Prologue
Goals for this week (September 15, 2020)
By the end of the first week, what should you know, be able to do and understand?
You'll get to know a bit about your professors and your fellow classmates
You will know what the course is all about and how we're going to run it
You will figure out how to use some tools necessary for learning online
Overview:
The first week of class provides a transition back to school. This year the transition back to school also corresponds to a transition to online learning. This week asks you to focus on practical concerns, especially on getting used to the online environment we will be using in this class. Normally the first class of the year focusses on handing out/ discussing the syllabus and getting to know one another. So we're doing that this year. This week I want you to:
Make sure you have access to your Carleton email (ends with @cmail.carleton.ca)
Read the syllabus on Perusall/ online courseguide and identify any questions.
Use MS Teams (activate, install and login to the class group).
Login to Perusall and purchase the textbooks.
Familiarize yourself with some of the Digital tools we'll be using this year.
Introduce yourself and say hello to your classmates in the week one channel on Teams.
Complete this background survey to let me know more about you.
Online Time
This week we will not have any dedicated synchronous online time in order to give everyone time to download and install Teams, which we will be using to meet up online for the class. You need ensure that you have Teams installed on your computer and working so that you can join our class in week 2's online time.
During class time in the first week (11h30-2h30, Tuesday September 15, 2020), I will be online, checking email and on Teams. I'll be available to help (as much as I can) if you have any connection issues or any questions that arise from your reading the syllabus.
Read/Watch/Listen
Once you have logged-in to Perusall, you will find a pdf copy of the syllabus (a truncated and simplifed version of this Gitbook course guide). Please read it, and annotate it to emphasize key ideas, or ask questions of things which don't make sense.
In preparation for the week 2 class, please read and annotate the article, "Remembering the Middle Ages" also posted on Perusall.
Practice
This week, you are asked to complete a few tasks, as explained on the following pages:
pageMS Office 365pageMS TeamspageIcebreakerpageTextbookspageBackground SurveyDiscuss
What questions should students be discussing with each other on the discussion board for this course?
We won't have any specific questions up for discussion this week. Our main online interaction will be writing up a brief introduction to yourself (the "icebreaker') and saying hello to some of your classmates.
Do
What quizzes (if any) or other activities should students complete this week to evaluate their own progress? How will they know they are “on track”?
In the pdf syllabus on Perusall I have asked you to complete one last task. Do it to show me that you have read the syllabus carefully (or your fellow students have helped you located it) and get bonus marks!
Assess
There is no work to be handed in for assessment this week. Just show you are able to use Teams and Perusall to demonstrate your successful participation.
Going Further
If students want to get a leg up on things, I would recommend that you make your way through all the pages in the Digital Tools section of this guide and start signing up for accounts, downloading software or getting familiar with the tools we will use later in the year.
Help
If you have trouble with installing software, your professors will be of little help, I am afraid. So please get in contact with Information Technology Services.
If you have questions about the course that is not answered in the syllabus or in this online courseguide, please post them in the "General" channel of "Medieval Europe" Teams team... That way, the TA, professors or your fellow students can help you out or point you in the right direction.
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