June 2014

Re: EDR 667, Section 2: Content Literacy, Elementary

Dear Student:
Welcome to EDR 627 online at GS!" # am loo$in% &or'ard to (meetin%) all o& you online on June 24 &rom *+6,m in our
irtual Cla--room. /0e ,ur,o-e o& t0i- letter i- to noti&y you o& -e1eral lo%i-tical matter- in relation to t0e cour-e. 2lea-e
read t0i- letter care&ully and &ollo' all o& t0e in-truction- contained 0erein to ma$e -ure you %et o&& to a %ood -tart.
Online Learning in General
3ou -0ould e4,ect to -,end a- muc0 time in -tudy and ,re,aration, or ,er0a,- more, a- a cla--room+5a-ed cour-e
-ince you are mana%in% your o'n learnin% u-in% t0e in&ormation and re-ource- located in 6lac$5oard. /0i-
re7uire- t0at you 5e -el&+di-ci,lined, moti1ated, and 0a1e -ome -$ill- u-in% a net'or$ed com,uter and a We5
5ro'-er. At a minimum, you should have experience using email, sending email attachments, browsing the web
and being familiar with Blackboard. Come in willing to take a few risks with technology as wellwe are going to
be developing a Weebly website to store all of your assignments and learning throughout the course.
/0e content and ri%or o& an online cour-e o&&ered 5y GS! i- e7ui1alent to t0e on+cam,u-, in+cla-- 1er-ion o& t0e
-ame cour-e. #& t0e trut0 5e told, most online students have conceded that the online course is more rigorous
than what they typically experience in the face-to-face courses, but well worth it for those who are self-
directed learners. /0e %ood ne'- i- t0at you do not 0a1e to %et dre--ed and dri1e to cla--, and you can 0old your
,art o& t0e cla--room (di-cu--ion) at 2:00 a.m. i& you -o c0oo-e" 851iou-ly on irtual Cla-- 9eetin% ni%0t-
:t0ere are 4; you 'ill need to 5e ,re-enta5le a- 'e 'ill 5e -eein% eac0 ot0er 1ia our 'e5cam-"
#& t0i- i- your &ir-t time ta$in% an online cour-e at GS!, you mi%0t 'ant to c0ec$ out t0e 6lac$5oard tutorial-
&ound at: 0tt,:<<'''.%1-u.edu<it<learn
Before class even begins.
2lea-e acce-- t0e cour-e -ylla5u- online ,rior to June 24. # 0a1e ,o-ted t0e -ylla5u- on 6lac$5oard in t0e (Cour-e
#n&ormation) menu item, alon% 'it0 a 'elcome 1ideo t0at %i1e- detailed in&ormation a5out our cla-- and 0o' to u-e
6lac$5oard. # 'ould al-o a-$ you to loo$ o1er t0e Before !lass Begins" lin# &ound in t0e (Learnin% !nit-) menu item.
2lea-e com,lete t0e ice 5rea$er :#ntroduce 3our-el&; acti1ity ,rior to June 24 5y -ettin% u, a Wee5ly.com account and
creatin% an intro ,a%e. #t i- ad1i-a5le to %et &amiliar 'it0 our 6lac$5oard -ite and to ,otentially ,rint o&& all o& t0e
readin%- &ound in t0e (Readin%- &or t0e Cour-e) menu item. (Learnin% !nit-) 0ou-e t0e detail- &or eac0 'ee$=-
a--i%nment-, readin%-, acti1itie- and di-cu--ion-. # 'ill not acti1ate 'ee$ly &older- until /0ur-day eac0 'ee$. /o acce--
6lac$5oard -im,ly %o to t0e &ollo'in% addre--: 0tt,:<<my55.%1-u.edu and enter your GS! u-ername<,a--'ord.
