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History
2200 Online:
U.
S. History:
Industrial Revolution
through
World
War II
Instructor:
Jennifer E. Forster
Office: B-2043
Phone: (440) 525-7199
E-mail: jforster@lakelandcc.edu
Office Hours: T.B.A.
This is a very brief introduction to the
course. An extensive syllabus will be mailed
to you just prior to the beginning of spring
semester.
Course
Description
Development of the United States from inception
of the Industrial Revolution following the Civil
War through conclusion of the Second World War.
Components that transformed the U.S. into a world
power and the changes in the role and position
of the government in the lives of its people
and institutions.
Required
Materials
Required
Textbook: Goldfields, American Journey.
The
textbook can be purchased from
the bookstore or online.
Accessing
the Course for the First Time
To
access Blackboard, go to http://bb.lakelandcc.edu/.
You can also access Blackboard through the Lakeland
home page, at http://www.lakelandcc.edu,
then select Blackboard from the menu on the
left-hand
side of the screen. Once on the Blackboard page,
select Login. You will be prompted to enter a
User Name and Password. You will need your username
and password whenever you want to log on to Blackboard.
Once
you have logged on to Blackboard, the first
page you see will contain links to any course
you are enrolled in that contains an online element.
Click on the link for HIST 2200 Online Course.
You will be taken to the home page of U. S. History
Online. Click on the course title to enter
the class web site.
You
will have been assigned a Lakeland student
email account which you can locate on the registration
confirmation you received when enolling in
this course. You may choose to forward your
student email account (click
here to find out how to forward your student
email) but it must have a viable e-mail address
if you are enrolled as a student in this course.
Where ever you
forward your e-mail to, make
sure that the filters are set in such a way
that
they
permit
group e-mails from Lakeland, especially if
you are using a Hotmail or Yahoo account. If you have several different e-mail
accounts, choose one and only one for this course.
It is not possible to accommodate several accounts.
Please also make sure that you check and maintain
your e-mail account. It is your responsibility
if you do not receive messages from the instructor
because your mailbox is full.
Student Support
If
you encounter any technical difficulties during
the semester, you may either notify me or contact
the Lakeland helpdesk for assistance through
e-mail (helpdesk@lakelandcc.edu)
and phone (440-525-7000, ask for the help desk.)
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Assignments,
Examination, and Grading Information
1. The Textbook as Lecture
Since
this is an online course, the means by which
the subject matter will be delivered to
you will be different from that which would normally
take place in a traditional classroom setting.
This means that lectures and discussions will
not be face-to face in a room but rather “virtual.” The
textbook will serve as your “lecture” and
online discussions will take the place of classroom
dialogue. Thus, it is very important that you
keep up with your reading. We will cover approximately
one chapter per week.
2. Journals (25%)
Each
student will create and maintain a journal
using Microsoft Word 2000 or above. Entries
are to be made bi-weekly according to the guide
distributed
during orientation and posted on the website.
Each entry will consist of a substantive analysis
of the week’s assignments: chapter readings,
audio clips, visual clips, and primary source
readings. It is appropriate to discuss journal
assignments on the discussion board.
3. Written Assignments: General Information
Students
must use Microsoft Word 2000 or above to compose written assignments (journals)
for
the course. Handwritten assignments or assignments
composed with a word processor other than Microsoft
Word are not acceptable. Students may turn
in completed assignments before they are due.
Late
assignments are penalized. All assignments
must be submitted on time. Every day in which
an assignment
is late will be penalized with a grade reduction.
After three days it will receive an F for a
grade
4. Discussion Boards (25%)
Virtual
class discussion is an important feature of
the course. Students are required to participate
by logging on to the “Discussion” link
and contributing to the bulletin boards. Students
will post four questions and four answers (to
others’ questions) on a bi-weekly basis.
Full credit is based on the quality of the response,
of which I am the judge. . Ideally, students
will work off each others’ responses to
the discussion board. Do not repeat what other
students have written. Read all posted responses
before you write your own. If you wish to respond
to the initial question rather than the response
of one of your peers, that is fine, but do not
repeat what other respondents have already written.
