You are all off to a great start! Here is some information that you may find useful during your course.
A copy of this document has been added to the course library should you choose to download and save/print.
1) Read course information emails thoroughly and keep them in a separate email folder for quick access; or print and retain in a handy folder.
2) Communicate. This should be 2, 3 AND 4! Your active participation in Nsite responses to the course community discussions, small work group collaboration discussions, and contributions to the Nsite library are your way of letting us know you’re out there and engaged in the course. It’s expected that everyone will maintain a professional attitude toward coursework. It’s your responsibility as a student to help make this course successful. If you’ve run into an issue and will be unavailable for a period of time – keep your instructor and small group informed of what’s happening and when you will be available and can respond. Learning is fun, so have some fun!
3) Bookmark course links. You are going to be using them for the next 9 weeks.
Contract Administration online course link: www.nigp.org/elearning
Contract Administration Summer 2014
CTADM1
CTADM2
CTADM3
CTADM4
CTADM5
4) Use a word processor (word, Notepad, etc.) to plan, write, and edit your 1) responses to class discussions and 2) your submission toward the group assignment. Don’t Reply to Discussion and start your responses from scratch—you’ll find out the hard way when your words disappear and you have to start over! It’s so much easier to cut/paste your drafted and revised response into the discussion and then format the text if necessary.
5) Set aside some time for your coursework and maintain the weekly schedule. There are activities that need to be completed before moving forward to the next topic/activity. It is best for everyone, but especially your instructor, to be able to focus on providing you the best feedback for the course without having to update repeated stragglers who wait until after every due date before they post a response. There are exceptions of course, things happen to everyone once in a while and we will work with you, but repeat/constant offenders will find themselves falling behind. Most importantly, everyone must submit a response within every small group community that contributes toward the assignment. More than an “I agree with what Mary said.” You all have something you can contribute, and we always hear that students learned so much from their fellow classmates.
6) NO CROSS POSTING. Small group collaboration posts stay within the small group, main course discussions stay within the main course. Completed group assignments are posted by the Project Leader into the main course library using the naming convention stated on the assignment.
7) Use Reply to Discussion when responding to a particular discussion. Don’t create a separate post for your response. Keep the discussion threads intact so they are easier to follow and you instructor can easily see who responded. Otherwise, things get confusing and you may get a friendly reminder if you forget.:)
8) Keep track of your completed assignments. When you log into Nsite and select “My Profile” and then “My Posts” your last 50 posting links will display.
9) Ask for clarification or help if needed. For course content, contact your instructor. For help with technology and navigating the course, contact distancelearning@nigp.org. We are here to help you!
10) Every student must complete a final assessment and course evaluation to trigger a course completion on our Learning Management System. This will be done during the last week of the course and must be done no later than the course end date. We will tell you more when that time nears. The contact hours will be added to your NIGP transcript once the instructor has verified that you have completed all course assignments.