Home

Welcome!

Welcome to Austin Community College's Online Spanish courses given by Dr. Tim Altanero!

These pages contain general information and answers to frequent questions about the types of courses offered but do not substitute for the full orientation materials contained in Blackboard.

Course types

There are 3 types of courses offered.

• Face-to-Face is the traditional course offering. Courses meet twice per week and no online experience is necessary. You will be required to complete your homework online but this is not an internet course. Attendance is required with a maximum of 3 absences.

• Hybrid is partially online. These courses meet once per week. 51% of the course is presented online and 49% in class. Attendance is required with a maximum of 2 absences.

• Online is just that. 100% of the course is presented online in an asynchronous manner. There are no required meetings. There are no "live" online meetings.

Syllabi and course availability

The syllabi will be online and available to the public on the day the course begins. Sometimes it is available a little earlier. You can find them by going to the Course Schedule on the ACC website, finding your desired course, and clicking on the word "Syllabus" (in blue). If there is no blue link to the syllabus, it is not ready yet.

Courses begin on the dates specified in the Course Schedule on the ACC website. I know that many students want to start right away but please wait until the course starts. The course may be visible in Blackboard but it may not be ready, or complete, until the first class day. Please do not "start" the course before it officially starts - work could be erased as the course is set up to go.

Registering for a course

If a course is full I cannot add you!

Please register early for the best selection.

Registration matters are handled through the registrar’s offices on the various campuses or via the web. Courses are not overloaded and I cannot "squeeze" one more student in. The course limit is truly the maximum number of students I can effectively serve.

If the course you want is full, waitlisting is available. If you would like to join the list, please do so. Often a good number students on waitlists are accommodated as other students choose other classes.

There is no "queue jumping". This means that students on the waitlist are accommodated first. There is no way to bypass the others on the waitlist. Please do not ask - it is utterly unfair to all of the other students on the waitlist who registered early.

Late add

Adding a course late means that your are behind. Students who ask to add a course late risk their success.

There are other courses to consider that start later. Better to consider those than try to add a course that has already started.

Occasionally a student *may* be added late due to unforeseen circumstances. There are no deadline extensions. If a student adds late - which is strongly discouraged - the student is expected to meet the course deadlines.

Course Materials

The ACC bookstores are the only official places to buy course materials. There may be other, less expensive, options for purchasing materials. The professor will publish these options in Blackboard on the first day of class.

It is not recommended to try to buy materials from sources not explicitly approved by the professor.

All courses work with an online code that you must purchase - if you try to buy a book and there's no code, you don't have what you need. If you rent a book, and it doesn't come with the code, you don't have what you need. If you buy a code and it's not for the correct edition or access level, again, you don't have what you need. If you buy a code and someone has already used it, you can't use it again. If you buy a code and it's really cheap, it may be because it's not valid for the duration of the course. Etc. There are lots and lots of ways to get the wrong materials.

There are two ways to get the right materials - purchase from ACC bookstores or wait until the first day of class to learn of potentially cheaper options. If you wait until the first day of class you will need to purchase right away - deadlines are not extended to wait for students to acquire their materials. The materials are available NOW at the ACC bookstores, or you may wait and purchase instant-access USING INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED BY YOUR PROFESSOR on the first day of class.

Only digital materials are required. You may purchased printed materials for your own reference if you wish at additional cost. You cannot participate in the class without the digital materials.

Materials are valid for all levels of Spanish at ACC (online, hybrid, or not). You do not need to purchase materials again for Spanish unless your code license expires. I believe the license is for at least 3 years and we hope you will finish all levels by then.

You get all materials with any official package, meaning that if you are starting with Spanish I, you are good for the rest of the levels. If you begin with Spanish IV and feel ripped off, think about it. If you were sold a super-cheap, chopped up book containing only the last few chapters, you wouldn't be able to review anything from previous chapters.

After you have purchased your materials, go to VHL Central to create your account and get started.

https://www.vhlcentral.com/

All courses use Blackboard, the college course management system. Access to it is available when the semester starts or slightly before. Once there, you will find full orientation information.

Further Information

For further information, please contact the Foreign Language Department.

Welcome to ACC! I hope you'll find your exploration of foreign language and ancillary fields rewarding and educational!