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Course Expectations

Tips Tips for Success

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

  1. Log into the course several times each week to check the course content, announcements, conversations, and discussions.
  2. 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.
  3. Please do not miss an assignment deadline. Refer to the course schedule/calendar to ensure that you submit assignments on time.
  4. 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.

Announcements Notifications

Please review your Notification settings to make sure you receive course information in a timely manner. You can use this notification guide to help you make adjustments.

Email Instructor Communication

You may contact me directly at rob.siler@ucf.edu or via the built in Webcourses@UCF conversation system.

When you send a message to me, you can expect a response within 24-48 hours during the week and 72 hours on the weekend.

Office hours will be held weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am-1pm. If those days and times do not work for you, you may schedule an alternative appointment time with me via email. All office hours may be done either face-to-face in my office or virtually via Zoom.

Generally, feedback on your graded assignments can be expected 1-2 weeks after the assignment has been submitted.

Discussion Conversations and Announcements

Conversations (the Webcourse name for the built-in email system) will be an integral part of this course and will be used frequently along with Announcements to provide reminders and to update you on important changes. Make sure you:

  1. Check your inbox at least twice per week (more often is better).
  2. Be patient. Don’t expect an immediate response when you send a message. Please see the 'Instructor Communication' section above for response time expectations.
  3. Be courteous and considerate. Being honest and expressing yourself freely is very important but being considerate of others online is just as important as in the classroom.
  4. Make every effort to be clear. Online communication lacks the nonverbal cues that fill in much of the meaning in face-to-face communication.
  5. Do not use all caps. This makes the message very hard to read and is considered "shouting." Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation (you may want to compose in a word processor, then cut and paste the message into the discussion or message).
  6. Break up large blocks of text into paragraphs and use a space between paragraphs.

Group Work Interaction Guidelines

Many of the "rules of the road" that apply to conversations also apply to the use of interactive tools (like the Discussion Boards) used in this course. Use the following conventions when interacting with both myself and your fellow students:

  1. While using synchronous tools, such as chat and Zoom, be located in a quiet, private environment. This will help you stay clear of disturbances.
  2. If you want to send a personal message to the instructor or to another student, use conversations rather than the discussions (see Conversations).
  3. Be patient. Don’t expect an immediate response when you post to a discussion.
  4. Respect each other’s ideas, feelings and experience.
  5. Be courteous and considerate. It is important to be honest and to express yourself freely, but being considerate of others is just as important and expected online, as it is in the classroom.
  6. Explore disagreements and support assertions with data and evidence.
  7. Be sure to post discussions in the appropriate discussion topic.
  8. Do not use postings such as "I agree," "I don’t know either," "Who cares," or "same." They do not add to the discussion, take up space on the Discussions, and will not be counted for assignment credit.
  9. Avoid posting large blocks of text. If you must, break them into paragraphs and use a space between paragraphs.
  10. During a discussion assignment, deadlines for posting to and replying will be specified with each assignment. It is a good practice to always check the discussions tool multiple times during the week.

Web Resources 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 is a great, free antivirus program. Malwarebytes is a great anti-malware program.

Back up your files using OneDrive 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 OneDrive to minimize the impact of such events.

Support Webcourse Technical Resources

VideoMidterm/Final Video Technical Help

If you run into any technical problems later in the semester as you are developing, filming, editing, or posting your Midterm and Final, please post them to the COURSE Q/A - VIDEO PRODUCTION QUESTIONS discussion board. I will respond to messages within 24-48 hours during the week and 72 hours on the weekend, but please feel free to respond to your fellow students and help each other.