INTRODUCTION TO COURSE PROTOCOLS
After reading everything on this page, please make sure to read everything at the course syllabus page here: web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/communicationandthearts.html.Below I will sketch out in more detail how this course is going to work, what is expected of you, and what you can expect from me, your course instructor.
Let me begin by saying that you can easily do well in this course; but in order to do well you will have to follow the course guidelines carefully and especially the course calendar. Because this is in part a distance course, the course structure becomes especially important. Success usually comes to people who are proactive, that is, who look ahead at what is coming and prepare for it. This strategy is especially key to succeeding in a course that operates on-line, in a distance format, and particularly in what is known as an asynchronous format (that is, you have the freedom of “attending class” at your convenience, not at a second weekly specified time—but that freedom can turn out to be a burden if you are not going to be responsible, if you are not going to be disciplined).
There are a number of texts assigned for this course (listed on the course syllabus and on our course's Moodle site—the syllabus accessible from the Moodle course page and to be found here: http://web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/communicationandthearts.html). I hope these texts (readings, films, artworks) will provide you with a fertile aesthetic and thinking experience.
Besides reading, we will also be doing a lot of writing. If you wish to succeed in this course you will need, as I have already suggested, to adhere strictly to the course schedule by getting your reading/viewing and writing assignments done on time; indeed, you would be smart to start reading ahead of the scheduled class activities—and, as soon as possible, you should begin to think about your term research project and you should be writing me about what you want to do, and/or ask about it in class.
I have tried to anticipate your needs as well as the needs of this course by setting up a number of venues in which to communicate among ourselves, such as in our course's Discussion Forums (on our course Homepage in Moodle). Please place comments in the appropriate topic sectors (such as you find them indicated in "discussions" when you click there). Check for new postings in this bulletin board and elsewhere at least once daily and respond to them as required or otherwise as you wish, with your comments or questions (daily/weekly class work makes up a major portion of your course grade—see the break-down of your future course grade at the course website). Overall, you will need to familiarize yourself with all the various functions—which allow us as a class many ways to communicate—the Moodle class conferencing system provides. There is also a “Chat” venue that you can use with others in the class or with me—of course, you can always write to me from within Moodle—see the appropriate links on the course homepage. (As regards communicating with me outside of class: please do not write to me at my normal NJIT eddress unless the matter you're writing about is an emergency or especially time sensitive; the normal way to write to me would be from within Moodle, and I would ask you please to find out exactly how you would do that.)
It is STRONGLY recommended (again) that you learn the Moodle system thoroughly right away; you may wish to begin your learning process by following the links listed under “Need Help?” at the main Moodle website (look for “Tutorials”). Please spend time learning where everything is and how Moodle works.
The basic plan for this course is as follows.
Every week you will have reading and/or viewing of some films, still photographs, as well as art works to do. You will do this reading, will view the films and/or art works etc., and then you will post a comment in the Discussion Forums area (clicking on the appropriate link there). The comment should be from 100 to 150 words. The comment should be interpretive. The comment should be your informed opinion on part or all of what has been assigned for the week. The comment should not be merely summative. It should, rather, provoke discussion. During this same week you must also respond (click "Reply") to at least one comment by someone else in our class. This comment should be from 50 to 100 words in length. Again, it should be thoughtful and otherwise should not merely regurgitate information. The idea is not to repeat details, facts. This is not a course in which you need to memorize anything. You are, rather, being encouraged to think creatively in this course. In any event, each week I'll post an advisory grade for your class participation in Moodle. (Class participation counts for a great deal in computing your grade for this course—a word to the wise!) Let me stress that this grade is advisory only. But it should be taken seriously, and if necessary you should make adjustments accordingly (you can also view the weekly grades as a whole when it comes time to decide if you would be better off dropping the course, when the ultimate withdrawal deadline is approaching—and you can always consult with me at that time to get my advice on this matter).
This course will have a lot going on in it, and trying to take it all in will be easier if you participate often and in a forthcoming manner. And, because a lot will be going on, it is important that we do things in an orderly way, such as by specifically replying to postings so that a bulletin board discussion thread is formed for future reference, and such as by making sure that all messages you send are spell-checked and proofread for grammar and otherwise for clarity (in a distance or hybrid course this is especially important—we want to prevent unnecessary “noise" that can be very debilitating—doing things on-line is a unique experience, as you may know already).
It is best to compose your messages in a word-processing program and then copy and paste them into Moodle when you are ready to send them, after you have spell-checked and proofread them. Again, all postings to the class must be spell checked before sending; check for grammar problems too. CLARITY and ORDERLINESS is VERY IMPORTANT in an on-line course.
Furthermore, all postings to the class must be in standard English and must use standard writing format and formal language. Different communication venues allow, perhaps, or demand, different forms of language or writing. How you might write when sending a text message on your telephone or in, say, Twitter, may be acceptable in those venues but may not be acceptable for our formal class discourse that will take place when someone posts a message to the class as a whole. Anyway, learning to write formally will help you in your future professional life.
Aside from questions, answers and discussions, you will have to write two papers. Please see paper guidelines on the course website (this can be accessed via a special link on the course Homepage). Again, don’t hesitate to e-mail me from within Moodle with your ideas or queries about a term paper project, or post them in the discussion forum set up for this special purpose, as soon as possible. If you post your questions or thoughts about your term paper in the appropriate area of Discussion Forums, which is provided, everyone will benefit and some people may want to make suggestions or have questions that will be useful to you. The project topic has to be approved by me. The topic for it is open so long as it falls within the purview of the course's area of inquiry. Keep in mind as you decide on a topic, moreover, that your term paper must contain some close reading, some detailed analysis of cultural artifacts.The final exam will be "open-book" and in essay format. Please note that, as true for all your other writing in this course, your final exam essays must be spell-checked and to the best of your ability grammar-checked. If they are not, then you will not receive credit for the exam (this criterion will hold true for your term paper and indeed for anything you submit for grading).
