Every week day, usually around midnight, I will post details on this site about the work for the day. You can follow Twitter updates or sign up for email notifications for each new post (more on that below).

Once you get notification that new content is available, come to this site to find instructions on the reading for the day and links to quizzes and/or related discussion questions. You will also find an outline of specific things you need to write or do for the course and a reminder of upcoming due dates.

Since this site is a WordPress blog, the posts on the homepage appear in reverse chronological order. The newest post is at the top of the page, with the older posts at the bottom. You may need to scroll down to find the post you need.

You can also use the All Posts by Title link in the menu bar at the top of the page to find the post for a specific day.

Keeping Up with the Website

You can find out exactly when I post new content on the site by following the Twitter account @HokieTengrrl. You can also see @HokieTengrrl Tweets in the right sidebar throughout the course website, so even if you don’t use Twitter, you can check the sidebar to see what has been added recently. @HokieTengrrl only tweets updates when new posts are published. It will not spam you with extraneous information.

If you prefer, you can also use the “Subscribe Via Email” option in the sidebar, which will send you an email message whenever I add a new post to the course website. The sign-up process is simple: Add your email, and click subscribe. You’ll have to confirm your subscription. That’s it. The email messages will have information on how to unsubscribe if you decide you want to.

The Online Tools We Will Use

Since this is an online course, we will use a variety of free tools to get our work done for the class. I will provide instructions and help for all of the tools, so there’s nothing to worry about if you haven’t used them before. Here’s an overview of the tools we will use most often:

• Scholar: You will use Scholar to turn in Assignments, complete quizzes, and keep track of your progress in the Gradebook. If I need to make sure you see something, I will use the Announcement tool in Scholar to send you an email message.

• Google Drive: You will compose your major projects using your Virginia Tech Google Drive. We will use the commenting features in Google Drive for peer review and other feedback. You will need to share your work with me and with others in the class.

• Forums: You will post your response to discussion questions, rough drafts, and other work in a phpBB forum I have set up for the class. It’s similar to the Forum tool in Scholar.

• Mibbit: You can use Mibbit if you want to meet with me online, in real time, for a conference. Mibbit is embedded in the course website, and it’s easy to use. If you’ve sent IMs, you can use this tool.

• WebEx: We may use WebEx for some group conferences if needed. I will provide more details if I decide to use the tool.

Quizzes

Quizzes in this course are designed to help you identify the key points in the readings.

• All quizzes in this course are open book.
• They need to be completed in one sitting.
• There are no do-overs or make-ups.
• You will receive immediate grades when you submit them.
• All quizzes for the week are due by 11:55 PM on Friday.

The grace period allows you to submit late quizzes for 24 hours. Scholar will close the quizzes for the week at 11:55:01 PM on Saturday, and you will no longer be able to submit your quizzes for that week.