Getting Started. To begin, click this Orientation link where you will find the list of assignments for Week 1. You will start by designing your class schedule, and then you will create your blog. I hope you will have fun with all of that, and if you run into any problems or have questions, let me know. I'm very grateful when people start early because you can alert me to anything I might need to fix before the official start of the semester.
Email. You can contact me via email anytime (laura-gibbs@ou.edu), and you can also send me Canvas messages. If you write me during the day, I will get back to you that day — probably pretty quickly! Teaching these online classes is my full-time job, so that means I'm easy to reach by email any weekday. When I'm not going to be at my desk for an extended period of time on a weekday, I'll update the announcements to let you know.
Please call me Laura! I will be on a first-name basis with all of you, and I hope you will feel comfortable just calling me Laura. In fact, we are going to be students together this semester, since I'm a student in Myth-Folklore this semester, doing all the same assignments as you are (I did that last semester for Indian Epics, and it was so much fun!).
Daily Announcements. Starting on the official first day of classes (August 19), I'll be updating the announcements every day. If you want to subscribe by email, use the "subscribe" box in the sidebar of this blog. Type in the email address you prefer and follow the instructions to confirm your subscription. Then, when the daily announcements begin, you'll receive them by email each morning.
CAS Orientation. As you'll see, there is a week-long Orientation specifically for this class, so you do not need to complete the CAS Online Orientation. If you are taking other online classes in addition to this one, you should complete the CAS Orientation, but you do not need it for this class.
Twitter. Although there won't be new announcements until the semester officially begins, there will be new Twitter items which you can see in the sidebar of the blog or at Twitter: @OnlineMythIndia. Twitter is a great place to connect with writers, storytellers, and musicians, along with museums and libraries; I find new things to share at Twitter every day, and I hope you will enjoy learning from Twitter as part of this class.
Majors in the class. While setting up the course rosters, I realized I could download a spreadsheet that shows the majors of students enrolled in the class. i thought that was pretty cool! Here is a word cloud; you should be able to find your major there: pre-med and pre-PA are the two biggest groups, and I think that's great: storytelling is a good skill for health professionals to have!
CAS Orientation. As you'll see, there is a week-long Orientation specifically for this class, so you do not need to complete the CAS Online Orientation. If you are taking other online classes in addition to this one, you should complete the CAS Orientation, but you do not need it for this class.
Twitter. Although there won't be new announcements until the semester officially begins, there will be new Twitter items which you can see in the sidebar of the blog or at Twitter: @OnlineMythIndia. Twitter is a great place to connect with writers, storytellers, and musicians, along with museums and libraries; I find new things to share at Twitter every day, and I hope you will enjoy learning from Twitter as part of this class.
Majors in the class. While setting up the course rosters, I realized I could download a spreadsheet that shows the majors of students enrolled in the class. i thought that was pretty cool! Here is a word cloud; you should be able to find your major there: pre-med and pre-PA are the two biggest groups, and I think that's great: storytelling is a good skill for health professionals to have!
And to finish up these early announcements, here is a video I never get tired of — a Mister Rogers remix called Garden of Your Mind. I grew up watching Mister Rogers, and his show was a very important part of my childhood. As you get started with this class, you will see that Mister Rogers' curiosity-driven approach to learning and sharing is a big part of how this class works.
