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ORIENTATION TO CALL ONLINE |
Location of the Course/Logging In
LOG-ON information
Access to Saint Michael's College email and resources
Course Overview
Course Schedule
Prerequisite Skills, Books, Hardware, Software, Lesson
Plans
How/where can you get
help if you have a problem or question? (Course content question and tech
support)
Course Organization
How will you interact with the other course
participants and me?
How will the course progress?
Terms of Agreement
Ready to get started?
Welcome to GSL520/GED565: Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)! Please read carefully and print this out for easier reading/later reference!
Location of the course/ Logging on--VERY IMPORTANT!
The course is delivered
through a web course management system called
Pearson
eCollege and resides at the
Saint Michael's College Online Portal at the web
address: http://my.smcvt.edu. (Please bookmark it
by putting it into your Favorites, or better, putting the link onto your
Favorite Links bar!!!). One of the main reasons Saint Michael's College
contracted with this company is that it provides a 24-hour HelpDesk (7
days-a-week)--more information below.
Important notes:
1st time access to the eCollege site: From the email I sent to you, enter your Saint Michael's College username as the eCollege user ID and your Saint Michael's College student ID number as the password.
Setting your preferred email account: Click on MY PROFILE in the eCollege course site and change your email address and your password to your preferences, but please be sure that the email address is the same one you gave me! After that you can log into the course with your new information. If prompted to "remember my password", please click the box for easy/fast log on the next time.
SAVE your new password: Send an e-mail message to yourself right now with your log-in information and password! Then SAVE the e-mail message in a place where you will surely find it again (recommended: Create a personal folder called "Subscriptions" and store it there, along with other subscriptions you will make for this course.).
B. Access to Saint Michael's College email and resources
- Resources: Since you are officially a Saint Michael's College (SMC) student, you have access to all of the College's activities and resources. You can find important information on the SMC Web site at http://www.smcvt.edu.
- SMC email: Saint Michael's provides email access for all students via the mySMC portal or via the web at http://smcvt.edu/mail. The email address for students is username@mail.smcvt.edu. Each email account may be set up to work with a mobile device as well as through an Internet browser. Before setting up your mobile device with email access, you'll need to register it on the campus network. Directions for doing may be found at the Registration page. Students and employees who receive Mikenet accounts will also have access to the mySMC portal. After logging into the mySMC portal with their Mikenet credentials, users will have single sign-on access to the eCollege and KnightVision systems as well as many other Saint Michael's resources.
- Passwords at initial log-on: Your password is the first initial of your first name, capitalized, followed by the first initial of your last name followed by your SMC ID # (a 7 digit number) and ending with an "!". (ex. for jsmith - Js1234567!). Saint Michael's College requires passwords changes several times a year.
For first time log-on, type in
Domain/username: mikenet/yourmikenetusername
Password: Capital letter of your first name lower case letter of your username your SMC ID number !
(No spaces and do not forget the exclamation mark at the end!)
Users may reset their Mikenet passwords through the React system. Please contact the ithelp@smcvt.edu or call 802.654.2020 for assistance if needed.- Library Resources: To access the library resources, see Off-campus access to Library Resources. Use your Mikenet username and password to authenticate (log in). Now you can look up all your library needs from your smartphone. Use the link to the Mobile Site or scan the code to connect to Durick when you’re on the move.
GSL520/GED565: Computer-Assisted Language Learning is a course that takes a hands-on approach to technology. You will learn about the uses of computer technology by actually trying it out. I think the best way to find out about the capabilities and limitations of technology is by experiencing them first-hand. Thus, the goal of this course is NOT to learn technology for technology sake but to learn how technology can assist you as a teacher in delivering your classes more successfully. That is why you will find a rather heavy emphasis on lesson planning and actual teaching, in addition to getting a lot of how-to's (instructions, tips, workshops) for using the technology.
Important note: At the end of this page, I will ask you to send me an e-mail message, stating that you have read and understood the information and accept the terms and conditions specified.
The course follows the Saint Michael's College schedule for Graduate Programs. Since it is a Saint Michael's College course offered by the Master of Teaching English as a Second Language Program, all participants are bound by the policies and procedures for such courses, including schedule, length of time, grading, deadlines, etc.
