Are you ready? Because ready or not,
next week, here it comes--online English.
If you're taking online ENG 162, make sure you know
what you're getting into:
* An online course does not take less
of your time than a live-class course. The time you
save not going to class, you then spend by teaching
yourself from written lecture material and through
trial-and-error.
* Taking a course online does not
mean you can do the work whenever you want. Yes, you
can do it at 3 in the morning; and, yes, you can do it
wearing your pajamas or nothing at all. But, no, you
can't let it slide for a week or two and expect the
teacher won't notice or worry. That's a little too much
'whenever.'
* Taking a course online is a lonely
job. If you need other people to sit next to and chat
with in order to get yourself motivated, an online
course will be tough sledding.
* Taking a course online means having to deal with the
instructor...a lot. If you do best by sitting in the
back of the room, keeping your head down, keeping your
mouth shut, and never asking questions, you may find
yourself hating life online. It's very interactive.
* If you're planning on taking an online course and do
not have easy internet access, you're living
dangerously.
* If your best method of learning is
NOT by reading, you might not want an online course.
Okay, that's the tough
stuff. If you're still reading, here's the good news:
You have an instructor who's
ready, willing, and able to help you. I've taught this
course for five or six years. The only time I'm not
just an email away is if my ISP has problems. (That
occasionally happens.)
I know the kind of
difficulties with writing and with blogs you might be
having. I'm patient, I'm (nearly) tireless: we will
solve or overcome problems together!
You're going to write this semester--that's what it's
all about--and I'm going to work with you on your
writing to make it even better than it is.
Okay, so what's next?
You're going to post
stuff you write sometimes to a course weblog
Creating your own blog
will also create a certain amount of stress and
frustration, but you only do it once. If you
run into problems you could email me about them at
johngoldfine@gmail.
Or you could post questions (anonymously if you
want) on the course forum at
(You can use this all
semester to ask questions anonymously. I'll get
your message and respond--any time, any course
problem or question, all semester.)
Don't forget to send me your personal
blog address! Soon!
Week by week, new material and assignments will appear
on the course blog. You'll see part of your first
week's assignment is up already. More will follow.
You will use the course blog
for prompts and theme reactions and your personal blog
for themes. Wherever you write, I will follow and
comment.
There will be questions and
problems, but the frustration level will decline quickly
once you have your feet wet!
John