Literature of American Slavery and Its Legacy, An Introduction
(Distance-Learning Format)
PROTOCOLS FOR “LITERATURE OF AMERICAN SLAVERY AND ITS LEGACY”
Greetings,
As the Instructor for this "distance-learning" course I welcome you. There are a number of texts assigned for this course (listed on the course syllabus), which I hope will provide you with a fertile reading and thinking experience. Besides reading, we will also be doing a lot of writing. There will be frequent postings by you at our course homepage in Moodle, and there will be a number of formal writing assignments. 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, to meet all the deadlines.
It is important to stress at the outset that this course will be demanding, and, further, given its "asynchronous" nature, the course may not be right for you; a hybrid course is not necessarily good for every student. In fact, you would be wise to take a quiz that will help you determine if you are right for this course; to do so click here.
Now
that I've gotten my cautions to you out of the way, let me move
on to describing the nuts and bolts of this course. Below I’ll sketch
out in more detail for you how this course is going to work, what is
expected of you, and what you can expect from me, your course
instructor.
As I've suggested already, please understand that this
course will require you to be able to work independently, given that it is of a
"distance" nature;
we will only "meet" online, and mostly or completely not in real time. Because this course is 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
(you would be smart to start reading
ahead of the scheduled class activities). 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, yet 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 primary texts required for this course, as well as some suggested secondary texts of an explanatory nature (see the course website and our course homepage in Moodle). I hope these texts will provide you with a fertile aesthetic and thinking experience. Besides reading (see the list of assigned texts at the course website), and a lot of writing weekly you'll be doing (as I've suggested above), there is your term paper project to be reckoned with. As soon as possible, you should begin to think about your term research project, and in the designated discussion forum (at our homepage in Moodle) you should post comments and questions about what you want to do (the term paper project is worth about a third of your course grade).
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 and writing assignments done on time;
indeed, you would be smart to start reading ahead of the scheduled class
activities—moreover, as soon as possible, you should begin to think about your
term research project and to start writing about what you want to do in the
forum space set out for this purpose.
The Nuts and Bolts
I have tried to anticipate your needs as well as the needs of this course by setting up a number of venues for us to communicate among ourselves (again, on our course homepage in Moodle). Please place comments in the appropriate forums (such as you find them indicated in "Discussion Forums" when you click there). Check for new postings in this bulletin board and elsewhere frequently and respond to them as required or otherwise as you wish, with your comments or questions (please realize that daily/weekly classwork makes up a major portion of your course grade—your online participation is worth a third of your course grade, and your in-class discussion is worth something toward your final grade as well).
Overall, you will need to familiarize yourself with all the various
functions—which allow us as a class several ways to communicate—the Moodle class
conferencing system provides. As I have suggested, I have set up a
number of venues for us to
share thoughts and information among ourselves,
as you will see, for example, by the topic headings in Discussions (on
our course Homepage in Moodle, look on the navigation bar on the left
or
for the Discussions icon to the right of the bar). Again, you are to
place
comments
in the appropriate topic sectors (such as you find them indicated in
Discussions,
when you click there), and to check for new postings in this bulletin
board
and
elsewhere at least once daily (more frequent participation will
serve you as well as your classmates better), and to respond to them as
required
or otherwise as you wish, with your comments or questions (daily/weekly
classwork makes up a major portion of your course grade—cf. the course
website). There is also a “Chat” venue that you can use with
others
in the class or with me, and of course, you can always write to me from
within
Moodle—see the appropriate
icons on the course homepage. But for doing group work you may find that
the Chat venue
has
its downside, insofar as I won't be able to participate with you and,
also,
I won't have a record of your participation—such a record will exist
in
Discussions, and I can have recourse to it when making up your weekly
and
final grades.
Again,
it is STRONGLY recommended 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”).
The
basic plan for this course is as follows.
Every week you will have reading to do. You will do this reading and then you will post a comment in the Discussion Forums area (clicking on the appropriate link there). The comment length should be from 100 to 150 words (no credit will be issued for initial posts of fewer than 100 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. Try to be, let's say, interesting. Questions of a focused nature can also be submitted.
