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As noted on the Welcome page, this course will be run through Blackboard.
With that in mind, the first
two steps described below are for you are to activate your OC email account and
log into the course within Blackboard. From there, the
first
assignments are accessible.
Before beginning, please note that some
of you may have already done one or both of these steps
before reading about them here. If so, well and good;
no problem. If so, skip to Step Three. Once you
have activated your OC email account, logged in to
Blackboard, and gotten hold of the required textbook, you
are all set to begin the course.
STEP ONE: ACTIVATE YOUR OC
EMAIL ACCOUNT:
While you can get into Blackboard
without an OC email account, there are two compelling
reasons to activate it. Pay special attention to the
second one:
- Every weekday, I post a new
Announcement on Blackboard for your course, containing
due date reminders, assignment tips, and so forth.
With an OC email account, you get course
announcements sent directly to you; you don't even
have to enter Blackboard. Web courses tend to
easily become "out of sight, out of mind." Many
students fail my classes each semester simply because
they stop keeping up with the course. This is
easier to avoid when course announcements come directly
to you. Of course, you still must check your
email!
- More crucially, I insist that
every submission be turned in as a file attachment saved
in Rich Text format, which I will teach. But
sometimes, students forget to use Rich Text, or
inadvertently send empty or corrupted files, etc. In such a
case, I email the student concerning the problem.
I send that email from within Blackboard, and so it goes
to your OC email account only. If you have not
activated it or do not check it, then you never get the
warning, and do not even know I have rejected your
submission. This can result in a zero which the
student is not even aware of, but the fault is nobody's
but the student's.
You can activate your OC email
account
from the OC home page, in the menu item on the left of the
first screen you see, called Student Email; or, even
easier, click on this link:
http://www.odessa.edu/gmail/ . Once
at the link, just follow the step-by-step instructions you
will find there.
STEP TWO: LOG IN TO
BLACKBOARD:
The link to Blackboard is found also
on the OC home page, just above the Student Email link in
the same menu to the left. Or, once again, I will
give you a link, but first you should read these added
steps, which may not be obvious. You might want to
print this out.
- Either use the link below these
steps, or go to the OC home page to the same link.
- Once at the Blackboard login
site, choose user login.
- The next screen asks for your
username and password. Your
username consists of your first initial, last
initial, and your student ID #, leaving off any
beginning zeroes. Example: You are
George Regardless, and your ID# is 0000123456, so your
username is gr123456.
- Your password consists
of the letters "oc" and the last four digits of your
Social Security number. Example: oc7565.
- The next screen will show all
the various courses you are enrolled in. This
could be one or several.
Note:
You cannot enter this course until I have made the
course available.
I do that either on the first day of the course, or
perhaps late the day before. For late adds, the
system will
continue to enroll such students once a day
throughout late registration. If you think you
are in my course and can't find the course on Blackboard
or can't get into Blackboard at all, contact me
immediately via email:
mjordan@odessa.edu
.
- The course you should select
is
ENGL 1302.WB.
- The next screen you should see
is my Course Announcements page. Proceed from
there according to the instructions found in Blackboard.
Here is the Blackboard link:
http://blackboard.odessa.edu/ .
STEP THREE: GET YOUR TEXTBOOK:
You are under no obligation to buy your
textbook from the OC bookstore; textbooks may be purchased
online from various sources. However, if you do want
to get yours from the campus bookstore, you may do so.
If you live locally (Odessa or nearby), it is probably
easier to visit the bookstore in person. If you need
directions, their phone number is 432-335-6655. You
may also order textbooks from the bookstore online, at this
URL:
http://www.odessacollegebookstore.com/home.aspx .
See the Syllabus link for the required textbook.
Please realize that you cannot do the
work in the course without access to the readings. If
you have a problem getting your textbook, email me at
mjordan@odessa.edu .
I can't guarantee that I can help, but I will try.
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