What you can expect from me is that I will be fair and helpful. But please keep in mind that on-line, and to some extent hybrid, courses operate according to a different paradigm than the warm-body variety. In the real-time, on-site, f2f ("face-to-face") physical classroom the course instructor has traditionally been more the “sage on the stage” than, in our case, the “guide on the side.” This course is YOURS, not mine. Take control of it. Use it and it will pay off for you. When you are asking questions or volunteering your opinions, you are allowing the process of understanding and appreciation to go forward. The end result of this process, if you allow it to happen, is well thought-out term papers and exam essays that earn high grades. If you are “silent” in this course, that is, if you don't participate, then the great likelihood is that you will do poorly in it and may even fail it. In this regard, please note that you will have to make two oral/visual presentations to the class, one of them as part of a group. Please don't take these lightly either, since they provide opportunities for you to engage in deeper than normal thinking and discussion about something that may be a part of your final exam and/or term paper.
What have I left out? How about plagiarism? Okay, then, here’s the deal: If I find you have plagiarized something, I’ll fail you for the course. Blatant plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Students. Please see what is said here and on its linked pages: http://integrity.njit.edu. If on occasion you are to make use of the ideas or words of someone else in your writing, then the source(s) of those ideas and/or words must be cited; that is, when appropriate, papers must be fully documented (you must cite sources--using footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical documentation, which include when possible specific page numbers keyed to particular passages in one's text, and complete bibliographical information). If you are not sure about documentation principles and/or procedures then you should consult these two webpages, following the links there: both Writing and Documentation help can be found at the course website or at my website (http://web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/) by clicking on "Writing Guides" (http://web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/writing.html) and "Documentation Guides" (http://web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/documentation.html).
In conclusion, let me say finally that I cannot emphasize strongly enough the fact that this course will have a lot going on it; trying to take it all in will be easier if you participate often and in a forthcoming manner—a word to the wise. To be sure, you might wish to pause, now, and to ask yourself if you are really ready and willing to do what it takes to succeed in this course. A lot of people think distance/hybrid learning is easy relative to sitting in a classroom. Well, let me tell you: this kind of learning is not any easier and may be for you a lot more difficult. Therefore please be careful; don't let yourself get in over your head in this course. I know I’m repeating myself but this is important: Don't go on with the course until it is too late to pull out of it unscathed.Are you ready for this? Well, if you really, seriously, think that you are, then the very next thing I hope you'll do, now, once you have closed out this message from me, and then have familiarized yourself with Moodle, is to introduce yourself to the class, in the Discussion Forums topic sector called "Introducing Ourselves." Tell us about your likes and dislikes, about why you have signed up for this course, about what you hope to do in the future. What year of school are you in? What is your favorite book, movie, song? Do you have a hobby, a job? What is your impression of any or all of the arts?
Class/public questions? Post them in our Housekeeping section in Moodle.
I look forward to getting to know you, to our exchanges, and otherwise to our sharing of our reading and viewing experiences that I think you will find enriching and enlightening.
Oh, one final, final thing: We all must be aware of how we conduct
our
virtual selves on-line. Perhaps you have heard the term “flaming”; it
means
the verbal abuse of someone who is receiving your on-line message.
People,
if they don’t watch themselves, can end up flaming someone even without
fully realizing what they are doing. Working on line has its
frustrations,
but that does not mean they should be taken out on anyone. Below are
some
“Netiquette” concepts I ask you to adhere to when participating in this
course.
- Respect. Treat all participants with respect and in a professional
and courteous manner in e-mail, chat, and in discussions.
- Kindness: Refrain from using profanities, insults, or other
disparaging
remarks.
- Truth: Endeavor to cite only the truth and not knowingly
misrepresent,
mischaracterize, or misquote information.
- Responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions instead
of blaming others.
- Cooperation: Work together with other students and the instructor
in cooperation toward our common goals of seeking
and providing a quality education.
- Nondiscrimination: Respect the differences in people and their ideas
and opinions.
- Civility: Always treat your fellow classmates and instructor civilly.
Yours cordially,
Dr. Burt Kimmelman, Professor of
Humanities
njit.edu/~kimmelma
P.S. Matters related to the above course introduction, which are meant to augment it, can be found at the course Website. Please make sure you read the material there before going any further in this course. The course website is: http://web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/communicationandthearts.html.
* Once you’ve found your way around our course in Moodle, you can do two things to make your life easier and also more functional, and so that you optimize (at least, I believe doing this will be an optimization for you) your chances of doing better in the course. First of all, click on “Participants” in Moodle (left side of the screen) and then click on your name. Then click on "Edit Profile.” Then select “Yes: Highlight new posts for me” in the box next to “Forum Tracking” (this is about halfway down the list of options in Edit Profile). Secondly, go to moodle.njit.edu and click on "Student Tutorials." Then click on number 12, “Email Digest Type,” and follow the directions. You will then be presented with in a pdf file. Following these directions will allow you to receive email notifications of forum posts in a "digest" form. If you receive your Moodle notifications in a Digest form then you will be receiving the emails all at once but only once a day. This may be a better option for you, since you will be able to set time aside to prioritize your responses to the posts in Moodle, and you won’t feel overwhelmed by emails from the course constantly coming at you and perhaps distracting you.