Before Your First Class
Getting your Textbooks
You should wait until after your first class and review the course syllabus before purchasing textbooks as I may have made changes of which the bookstore is not yet aware.
Getting to Class
If your course meets face-to-face, your classroom location is found on your schedule. Notification of a classroom's change of location is sent out via email. You can also check the homepage or the "Announcements" page on the course's website.
If yours is an online class, it meets via Zoom, and its Zoom link is found on your course's homepage. While your university may use a different online meeting platform (such as WebEx, Teams, Google Meet, etc.), I use the Zoom platform exclusively. Therefore, be sure to download and familiarize yourself with it before your first class meeting.
You must always use the most recent version of the Zoom software. Failure to do so may inhibit your progress in the course (click here for technology policy and here to learn how to keep Zoom up-to-date).
Getting Zoom
Whether or not your course meets face-to-face or online, you will need Zoom.
Download Zoom and install it.
Your Zoom name must appear exactly as it does on the course roster. Those Zoom users who are not on the official course roster will not be allowed admittance into any meetings - class lectures or Office Hour appointments with me. Any penalties incurred because of this issue are not able to be waived.
Join a test meeting and set up your audio and video.
Next, you'll need the meeting link for your course. This is located on the official course site hosted by your university - almost always either Canvas or Blackboard.
You are strongly discouraged from using the Zoom browser extension or the mobile versions of the Zoom application in place of the full, desktop version because they may lack certain functionality and compatibility that you may need. So, the rule-of-thumb: use them only if you must, but be prepared to find a different solution if it becomes necessary.