finishing the course

Last week!!! Yippy! Some things to help you through:
1. I will getting grading done throughout this week. You will not have an opportunity to revise and resubmit wp#3.
2. You may submit all late work (expect drafts and peer reviews) through midnight this Saturday, August 4th. However, there are no "the technology blitz" excuses for this Saturday. If your computer crashes and you don't get work in by Saturday, too bad. Therefore, I highly suggest you get work submitted earlier.
3. I have emailed you all (gmail accounts) an extra credit opportunity.
4. I will be leaving town on Thursday evening and not getting back until Sunday afternoon. I will NOT be checking email during that time. If you have questions, ask before Thursday.

Feel free to email with any questions. I look forward to reading your wp#3 submissions.

some announcements

I'm grading everything that has been submitted to date. I will be done with everyone by the end of today. Be sure to check your email inboxes as well as your gradesheets. Before checking your gradesheets, consider the following:

1. Use firefox (firefox.com). Don't use IE, its not secure!
2. Once you are committed to using Firefox, get the firefox "better gmail" addon (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4866). This will make sure you always log into gmail (and therefore Google docs) in the "https" secure mode. You really want to do this so I can continue to share your gradesheets with you in a secure environment.

Many of you may decide you want to revise and resubmit wp#1 or wp#2. To do so, you must:

1. submit a cover sheet explaining what you changed and why (you need to do more than what I suggested!)
2. email both the new document and the cover sheet to me by midnight August 2nd at the latest!

To get full credit on peer reviews you really need to engage your classmate's drafts. Don't just give copyediting feedback. Be sure to address all the questions I gave you in the peer review prompt.

For the final paper make sure you are distinguishing between reasons and evidence. If you can't specifically identify what is a reason in your argument, and what is a piece of evidence that supports your reason, you need to figure it out...fast! And remember, usually people provide multiple pieces of evidence per reason!

Finally, please, please, please make sure that you spend some time working on the integration of your quotes, as well as other sources, into your papers. With quotes you should have, as part of the same sentence, an introduction or conclusion that connects to what you are saying in the surrounding text. Check out:

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/

• http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/researchsources/usingsources/index.cfm

drafts and peer review

Ok folks, think this through. For me to see the peer reviews, you have to share your drafts with your classmates and me. For me to grade the peer reviews, you can't change your drafts after your classmates comment on them. If you want to work on the same document, open it, go to "file" in the upper left hand corner and select the "copy" option. Don't go erasing your classmate's comments...they won't get credit for peer review.

Hopefully this all makes sense!

drafts & peer reviews

Folks, the vast majority of this work you can be a day or two late on; however, there are two assignments you can NOT be late on:
1. drafts
2. peer reviews

Your classmates need these materials to be about to do their work; therefore, you can't post a draft or a peer review late. I will allow you to earn credit for posting your drafts of wp#1 if you get them up by midnight, tonight (7/10). After this...no late credit on drafts or peer reviews!

Connecting the Course Outcomes in Your Reflections

I would also like everyone to refocus their various reflection assignments a bit more. Take a moment and read the assignment prompt for writing project #4. Hopefully you’ll now realize that all the reflection assignments are homework that will help build your draft for wp#4. However, for the reflection assignments to be useful towards wp#4, you all need to spend a little bit more time on them. Specially, you need to look at the course competencies/outcomes (see below), and systematically think about how the work you read/did for that reflection helps you to gain more knowledge the competencies/outcomes. For example, generically any peer review session should help you gain skills for outcome #7 (using feedback). However, to really demonstrate that you’ve learned that skill, you will want to be able to point to a specific piece of feedback and a specific piece of writing you revised based on that feedback. Use the reflections to help track those details of learning. Refer to specific outcomes and specific pieces of reading/work that demonstrate your learning skills related to that outcome.

ENG102: Course Competencies/Outcomes

1. Write for specific rhetorical contexts, including circumstance, purpose, topic, audience and writer, as well as the writing’s ethical, political, and cultural implications.

2. Organize writing to support a central idea through unity, coherence and logical development appropriate to a specific writing context.

3. Use appropriate conventions in writing, including consistent voice, tone, diction, grammar, and mechanics.

4. Find, evaluate, select, and synthesize both online and print sources that examine a topic from multiple perspectives.

5. Integrate sources through summarizing, paraphrasing, and quotation from sources to develop and support one’s own ideas.

