Online learning moves fast and may be a very new experience for you, so if you get lost or are not sure what to do, please ask! I am here to help.

What You Can Expect from Me--Communication and Other Things

You may have a preconceived idea already about what I can do for you or what a professor should be able to provide.

Above all, please be patient.

You may have a preconceived idea already about what I can do for you or what a professor should be able to provide.

For work you post to the Discussions section of our course, I participate in the Discussions with you most weeks, although I do not respond to EVERY post every week, and then I respond to and grade your Discussions within 1-2 days after they are due.

For work you post to the Discussions section of our course, I participate in the Discussions with you most weeks, although I do not respond to EVERY post every week, and then I respond to and grade your Discussions within 1-2 days after they are due.

What I Am Not:

I am not a counselor or clergy. If you have a personal problem, I can listen, but I do not have the skills to help you in depth and I do not let you make excuses for why your work is not done. However, there are people at COD who can help you and I can refer you to the right person if you do need other help. Just ask for help!

I am not a miracle worker. If you never turn your work in on time or choose to skip the lectures. Don’t expect me to be able to help you if you do not work to help yourself first!

I am not unsympathetic to the struggles everyone faces in life—school, jobs, family, the stress of everyday life—I face those things, too! Remember, I am also an online student! But if we let these struggles keep us from doing our collective work in this class then no one will learn and we will accomplish nothing this semester.

To be fair to all, the rules are the same for all.

Please do not ask me to make an exception for you, please.

What I Expect from You!

So you have now read a lot about this class, reviewed some resources to help you assess whether you are REALLY ready to be an online learner, and hopefully gotten a sense of what you can expect from me. So what do I expect from you:

1. Do all of the work. This is the BEST way to ensure you pass this class. Students who do the work pass the class. It actually is THAT simple.

2. Spend the required time in the class doing that work. Do not think you can do the week's work in five minutes and still pass. So you actually have to do all of the work (simple) and then spend the time putting in some effort doing that work (a little harder!).

3. Ask for HELP! That is what I am here for. I get emails from A and B students every week. They ask questions. They send parts of their essays to review ahead of time. They ask more questions on that feedback I provide to them.

4. Be respectful. It's sometimes too easy in our "anonymous" online lives to be more forceful or blunt than we might be face-to-face. So treat people as you want to be treated. You can disagree but you must be polite and concrete in your criticisms--don't agree with someone? That is fine. But you have to explain why! You can't just say "I think you are wrong" and walk away from the conversation. Say why you disagree.

5. Use standard written English, even in emails to me. The word "you" is not written as "u."

6. In emails, please say "Hi Mari" or "Hi Professor" I am 100% OK if you call me Mari! Please do not email me from your personal email address, always use your COD email communicate with me.

To proceed through the modules, you can use the "Next" button, which is always located near the lower right hand corner of the page. Once the button says "Next Module," then you have reached the last page of the current module.