Your Data and Privacy

This information is relevant only for the web services Professor Rosenberg uses and not those owned and/or operated by the college/university, the use of which may be required in your course.

• Never provide any personal information beyond your name and email address to any of the applications that request it - e.g., your phone number on the appointment application.  In cases where such fields are "required," and as such, you can't submit the form without it, enter fake data as common-sense dictates.

• All issues of data privacy and records are handled by your institution.

General Technology Policy

Email

You must have an email address to which you have daily access.  Many university email systems will flag as spam those emails sent from outside its own domain.  Therefore, we strongly suggest that you not use your university email account.  Instead, most students use their personal email accounts.  But, if you'd rather, set up an account on a free email service (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) that you use specifically for your course and which you can then delete at its conclusion.  Whatever you decide, please remember that failure to receive an email does not absolve you from its content.

Technology in Your Course

The Learning Management System (LMS; Canvas, Blackboard, etc.) is the hub of your course.  You'll use it constantly to receive and submit assignments, receive course and assignment announcements, check your grades, etc.

1. All of the following activities may be completed or will take place online—either through the LMS or on the lourosenberg.org website. Therefore, it’s important that you gain a solid understanding of how to use your LMS and familiarize yourself with this website early in the semester to prevent any unnecessary difficulties.

   • uploading and downloading files

Many of the files downloaded for this course require Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free software program available here. It is essential to use Adobe Acrobat Reader specifically for viewing PDF files, as other PDF viewers—particularly browser plugins—may not display all features, such as embedded comments. For instance, when reviewing an essay commentary PDF, using an incompatible viewer might hide critical comments, leading to missed instructions or feedback.

1. • file conversion (from one format to another - e.g. a docx file to a pdf file)

   • booking appointments with the professor

   • watching (streaming) assigned videos

   • posting text and files to discussion boards

   • completing online assignments such as exams with a special browser (this is explained in detail should this type of assignment occur in your course)

   • retrieving e-texts and handouts (accessible by clicking the "Handouts" link on the course's homepage)

   • accessing your course grades and other participatory information

   • Meeting via Zoom for certain (or all) class meetings

   • other reasonable uses of technology as the course, instruction, and/or assignment dictates

2. All essays are submitted only in Adobe PDF format.  Any other file format (such as .doc or .docx, .pages, etc.) will not be considered.

Assignments requiring file submissions that are inaccessible for any reason (corrupted, incorrect format, etc.) will receive a 0 grade and may not be resubmitted.

3. Announcements are posted on the “Announcements” message board as well as emailed.

In most cases, the LMS uses your university email address by default to send course announcements. However, some LMS platforms allow students to provide an alternate email address. This option is particularly useful for students who prefer using a non-university email address, as detailed in the "Email" section above.

4. Incompatibility with the online technology required for this course is not a valid excuse for missing assignments or failing to complete them. If you encounter technical issues, contact your university's Help Desk for assistance. Refer to number 1 above for examples of the online technologies used in your course.

5. Mobile and tablet versions of websites often lack the necessary functionality and screen space required for most course tasks. Therefore, students should use a desktop computer whenever possible to complete their work.

Online Meetings (Classes & Office Hours)

Be sure to download and test the Zoom software well before your first scheduled meeting.

All students will use the Zoom meeting application for all meetings, course and Office Hours, regardless of a university's official meeting application.  Furthermore, even if your course meets in-person, there may be certain classes that meet online; and, in this case, you'll be notified and provided with the Zoom Invitation (via a class announcement and/or a calendar post).

• The Zoom lecture meeting links are located on your university's Blackboard or Canvas course homepage.

For Office Hours meetings, you will receive the Zoom meeting link in the confirmation email.

• When signing in for a lecture or appointment, your Zoom name must reflect exactly that which appears on the official course roster.  Unrecognized users will not be admitted into the Zoom meeting rooms, and, for purposes of policy, you will be considered absent until you rectify the issue. Absolutely no policy exceptions will be made regarding missed coursework or classes because you were not admitted to the Zoom meetings due to your use of an unrecognized name.

• The use of cellphones and tablets are strongly discouraged because they lack much of the necessary functionality to successfully participate in your online meetings.

• You must use a webcam and microphone in order to participate in online meetings.

• You must be in a quiet place without loud, disruptive background noise. If you become a disruption, you will be removed from the meeting. For purposes of policy, removal from a meeting is equivalent to removal from the classroom due to disruption.

• Meetings are not the place to test your technology. Make sure that it operates properly before your meeting. Once you have your software installed, click here to join a test meeting.

• Once the class begins, the meeting room is "locked," which means that you will not be able to gain entry. This is especially important to consider for any in-class assignments as well as courses or particular meetings where attendance is taken.

• All meetings, including, but not limited to, intellectual property (shared and uploaded files, screencasted materials such as PowerPoint presentations), are owned and copyrighted under the copyright provision below, and may not be recorded, shared or accessed in any way without written consent.

Working Online

Uploading Your Essays

To avoid last-minute technological issues, I strongly recommend against waiting until the “eleventh hour” to upload your essay.  Submitting early ensures you have time to resolve any potential problems before the deadline.  Remember:  only the PDF file format is allowed.  Submissions in any other file format will not be considered.

Completing Online Assignments

Online assignments, sometimes called "modules," are completed entirely online.  Multiple-choice and free-response questions are the most common.

Many online assignments are timed—you have x-number of minutes to complete it. Therefore, always make sure that you have a reliable Internet connection and that you won’t be disturbed while completing the online assignment.

Using Your Course’s Message Board

Your course has its own message board that is available only to students enrolled in your course.  The message board is especially helpful to those who missed a lecture, who don’t understand a particular topic or assignment, or for common discussions.  Additionally, you are able to upload files with your posts (which enables you to send out a draft of an essay, for example, for others to read and comment).

The Right Software

Because technology issues of any kind are not valid excuses for missed assignments, handouts, etc., it is important that you ensure that your computer has the most up-to-date software.  These are quite basic capabilities that virtually all recently built computers possess—even older computers shouldn’t have any problems.  However, as is sometimes the case with Internet technology, you may have to tweak your browser’s permissions.  This is also very easily done, and your browser will walk you through the steps.  If you encounter any issues, you should visit your university’s Help Desk.

Your computer must (and probably already does) have the following capabilities*:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader (for viewing PDF files)

• Java and Ajax (for web applications)

• compatible web browser

I recommend using a Chromium based web browser such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.  There have been issues with Apple's Safari browser as well as mobile versions of all browsers.

• Microsoft Word (or other word processor application)

• the ability to handle streaming media (i.e. YouTube videos, podcasts, etc.)

• any additional software applications that are required to complete the course—such as the Zoom online meeting software and any publisher-produced electronic materials.  See your course's syllabus for specific information about any publisher-produced materials that may be required.

Nota Bena

• If you experience a problem with a website, try using another browser or computer.

• As aforementioned, be sure that you submit your essays only in the PDF format.  Essays submitted in any other format will not be graded. Most word-processing applications offer PDF file conversion - as a "Save As", "Download As", "Export As", etc. You can also use PDF2Go to convert your file to PDF.