6. Identify, select and use an appropriate documentation style to maintain academic integrity.

7. Use feedback obtained through peer review, instructor comments, and/or other sources to revise writing.

8. Assess one’s own writing strengths and identify strategies for improvement through instructor conference, portfolio review, written evaluation, and/or other methods.

9. Generate, format, and edit writing using appropriate technologies.

APA Citations

I want to spend a little time “chatting” about APA full bibliographic citations. First, some common mistakes people make:

1. Author’s first names are not included, just first initials.
2. If you can not find an author for your resource, consider the following:
   
1. Really search for the author. On websites the author’s name may be listed on a different page. Take some time and really search.
2. Please realize that government agencies, organizations, and corporations can be authors. Check out: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html#3
3. And if you really can’t find an author, do not start your citation with the date. Check out: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html#4
3. The titles of the works do not have every word capitalized. Basically you should only be capitalizing the first word, proper nouns, and if there is a colon/subtitle, the first word of the subtitle.
4. Titles of major works (books, films, television shows, not episodes, etc.) and periodicals (magazines, newspapers, and journals) are italicized. Specific articles, chapters, television episodes titles are not italicized.
5. Do not include periods at the end of a full bibliographic citation with a URL.
6. If your source is from a website, provide the full URL (website address). If it is from a database, only give the database name. If it is from a very large website with a good search engine, like a newspaper website, provide the general URL. See the detailed examples below.

Tawnee is a college student in New York City. She is taking a biology class that has gotten her to think a lot about sustainability. On December 10, 2006, while sitting at the local coffee shop, she picked up The New York Times and read an article about eco-tourism and being carbon neutral. If she were to write a full bibliographic citation about that article, based on the one she read in the physical newspaper, it would look like:

Higgins, M. (2006, December 10). Carbon neutral: Raising the ante on eco-tourism. The New York Times, section 5, p. 12.

Once Tawnee started the spring semester, she email a couple of her friends about the article. She just gave them the name of the article, the name of the author, and that it was in a December issue of The New York Times.

Sarah, one of Tawnee’s friends looked for it at The New York Times website. Sarah’s full bibliographic citations would look like:

Higgins, M. (2006, December 10). Carbon neutral: Raising the ante on eco-tourism. The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2006, from http://www.nytimes.com/

Notice that Tawnee does not have the section and page number; this is because that information is not provided on the website. However, if the section and page number had been provided, she should include it in the citation as well. (See: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html#E).

Teresa, another of Tawnee’s friends, looked in one of her library’s databases for the article. Her citation would look like:

Higgins, M. (2006, December 10). Carbon neutral: Raising the ante on eco-tourism. The New York Times, section 5, p. 12. Retrieved February 13, 2006, from LexisNexis.

Notice, Teresa did include the original print page numbers because that information was included with the electronic copy in LexisNexis. If LexisNexis tracked every individual source in its database with a code, Teresa would have needed to include that code as well (see: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html#20).

Folks, any citation style is complex. Basically, you need to leave yourself enough time to double, and triple check. Always feel free to ask your instructor for help.

PLEASE NOTE...THE CITATIONS ABOVE ARE NOT INDENTED AS THEY SHOULD BE (IT CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT TO DO IN A WEB ENVIRONMENT). IN APA, ALL BUT THE FIRST LINE SHOULD BE INDENTED.

Catch up!

Folks, to be honest. I don't really expect you all to be caught up (after having figured out all the tech, getting the book, etc.) until Monday. This doesn't mean leave everything to do until Monday...it just means you have time to get confused, play around, and figure things out. So...if you missed anything in deadlines #1-3...do get them caught up and submitted prior to deadline #4.
Shelley

SS#2 after the first deadline

A good chunk of you got your first round of stuff to me. With those who got me materials, I shared a google doc with you that includes emails, delicious urls, and blog urls. As more people send me stuff, I'll update that list.

For those of you who finished deadline #1 (or almost did, don't forget about HW#1), get movin on deadline #2.

For those of you who didn't do deadline #1...you better get going folks! It is almost impossible to get caught up in a 5 week course!

I'm out of town, so don't call my office phone! Email me with any questions/concerns. And with the technologies, don't be afraid to spend some time playing and/or hit the "help" links!