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 at least 50 words in length (up to about a 100
words—no credit for fewer than 50 words). Again, it should be
thoughtful and otherwise it should not merely regurgitate information.
The idea is not merely to repeat facts or details just to repeat them. To be sure, this is not a
course in which you need to memorize anything (the final exam will be
open-book). On the other hand, you are being encouraged to think
creatively in this course.
In any case, each week for about the first half of the course I'll post an advisory grade for your class participation in Moodle (and I may very well comment on your comments). Again, keep in mind how much course participation is worth, and also keep in mind that if you don't participate weekly at least minimally then your papers and exam will be disqualified (so you won't be able to pass the course).
Now, the
following is important so please read it carefully.
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. 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 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 (please keep in mind, however, that text composed in a word processor and then pasted into Moodle will end up as being preceded by a lot of programming code—i.e., textual "garbage"—showing up in the Moodle text window, and so you will have to reenter the window, by clicking on "edit" to do so, and remove that "garbage" coding); also, composing offline first will prevent you getting timed out in Moodle, possibly, and losing your work. One more time: 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 in 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. In your group, if your group mates don't mind your using
informal language and writing, then informal writing will be alright
with me; but informal, or for that matter careless, language and/or
writing will not be tolerated in messages meant for the entire class.
Needless to say, perhaps, writing assignments submitted to me must be
in formal language and must obey formal writing protocols.
(There is more about all this at the course website.)
Other Assignments:
Aside from questions,
answers and discussions, you will have to write a term paper. Please see
paper guidelines on the course website (which can be accessed via a
special link on the course homepage in Moodle). Again, don’t hesitate to post your ideas
or queries about a term paper project as soon as possible in the
discussion forum designated for that purpose; sharing your ideas with
the entire class will benefit everyone, 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, in any case, that your term paper must contain some
close, analytical reading, some detailed literary analysis.
Other essay writing will include the final exam,
which will be "open-book" (but don’t kid
yourself that you won’t have to study for it ahead of time—along
with keeping up with the assigned readings your weekly postings are a great way
to study for the exam, although a run-through at the end of the course will
probably be necesssary too) and in essay format. As
with your papers you will be submitting in Moodle, your exam, also to
be submitted in Moodle, must be spell-checked and proofread. And as
true for your papers posted in Moodle, if your exam is not spell
checked then you will not receive credit for it. (Your weekly posts, if
they are to be credited, must at the very least be spell-checked too—as
I've said already, too many times now.)
What you can expect from me in this course 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,
physical classroom the course instructor is 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 exam essays and papers 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.
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. It is not at all unlikely that if you commit plagiarism it will be discovered. Please see here and 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, you should consult a freshman English textbook such as The Beacon Handbook or better yet The MLA Handbook. Both Writing and Documentation help can also be found at the course website, or at my website (http://web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/) by clicking on "Writing Guide" (http://web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/writing.html) and "Documentation Guide" (http://web.njit.edu/~kimmelma/documentation.html).
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. 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 now but this is
important: Don't go on with the course until it is too late to pull out
of it unscathed. I have taught distance- and hybrid-learning courses
for many years, and I have seen time and again too many students who
operate on an out-of-sight-out-of-mind basis. They don’t keep up and so
they can’t catch up. Also, they are not willing to post messages, even
when a sizable portion of their grade depends on doing just that! One
more time: if you wish to pass this course (or do well in it), then you
will have to be disciplined and proactive.
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 poetry? What has it meant to you? Why have you
signed up for this course?
Class/public questions? Post them in our Housekeeping discussion forum.
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.
Okay?
I
look forward to getting to know you, to our exchanges, and otherwise to
our sharing of our reading experiences that I think you will find
enriching and enlightening.
Yours
cordially,
Burt
Professor
http://web.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.
* Once you’ve found your way around our course in Moodle, I recommend you 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.