Keeping up with the Joneses: New classes galore!
Sometimes in the world of software training and support we feel like it is a constant struggle to keep up with the Joneses - in this case the new software releases. Just about the time we get caught up the software vendors release new versions. And since most of them carry more than one product, they tend to release new versions of all their software in one fell swoop.
It's a good thing I enjoy learning new things! This job NEVER gets boring!
So with no further ado, let me introduce our new classes to help you better keep up with what's new in the world of software!
Windows Vista Upgrade - Get up to speed on the new features of Windows Vista. This will give you a good overview of how to navigate in Windows Vista, configure it and how to use the new tools. Look for a course that covers the administrative side of Vista soon.
Microsoft Office 2007 Upgrade - Learn the new features of Office 2007 and get comfortable with the new interface. Whether you are new to Office or an experience Office user this course will have you zipping around Office 2007 in no-time. Look for updates to our regular courses soon.
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - This course has been updated for SQL Server 2005. This course is good for developers who will be using SQL Server for developing client-server or web-based applications. Look for courses on SQL Server Administration.
Java SE 6 - This course has been updated for Java SE 6. This is good anyone who wants to learn the basics of programming in Java.
Adobe Acrobat 8 - This course has been update for Acrobat 8. Look for updates to all the Adobe products for version CS3.
Help! Where to turn when it's not working right
The classroom application runs on a computer - and we all know how reliable computers can be! ;-) So, yes, at some point something in the classroom is not going to work just as it should. Who should you turn to for help?
If you are working in your class and the quiz, content or other part of the class is not appearing as it should, check first with your instructor. It may be something the instructor can fix. If your instructor cannot fix it, he or she will contact me and I or one of my staff will get it fixed as soon as possible.
If you are not currently enrolled in a class and you have technical questions about the classroom, check the Technical Assistance area. As soon as you confirm your account you are automatically added to both the Technical Assistance and Student Lounge areas of the classroom. Technical Assistance should show up on your list of courses on the right side of the screen.
If you are unable to access the classroom or you are getting an error of some kind, make a note of the error email me at
ClassroomManager@interactiveonlineclassroom.com. I will get right on it since chances are no one else will be able to access the classroom at that time either.
We will periodically schedule upgrades and maintenance to the classroom system. If we can, we will post an
announcement on the main classroom screen letting you know when it is scheduled. During the time the classroom is down for maintenance you will receive a message alerting you that the classroom is down when you log in. This message should also let you know when you can expect the classroom to be up again. We do try to keep these to a minimum, keep them short and schedule them during low traffic times for the classroom.
Hopefully you will find that your time at Interactive Online Classroom is trouble-free, but if you do encounter problems, let us know and we will do all we can to get things running smoothly once again.
Quiz: Not just a test of what you know!
How many of you think that a quiz is a way to test what you have learned? Well, maybe in school it was, but in the IDEA Solutions instructional strategy a quiz is a learning tool just like the practice, discussions and demonstrations.
First, you can take the quiz as many times as you want. Didn't make the score you wanted on the firs try? Then try again! and again, and again... There is no penalty. The classroom only records your highest score.
Need help concentrating on the important points while you are reading the book, online materials or resources? Then print the quiz and look for the answers as you are reading.
Not all the quiz answers will come from the resources. Some questions may require you to play with the application you are learning or try things out to see what happens. Consider the quiz a
road map to the important points covered in each lesson.
The quiz will typically appeal to Active, Sensing, Verbal and Sequential learners, but the others can definitely approach the quiz in a way that works for them. Active learners learn by doing. Using the quiz to help you explore the topics for the lesson make this more of a "doing" activity than a "thinking" activity. Reflective learners may want to use the quiz a a final checkup to make sure they did learn what the course developer thought was important.
Sensing students like facts and the quiz definitely is about facts, not opinions or possibilities. Intuitive learners should be careful to read the questions before finding an answer since some questions may be asking which of the choices are NOT correct or are non-examples.
Verbal learners get more out of words so they may feel more comfortable taking the quiz than their Visual counterparts. But since you can use any resource to answer the questions, using diagrams, viewing the application or other visual activities may be used to find the answers to the questions.
Sequential learners are good at the details and many of the quiz questions will involve knowing the detailed information about a topic. Global learners can use the quiz to help themselves pick out the details that they might have missed.
Hopefully this will help those of you with test anxiety to approach the quiz with less fear and to see that it really is just another way to learn!
Asking Questions: Getting the answers you need quickly
I can pretty much guarantee that at some point during your online learning experience you are going to have a question you need answered. And if you are like me, you will have about a dozen questions a week! One key to learning online successfully is not being afraid to ask questions. And to ensure you get the answer you want quickly, I have a few tips.
First, ask good questions - and by this I don't mean that you shouldn't ask silly questions. As the instructors remind me every time I start a question with, "This may be a silly question...", there are no silly questions. What I mean is to ask questions that will get you the answer you need in the least amount of time.
