INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES AND SYSTEM CHECKS:

IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT AN ONLINE CLASS USING THE INTERNET AS THE MAIN COMMUNICATION TOOL, WE HAVE TO BE CERTAIN THAT OUR TECHNOLOGY ACTUALLY WORKS. WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT AND HOW THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS WORK FOR OUR "VIRTUAL CLASSROOM". ALSO, WE HAVE TO ENSURE THAT EACH OF US HAS APPROPRIATE TEXTBOOK RESOURCES AND THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE COURSE EXPECTATIONS, CLASSROOM RULES AND THE COURSE EVALUATION.

IN THE FIRST WEEK OF CLASS YOU WILL HAVE TO ORIENT YOURSELF TO YOUR ONLINE COURSE AND YOUR ONLINE TECHNOLOGY. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO EACH OF THE ACTIVITIES NUMBERED 1 THROUGH TO 11 AS DESCRIBED BELOW. IF YOU ENCOUNTER PROBLEMS WITH THE TECHNOLOGY YOU WILL HAVE TO SEEK HELP FROM THE PERSON IN YOUR SCHOOL WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IT IS TO DEAL WITH TECHNOLOGICAL PROBLEMS.

IF FOR SOME REASON A CERTAIN COMPONENT OF OUR SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK THEN WE WILL HAVE TO FIND A SUITABLE "WORK AROUND". IN THESE SITUATIONS WE WILL HAVE TO REMEMBER THE USEFULNESS OF OTHER TECHNOLOGY SUCH AS THE TELEPHONE, FAX, COURIER SERVICES AND REGULAR SURFACE MAIL.

COMPLETE THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES BELOW BEFORE BEGINNING THE COURSE WORK.

  1. READ THE COURSE EXPECTATIONS AND CLASSROOM RULES
  2. READ ABOUT THE COURSE EVALUATION
  3. READ THE LIST OF TEXTBOOKS AND ARRANGE WITH YOUR TEACHER TO USE THESE BOOKS
  4. COMPOSE AND SEND AN EMAIL TO YOUR TEACHER
  5. SEND AN EMAIL TO EVERYONE IN OUR CLASS
  6. SAVE A WORD DOCUMENT IN RICH TEXT FORMAT (RTF)
  7. ATTACH AN RTF DOCUMENT TO AN EMAIL AND SEND IT TO THE PEOPLE IN YOUR CLASS
  8. DIGITIZE A PICTURE. ATTACH THE DIGITIZED PICTURE TO AN EMAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR TEACHER.
  9. PUT A POSTING IN THE THREADED DISCUSSION AREA
  10. PLACE SOMETHING IN THE DIGITAL DROP BOX
  11. ORGANIZING YOUR SCIENCE 10 WORK

4. COMPOSE AND SEND AN EMAIL TO YOUR TEACHER

USE YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM TO COMPOSE AN EMAIL TO YOUR TEACHER. YOUR EMAIL SHOULD CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

  • WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
  • WHERE DO YOU LIVE? (TOWN)
  • GIVE YOUR PARENT'S NAME AND PHONE NUMBER
  • WHY ARE YOU TAKING SCIENCE 10 IN THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT?
  • DESCRIBE TO ME WHAT TYPE OF STUDENT YOU ARE
  • TELL ME WHICH TEXTBOOKS THE TEACHER AT YOUR SCHOOL HAS GIVEN YOU TO USE
  • TELL ME ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS AND HOBBIES

PROOF READ YOUR EMAIL TO ME BEFORE YOU SEND IT. ENSURE THAT YOUR EMAIL CONTAINS ALL OF THE REQUESTED INFORMATION.

YOUR ONLINE TEACHER WILL SEND YOU A REPLY ONCE THEY RECEIVE YOUR EMAIL.

5. SEND AN EMAIL TO EVERYONE IN OUR CLASS

THROUGHOUT THIS COURSE YOU WILL OFTEN BE ASKED TO PAIR UP WITH A CLASSMATE TO COMPARE EXPERIMENT RESULTS OR TO DO WORK AS PART OF A GROUP. WE HAVE TO ENSURE THAT EACH OF US IN THE CLASS CAN EMAIL EACH OTHER. AFTER RECEIVING YOUR EMAIL THAT INTRODUCES YOU TO YOUR ONLINE TEACHER, YOUR ONLINE TEACHER WILL RESPOND TO YOU WITH A LIST OF STUDENTS IN OUR ONLINE CLASS. YOUR TASK WILL BE TO SEND A SHORT EMAIL TO EACH STUDENT IN THIS LIST.

