Hello Writers!

Whether you are a new or returning student, being an online student can be intimidating, confusing, and just plain difficult!

So for these first few days, you get to vent about it! When we start class this week, you will have a chance to share your concerns with each other on the discussion board. Maybe give each other some advice or just a good old bit of support. Believe me — online instructors have many of the same worries you do, even if we’ve been teaching online for a while. 

As you are reading this post on our OpenLab class site, you have already done some of the challenging work of learning how to set up your OpenLab account and find our site. We will use this site for a variety of activities, including accessing the To-Do Lists and course materials; writing posts (like the post you are reading right now); participating in discussions on our Discussion Board; and presenting materials for peer workshop and review.

On the Blackboard site, you will upload your final versions of papers for a grade on a tool called SafeAssign, keep track of your online attendance, and also receive course announcements, including  copies of the To-Do Lists.

Right now, I’d like you explore this OpenLab site. You will see at the top of the page a series of drop down menus you can access. Some of the menu items will be populated as we progress through the class.

There is information about Blackboard and the OpenLab and links to tutorials on the College’s “connectivity” page:

http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/continuity/student.aspx

On Wednesday, Aug. 26, I’ll make visible  the first TO-DO List for August 27. (You will not see this before Wednesday!)

Among items on this first TO-DO List will be individual posts with introductions to our class syllabus and the course agenda. These two items are crucial to understanding how our class works and to understanding how you can do well in the course. They are so important, I will link them here: