Welcome to the Spring 2021 Semester!

It’s become cliché to say this, but last spring seems like many years ago. We’ve had nearly a year of pandemic, and on January 6 we witnessed a group of Americans committing treason at the capital. We’re living some interesting history my friends. I think it’s also a cliché, but I’m going to say it anyway: I’m ready for the news to be boring.

How Will This Class Be Taught?

As you’ve noticed from the Blackboard announcement (you’ve been to our Blackboard page, right?), we will start the semester working remotely (online asynchronous) and will most likely work remotely for most of the semester. If conditions and/or vaccine access change, we may shift to a hybrid presentation, which means we’d meet once or twice a week and complete other work online.

Normally, as part of my introduction to the course, I would stress the importance of attendance—your success is tied to how well you engage with the course material and being in the classroom is one part of that engagement. However, online learning is different. Instead of attending the assigned classroom at the assigned time, you’ll need to learn the rhythm of the course work.

How Do I Complete the Coursework?

In this class, I will post each week’s assignments sometime on Sunday. This means you’ll need to check your email and/or the course’s Blackboard page every Monday for those assignments. You’ll have work due on Wednesdays and Sundays; the assignments will always be due by 11:59 on that day (but a few minutes/hours after that is fine). It’s important to review the assignments early, so you know the amount of work you’ll have to do for each due date. The assignments will usually be a mixture of reading and writing. You may want to establish a regular time to complete the coursework—since these classes were originally scheduled as regular classes, I suggest using the course time as a starting point. Use Monday’s class time to review the week’s assignments and plan your work. Wednesday’s class time should be used to finish your work for Wednesday, which will usually be a discussion forum. On Friday, comment on your peers’ posts in the discussion forums and continue working on the assignments due Sunday.

If you’re confused by any of this, email me right away (jason.saphara@csupueblo.edu). Ask me questions. Email me at any time—I’ll respond within a day (or maybe two on the weekend).

This is easy enough to understand, I think. The challenge is making yourself do it. That’s why I suggest you follow my plan above or create your own plan for completing your course work. After teaching traditional online courses for years and the COVID online courses, I’ve found that most students struggle in online courses because they’re not completing their work. You’ll have to make finishing the course one of your many responsibilities.

So, read the Blackboard announcement introducing you to the course, read the announcement covering your work due this week, and watch the introductory video here: https://youtu.be/scqWEsT5eKQ I look forward to meeting you in my office hours this week and through your course work in the coming weeks.