Ed+371+FAQ

toc Welcome to Education 371, Reading For Learning, an online course at Capital University. The purpose of this page is to answer some of your questions. =Format of Class= This class is 100% online. There are no meetings in person, although you are welcome to contact me, your instructor, to set up an individual meeting. My telephone is 614-282-8012 and my email is cosborn2@capital.edu.

=Textbook= There is no paper textbook for you to buy. This wiki is your textbook. Free is good.

=Why This Class?= The State of Ohio requires that all licensed teachers have a course in how children learn to read. I have a bachelor's degree in Music Education and have been able to create a state-required course that has a lot of relevancy for music teachers.

=Week One= Don't judge the class by the week one material. Week one gives you the foundation you will need for the rest of the class and is kind of intense. I figure most of your other classes will be in a "getting to know you" phase and will be less intense. The other weeks are lighter than the first week.

=Hours= You probably have heard something about the Federal Definition of a Credit Hour and what that entails. For every credit hour, you typically spend one hour per week in the classroom and two hours working individually. The Federal Government came up with this definition because some of the for-profit colleges were taking advantage of federal educational grants. The Federal Definition suggests that for this online course you spend six hours per week--the two you would have spent in the classroom and the additional four.

Rather than worrying too much about clock time, plan to be thorough in your approach to the material. Take your time reading the material and watching the videos. Take notes, if you need to.If you do this, you will know this material really well, which will benefit you as a learner, a teacher, and a parent.

=Procrastination= Procrastination happens to the best of us. I know that online courses had existed when I was an undergraduate, I would have really struggled with staying on top of the work. Try to avoid procrastination but if you can't, PLEASE contact me so I can help you get on track.

=To Do= There is a schedule on the syllabus, that consists of generally two units per week. For each unit, there is a wiki page, and on each page is some kind of material plus an activity for you to do that allows you to apply the material. Once you have engaged with the material, write a post and post it on the appropriate forum (there's one for each unit) in iLearn. You can also email posts to me if you want them to be private. Please write your posts in a word processor and save them before posting them--you never know when iLearn might crash and you don't want to have to redo a bunch of work.

=Weekly=

Plan to do the units as outlined on the syllabus.

=Early=

You are welcome to finish the class early.

=Final=

The final is already posted. You are welcome to do the final when you have finished the units.

=Tests= There are no tests. I don't believe in them. You are assessed based on what you write in the discussion posts.

=Problem=

If you have a problem that makes working on Ed Psych difficult or impossible for a time, please contact me as soon as possible so I know what is going on.

=Getting Started=

Log into iLearn and find the Reading for Learning course there. From that point, you can look at the syllabus or go directly to the first Course Document, which is Reading. Once you have read the material, respond to the questions in a post. Post your response in the forum that is in the Course Documents just below the Reading page.

=Grades=

You will receive a grade for each post. Since your post is the only way I have of knowing what you understand about the material, please be thorough in responding to the questions for each unit.

=Feedback=

I will provide feedback for your posts. My feedback is often designed to extend your thinking, rather than corrective. If you have some kind of misunderstanding, I will email you with clarification and make sure you understand the topic.

=Collaboration=

Feel free to collaborate with others in this course. Students who work together on the material often get a lot out of the class because of that collaboration.

=Overwhelmed!!=

There is a lot to this class, and it can get to be overwhelming. Remember to take things one step at a time. If you are having a hard time getting started due to feeling overwhelmed, spend a few minutes looking through the possibilities because some units are shorter than others. Get started with a short unit and that may help you to feel successful.