Friday, August 22, 2008

Friday, August 22

Class officially begins on Monday, August 25. Just like classroom-based classes, this online class officially begins on Monday - and you have assignments that are due on Monday. So please try to get started on the class over the weekend if at all possible. It will be a lot easier if you can get Monday's assignments for this class completed before the craziness of Monday actually arrives!

Getting started. To get started, go to the class website, and click on "Week 1 Orientation" for a checklist of activities, including the activities that are due on Monday.

Contact me with any questions. Please let me know if you have any questions as you get started with the class! The best way to reach me is my OU email address, laura-gibbs@ou.edu. Although I don't check my email as often over the weekend as I do during the week, I will get back to you over the weekend as soon as I can, especially if you have a question that you need answered in order to complete one of the assignments.

Ning invitations. We will be using Ning.com for blogging and class discussion. You should have already received a Ning.com invitation for this class, but if for some reason the invitation did not reach you, let me know, and I'll be glad to reissue the invitation.

Your Ning name and email. After you have logged on and created your Ning account, you may want to change the email address as you are using to log on to the system or change your display name. Here are the Instructions for Adjusting Your Ning Settings. If you have any questions about using the Ning, please let me know!

Ning Profile image. Please feel free to play around with the image you are using in your Ning Profile. You can use a photo of yourself, of course - but you can also use any kind of picture you want: a picture of your pet, a cartoon character, your favorite food, an abstract design - it's entirely up to you! Also, you can change the colors and layout of your Ning page if you want. Here are some Instructions for Changing Your Profile Layout and Theme - it's not required, but you might enjoy changing the Profile layout and design around to make it your own!

(Cartoon by Rich Tennant)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Wednesday, August 20

It's now Wednesday, during what you might call the "pre-week" for online classes!

Working ahead. All the assignments for Week 1 and Week 2 and Week 3 are available now for those of you who want to start working ahead. To get started, go to the class website, and click on "Week 1 Orientation" for a checklist of activities.
Class officially begins Monday, August 25. Just like with classroom-based classes, this online class officially begins on Monday, August 25 - and you have assignments that are due on Monday. So please try to work ahead, if you can. Even if you just get started over the weekend, that will be great - if you put off the assignments until the day that they are due, it usually makes those assignments more stressful. Working ahead is probably the single best strategy you can choose for this class!

Ning invitations. We will be using Ning.com for blogging and class discussion. You should have already receiving a Ning.com invitation for this class, but if for some reason the invitation did not reach you, send me an email (laura-gibbs@ou.edu), and I'll be glad to reissue the invitation.

Ning settings. After you have logged on and created your Ning account, you may want to change the email address as you are using to log on to the system, change your display name, or upload a new image to use in your profile. Here are the Instructions for Adjusting Your Ning Settings. If you have any questions about using the Ning, please let me know!

My schedule. I teach full-time online, so you will find me available to you a solid 40 hours per week, every week. I do most of my work during regular business hours on Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday. I try to schedule my out-of-office commitments on Wednesdays, so I may be a bit more slow to respond to your emails on Wednesday than on the other days of the week - but if you send me an email during the day on Wednesday, I'll definitely get back to you by the end of the day. I also check email over the weekend, although less frequently than during the regular work week. So, please don't hesitate to contact me by email if you have any questions about the course. I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

Books. There are no books required for the Myth-Folklore or the World Literature class. For the Indian Epics class, there are four books required, which are available at the OU Bookstore, but which you can also find at used/discounted prices from online booksellers such as Amazon. Here's more Information about the Books for Indian Epics - let me know if you have any questions about that! As for textbooks in general, here's some comic relief! :-)


(Steve Kelley, cartoonist)
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