Once we get started, the course is 15 weeks in length, starting the week of January 13 and ending on May 5, when your course project is due. I will email information before January 13 and expect the course, including assignments, to begin on that day. Each week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday at midnight. Weeks open up on Saturday the week before. This means that instead of meeting at a regular time and place, you will have one week to complete all the "class" work, fulfill the required assignments, and submit any projects that are due. Due dates/times for projects are Sundays/midnight, unless otherwise noted. Please note: There will be TWO holidays in between, with no scheduled online meetings and no assignments due during that time--Friday, February 21 and April 18-21 (Easter recess).
The beauty of an online course is also that you get to do your work at your own pace and when it works into your schedule. Of course, the downside to that is that you will be working individually, for the most part, and therefore you will probably miss the verbal and face-to-face interaction that you are used to. Nevertheless, I have built in many ways for us to communicate and stay in touch (more below)!
The course work corresponds to the 37.5-hour requirement for 3-credit graduate courses at SMC in that I have scheduled 15 weeks worth of "Tasks" and "Assignments." According to the Academic Policies in the Graduate Catalog, 2013-2014, General Academic Requirements, "students spend approximately two to three hours in preparation for each hour of class time." The "Tasks" I have estimated to require about 3 hours of intensive on-task work plus roughly two to three times that amount for "Assignments," including readings, hands-on preparation and regular weekly assignments (3+6 or 9 = 9 or 12 hours total per week). Please note: Students with low computer skills will require more time-on-task than the average estimate above. Many tasks are optional or extra credit, and although many students choose to complete them because they are interesting, these should not be counted into the number of hours spent on task. Please note: When you upload your assignments, they receive a date stamp, so it is easy to see if an assignment is late or not. In case of an emergency or extenuating circumstances for not being able to complete the weekly tasks, please send me an e-mail message.
Prerequisite computer skills, books, hardware, software
Prerequisite computer skills:
Operating system: You should know the operating system of your computer (Safari, Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7). Understanding the resources on your computer, how to access them, and where/how to save information is critical to the CALL course, especially since I won't be able to show them to you! If you don't feel comfortable with your computer's resources or functions yet, I would advise you to get some outside help or work through the handouts to build your familiarity with and competence in Windows: Windows 7: Tours (Microsoft)--including Getting Started, Personalizing your PC, Changing Windows Settings, and more; Windows 8: Personalize your PC; Mac OS X: Personalizing your MAC (several tours on this page).
Drive/File management: You should be able to navigate through the different drives (hard drive, flash drive/USB port, CD-ROM drive), folders, and files on your computer. You should be able to manage your files by moving, copying, and pasting them from one location (folder or drive) to another without any problems
Software: You should also be familiar with e-mail, MS-Word for word processing, and MS-Explorer (or other browser) or Safari (MAC) for using the Internet. See the Safari Support Page if necessary.
Internet: Facility with searching, browsing, copying/pasting hyperlinks into email or Word is expected.
Facility with eCollege: threaded discussions, file uploading/downloading.
Basic knowledge of cloud-based computing (Google Drive): You must have a Gmail account. If you do not, please click to Set up a Google account. We will be using Google Drive extensively for sharing documents. For help with Google Drive, please see these Tutorials for Google Drive:
Books: We will not be using a book. However, you will be asked to download one or more free electronic books for reading assignments. In addition, if you would like to purchase one or more of the recommended books, please check the
Syllabus and buy/order them.
Hardware: You will need
Software: For your computer, you will need the following software
Alternatives: You may also download open source software from OpenOffice at http://www.openoffice.org/ (for wordprocessing, download “Writer”; for presentations, download “Impress”), but there may be missing features/functions and incompatibility issues when we use the Insert Comments and Track Changes features. Instead of PowerPoint, you may use Prezi (http://prezi.com), Zoho Show-Presentation, or one of these 40 apps for creating presentations.
How/where can you get help if you have a problem or a question?