THE EMAIL THAT YOU SEND TO ALL THOSE IN OUR CLASS SHOULD CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

  • YOUR NAME
  • A BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF YOURSELF.

6. SAVE A WORD DOCUMENT IN RICH TEXT FORMAT (RTF)

YOUR ONLINE TEACHER MAY OR MAY NOT BE A TECHNOLOGY GENIUS! SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THE MOST EASILY TRADED FILE TYPE IS RICH TEXT FORMAT (.RTF).

MOST WORD PROCESSING PROGRAMS SHOULD WORK IN MUCH A SIMILAR WAY AS MICROSOFT WORD. FROM WITHIN YOUR WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE:

  • TYPE A SHORT SENTENCE GIVING YOUR NAME, THE NAME OF YOUR SCHOOL AND THE TOWN THAT YOUR SCHOOL IS IN
  • SAVE THIS FILE IN RICH TEXT FORMAT (RTF). HINT: TRY LOOKING UNDER THE SAVE AS COMMAND. THIS IS LIKELY WHERE YOU WILL HAVE THE OPTION TO SAVE AS .RTF.

IF YOU CANNOT SAVE AS .RTF, THEN TALK WITH THE COMPUTER PERSON AT YOUR SCHOOL.

7. ATTACH THE .RTF DOCUMENT TO AN EMAIL AND SEND THIS EMAIL TO ALL PEOPLE IN THE CLASS.

WITHIN YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM THERE IS USUALLY AN "ATTACH" COMMAND. FIND THIS COMMAND WITHIN YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM.

ATTACH YOUR READY MADE .RTF DOCUMENT FROM STEP 6 ABOVE TO THIS EMAIL. THE SUBJECT OF THIS EMAIL SHOULD BE "WORD ATTACHMENTS". WITHIN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL, SIMPLY TYPE THE WORD HI AND GIVE A STATEMENT ABOUT THE WEATHER TODAY.

SEND THIS EMAIL TO ALL PEOPLE IN OUR CLASS, INCLUDING YOUR TEACHER.

8. DIGITIZE A PICTURE. ATTACH THE DIGITIZED PICTURE TO AN EMAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR TEACHER.

AS PART OF THIS COURSE YOU WILL HAVE TO EXCHANGE PICTURES AND DIAGRAMS FROM TIME TO TIME. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF WAYS THAT THIS CAN BE DONE. THE EASIEST WAY WILL BE FOR YOU TO TAKE A PICTURE USING A DIGITAL CAMERA. THIS PICTURE WILL BE STORED AS A FILE EITHER ON THE DISC IN THE CAMERA OR ON A CHIP INSIDE THE CAMERA. YOU WILL HAVE TO PLACE THIS PICTURE AS AN ATTACHMENT TO AN EMAIL.

ANOTHER WAY TO GET A PICTURE TO ME WOULD BE FOR YOU TO USE A REGULAR CAMERA TO TAKE THE PICTURE, GET THE FILM DEVELOPED, THEN SCAN THIS PICTURE AND SAVE IT IN YOUR COMPUTER'S MEMORY. AGAIN, THIS PICTURE WILL NEED TO BE PLACED AS AN ATTACHMENT TO AN EMAIL.

DECIDE WHICH EQUIPMENT IS AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO USE: DIGITAL CAMERA OR REGULAR CAMERA AND A SCANNER.

AS PART OF YOUR SCIENCE 10 COURSE WORK YOU WILL NEED TO USE THE LAB WITHIN YOUR SCHOOL FROM TIME TO TIME. ARRANGE WITH THE TEACHER IN YOUR SCHOOL TO HAVE SUPERVISED LAB ACCESS. IN THE LAB, LOCATE THE BALANCE, A SMALL TEST TUBE, AN ERLENMEYER FLASK AND A SMALL BEAKER. PLACE THESE ITEMS IN A NEAT LOOKING GROUP ON A LAB TABLE. SNAP THE PICTURE.