5. Midterm and Final Examinations (25%)
Additionally, there will be three essay examinations
(two midterm examinations and a final) held over
the course of the semester. The final exam will
contain several
comprehensive questions.
6. Quizzes (15%)
Reading quizzes over the textbook assignments
will be held every two weeks.
7. Participation (10%)
At the end of the semester, posts to the discussion
board above and beyond the minimum 4/4 and individual
activity on the site will be factored into the
final grade.
Grading Breakdown:
| Journals |
25% |
| Discussion
Board |
25% |
| Exams |
20% |
| Quizzes |
15% |
| Participation |
10% |
Total |
100% |
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Navigating the Site
Announcements
Weekly
notices and reminders appear on the announcements
page, which also happens to be the home page
of the course. Naturally, you should be aware
of announcements as they appear.
Course
Information
Hot
links to the syllabus and other related course
information.
Staff
Information
Information
about yours truly, when and where you can reach
me, etc.
Course
Documents
This
is by far the most important link on the site.
Clicking on this link will bring up yet more
links to a glossary of terms and to features
related to each chapter reading. Clicking on
the chapter links will bring up all the information
you need for each chapter reading. For example,
clicking on “Chapter 15: State Building
and the Search for Order in the Seventeenth
Century” will
brink up links to the following sites:
Chapter
Outline: an outline of the chapter’s
contents. Print and use it to guide your reading.
Interactive maps: use this feature to gain a better understanding of
the geography of the particular regions you are learning about.
Interactive timelines: use this feature to place different historical
events in chronological perspective.
Internet Activities: After the first week, these are required work
for students. Each link takes you to a series of questions and a website. Review
the website and answer the questions, then submit them to me using the Digital
Drop Box feature. You may wish to print off the questions before you begin
reviewing the website assigned for a particular week so that you can jot down
notes as you navigate the site. Your answers must be framed in complete sentences.
Indeed, for each question in each assignment, you should have at least one
paragraph.
Audio flash cards, crossword puzzle, InfoTrac College Edition References,
Student Resources, reference dictionary: links to study aids and resources. You
are not required to use any of these features, but they may help you prepare
for the exams or research a topic of personal interest to you.
Communication
Allows access to the Discussion boards, e-mail,
chat, and the Digital Drop Box.
External
Links
An
important feature of the course that links
you to other sites on the Internet, the “External
Links” feature allows you to access the
Lakeland Library and the Lakeland Distance
Learning Website directly from the course.
You will also find a link to sites that offer
tip-sheets on studying and writing essay exams.
Finally, the “External Links” feature
contains links to many audio, visual, and primary
sources that are required listening, viewing,
and reading for students.
Assignments
Your
exams will be posted here.
General
Information
A student in an online course must be prepared
to act independently and to encounter technical
glitches of all kinds. Prepare yourself by doing
all of the following things.
• Keep
your syllabus somewhere safe.
• Mark due dates on a calendar that you regularly
consult.
•
Print items of exceptional importance from the
website, such chapter as outlines or questions
for your Internet activity of the week, and keep
them in a specially marked folder. In doing so,
you will be protecting yourself from Murphy’s
Laws of online courses: access to the Internet
can be notoriously slow regardless of means of
access, servers can and will go down, and the
like.
• Back up every written work you compose in this
class, either on hard-drive or disk. Computers
break
down, viruses show up out of nowhere, and e-mails
sometimes get lost in virtual space. Make sure
you have extra copies of everything you write.
• Familiarize yourself with the website and be
prepared to think outside of the box.
• Do not put an assignment off to the last moment.
•
Students are expected to be courteous and respectful
of all members of the class and the instructor.
This is particularly true of the discussion board,
as no rude remarks, intentional outbursts, insulting
language, innuendos, or intimidation will be
tolerated. Any personal problems regarding the
course are to be sent to me in a private e-mail,
and together we will solve the problem. The Discussion
Board is only for class assignments, not public
or personal commentary.
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