Course content question/problem: If you have a question/problem regarding the course itself, contact me by e-mail at cbauer-ramazani at smcvt.edu, by phone (during the day, U.S. Eastern time) at 1-802-654-2642 or (before 8:30 am and after 7 pm), at home (posted in the course and will be emailed to you), by fax at 1-802-654-2595. Please see also the link on the course home page for "Contacting the instructor." Important note: Don't hesitate to call me at home, but please do not give this number out. My home phone number is for your use only, but I'd rather have you call me at home than go through frustrations. Often the frustrations can be solved very easily and quickly.
Tech support: If you have a computer/technology question/problem, please contact the 24-hour eCollege Help Desk. The toll-free telephone number for Saint Michael's students and professors is 877-740-2213 or ext. 2022 from any on-campus telephone. For administrative questions or training or any other assistance on campus, contact Cynthia Kelley, the Saint Michael's College Administrator at 654-2756, ckelley2@smcvt.edu.
Forgotten your password?
There is an automatic password form that may be filled out at the bottom of the eCollege gateway page www.smcvtonline.org for users who have forgotten their passwords.
How is the course site organized?
The Course Home page will always be your starting point. You will see new Announcements (click to read them) at the top and the very important WHAT'S NEW at the bottom. These are the first two items you need to check for new information. By clicking on the Course Home button, several other buttons will open up, such as Syllabus, Getting Started/Orientation, Moderator Assignments, Tegrity, and Semester Schedule -- all very important components of the course.
The links on the left side of the screen are your main navigation buttons--they will take you to the different weeks and weekly components of the course. Each Week button, when clicked, will give you links to the Tasks & Assignments, Reading Discussion, Sharing what you learned, The Professor's Office, and Virtual Cafe for Students of the week. These links contain the class dates, topics, readings, assignments, projects, due dates, as well as topics for class discussion. The Professor's Office is the place where you can post questions for me. It will be the first place I check when I log in and will post answers as soon as I have them. The Virtual Cafe for Students is mainly for "taking a virtual (coffee) break" and discussing items of your choice with your classmates. No course-related assignments should be posted there!
Across the top of your screen, you will see additional tools. We will use DocSharing extensively, so you should make yourself familiar with them by clicking on it and reviewing the materials available there. In addition, I will post individual grades in the Gradebook for your review. Grades can only be viewed for each individual user. If you wish to email all class participants, including me, use the Email button. The Live button gives you access to the ClassLive, the built-in chat/Web conferencing system for Blackboard Collaborate with video and 2-way audio. We will be using it for our chats. The Journal button allows you take individual notes. Links can be deposited and shared in the Webliography. Clicking the Tech Support button will open up links to eCollege email or chat. The Help button shows information about the functions of particular elements in the site.
How will you interact with other course participants and me?
We will use three modes of interaction with each other:
1. the course web site (for announcements, postings,
file uploads/downloads, and links);
2. e-mail, text + voice/video chat
(Skype, Web individual video, multiple audio), and
3. 2-way audio + text chat
(Blackboard Collaborate/Elluminate Live
built into eCollege).
There may be issues with firewalls for these venues, so be sure to try them
out early! With technology, it's
never
a good idea to wait till the last minute, as there are likely to be unpleasant
surprises. For 2-way audio chats you will need an external
microphone with headset. A built-in microphone will NOT work as it
creates a bad echo.
Important notes: I will be on campus most of the time. This means that if you have a question or need help with an application, please stop by my office! I will be away from campus March 26-30, presenting at TESOL in Portland, OR. Since the course is online, it is available ANYWHERE/ANYTIME but interaction and project completion must continue according to the specifications and deadlines posted.
1. Interaction on the course web site: We will start the course by introducing ourselves--not face-to-face, but via responses sent through our discussion forums called Reading Discussion Forum and Sharing what you learned. Each week has several interaction assignments that relate to the readings, links, and special topics. Your success in this course and the success of the course itself depends on your interaction with me and the other course participants. Thus, it is absolutely necessary that you log into the course DAILY to check on updates. I will interact as well, summarizing the trends that I see, and respond accordingly.
2. E-mail: You can send e-mail to the entire class (including me) or to selected members through the Email button across the top toolbar. This is especially important for announcements, questions, problems, etc., so it is absolutely necessary that you check your e-mail DAILY.