For example, "I'm having problems. Can anyone help me?" Is not a good question. Your question will be most likely answered with, "What problems are you having?" If it took an hour to get that response and another hour for you to respond, and then another hour to get another response then you have waited three hours you didn't need to wait for a response to a question.
To ask good questions, give the people who are going to try to answer you as much information as you can. Too much information about the problem you are having is a whole lot better than not enough. Describe what you were doing when you encountered the problem. Describe the results. Give any error messages. Tell them what else you tried. If you were following an example in the book or on a web site give the page or URL so they can try it to. If you have a file where they can see the problem, upload the file. The more information they have the more likely it will be that they can answer your question on the first try.
Second, post the question to the right place. I don't know if you have as much problem with email as I have, but my good email seems to go to spam and my spam to my inbox. Your email to your instructor may meet with the same fate and she will never see your question. If you post your message in the classroom your instructor will see it the next time she logs in. And if your instructor is like most of mine, she will be subscribed to the Question and Comments discussions so the questions are emailed to her and she can respond to you as soon as possible.
Notice that there is a Questions and Comments forum in each lesson. If you have questions about the project for Lesson 3, post your question in the Questions forum for Lesson 3. Also, you may want to check to make sure your classmates have not already asked the same question. It really will be a silly question if you are the second person to ask the same question!
Finally, take a break. Once your question is posted, move on. Find something else to do while your question is doing the work of waiting for an answer for you. Just like a watched pot never boils, a watched question does not get answered - or at least it seems like it takes a lot longer. I have found that if I am struggling with how to make something work, just taking a break for a while allows me to come back with a fresh perspective and I find the answer to my own question. If no one has answered my question then I will post what I found so no one will spend time trying to answer a question I don't need answered any more.
Want another tip about asking questions? A good, thought-provoking question is a great way to stimulate a discussion and a good discussion makes it easy to meet your participation requirement each week.
For a Better You
I know it's a little past the New Year and by now some, if not all, of your New Year's resolutions have been forgotten. But why only turn over a new leaf once a year - why not at the first of every month - or on your birthday!?
My birthday is just a week away so I will be making some new year resolutions of my own this week. Why don't you join me!
We have some classes which can help you work towards some of your goals.
Envisioning Your Desired Future: Take a look back at where you have been, where you are now and where you want to be. By looking at your complete path you are better able to figure out a future that works for you.
Brain Boosters: I definitely need this one as I find myself constantly forgetting names, dates and whatever I was just about to say. Learn some techniques to keep your brain limber no matter how many candles are on your cake!
Dealing Positively with Conflict: Conflict can be a good thing! Not that we want to go around starting fights all the time but dealing with conflict constructively can help us to solve problems and build stronger working relationships.
Personality Types Among Us: One of my resolutions is to build a stronger relationship with the people I care about. One way to work towards that is to try to better understand who they are. By learning about your own personality and the personality characteristics of those around you, you can learn new ways to communicate and to appreciate the unique qualities of your friends, family and coworkers.
Positive Parenting: As my kids grow I face a new set of challenges in relating to them and parenting them. In this course we take a look at the positive discipline approach to parenting. This is also a good course for anyone who works with kids.
Don't find a course here that matches your goals? Let us know!
Getting answers to your questions ASAP
While we all know that when learning online there is a delay between when we post a question or an assignment, the delay when waiting for a response to a question can be maddening especially when it means we cannot complete work that we need to get done. We'd like to get our answers right away - the sooner the better - but we don't want to have to log into the classroom every few minutes to see if the answer is waiting.
Instead you can have the answers delivered to you!
When you post a message to any forum, at the bottom of the form, just above the Post to Forum and attachments options is the Subscription option. You can choose to have copies of posts to this forum sent to you by email. You will generally receive the email 15 - 30 minutes after the message is posted.
The delay gives the author time to edit the post. The system will send the email after the editing time has passed.
If after you have your answer you no longer want to receive copies of the messages posted to that forum, return to the classroom and click on the Forums link in the Activities block. On the next screen you will see a list of all the Discussion in the class. The last column lets you know if you are subscribed or not. To unsubscribe, click on the Yes for any forums you are subscribed to.
You will not be able to unsubscribe to the News forum.
By default your account settings are set up so that anytime you post to a forum you are automatically subscribed unless you change the subscription option. You can change the default setting by editing your profile.
To edit your profile:
- Click on your name at the top right of the classroom screen.
- Click on the Edit Profile tab.
- Scroll down to the Forum auto-subscribe option
- Set it to No, don't automatically subscribe me to forums.
- Click on Update Profile
You may also want to check the Email digest type option and make sure it is set to No digest so you will receive copies of messages as they are posted.
You can also unsubscribe by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails you receive from the classroom.
Because of problems with sending and receiving email we encourage our students to post their questions in the classroom if possible. This guarantees that the teacher (or a classmate that knows the answer) will see it the next time he or she logs in. Each classroom and each lesson has a forum for questions and comments. Frequently our instructors subscribe to these discussions so they can be alerted when students post questions or concerns.
It may not get you a response as fast as sending an email to the instructor, but if someone else knows the answer or has the same question, it can make it easier on everyone!