Starting Summer Session 2

Dear MCC ENG102 Sections for Second Summer Session,

Welcome to ENG102 Online! I look forward to getting to know you over the next five weeks. This is a writing intensive course with specific deadlines you will have to meet. I suggest you get started as soon as possible.

• The course website is a blog at Blogger.com : http://mcc-eng102-sm07.blogspot.com/
• The course handbook/syllabus is located at : http://www.box.net/shared/q077gdx71e
• The due dates for each deadline are on the right hand side of the course Blog page.

You will be responsible for obtain the following materials (there are more listed in the syllabus):

• Kirszner, Laurie G., & Mandell, Stephen R. (2005). The concise Wadsworth handbook. Boston: MA: Thomson Higher Education. ISBN: 1-4130-1030-X
• Please notice “concise,” not “brief.” There is a “Brief Wadsworth Handbook” as well, that is NOT our textbook!

• Access to the American Psychological Association style guide:
  
• http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_o.html
  
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• Access to a computer with an internet connection (preferably high-speed)
• MyMCC Account: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/mymcc/
• A Gmail Account: http://mail.google.com/ —I would use this email while you set up all your accounts
• Blog account at Blogger: https://beta.blogger.com/start —user your Gmail email to set up
• Bookmarking account at delicious: http://del.icio.us/
• Student account at Turnitin: http://turnitin.com/
  
• Session 2: Course name: mcc-eng102-sm2 (Course ID: 1906379 ; Course password: eng102)
• MS Word or other word processor that can export to RTF (rich text file):
  
• Open Office: http://www.filehippo.com/download_openoffice/
  
• Google Docs: http://docs.google.com
  
• Zoho Writer: http://www.zohowriter.com/jsp/home.jsp
  
• Think Free: http://www.thinkfree.com/

For those of you with AOL accounts, sometimes AOL does not work well with these programs. If you do not already use Internet Explorer as your browser, you may want to download a copy of Firefox to use your web browser (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/). Firefox is a relatively small, and fast download.

You will also need the following browser players/readers to get started:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
• Flash: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/#fp
• Shockwave: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/#sp
• Java: http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

If you have not used either delicious, Blogger, or Turnitin before, I suggest that you play around in all the environments. By play, I mean taking the time to hit every button to get a feel for what the programs can do. I also suggest you wander and hit every button in the course website. Do not wait until an hour before a deadline to figure out how everything works.

If you have any questions or concerns about the course, please feel free to email me shelley.rodrigo@gmail.com. If you email me, please be sure to include the course and course line number you are enrolled in. I am teaching multiple sections of different courses. I do not keep copies of the rosters near my computer, so you need to clue me in who you are when you email me.

Again, I look forward to working with you all,

Shelley

PS--Second Summer Session students, ignore the postings "below" this one! That was material for first summer session!

Summer Session 1

Summer Session 1 folks...I'll be posting your final grades today in your shared gradesheet. Feel free to email me with any questions!

last week

That's right...you've somehow hung in there (me too!). And you only have a week to go. So here is the update:

1. I've graded all homework to-date (not tonight's 6/23 deadline). Check your shared gradebook, if I've missed something, email me.
2. I'll grade wp#2s tomorrow morning (need to spend some time w/my literature class).
3. I'll be trying to grade wp#3s as they roll in, starting tomorrow.
4. I'll grade homework again on Monday.
   

Technically, the course ends this next Thursday (6/28). I will accept work from you all until Saturday (6/30); however, technology glitches do not count. If you submit something on Saturday, and it gets lost in cyberspace...not my problem! Therefore, I would shoot for having work done on Friday at the latest and make sure I got it.

Email me w/any questions, concerns, etc. I'm home and online a bunch between now and the end of the course.

some notes on APA

I want to spend a little time “chatting” about APA full bibliographic citations. First, some common mistakes people make:

1. Author’s first names are not included, just first initials.
2. If you can not find an author for your resource, consider the following:
   
1. Really search for the author. On websites the author’s name may be listed on a different page. Take some time and really search.
2. Please realize that government agencies, organizations, and corporations can be authors. Check out: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html#3
3. And if you really can’t find an author, do not start your citation with the date. Check out: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html#4
3. The titles of the works do not have every word capitalized. Basically you should only be capitalizing the first word, proper nouns, and if there is a colon/subtitle, the first word of the subtitle.
4. Titles of major works (books, films, television shows, not episodes, etc.) and periodicals (magazines, newspapers, and journals) are italicized. Specific articles, chapters, television episodes titles are not italicized.
5. Do not include periods at the end of a full bibliographic citation with a URL.
6. If your source is from a website, provide the full URL (website address). If it is from a database, only give the database name. If it is from a very large website with a good search engine, like a newspaper website, provide the general URL. See the detailed examples below.