An important note on e-mail etiquette: If you have a question about the course, an assignment, etc., please be sure to send me an e-mail message and put in the subject line "URGENT QUESTION" or "CLARIFICATION NEEDED" and the assignment it pertains to, in order to attract my immediate attention. DO NOT send e-mail messages with assignments. And don't forget--always write the topic of your message in the subject line.
3. Chat (2-way audio and text-based) with the other course participants and me: In an online course it is important to keep human connections. Voice and video allow us to do this. I usually hold several 60-minute class meetings with all course participants in real time (= synchronous communication) where we will all meet for a class chat. These class chat meetings are required and will be held at times that all of us can be present. These dates will also be found in the Semester Schedule under the Course Home and in Announcements in the week that they occur! You will need to set up, use, and test out your external microphone/headset for the chats.
4. Office Hour Chat with me: I am available for audio/video/text chats in Skype with you. My Skype ID is cbauerramazani. Please send me a brief email message requesting such an Office Hour chat. Of course, you can reach me by email (cbauer-ramazani at smcvt dot edu) and telephone (802-654-2642).
How will the course progress?
Once the course has begun, you should always check the Announcements link on the Course Home page each time you log on. This is where I will post important updates or changes to the schedule. After that, you should click on the week that you are currently in. There you will find the topic of the week, followed by a brief statement about the goal(s) of the week, and the moderator assignments for the week. Next, under the week, click on Tasks and work through them; then go to the Assignments to find out what you need to complete for the week. Next, you should discuss the readings in the Reading Discussion Forum and the links you have visited in the Sharing what you learned Discussion Forum.
Important note: The assignments always consist of three parts:
1. Readings and Interaction to be completed this week,
2. Sharing what you learned: links and interaction to be completed this week, and
3. Projects to be completed this week.
- The Reading Discussion forum is dedicated to the discussion of assigned articles, theory, and teaching experience. Your responses remain on the course site. They are not sent out as e-mail messages.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: The Sharing what you learned Discussion Forum may contain several topics or threads that you will be asked to respond to. Click the drop-down arrow to find the next discussion area.
Students should be prepared to spend time to complete the readings, the task-based work/, interaction, and the projects. Much of this time you will spend following links to Internet resources and writing about them, writing reactions to readings, as well as interacting with classmates regarding their postings and projects. In many of the assignments, you will be offered a variety of options from which you can choose, depending on your professional interests, your level of skill, and your desire to try new things. Your course participation will consist of keeping me and your classmates informed as to what you are doing, what you are learning, what new things you found, etc. In each course students have surprised me with new links or new ways of doing things. We will mentor each other along the way!
How will I check your attendance, and what policies and Procedures will I use in the course? In order to complete the course successfully and to enjoy the contributions of the course participants, it is absolutely necessary that you stay in step with the course schedule and complete the assignments during the weeks that they are assigned. This includes readings, hands-on assignments, posting reactions, and uploading projects. Participating regularly in the interaction is particularly important. I will discuss the details next in the Syllabus. Important note: The points/grade for each delinquent assignment will be reduced by 10% for each week late.
Other information--very important hints:
1. Always use the same, strong password (with letters, numbers, and characters). This avoids confusion and reduces the possibility forgetting many different ones.
2. Save your password for the eCollege course and the various subscriptions by sending yourself an e-mail message that you can then store.
3. Save all messages you receive from subscription services . It is recommended that for this purpose you set up folders in your email system. Add a folder for the CALL course. I would suggest adding another folder called "Subscriptions" and dragging e-mail messages containing subscription information to this folder. There will be information you want to save, so create more folders for different categories as you go. Success in online learning has a lot to do with the ability to keep information organized!
Orientation to
the CALL Online Course: recording -- Please click the Play button
to watch the video explaining the elements and requirements of the course.
Please indicate that you have read and understood the information on this page and accept the terms and conditions specified. Copy and paste the information into an email and send it to me.
Next, click Course Home in the left toolbar and return to the home page for GSL520: CALL Online. Watch the recording of Goals of CALL Online and the other videos about CALL, read about me in information about the instructor on the Course Home Page, and find out how to contact me in Contacting the Instructor. Then start the course by reading the Syllabus.
© Christine Bauer-Ramazani
Date of last update: January 11, 2014