Lesson 0: Getting Started

Ok, so you’ve made it this far. This first “lesson” is really just a number of things I’d like you to do to get oriented and setup in the course. These small tasks should not take you long, so I would like you to be sure to complete them by Thursday, January 19. After this point, we will have some real work to begin in Lesson 1 of our course. For now, complete the following:

Do Some Reading

1. Read the Syllabus and Schedule:
   The first thing you should do is familiarize yourself with most essential documents of the course: the course syllabus and the course schedule. There are links to both of these documents at the top of your screen. Read through them. If you have questions, add them as “comments” to this post (by clicking the “comments” link at the bottom). I will answer any questions you have in the comment thread, and others can chime in as well to help answer questions.
2. Begin reading Why White Rice?:
   In addition to reading the syllabus and schedule for the course, take a look at the beginning of our main text for the course—Why Write Rice?. The pages you need to read this week are on listed on the course schedule. Reading the introduction to this text, will help you better understand the important aspects of the approach we will be taking here for the rest of the course. Please give it a read. Also note that I will be supplementing our book for this course with some additional core readings. Those will be made available to you electronically through this course site. The schedule for these readings is also included on the course schedule.

Check that You Are Set Up with the Technology

Ok, if after reading the course documents and the introduction to our book you are still interested in this course (and I hope you are), we should make sure that you are properly setup with the technology we will be using for the course. You may have already completed this step, which is good, but double check just to make sure.

1. Setup Your Blog (if you haven’t already):
   One of the first things you should have read before even arriving here is the page entitled “Meet Your Prof and Get Oriented” from the main login page of this course. On this page, there is some important information under the heading “Getting Set Up.” If you missed this page, take a look now. Be sure that you have setup your blog account for the course as instructed. Again, all of this is explained on the page I just referenced..
2. Get a Gravatar: A “gravatar” is “globally recognized avatar,” which is fancy way of saying it’s a way of having your picture (or avatar) automatically placed next to your writing wherever you use an account with a given e-mail address. If you get one using the address you used when getting yourself set up for this course site, your image will automatically appear next to posts, comments, etc. on the site. This is a convenient way to manage your avatar. Also, it would be really nice to have one, as people tend to feel better connected when they can put a face with an online personality. Just go to gravatar.com and sign-up using the same e-mail address you used when you set things up at this learning.writing101.net course site. Once you do, it will just work. Thanks.

Start Blogging

Writing to your blog for the course will be the primary activity you engage in throughout this semester. Your blog will be the place where you draft your work, receive comments from others, revise it, and make it available for grading in your final portfolio.

1. Know How to Publish Writing to Your Individual Blog:
   Writing and publishing to your blog is what you will be doing mostly throughout the course. It’s not difficult to use the tools of the course to make this happen, but you will have to learn how. The video below gives a basic introduction to using your blog’s “Dashboard” to write and publish your writing. Check it out. If the embedded video feels a bit small, click the icon in the lower-right corner of the video, and you can see it at full screen.

 


2. Chime in on the “Conversation Center:”
   In addition to the writing you will be doing on your individual blog–for your major drafting and writing for the course–you will also be contributing regularly to a shared blog–a place where everyone in the course can write. I’m calling this the Conversation Center. I hope that this space truly becomes the center of activity for our course. You should post something there at least three times a week. I’m not talking about full drafts or anything like that but just conversational exchange. (If it helps to understand, I used to use Twitter for this function of the class.) I’m hoping also that this might be a place to chat back and forth about the reading for our course. I’d like the conversation here to be thoughtful and insightful, but your posts here don’t need to be very long. However, you do need to post three times a week. And respond to others. So, get started right now. Head over to the Conversation Center and introduce yourself.

 


3. Understand another specific Use of the Conversation Center:”
   We will also be using the “Reading/Research Journal” posting feature of the Conversation Center to write at least one substantial post per week–something a bit more formal than the ongoing conversational posts. Just select the “Reading/Research Journal” tab at the top of the Conversation Center to publish this weekly required bit of writing. It should focus primarily on our reading in the course. Each post should center on your response to one source of reading in our course and be at least 250 words long. The idea here is to quote from something you’ve read during the week, comment on it briefly, and provide the full and proper citation for the source. This will become invaluable practice in engaging in the “conversation of ideas” through your writing, integrating source material, and proper documentation. Remember, this is a required aspect of the course and it should be completed at least once a week. Below is a quick video to show you how it’s done.

   
   How to Post to the Reading/Research Journal

 
So, that’s Lesson 0–just some basic orientation really. If you have questions or comments about this post, please use the “comment” link at the bottom of the post. (There will be room for Lesson-specific or post-specific discussion beneath each item I post to my blog. This is another way that we will engage in discussion in the course–particularly when the discussion is about a specific blog item. An exchange of comments in response to our posts (i.e. your drafts) will become a major part of the course too. Why not give it a try now? When you are ready and when it is available, move on to Lesson 1.

One Last Thing

Oh, hold on a second, there’s one last thing. While most of the students in my online classes are top-notch hard workers, I just wanted to share an example of what not to do. (It’s good for a laugh, anyway.) Whatever you do this semester, don’t be this guy…

Don't be this guy :-)