Welcome Letter

Welcome to this virtual learning experience. This is a hybrid class that involves online and on-campus meetings. I would like to introduce you to OUR mission. This class focuses on enhancing your skills so you may build cooperative working relationships and be more comfortable in public speaking contexts. It is my hope that the wealth of experiences represented in our class will lead to the enlightenment of everyone who participates. We are all teachers so one of our goals is to work together in a positive manner. More importantly, everyone needs to listen with an open mind so we can acquire new skills to enhance the quality of our lives.

I want to stress that this is not a typical online course. There are several mandatory on-campus meetings. All speeches will be performed on campus in front of me and your classmates. If you cannot attend any of these on campus sessions, please sign up for another section of SPCOM 100. Exceptions will not be made under any circumstances. The primary goal of this class if for you to learn how to present your ideas before a live audience (this will consist of the instructor and your classmates). You will also learn how to give constructive feedback to peers on their public performances. Feedback is essential to this process. Therefore, your attendance to every scheduled on-campus meeting is essential and mandatory.

Before we meet on campus, there are important items that you need to know. Please read ALL of the information contained in this letter carefully. Your success in this course depends on it!

A Little Bit of Information about Me

I am an approachable person. I have definite guidelines for how you will need to participate in this class, but all of the guidelines are designed to help you succeed. I was one of three instructors who started online instruction at MJC. I definitely have a lot of experience and knowledge about what works and what doesn’t in an online environment.

You will find no other instructor who is more conscientious than I am. I return email in 24 hours, I grade everything within a week, I am available online and in my office for questions, and I LOVE what I do.

Online learning can be exciting, provide a sense of adventure, and it can take your level of frustration to a new height! Patience is a virtue and we will all need to practice this virtue throughout this semester. If you ever need help, please DO NOT hesitate to contact me. I have an open-door policy. Although online learning affords many advantages, it also can be a bit disconcerting because it can be more difficult to establish relationships online. We all need to work collaboratively, as a team, to make our class successful. If you have a collaborative spirit, it will make all of our lives easier. Believe me folks; there are projects in this class when you will need each other’s full cooperation.

I am looking forward to a rewarding semester,

Kim

1. Our first mandatory on campus meeting is on Wednesday, 1/13/2010, from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. We will meet in Founders Hall, rm 268 on MJC-East Campus. You must attend the first on campus meeting to obtain the orientation information that I will be discussing. This information will not be published online. Students should not sign up for this class and another course that meets at the same time. Students who miss the on campus class meeting will be dropped and replaced with someone from the wait list.

2. You must keep the meetings times for this class free. This is a hybrid course meaning you will learn in an asynchronous and on-campus environment. Failure to attend scheduled class meetings will result in being dropped or failing this course. Please be advised that the required meetings are labeled on the semester outline and you are expected to make accommodations with your personal/work schedules to meet these class meetings. I make NO exceptions, so make sure you can attend on-campus meetings BEFORE you register..

3. Throughout this course, we will not be using “handles”. A handle is an alias commonly found in chat rooms. Please use your first name when communicating in this course. If we have folks with the same first name, these individuals will also need to use the first letter of their last name in correspondence so that we are able to distinguish between them.

1. Please read the welcome module, Learning Module 1, syllabus, and semester outline.

2. Please email me any questions. Online learning emphasizes self-discipline and responsibility. If you do not know the answer to a question or become confused throughout the semester, you MUST ask me for guidance.

3. Write down when we will meet on campus for the first night. Students who miss the first on campus meeting will be dropped from the class.

4. Print a hard copy the syllabus and all the pages linked from the syllabus.

5. Buy the textbook for this course. The textbook needed can be found on the syllabus.