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This document provides an orientation on the features of our online courses. You are free to move "through" the course as you wish, but a standard progression is automatically provided. Otherwise, use the navigation bar, on the lefthand side of your screen, to move through the course. Within the course, each of these links will be "active", meaning that you can click on them and go to that section of the course. You may proceed sequentially or by clicking on a link to the section you require.

Navigation Tools
Here is a brief introduction to each of the Course links in the order in which they appear on the navigation bar:

Course Journal
Course Information
Instructor Information
Course Objectives
Course Overview
List of Course Lessons
Course Lessons
Additional Resources
Additional Exercises
Course Forum
Assessments
E-Mail the Instructor

1. Course Journal
Every course from ULiveandLearn offers your own personal Course Journal for note taking and responding to specific course exercises. When an exercise requires a written assignment, the journal is a convenient way to manage your work. The journal is an especially easy method for sending assignments to the instructor and sharing your work with other course participants.

The Course Journal will appear as a "pop-up window " or box on your screen. You can resize the journal or move it just as you would any other window.

Notice that the top of the Course Journal identifies the name of the student, the title of the course, and the current date, which automatically appears above the white text box for your notes.

Once you have typed in your notes, these options are offered below the text box:

Submit to journal
Submit to journal, but keep the specific entry private
E-mail the entry to a friend or another course participant
E-mail the entry to the instructor

Upon submitting to the journal, your entries will be listed below the text box in date order.

You may edit an entry if necessary. To do so, click on the word Edit next to the entry. The entry will then reappear in the text box, where you can make any appropriate changes. When you are finished, click the Edit Journal button.

To delete a note, click on the word Delete next to the entry. If you choose to delete an entry, please note that it cannot be retrieved.

When you are finished using the Course Journal or you simply want to close the journal, click the (x) in the upper righthand corner.

Throughout the course, your journal entries will be archived so that you can refer to them and print them at any time.

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2. Course Information
The Course Information provides a brief overview of the course and specifics on course structure including its duration, price, and technology requirements. For some courses, you will need certain plug-ins, which you can download for free on the site. After you have read this section, in an actual course, you can click on Instructor Information at the bottom of the screen to see that section, or select another section from the navigation bar.

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3. Instructor Information
The next option on the navigation bar is Instructor Information. Here you can read the biographical sketch of instructors and learn more about their professional backgrounds and some personal information. In an actual course, at the bottom of the screen, you can click on the Course Objectives to move to that section, or you can use the navigation bar to move to whatever section of the course you wish to see.

The following three sections make up the Course Syllabus.

The Course Objectives
The Course Overview
The List of Lessons

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4. Course Objectives
If you think of the syllabus for a course as the general "map" to guide you through it, the Course Objectives are your destinations. They define what you will gain from taking the course. Instructors write them to give you a very clear idea of their expectations of you as a participant in this learning experience.

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5. Course Overview
The Course Overview provides a short summary of the course content.

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6. List of Course Lessons
The List of Lessons includes the titles and direct links to all of the course lessons. You can click on the title of the individual lesson you wish to access from this list or from the navigation bar. On finishing each lesson, you will return to this page to continue with the next lesson or to access any lesson within the course.

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7. Course Lessons
The Course Lessons are the main body of your course. They are short presentations or lectures designed to take about 15 minutes to read onscreen. Exercises, discussions (through the course forum or at scheduled teleconferences), suggested readings, and other activities will take additional time.

Each course lesson incorporates five key sections.

Learning Objectives
Lesson Overview
Lesson Content
Learning Resources
Learning Exercises
Learning Objectives
The Learning Objectives for each course lesson are the keys to the lesson. The learning objectives tell precisely what the instructor expects you to learn and to achieve by the completion of the lesson. Each of the exercises for a given lesson will support the lesson's learning objectives.

Lesson Overview
Similar to the course overview, the Lesson Overview is a short summary of the content of your lesson. This feature is optional. If your instructor chose to use it, it will be a one-paragraph summary of the content of the individual lesson.

Lesson Content
Think of the Lesson Content as a short lecture on the topic of the lesson. The content will support the learning objectives your instructor established for the lesson. It can also be a guide to what you should look for in the learning resources provided for the lesson. Many lessons will have corresponding assignments that reinforce what you are learning. Some assignments may ask you to complete outside reading.

Learning Resources
The Learning Resources contain supporting materials to augment your course content. This resource list can include Web sites, books, videos, CDs, etc. If no Learning Resources are included, you will see this message when you click on Learning Resources:
There are no resources for this lesson.

Lesson Exercises
Assignments and exercises are designed to support the learning objectives for each lesson. These assignments are the best way for students to practice and validate overall accomplishment of the objectives. Exercises may direct you to specific material in the lesson and, where applicable, to outside reading assignments and resources.

If no learning exercises are included, you will see this message when you click on Learning Exercises:
There are no exercises for this lesson.

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8. Additional Resources
Some courses may have Additional Resources that will provide extended depth and richness to the overall learning experience.

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9. Additional Exercises
The instructor may or may not include Additional Exercises in courses.

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10. Course Forum
Most courses will include forums (or message boards) for use by students and instructors. Everyone taking the course has access to the forum. Use it to post comments or questions to the instructor or other students, share ideas, communicate about your learning experience, or discuss course-related topics with other interested participants.

The Course Forum
Course Forums will be posted within the UBelong Collaboration area. You can easily nagiate to the course forums within UBelong. A complete list of all the Forums will be listed. Select a specific course forum by clicking on the forum title with the same title as the course. You have the option to read the messages posted, respond to one in particular, or start a new thread (response) of your own. In some cases, the instructor may require that your use the Course Forum to post an answer to specific exercises.

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11. Assessments
Throughout the course, you may be presented with an Assessment. This is a feature used by the instructor to "assess" your understanding of material before, during and after the course. You can think of an assessment as a quiz. When instructors have included assessments in the course, related links will appear on the navigation bar with names like Pre-Course Assessment, Course Lesson Assessment, and Post-Course Assessment. Instructors may include as many assessments as they like, and intersperse them throughout the course.

Assessments may include multiple-choice, true or false, text-based question-and-answer formats. With each question, you have an option to skip it and return later. Once you have answered all the questions and submitted them, you will immediately see your answers and have an option to make any changes. When you are finished, you will click the Submit Answers button and you will immediately be presented with the results of the assessment, including your answers and the correct answers.

The course may require submission of the answers to the instructor, in which case, you will be able to e-mail your answers automatically to the instructor.

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12. E-Mail the Instructor
A direct e-mail link to the course instructor will be provided at the bottom of the navigation bar.