ATTACH THIS PICTURE TO AN EMAIL AND SEND IT TO ME. THE SUBJECT OF YOUR EMAIL SHOULD BE "PICTURE ATTACHMENT". IN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL SIMPLY TYPE HI! AND TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PROCESS OF HOW YOU TOOK THE PICTURE (DIGITAL CAMERA OR REGULAR CAMERA AND SCANNER) AND GOT IT ATTACHED TO THE EMAIL.

9. PUT A POSTING IN THE THREADED DISCUSSION AREA

OUR VIRTUAL CLASSROOM USES A DELIVERY PLATFORM KNOWN AS BLACKBOARD. WITHIN THIS PLATFORM IS AN AREA CALLED A "THREADED DISCUSSION". THIS AREA WILL GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO CARRY ON A DISCUSSION WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR CLASS.

YOUR TASK IS TO POST A FEW ENTRIES TO THIS AREA. OUR TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION IS "OUR CLASSROOM RULES".

BEFORE ENTERING YOUR POINT OF VIEW IN THIS AREA, THINK ABOUT THE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL HELP EACH OF US HAVE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE WITH THIS ONLINE COURSE. ALSO, READ THE CLASS EXPECTATIONS PAGE OF THIS SITE AGAIN.

10. PLACE SOMETHING IN THE DIGITAL DROP BOX

MANY TIMES THROUGHOUT THIS COURSE YOU WILL HAVE TO HAND IN ASSIGNMENTS FOR MARKING. ALL ASSIGNMENTS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN THE DIGITAL DROP OFF BOX WITHIN THE BLACKBOARD PLATFORM. AT OTHER TIMES, ITEMS THAT YOU HAND IN WILL BE PLACED ON A WEB SITE. THIS WILL ALLOW OTHERS IN THE CLASS TO SEE THE WORK OF ALL CLASSMATES. SOMETIMES WE DO THIS TO COMPARE EXPERIMENT RESULTS OR TO SELECT A "BEST MODEL" OF SOMETHING WE HAVE DEVELOPED.

READ THIS INFORMATION ABOUT LAB SAFETY.

LOOK AT THE DIAGRAM ON PAGE XVII OF THE HEATH SCIENCE CONNECTIONS 10 TEXTBOOK. LIST THE SAFETY VIOLATIONS THAT ARE SHOWN IN THE DIAGRAM.

PUT THIS LIST OF SAFETY VIOLATIONS IN THE DIGITAL DROP OFF BOX.

11. ORGANIZING YOUR SCIENCE 10 WORK

TAKING SCIENCE 10 ONLINE WILL REQUIRE THAT YOU ORGANIZE YOUR WORK. SOME OF THIS WORK WILL BE IN ELECTRONIC FORM AND SOME OF THIS WORK WILL BE DONE ON PAPER. FOR THIS REASON, YOU WILL NEED TO BE WELL ORGANIZED.

SUGGESTIONS TO HELP YOU ORGANIZE YOUR WORK INCLUDE::

  • OBTAIN A THREE RING BINDER
  • PUT LOOSE LEAF IN THIS BINDER
  • OBTAIN A COMPUTER DISK OR ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE HARD DISK SPACE TO KEEP YOUR WORK
  • SOME OF YOUR ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE DONE ON PAPER. THESE WILL BE SUBMITTED TO YOUR ONLINE TEACHER VIA THE FAX MACHINE
  • SOME OF YOUR ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE DONE ON THE COMPUTER. PRINT A COPY OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT WORK AND KEEP THIS PRINTED VERSION IN YOUR THREE RING BINDER. IF CYBERWORLD PREVENTS YOUR ASSIGNMENT FROM REACHING YOUR ONLINE TEACHER, YOU WILL THEN HAVE A COPY THAT YOU COULD FAX TO YOUR ONLINE TEACHER. ALSO, HAVING A PRINTED COPY OF YOUR WORK WILL MAKE TEST PREPARATION MORE CONVENIENT FOR YOU.
  • SOME EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WILL INCLUDE ANSWER KEYS TO ASSIGNED QUESTIONS. THESE ANSWER KEYS SHOULD BE PRINTED AND ALSO KEPT IN YOUR THREE RING BINDER.

GET ORGANIZED AND PREPARE YOURSELF FOR YOUR FIRST SCIENCE 10 LESSON IN CYBERWORLD!

WORK HARD AND DO YOUR BEST! WELCOME TO SCIENCE 10!

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