Tawnee is a college student in New York City. She is taking a biology class that has gotten her to think a lot about sustainability. On December 10, 2006, while sitting at the local coffee shop, she picked up The New York Times and read an article about eco-tourism and being carbon neutral. If she were to write a full bibliographic citation about that article, based on the one she read in the physical newspaper, it would look like:

Higgins, M. (2006, December 10). Carbon neutral: Raising the ante on eco-tourism. The New York Times, section 5, p. 12.

Once Tawnee started the spring semester, she email a couple of her friends about the article. She just gave them the name of the article, the name of the author, and that it was in a December issue of The New York Times.

Sarah, one of Tawnee’s friends looked for it at The New York Times website. Sarah’s full bibliographic citations would look like:

Higgins, M. (2006, December 10). Carbon neutral: Raising the ante on eco-tourism. The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2006, from http://www.nytimes.com/

Notice that Tawnee does not have the section and page number; this is because that information is not provided on the website. However, if the section and page number had been provided, she should include it in the citation as well. (See: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html#E).

Teresa, another of Tawnee’s friends, looked in one of her library’s databases for the article. Her citation would look like:

Higgins, M. (2006, December 10). Carbon neutral: Raising the ante on eco-tourism. The New York Times, section 5, p. 12. Retrieved February 13, 2006, from LexisNexis.

Notice, Teresa did include the original print page numbers because that information was included with the electronic copy in LexisNexis. If LexisNexis tracked every individual source in its database with a code, Teresa would have needed to include that code as well (see: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html#20).

Folks, any citation style is complex. Basically, you need to leave yourself enough time to double, and triple check. Always feel free to ask your instructor for help.

PLEASE NOTE...THE CITATIONS ABOVE ARE NOT INDENTED AS THEY SHOULD BE (IT CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT TO DO IN A WEB ENVIRONMENT). IN APA, ALL BUT THE FIRST LINE SHOULD BE INDENTED.

I'm back

So...I wasn't as "productive" over the weekend as I desired. Ahh well, I'm married. I'm getting over a summer cold (ugh in our heat)...and I've emailed back graded wp#1s. If you did not receive a graded wp#1 back from me...I did not get it from you. Remember, to submit final projects you share them with me (just me) as a collaborator. You also need to label them appropriately, name, title, assignment (wp#1 final version), etc. Some of you have shared documents with me; however, I have no idea what assignment, if it is a draft, etc.

Over the next two days I will be:
1. grading wp#1s as they come in
2. grading wp#2s (should be back to you sometime tomorrow 6/21)
3. grading homework

Actually...I won't grade wp#2s until tomorrow for two reasons:
1. look at my comments from wp#1 and see if you want to revise, and
2. look at the next posting (above) and see if you want to revise.

Shelley

going into the weekend---->

I'm caught up with all the grading you all have submitted, except for final submissions of wp#1 (the ones I have thus far). I'm hitting a plane tonight and hope to get most of them done. They will all be back to you by sometime tomorrow at the latest. Otherwise...I'm off to get married this weekend (obviously why my life has been as crazy as you all report to me!). I'll return graded wp#1s tomorrow. I'll check email briefly on Saturday and Sunday. I will then do a massive grading session again on Tuesday.

Grading at this point

I've graded everyone's homework thus far (except last night's deadline). Be sure to check your shared gradesheet. I will grade wp#1s on Wed/Thur. Hint for the next round of peer reviews, be sure to use the questions in the peer review prompt so you do a meaty peer review. If you don't sincerely engage your classmate's draft, you won't get full credit! I'm in a meeting all day today; hopefully I'll have internet access!?!

sharing final versions of wp

I need you all to make sure that you re-share your final submissions of your writing projects to me as a separate document, shared only with me (as a collaborator, so that I can comment on it). First, I need you to leave the drafts with your peer comments in it so that I can grade your peer comments. Second, you don't want your classmates to see me comments and final grade on your paper (or legally, I can't!).
Thanks!
Shelley

delicious?

