Welcome to the course tour through English
1102 online, English Composition II at College of
DuPage. This course won the 2012 Blackboard
Exemplary Course Award
– the first ever online course at College of DuPage to receive this honor on a national
stage.
Over 151 entries were evaluated in a rigorous peer-review process by more than 250 faculty
and instructional designers.
Submissions were judged on the following components: course design, interaction,
collaboration, assessment and learner support. Let’s take a look at this award winning course!
Oh look, it’s our College of DuPage Chaparral
mascot Chappy who’s going to start showing us around this online course.
English 1102 is the second course in the two-
course composition sequence. In this course students continue to develop
experience in reading, thinking and writing
critically by writing essays that demonstrate ability to
analyze and evaluate the ideas of others and
integrate them into their own writing. The course also reinforces the conventions of
standard written English and the conventions of
documentation while developing a student’s ability to carry out
the proper methods and responsibilities of
research. We’re going to start with the first link listed: the
Announcements.
The Announcements link invites the instructor
and students to actively participate.
This asynchronous activity is vital in sharing information with students about upcoming
assignments,
questions, due dates and college related events. Announcements are posted by the
instructor and can be released on a daily,
weekly or monthly basis. During the course of a semester, several announcements are posted.
The next link is to the course syllabus. The syllabus is a big deal -- it’s really considered
the glue to holding the course together.
The online syllabus is available for reference and serves as a contract between the instructor
and student.
The syllabus is chock full of information including due dates, expectations, policies and
resources offered at College of DuPage.
The syllabus will give students a clear sense of how to succeed in the course.
If students have a question or concern about the
course, I encourage them to refer to their syllabus first.
A syllabus is one of the most important
documents in the course because it a communication tool
essential in creating a successful experience
throughout the semester. The next link is where the rubber meets the
road.
This link is where students get on the road and get their coursework started.
There are 16 units housed in an accessible
template that repeats throughout the course: Introduction, Discussion Board,
Reading Assignments and Writing Assignments.
The flow of these categories within the course supports the learning process
by providing the students with expectations and outcomes for every unit. Topics about
academic discourse,
concepts regarding the use of source materials and the overall theme of research is
presented in a variety of ways
that capture the online students’ attention and propels them to analyze and evaluate the ideas
of others.
Sequencing, graphics and organization are key ingredients in this course. Each unit builds
upon the next.
For example, in Unit 10, the idea of collecting Internet sources is reinforced and expanded
upon from the prior unit.
As you can see in this example unit, there are graphics and clearly expressed concepts in
each learning category.
These concepts build upon one another throughout the course.
The next link is Due Dates. Students can
quickly view when assignments are due and organize their calendar accordingly.
This link is essential in keeping things on track.
Students have a lot of responsibilities both in and outside of school.
It’s better to keep up than to catch up. The Discussion Board is the next link. The
Discussion Board feature offers synchronous communication activities.
Since enrollment in this course can be within the
county or out of the country, communication is key in bringing students together as a group.
One of the dynamic instruments used to
communicate in this course is daily Discussion Board topics and threads.
Students are empowered when a community is
formed. For example, in this course the Discussion
Board prompts students to share their hurdles
and success as they progress from week to week in their
research. A student becomes part of the fabric
when quilting their research together. They can openly discuss their research topic,
source materials, and experience in data
collection along the way. The group goal of finding valid and reliable
sources in research mobilizes each group
member in the course as they work together toward their goals in
English 1102.
The next link is for Student E-mail. Students e-mail the instructor on an individual
basis using their College of DuPage student e-mail account.
Students may use this form of interactive
communication to ask questions or send drafts of assignments.
E-mail is another lifeline in an online course. It
is vital to keep communication flowing between an instructor and student.
The next two links, COD Resources and Library
Resources offer students information about College of DuPage resources
such as our Writing and Reading Assistance
Area, Library Workshops, and Peer Tutoring. Students requesting services need to self-
identify with the Center for Access and
Accommodations and provide appropriate documentation of their
disability. Documentation may include a
diagnosis of disability, academic history, intellectual assessment and recommendations
for accommodations.
ADA Accommodations are listed within the course to address accessibility issues.
Support services provide notetaking paper, tape
recorders, alternative testing, adaptive equipment, sign language interpreters,
audio textbooks and other auxiliary services.
Before a student decides to enroll in courses online, there is a SmarterMeasure self-
assessment tool available
on our COD Home Page that is an indicator of the degree to which distance learning is a good
fit for students.
The next link provides information about your instructor. It lists her name, office location, office
hours, phone number and e-mail address – there
are several ways to get a hold of the instructor!
And finally, there is a link for students to
reference their grades called “My Grades.” Students’ grades can be accessed 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week through the College of
DuPage Blackboard website. The relationship between the general course
objectives and assessments is clearly linked.
In order to achieve the course aims, students are expected to follow the templates, sample
essays and multiple rubrics provided
within the course. This “My Grades” link is a place to input assignment scores and tally total
percentages.
Students can view what assignments they may be missing and instructors can weight certain
grades and establish a grading scale.
This concludes our Course Tour of College of DuPage’ s Exemplary Course Award Winner:
English Composition 1102 online
created by Danica Hubbard, Professor of English and Susan Burdick, Instructional Design
Specialist.
Thank you for taking the time to view the course with us. Until next time, see you online!