information below the message in the area that says REPLY TO MESSAGE. You should post at least one response or observation. This area is also a place to go if you have questions. Find someone you think shares your interests, email them and introduce yourself personally. This contact may be helpful later in the semester as you have questions about the course.

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Personal Web Space

You will be sharing many assignments during the semester. Rather than relying on university space, it's a good idea to start thinking about long-term storage of assignments that you might eventually wish to place in your professional portfolio.

You may wish to share your projects and get feedback from classmates before submitting to your instructor. Classmates can help identify typos and missing elements that can impact your grade. By reading the assignments of others you can often find ideas that might enhance your own project. Remember this is not a competition, all assignments are graded with the same checklist.

Use the following resources to explore sources of web space.

1. Oncourse CL. Provides space to store assignments.

One option is to simply attach the file to a message posting. This is fine, but the file wouldn't be available outside Oncourse if others wish to see it. For example, you might want to share it with a prospective employer or friend.

The second option is to upload the file to your Oncourse Workspace and make it public on the web. Use the following readings to learn more about this space:

Here are directions to help you upload to this space and ensure that projects can be viewed by others on the web.

Enter OnCourse. Go to the MY WORKSPACE option in the red banner across the top of the new OncourseCL.

To Upload files:
Click Upload-Download Multiple Resources and follow the directions for Mac or Windows.
You can upload any kind of document including web pages, Word documents, PowerPoint documents, graphics, video, audio, etc.

Once you've uploaded files return to MY WORKSPACE, you should see the new items on the list.
Click the REVISE link next to the file you uploaded.
You'll see choices.
Under ACCESS, choose DISPLAY TO NON-MEMBERS (PUBLICLY VIEWABLE).
Near the bottom of the page you'll see the web address such as
https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/anlamb/newlamb.jpg

Your address will be your user name instead of ANLAMB
If you uploaded folders, your address will include the name of that folder after your username such as
https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/anlamb/project/index.htm

Remember NOT to use spaces in folder or file names.

You can use this URL to tell others about this document, file, movie, sound, graphic, or whatever kind of file you uploaded. You can also use this as a link on a webpage or blog.

2. IUPUI Space. Go to Publishing Pages on Mypage to learn about setting up your own university web space. If you place your project here, it will have a URL such as http://mypage.iu.edu/~anlamb/filename

3. Personal Space. Use your own personal or work web space. Most local service providers provide space for personal pages.

4. Free Web Space. Use free services such as Google Pages for your own personal site. If you need additional ideas of locations for free space, contact your instructor.

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Assignments

This course contains a series of activities leading to a final project. A total of 50 points are possible.

A CourseQuest will guide you through the materials. You should systematically work your way through the CourseQuest. It begins with an introduction and course task, process, project, evaluation, and conclusion.

Readings

Throughout the CourseQuest, you'll be directed to read web pages and complete Flash Modules. You will be downloading the Flash Modules which are PDF files. They are large files and may take a while to download. These activities are required for your success in the course. Your activities and projects will reflect your understanding of these readings.

Flashlight Activities

Flashlight assignments will focus on building specific skills essential in developing effective projects. You are required to complete, share, and discuss each of these assignments.

Flashlight 1: Evaluation (5 Points)
Flashlight 2: Animation (5 Points)
Flashlight 3: Interaction (5 Points)
Flashlight 4: Multimedia (5 Points)
Flashlight 5: Applications (5 Points)

You'll also find blue boxes which contain Flashlight Activities within the CourseQuest. These activities are intended to help you analyze and apply the course content. The activities are required, posted in the Oncourse forums, and graded. You will receive UP TO 5 points for each of the Flashlight. FOUR points will be awarded for the posting. The postings will be evaluated based on the criteria provided with each assignment. ONE point will be given for a QUALITY reply.

Below you'll find examples of the kinds of "responses" that will be counted. Feel free to "get into" the discussion with as many comments to your peers as you'd like. However to receive your 1 response point, be sure that your response is insightful and will help others in their learning.

Provide technical support or suggestions. You might provide a tip or suggestion related to Flash that might help a student expand their project or solve a technical problem.
Act on a suggestion. For example, after reading a comment from a peer, you might decide to add an example, suggest a website address or other resource, or answer a question.
Provide feedback to others such as a specific comment or idea along with an example, expansion, or suggestion. In other words, "way to go Susie" is a good start, but won't get you a point. You could even start with "that's crap Susie", however the key is providing positive, constructive criticism or helpful and encouraging advice. Healthy debate is fine, but let's discourage mean-spirited comments.
State an opinion and provide supportive evidence or arguments. This can be fun because it can really get a discussion going. For example, you might point out why you think a particular project is effective or ineffective. Be sure to be specific.
Add an insight. If you've had an encounter with the topic being discussed, it would be valuable to hear your thoughts and "real world" experiences. This should be more than "I'll use the idea in class." How and why will you use the idea? Would the idea work in another area? How or why?

Assignment Formatting

It is recommended that you create the written part of your assignment in a word processor, then paste it into an Oncourse posting. Oncourse has been known to crash, so it's a good idea to have a back up of your text.

In many cases, it's useful to have a "screen shot" to demonstrate an idea. Here are the directions for making a graphic that can be pasted into Word or attached to an assignment.

Macintosh Screen Capture. If you have Mac OSX, it's easy to use the built-in key commands for grabbing a screen.

Press Command (Apple)-Shift-4. The cursor turns into a cross.
Select the area of the screen you wish to capture. The screen is captured and saved as a PDF file called Picture 1 on your hard drive.
If you hold down the Control key in addition to the Command (Apple)-Shift-4 and select an area of the screen, the image is stored on the clipboard.

If you have Mac OSX, you can also use the Grab Utility. This allows you to capture windows that are open.

Open Grab (located in Applications/Utility).
Choose Capture > Timed Screen.
When the Timed Screen Grab dialog opens, click Start Timer.
Click the menu you want to capture and keep the mouse button pressed until the Timer Screen Grab dialog closes and the picture appears.
Use the Grab preferences for option options such as showing the pointer.

Windows Screen Capture. The PRINT SCREEN key allows you to capture the Desktop or individual windows. You'll have to look for this key on your keyboard, it's placement varies with the type of keyboard.

To capture the entire screen:

Press the PRINT SCREEN key. The image will be placed on the clipboard.
Open an application such as Microsoft Word, pull down the Edit menu and choose Paste. Or, press Ctrl-V to paste.

To capture the current window on your screen:

Press the ALT + PRINT SCREEN key. The current window will be placed on the clipboard.

Course Project

Your Course Project is worth half your grade, 25 points. It will require you to apply what you've learned in the other assignments.

Peer Review

You are required to provide constructive feedback related to the final project for at least three of your classmates. You may do this during the development process or after the final project has been posted. Although most people will posting comments on the Final Project discussion thread, you may wish to send personal mails. (Required, no points)

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