Folks...I had you get delicious accounts for a reason. It appears some of you don't think that I'm checking to see if you are bookmarking your resources. If you expect full credit on your annotated bibliographies, you better be bookmarking everything outside of a database article!

Life happening...

Sorry folks, I had a life happening over the weekend. I'll be all caught up with grading, email responses, etc before going to bed. (Except maybe papers!).
Shelley

chapters 4, 5 & 7

Chapter 5 was too big for Google Docs...so chapter 4, 5, & 7 are available as PDFs here:

• Chapter 4: http://www.box.net/shared/mx269tjtdg
• Chapter 5: http://www.box.net/shared/x6qkc3v888
  
• Chapter 7: http://www.box.net/shared/vehu2n9ibq
  

Peer Reviewing

I'm a dork! Peer reviewing is not going to be done via assigned groups, instead, for each draft make sure you "share" with everyone in the class (including me!). Then, when you get around to doing the peer reviews, select two drafts that do not yet have comments!

Just be sure to tell me in your peer review reflection who you reviewed...I have to grade peer reviews and track them down! On that note, peer reviews are "weighed" more than regular homework. Be sure to follow the assignment prompt; sincerely engage the peer review questions.

open lab--only until 4:30 pm

I have to get somewhere by 5, so I'll be leaving MCC's campus at 4:30 tomorrow!
Shelley

Monday-open "office" or "lab"

Ok, I've decided I'll hang out on campus Monday. I'll be there 7:30am until 5pm. You should be able to find me in either my office (LA16) or the computer lab classroom (LA2N).

The "SS" on the calendar

Thanks Emily for asking what the "SS#1" meant on the calendar (on the right hand side of this course blog). It's my code for "Summer Session #1." I'll be teaching the same course for summer session #2. I hope that helps clarify any confusion.
Shelley

sharing drafts for peer review

I've just shared a spreadsheet with you all that includes names and emails as wells as blog and delicious urls. Please make sure to check that your information is correct. If not, email me, asap with the correct info. You will need this info to share drafts with one another as well as responding to one another's blogs. For WP#1, why don't you plan on sharing your draft with everyone, as "collaborator" not just "viewer." You can cut and paste everyone's email into the sharing list, add commas, and then invite! Sometime tomorrow, Sunday, I will assign peer review groups.

Some general announcements

It appears that most of you are off to a good start. So, a list of announcements:

1. I expect everyone to be struggling a little. Heck, I was struggling with my own last minute thing the past two days. I generally expect everyone to be caught up by Monday's deadline. That doesn't mean wait until Sunday night. Instead, that means struggling through, working out kinks, emailing or calling me with questions, etc. throughout the weekend.
   
2. Please note that D#2 HW#2 is actually commenting on D#1 HW#8, sorry, missed that update when I rearranged the syllabus.
3. Please note that with Blogger you can start numerous blogs. You only want one blog for this class. However, each new homework assignment requires a new "post."
   
   Notice in this image that I have two blogs. You can "view blog" for each one. "View blog" is what you need to do to get me the URL. However, when you are ready to post a homework, click on "New Post." Finally, if you need to edit a previous posting, click on "Posts" and it will take you to a listing of all your posts.
   
4. Use firefox (firefox.com). Don't use IE, its not secure!
5. Once you are committed to using Firefox, get the firefox "better gmail" addon (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4866). This will make sure you always log into gmail (and therefore Google docs) in the "https" secure mode. You really want to do this so I can continue to share your gradesheets with you in a secure environment.
6. Speaking of gradesheets...you should all see a shared gradesheet in Google Docs. If you don't, email me. This is the way that you'll be able to see what I've graded. And if things don't add up, especially after I've posted an "I'm up to date with grading" blog post, I've missed something (or something is wonky somewhere). At this point, I'm not up to date with grading. However, you do need to check that you have a gradesheet and that the information I've pasted into the upper left hand corner is correct.
7. I'm considering holding another "open lab" on Monday or Tuesday. If you would really benefit from this. Feel free to email me with a "I need an open lab and I would be able to make it to MCC's Southern & Dobson campus at these times: XXX and XXX."

