IMPORTANT STUFF TO READ

IMPORTANT STUFF TO READ BEFORE YOU SIGN UP...

AND THEN READ AGAIN AFTER YOU DO SIGN UP

A first thing is to make sure you are taking the right course for the right reason. Too often individuals will sign up for an online course because they will not have to come to campus every week, even though the course itself might be more demanding or less relevant to their needs than a course that is offered only on campus. In particular, students who need to hold a "C" for financial aid or other reasons should be very careful in their choices, since with an online course it is much more easy to fall behind or not to understand fully what is being expected.

Since these are online courses you must have adequate access to the Internet. "Adequate" means that you are able to log on daily and remained logged on for at least an hour at a time. A dial-up connection is adequate, although a broadband connection would be ideal since I will sometimes have additional materials available through podcasting.. Keep in mind that there is a general expectation that you will be working with online material (lectures, quizzes, some other online assignments) at least three hours a week, although you may set your own schedule. Note that since generally a course outline supposes three hours outside of the classroom for each hour inside, you should plan on allowing up to nine hours a week more for reading and exercises from your text and other study activities. Please do not take an online class with the thought that less is going to be required than would be the case taking the same class on campus.

I am using the Internet Classroom Assistant at Nicenet.org for all classes, and this will be my primary means of sending out messages. However, each time you go online I recommend you start at my Internetlogic.org site for any special messages I may post.

You should have a reliable email address all your own (you can get these for free at Yahoo.com or Hotmail.com or at other sites), and you should save messages about the course in a separate folder. Make sure that you do not use a spam filter that would keep my messages from getting through (another reason to set up a special email account). When you sign up for Nicenet, make sure to edit your profile so that messages I send through Nicenet go to your own email address. A special note: please do not mail from a CSUN address, since ordinarily I cannot reply to you through that address.

I do have a backup site for those times (not too often, I hope) that there are server problems on my Internetlogic.org site. You should call that up now and bookmark it: http://www.internetlogic.us

The midterm and final will be on campus, either at Pierce or at Mission. Those who live out of the Los Angeles area must arrange proctoring well in advance through a community college or university near them (or a high school or public library, if necessary).

For exams you may use a pack of up to a hundred 3x5 index cards with whatever notes you find useful. Also, you should bring a stamped self-addressed envelope if you want your exam returned.

There is a definite schedule to follow for these courses. In none of them is it possible to cram at the last minute, and for this reason I have weekly assignments that count toward your total grade. For most assignments there is also a period past which they can no longer be done for credit.

If you find you cannot keep up with any this or any community college course you should drop it officially. Do not expect your instructor to do this for you. Also, do not expect a grade of "incomplete" except at the time of the final in a case of extreme emergency.

Ordinarily, unless I am traveling and away from a computer, I will reply to questions or comments within 24 hours. I will, however, alert you to those times when I may not be able to get back to you as quickly.