Course Guide 2024

1. Welcome to the course

We are happy to have you here and we look forward to an exciting learning journey together. This journey starts here. This guide has been prepared to provide you with a quick and useful introduction to the course. 

2. Being an online student

As a participant in an online course, you are entering a learning environment that’s very different from a traditional classroom setting. You get access to great instructors and activities without having to travel to remote locations.

An online learning environment has some special considerations. Since you cannot make the same social connections as you do in a classroom setting, you must be more proactive about connecting with the instructors and other participants. You should also make sure that your office or home environment does not distract you from your learning. Here are some guidelines and tips to consider while participating in this course.

Guidelines for participating

• Login to the course website as soon and as often as you can.
• Read the Course Guide and other resources when they are made available.
• Actively explore the course website and familiarize yourself with its features and functions.
• Use the Profile tool on the course website to share a bit about yourself.
• Use the Participants list on the course website to learn about your fellow participants.
• Be an active participant in all activities.
• Use proper language and be constructive and positive in all online discussion forums. Emotions and attitude are easily misinterpreted in email and forum postings. Be very aware of how a posting can "sound" to others before you submit it.
• Keep discussions forums on topic. Start a new thread when introducing a new topic. Your instructor may provide specific instructions and rules for using discussion forums. Follow them.

Some of the hardest parts of being an online student are managing time and dealing with distractions. If you are taking the course in your office, you will have to protect your time and not let yourself get pulled away from an activity. It is important to block all non-course tasks from your schedule during course time. Set aside a regularly scheduled block of time to devote to the course, as if you had a scheduled a course on a campus. Inform your co-workers or family that you will not be available during that time.

With these guidelines and tips in mind, we hope that you have a successful and productive time in the course.

We will be asking for feedback regularly at various points in the course. Please take the time to fill out any surveys or feedback forms and let us know how we can improve the course.

Network problems?

All of us have experienced problems with unreliable internet connections. Previous year participants have shared with us their experiences with internet blackouts and problems with slow bandwidth. They have also shared their experiences how they solved the problems. Some accessed the course website using their mobile phone connection or a local internet café, if the fixed internet within the institute was restricted. Some participants have reserved time for working with the course during less congested internet traffic times in the evening or early morning.

When having troubles, it is good to have patience. The course has an intentionally long duration to help everyone access the material and complete the activities within the given time. We have tried to help you to access the mandatory exercises by minimizing the image sizes and avoiding excessive use of heavy animations.

   Being mobile friendly

3. Communication & feedback

The communication will take place at the Course Forum, in Zoom live sessions and on Padlet wall.

• Only post thoughtful responses
• Stay on topic (or start a new discussion if appropriate)
• Be constructive rather than critical in your responses (remember that readers cannot hear your tone of voice or see your expressions)
• Use respectful, appropriate language
• For technical postings, clarify words that may cause confusion

We encourage you to send us your feedback and reflect on your progress every week using the ‘Reflect’ sections. The more we know about your learning experience, the better we can support you. 

How to manage email copies for Forum postings

Each Course Forum posting by default creates an email copy to your email inbox. We generally recommend staying subscribed, so you will see the new messages without having to log in to the course website. The following two methods will help you manage the email flow:

1. You can check your Forum Digest by clicking on your name in the top right corner of the course page and "Preferences". Click at "Forum Preferences" and choose Email Digest Type that the best fits to your needs.

"No digest" will copy each posting from any course participant to your email in near real-time, so you will keep an accurate overview of what is being discussed right now. If you prefer less intense emailing, choose "Complete" or "Subjects", and you will receive only one daily digest of postings.

2. Without changing the Forum Preferences, within your own mailbox (Outlook, Gmail, etc) you can set up simple rules to keep your personal email inbox organized. For example, you can create a rule that moves all mails with a title "SAC 2024 EN:" to another folder. This way, your Inbox stays less busy.

4. Your Instructors