!reating your $ummer !lassroom
9any o& t0e re7uired a--i%nment- &or t0i- cour-e cannot 5e com,leted 'it0out -tudent interaction. /0ere&ore # am a-$in%
eac0 o& you to create a -ummer cla--room o& -tudent- :at lea-t *; '0ere you can try out your ne'ly learned -trate%ie- and
collect -tudent 'or$ -am,le- 'it0 actual c0ildren. /0e-e -tudent- mu-t 5e in >inder%arten t0rou%0 ?
t0
%rade. @l'ay- 5e
-ure to %et ,arent ,ermi--ion. 3ou are a5le to u-e your o'n c0ildren i& t0ey are o& elementary a%e. 3ou 'ill only need to
meet to%et0er a5out *+4 time- t0rou%0out t0e -i4 'ee$-. We 'ill di-cu-- -,eci&ic- o& t0i- durin% our &ir-t irtual 9eetin%.
2lea-e let me $no' @S@2 i& you 0a1e trou5le 'it0 t0i-.
%sername & 'assword
Eac0 -tudent 0a- 5een %i1en a !-ername and a 2a--'ord &or 6lac$5oard. #& you need a--i-tance 'it0 your !-ername and
2a--'ord, ,lea-e contact t0e @cademic Com,utin% de,artment /oll Aree: ?BB+4*B+74?? or 0el,de-$C%1-u.edu 5y June
20 -o you are ready to 5e%in ,artici,atin% in t0e cour-e on June 24.
(ardware)$oftware *e+uirements
Student- mu-t 0a1e acce-- to -u&&icient 0ard'are and -o&t'are to com,lete t0e cour-e. /0e minimum re7uirement- to
acce-- t0e cour-e material- t0rou%0 t0e #nternet are:
@cce-- to a (igh $peed ,nternet connection :a modem or dial+u, connection i- not recommended
5ecau-e o& t0e need to acce-- -treamin% audio or 1ideo &ile-;. Do'e1er, you may acce-- audio or
1ideo &ile- &rom one o& t0e GS! com,uter la5-, 5ut you 'ill need to 5rin% your o'n 0ead,0one-.
@cce-- to a micro,0one and 'e5 camera and<or 'e5 camera 'it0 a 5uilt+in micro,0one.
9icro-o&t Word and 2o'er2oint
Goo%le C0rome, Aire&o4 or Sa&ari a- your 'e5 5ro'-er. #nternet E4,lorer i- not a recommended 'e5
5ro'-er &or t0i- online cour-e.
2lu%+in- &or 1ie'in% 1ideo+-treamin% and li-tenin% to audio &ile- are de,endent on an u,dated 1er-ion
o& Ea1a. #& you continue to 0a1e ,ro5lem- you may need to u,date your Ja1a. Go to
0tt,:<<'''.Ea1a.com &or 'indo'- mac0ine-. #n&ormation on 0o' to u,date your Ea1a on a mac can
5e &ound 0ere atF 0tt,:<<'''.Ea1a.com<en<do'nload<0el,<macGEa1aGu,date.4ml
-extboo#
/0ere are not any re7uired te4t5oo$- &or t0i- cour-e. @ll readin%- can 5e &ound on 6lac$5oard.
!lass .eetings
@ll cla--e- 'ill 5e online, includin% our 4 irtual Cla-- 9eetin%- and 'or$ may 5e com,leted at any time durin% t0e
'ee$ :/0ur-day until Wedne-day at 10,m;. 3ou 'ill notice t0at eac0 'ee$ 0a- deadline- and t0e ne4t 'ee$=- cla--
o,en- eac0 /0ur-day ni%0t.
#=m loo$in% &or'ard to %ettin% to $no' you t0i- -eme-ter and 0el,in% ma$e your EDR 627 cour-e a -ucce--&ul one"
Don=t 0e-itate to contact me 'it0 7ue-tion-.
Sincerely,
9e%an J. Areudi%mann
@&&iliate 2ro&e--or o& Elementary Education
Grand alley State !ni1er-ity
Colle%e o& Education
*26C Deo-
616+H70+B614
&reudi%mC%1-u.edu