Tips for Success

The following expectations will help you be successful in this course. Please carefully review these expectations and follow them.

Log into the course several times each week to check the course content, announcements, conversations, and discussions.
Keep up with the weekly readings and assignments. Students who keep up with the weekly reading and assignments tend to do much better in an online course than those who do not.
Please do not miss an assignment deadline. Refer to the Webcourses Modules to ensure that you submit assignments on time.
Remember that academic integrity will be appraised according to the student academic behavior standards outlined in The Golden Rule of the University of Central Florida’s Student Handbook.

Microsoft Word

While you can get a lot of different softwares through UCF, since you will be turning your assignments in as Word documents for this class, you will want to make sure to have Word downloaded on your computer.

All UCF students get Microsoft Office for free by following these steps:

Visit the Microsoft Office Student (Links to an external site.) website and type in your UCF Knights email address.
Once you have created your account, visit your Office 365 Home Page (Links to an external site.)and select "Install Office" in the top right corner.
From the dropdown menu, select "Other Install Options."
Here, verify that you are downloading the correct version for either a Mac or a PC, and select "Install."
Follow all on-screen prompts.

You can also download Microsoft Word for free and see some step-by-step directions here -> https://it.ucf.edu/ucf-apps/Links to an external site.

You will need:

Your NID (what you log in to Webcourses with)
Your NID Password
To download the Citrix Workspace (automatically launched when you click to Login to UCF Apps)

Notifications

Each semester, review your Notification settings to make sure you receive course information in a timely manner. Use this notification guide (Links to an external site.) to make adjustments. You'll want to specifically turn on notifications when you receive submission comments, as I'll use those to comment on your work.

Instructor Communication

When you send a message to the teacher, please expect a general response time of 24 hours Monday- Thursday, up to 48 hours Friday -Sunday. The best way to contact me is through Webcourses messenger.

Generally, you will receive feedback on smaller graded assignments within 1 week after the assignment has been submitted. You can expect feedback on Major Paper within 2 weeks.

Viruses and Redundancy

A virus can spell disaster. Your use of a reputable anti-virus program is a requirement for participation in this course. AVG (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. is a great, free antivirus program. Malwarebytes (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. is a great anti-malware program

Back up your files using One Drive in Office365. Technical issues can and will happen. These problems do occur and are really inconvenient, however, they are not a valid excuse for failing to get your work in on time. Store your documents using skydrive to minimize the impact of such events.

Technical Resources

Center for Distributed Learning's website provides information about support services and resources available for distance learners (e.g., Service Desk, Technology Commons, and campus computer labs).
Webcourses@UCF Support provides technical support for students taking online courses at UCF.
Knights Online: Resources specific for online students including Webcourses@UCF tutorials.