Some of you may have questions about different features of the course. So I will try to anticipate your questions and provide some answers that should orient you.

For some of you this is your first on-line course. Eventually our educational systems will catch up with the available technologies ---- I suppose this course is one of my efforts to contribute to this task. Since it is a first for many of you, I thought it might be helpful to give you a bit of a guided tour of my website.

1) To go to my general website, click on my Homepage.

2) You will find a yellow table on my Homepage and you will find the link to this course in the box in the center column in the table under "Summer, 2009." If you go directly to the course website, you will miss the picture of me by my pool in Palm Springs, CA --- reservations required.

3) When you click on "PHL 370 summer 2009" all of the linking webpages for this course come up.

4) You don't really need the "Course Description for Registration" webpage anymore since you are already registered. So you can go straight to the "Syllabus" webpage.

5) Click on the "Syllabus" webpage and you will find all that you would expect to find on a Syllabus: what the course is about; requirements for the course; grading scale; etc.. Since this is an on-line course you will find the technology (computer) requirements for the course.

6) The "Course Schedule" webpage will be a major focus of attention for your efforts. It designates your reading assignments and tasks in terms of weeks with the due dates for the Threaded Discussions, Essays, and (optional) Web Conferences clearly designated. Keeping up with your assignments is very important in an on-line course. It is easy to slide into a belief that, if you are not going to "class," you can set a more leisurely pace for yourself. This is not the case. As things unfold throughout the course, I may be altering  some material. If I alter anything, in the Course schedule, I will send you an e-mail to inform you about the changes.

7) The "Course Assignment Deadlines" gives you the activities deadlines at a glance.

8) The next 3 webpages are the essay topics. These questions can also serve as a reflective exercise For this reason I usually post the topics early in the essay period. When the topics are posted, I will send an e-mail to notify you. Please note that the essays are complex so be sure that you address each part. Note also that there is a length expectation for your essays. You have to learn to get to the point quickly and yet be thorough in your analyses and presentation. Balance - not excessive verbiage --- is everything here.

9) The Threaded Discussions are programmed and posted one week prior to the due date for the TD. The assignments to the groups are made randomly and change with each assignment. The group assignments are to be found at the bottom of the webpage for the various assignments. I send around an e-mail to notify you when the TD has been posted, groups assigned, and that it is ready for your participation.

One last VERY IMPORTANT matter. Please make one or two early postings for each assignment so that the others in the group will have something to which to respond. And don't just sit in front of your computer and type in all of your comments at the same time. That does not constitute a "discussion."

A note about my participation in the Threaded Discussions. I do monitor the Threaded Discussion as you are working on them. However, I rarely enter into the discussion itself. My approach is that my students should battle over issues without my interloping. I frequently find that, if I were inclined to say something in the midst of a discussion, by exercising a bit of patience, one of the members of the group would say something similar. So I do not want students to wait for an "authoritative" statement on my part. The dialogue creates its own form of authority.

11) The "Web Conference (audio chat rooms)" webpage tells you how to access Microsoft live meeting, the tool for the OPTIONAL Web Conferences, and how to use it. It gives expectations for the Web Conferences and participation in them. It also gives a schedule for the Web Conferences and their topics. Topics may change as we go through the course because of new issues that might arise. You may participate in  3 of the scheduled chats for 10 extra-credit points for each Web Conference. I have staggered the days for the Web Conferences so that everyone should have some opportunity to engage in this activity. I suggest a headset for the Web Conferences. I got one of mine --- a Plantronics ---- at Circuit City for about $35 and another --- an Altec Lansing --- at Target for $39. Each Web Conference has its own Meeting ID. The Meeting IDs are listed on the Web Conference webpage

12) The two webpages, "Readings" and "Other Helpful Links" are self-explanatory.

13) The "Q&A" webpage should also be self-explanatory.

Please be sure to check your e-mail regularly --- I suggest every day ---- to keep up with any messages I may send you about the procedures of the course and in response to any questions that might arise from different members of the group.

Be sure to monitor the contents of your mailboxes to be sure that you have space there to receive messages from me. If you want your e-mail to arrive at an address other than your Lotus Notes address, go to <address.udayton.edu> to forward your mail to your desired address.

Finally, if you see any discrepancies --- dates, assignments, etc. ---- on the course website, PLEASE notify me immediately so that I can clarify or correct the matter. I will not take offense at this. There is so much information on these webpages that I am bound to make some errors. You may be perfect, but I certainly am not.

Any questions about any of this? Let me know.