Hang in there...I know this first weekend is when a bunch of you really have the time and energy to "figure things out." I'll be checking email all weekend long! :-)
Shelley

"POWA" reading

There is a bad linking in the reading list...switch from

http://www.powa.org/discover/index.html
TO

http://powa.org/my/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2

Class member's blogs

I will eventually share a document with you all with the blog listings (especially for "grouping" purposes when it comes to peer reviews); however, you can quickly find out where your classmates are at by going to my delicious page (notice, this is the power of tagging): http://del.icio.us/rrodrigo/student_blog

I'll be sharing chapters 1 and 3 with you all ASAP...I'm still processing information submitted last night. Don't worry, you won't get dinked! I expect thinks to trickle in late these first few deadlines. You trying to figure out both me and the technologies.

Open Lab

I just reserved LA2N (a computer classroom in the North West corner of MCC's Southern and Dobson campus) from 6-9:30 am and 1:30-5pm for tomorrow, Thursday, 5/31. If anyone wants to come by and ask questions, set up technologies, etc. I'll be there!

emailing vs. sharing the contracts

Many of you are trying to email the contracts to me. Instead, I want you to "share" them with me through Google Docs, not as an attachment in email. When you are logged on to Gmail, in the upper left hand corner is a "Documents" link. Go there, upload the file, and then "share" it with me. Hopefully this will help get you started. Hang in there! And don't forget...try tagging the document with three separate labels "sum07" "eng102-1" and "contract."

Tagging your shared google docs

Folks, to help organize your document in Google Docs you'll want to tag them. So, I would greatly appreciate if you do one of the following before/as you send the handbook/syllabus contract to me:

• tag it with the following tags: sum07 eng102-1 contract, and/or
• share it with me so that I can make comments, add tags, etc.

You'll need to share it this "open" way the most of the time during the class.

Welcome!

Dear MCC ENG102 Sections,

Welcome to ENG102 Online! I look forward to getting to know you over the next five weeks. This is a writing intensive course with specific deadlines you will have to meet. I suggest you get started as soon as possible.

• The course website is a blog at Blogger.com : http://mcc-eng102-sm07.blogspot.com/
• The course handbook/syllabus is located at : http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhkdmmdx_117dmvtmn

The course website/blog is where all the announcements will be made. To get started, I'd print and carefully read the course handbook/syllabus...but of course, finish reading this email first!

You will be responsible for obtain the following materials (there are more listed in the syllabus):

• Kirszner, Laurie G., & Mandell, Stephen R. (2005). The concise Wadsworth handbook. Boston: MA: Thomson Higher Education. ISBN: 1-4130-1030-X
• Please notice “concise,” not “brief.” There is a “Brief Wadsworth Handbook” as well, that is NOT our textbook!

• Access to the American Psychological Association style guide:

• http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_o.html
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

• Access to a computer with an internet connection (preferably high-speed)
• MyMCC Account: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/mymcc/
• A Gmail Account: http://mail.google.com/ —I would use this email while you set up all your accounts
• Blog account at Blogger: https://beta.blogger.com/start —user your Gmail email to set up
• Bookmarking account at delicious: http://del.icio.us/
• Student account at Turnitin: http://turnitin.com/

• Session 1: Course name: mcc-eng102-sm1-07 (Course ID: 1906377; Course password: eng102)

• MS Word or other word processor that can export to RTF (rich text file):

• Open Office: http://www.filehippo.com/download_openoffice/
• Google Docs: http://docs.google.com
• Zoho Writer: http://www.zohowriter.com/jsp/home.jsp
• Think Free: http://www.thinkfree.com/

For those of you with AOL accounts, sometimes AOL does not work well with these programs. If you do not already use Internet Explorer as your browser, you may want to download a copy of Firefox to use your web browser (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/). Firefox is a relatively small, and fast download.

You will also need the following browser players/readers to get started:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
• Flash: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/#fp
• Shockwave: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/#sp
• Java: http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

If you have not used either delicious, Blogger, or Turnitin before, I suggest that you play around in all the environments. By play, I mean taking the time to hit every button to get a feel for what the programs can do. I also suggest you wander and hit every button in the course website. Do not wait until an hour before a deadline to figure out how everything works.

If you have any questions or concerns about the course, please feel free to email me shelley.rodrigo@gmail.com and/or call me on me cell (email me for the cell number). If you email me, please be sure to include the course and course line number you are enrolled in. I am teaching multiple sections of different courses. I do not keep copies of the rosters near my computer, so you need to clue me in who you are when you email me.

Again, I look forward to working with you all,

Shelley

Getting Started...

If you are in a hurry... start reading the syllabus/course handbook: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhkdmmdx_117dmvtmn