Introduction

Many of you may be returning students to the Online environment, and some of you may be brand new. In either case, this Course Orientation is designed to help you understand how this course specifically operates. Some of this information may help you in other courses, but please remember these instructions are specific to this course. Not only will this orientation help you to understand the work flow of this course, it will also introduce you to the BlackBoard features that will be used in this course. Hopefully by providing you with this information it will reduce the amount of time you spend learning to navigate the course and increase the amount of time you spend learning the objectives taught through these tools, ultimately making you successful in this online course.

If you want more information about online learning, you can participate in the MSJC Online Learner Orientation (this is not required, but may be beneficial to you if you are a first time online student). To register for the Orientation go to: http://www.msjconline.com/OnlineOrientationInstructions.pdf and follow the instructions.

In this course you will be asked to submit all assignments in BlackBoard. **Assignments submitted via E-Mail will not be accepted for credit unless they are requested from the instructor.** There are three tools that you will use to submit assignments: Blogs, Assignment Links and Tests. All of these tools will be explained and practiced in this orientation.

By the end of this orientation you will:

1. Be able to navigate through the BlackBoard course environment for this course

2. Know how to communicate using the Blog tool

3. Know how to upload assignments via the assignment link

4. Know how to take a test in BlackBoard

5. Know where to find additional help resources